Was Westworld really good or the mere product of gimmick editing?

I wouldn't really consider that gimmick editing

Flashbacks are just another way to tell a story, they just didn't reveal that we were seeing flashbacks until the last episode

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Suppose the stories were laid out in chronological order (as happened in a version of Godfather II), do the stories retain their impact, their punch, or do they lose steam because the guessing game is gone?

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The same could be asked about pulp fiction, or any other film with a twist for that matter.

I'm like 5 episodes in and really hoping for a hook. It's good enough to make me think an interesting story is coming, but it isn't there yet. Yes, the hosts are becoming cognizant, but is there a story line worth 5 more hours of my life. So far it feels like they are living on a "cool" concept.

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The same could be asked about pulp fiction,

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I will disagree at least in part. I really liked Westworld but they were clearly up to a different type of game with the audience than Pulp Fiction - although not entirely different from Memento. In the case of Westworld the time and actual identity of the characters at different points of the story is with-held from the viewer (without being clear that it is with-held) until the point at which big plot twists can be combined with the revelation of the disjointed nature of the timeline.

This was partially dishonest for the purpose of the reveal, but it wasn't entirely unfair because it was at least clear to the audience that the central story (like in Memento) included the loss of important memories by the major character(s).

I don't really think the audience was ever duped by the disjointed time-line in Pulp Fiction. The story occurs over a pretty short temporal window and the combination of intertwined vignettes just ends up to be a little more interesting when told out of linear order. When you watch it in temporal order the story actually feels less connected because the viewer doesn't have to actively think about how the different characters relate from the other stories.

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LOST wouldn't have been as good chronologically

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Have you watched it chronologically? There is a torrent out there where you can do just that called Chronologically Lost. It wouldn't make sense if you hadn't seen the series before, but it's a pretty cool way to rewatch the series.

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I like it, but almost feel like I have to make myself watch sometimes.

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I felt the same way the whole season.

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Should I really be rooting for Dolores? She's a droid who is killing humans.

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She's a self-aware life form who's been enslaved a tortured by humans.

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Should I really be rooting for Dolores?

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Dolores is the android equivalent of mentally ill. She's suffering from PTSD, for lack of a better term. And she was programmed to start killing folks, so she's not fully to blame.

It will be interesting to see how the park devolves into factions, like Lost or TWD.

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I wouldn't really consider that gimmick editing

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and they gave a lot of clues that it was a flashback.