I agree with everything you said, Dr. Acula! The battle system is great as is the job system, even if it is hidden by a somewhat silly dress up concept. I also liked Yuna's growth as a character and did not like Rikku's devolution of a character. In FFX Rikku was a great contrast to Tidus and Yuna in that she was a good blend of the very serious Yuna and fun loving Tidus. In FFX-2 they just made her a schoolgirl trope. Paine I thought was a great character, though.

My other gripe about this game is some of the retconning it does with FFX's story which I think wrapped up in a bittersweet but beautiful way. I do like it when the heroes save the world but at a cost, and X-2 undid some of that.

Otherwise, X-2 is a very underappreciated game. Best ATB system SE ever made. They ruined it with the XIII series but I do like how they brought it back and modified it for the modern action RPG world in FFVIIR.