I remember back around 2013 or so, I could never really do Perfect Guards on hunter that well; I went and took a break from pso2 to go play Dark Souls 1, and when I came back to pso2 I was suddenly able to Perfect Guard, or even just flat out step-dodge, nearly every enemy attack!

Any of y'all got any games you think made you better at PSO2 in some way?

Just about any game that focuses on reflex, hand eye coordination, response times. try something like step mania. It helped me improve my overall gameplay while letting me listen to my favorite songs.

sword art online fatal bullet is tiding me over atm

I would also say any other hack-n-slash games, like Devil May Cry, Monster Hunter, Witcher, etc. Reason being is because I find the biggest hurdle for me in hack-n-slash games in general is positioning and timing attacks during open windows between enemy attacks. While not all hack-n-slash games have "perfect" mechanics (e.g. perfect guard, just attack), I find still focusing on the fundamentals of these kind of games helps me improve the most.

The original PSO prepared me pretty well, but it also built up such a strong muscle memory that I stop everything after three hits.

I feel like I got the swing of the controls of PSO2 pretty fast imo becuse the controls feel like Tales of Symphonia's controls.

PSO, PSU, Monster Hunter, Final Fantasy XI, Ragnarok Online from the top of my head.

Playing Pac-Man helped me become a pro at collecting Meseta.

Ninja Gaiden and DMC3 I think had the most effect on my dodging and attacking gaming skills.

For timed attacks, probably Super Mario RPG.