Yeah. IME, the world (universe) of the Culture is quite interesting and thought-provoking, but the plots are kind of lame and predictable. Not terrible, but not the reason to read the books.
I really enjoy the culture novels and I agree. I feel similar about Dune. No one Dune book is all that great on its own. But the scale and world and story arch are unique enough to make the sum greater than the total of its parts.