Why Star Wars: The Force Awakens succeeds (NO SPOILERS)

Rating: 9/10 (19 December 2015)

While there won't be any spoilers here, you may want to not read this if you haven't yet seen the film and you're wanting to have a truly unbiased first viewing.
First of all, storytelling thing here. What makes the best story? One that leaves you asking questions. It's what pulls you in as a reader/watcher and makes you invested in the environment/world the story takes place in. This is why, in part, Star Wars (1977) did so well. It left you asking questions, like:

The Empire? what's that?

whats a lightsaber? (that was a question at one point) who are the jedi?

who are Luke's parents? why does this Ben dude know him?

what's the rebellion? how did this all start?

han solo himself, an air of mystery

various questions raised by the size of the universe, planets, alien species, etc

Then there's the steampunk feel of the original Star Wars movies.
tatooine: dirty, gritty, old, broken, bleak, organic, rusted
death star: shiny, metallic, obsidian, visual weight
forest places: wooden, organic, stone
overall: things built into the environment, like Luke's home on tattoine and the yavin 4 base/temple
Then story/character development: lost, isolated, "nobody" characters getting swept up into a larger story and finding purpose, meaning, and hope. You might even say destiny. A small subset of this was the consistent casting of up-and-coming/no-name actors as the character leads in the following films.
In my opinion, all of the above is what DEFINES Star Wars. This is why, when they announced the new films in 2012, I was particularly interested in seeing them hold to these ideals. As I followed the production process, I was looking for evidence that they were holding to those ideals, or at least hopefully wayyyyyyy more than Lucas' prequel trilogy.
Going into the new film, I was mostly concerned with them capturing the look and feel of the original movies. I determined that if they got that right, the story could be appreciated more. Since they got Lawrence Kasdan (writer of the Empire Strikes Back, my favorite movie) on board with writing credits along with JJ Abrams and Michael Arndt (both huge Star Wars fans), I was less concerned with the story they wrote than they means they chose to convey it. I was a little concerned about the reprisal of characters from the original trilogy that are WELL on in years, but I didn't put much thought into it because I knew the story wasn't going to be about them.
I'm happy to say: JJ ABRAMS AND CO DID NOT LET US DOWN.
The look and feel of the original movies has been captured here. They built real sets and props, by hand, but weren't afraid to lean on the use of digital technology as needed. The result is a movie filled with gritty, organic places that just plain and simple...feel real. The digital effects, are soooooooo good too. Probably the most real-looking lightsaber effects I've ever seen.
The newest cast members, while no-namers, are FANTASTIC. The older actors really shine through as well, a lot more than I thought, honestly. Especially Harrison Ford, he really manages to still capture the same spirit that makes him Han Solo, despite being considerably older.
The new story raises plenty of questions as well, really setting the stage for the following films and what's to come. But, as I've hinted at, I'm thoroughly satisfied with the film on the look and feel alone.
Let's also not forget NEW STAR WARS MUSIC. The newest John Williams score is fantastic, and is essential to capturing the magic of what Star Wars feels like. The only criticism I have for the OST release is that we don't get to hear the main character themes fleshed out quite as much as we do in the movie, mostly cause of the prevalence of action-carrying motifs and sequences.
I give it a 10/10, some people might give it 9/10.