I don't know if the X series has changed, or I have. But I'm struggling get into this one like X3, I had hundreds and hundreds of hours in that one...
The sectors don't feel as distinct, jumpdriving around was nicer than the highways, and the larger ships have uglier designs to compensate for the landing pads and modular weapons (struggling to figure out weapon types too). I liked the combat missions in X3 better too
It does feel like there's more potential for the late game, maybe it'll surpass X3 given enough time...