Both "Darmok" and "Inner Light" are SF stories to be proud of. Both are on my list of the 5 "Next Generation" episodes for a new viewer to try, along with:
"11001001," which features a holodeck version of a 1950s New Orleans jazz club, and the Bynars, a race who travel only in pairs.
"The Measure of a Man," in which android (and Star Fleet officer) Data must undergo a hearing to prove he has the right not to be disassembled.
"Q Who?" in which the terrifying alien (and I mean terrifying, and alien) race, the Borg, first appear.
The writer of "Darmok" managed a neat trick. By the end, when Picard uses some of the aliens' own imagery in speaking to them, we, the audience, understand what it means.
Put "Darmok" together with the original series ep "Arena" (Kirk vs. the reptilian Gorn captain), and you'll see the tremendously different approach to storytelling "Next Generation" took.