You could have the game portion be in several stages with multiple choices, where your stats could add good options/remove bad options. This way high stats aren't mandatory, since playing "smart" means you rack up the points anyway.
That's boring. Killer nanobots are like the lamest threat you can think of.
Or maybe they're not killer and they just transform all life form into perverted versions of themselves. The threat is that they are turning the known universe into... exact copies of what they already are dammit I...
It's okay if there's no deep or technically correct explanation of how a piece of future space tech works, just so long as its use is internally consistent. Since Syri is the only one who even acknowledges the things, I find myself struggling to care.
We will most likely not see that until crew positions (no pun intended) are a thing and even then I imagine most are going to lean very heavily into the waifu side of things. Because waifus is what pays the bills.
You could just go all out on that idea: the people and place are specifically designed to design/test/enhance aquatic mods. It would explain why different biomes for a certain type of sea tf is right next to another one. And it being artificial would let you place it literally everywhere...
Are they going to be new species or highly modded? If they are new, you'll need to add a codex. A way to tf yourself into them won't be required, but expect people to beg until you do.
Sorry to put you down hard, but a planet is a novel worth of porn at the very least. If you call it quits, which is exceedingly likely, we'll have lost a promising writer. Or at least somebody with better than average grammar.