I started playing FF when IV came out in the US, and since then I have atleast played every FF game- never finished I, II, or V, but I'm workin' on II on my wonderswan color. I'm a life long FF fanatic, and although I am only maybe 15 or so hours into X-2, I am really enjoying it.
I really like it because it has some of my favorite aspects from older FF's- the dress sphere system is just a stupid name for the job system, obviously, and I love the job system- my favorite FF is 3, partly because of the delightful job system in that game. Then there's active time battle, which I didn't even realized I missed until I picked X-2 up after finishing X. It is so refreshing for battles to actually be exciting and nerve-wracking. Then, the abilities system is rad- reminds me of the esper system from VI, although in VI you could still use your learned abilities even after unequiping the esper who taught you those abilities, right? I forget, in VII could you use abilities you learned from a certain materia after unequiping that materia? I think you could. Well, in any case, I like that you can control what abilities you learn, even if you can't carry them from job to job- but I guess that's the way it is with games that use the job system. So for those 3 factors alone I am seriously liking this game. Oh, and how the accessories are basically identical to relics from VI- I loved relics, so I really like how the same thing basically is in X-2.
My point is....yeah, I really like X-2 and I have been playing FF nearly my whole life. It's funny to think that maybe for a lot of people, it is the first and only FF they have played, because maybe they don't realize how it incorporates all these great aspects from earlier FF's.