I agree that the character devlopment of squall was done very very well. people seem to hate squall because he comes across as an idiot, but that is the point. he is a sociopath and it is a story showing his evolution back into a person who can love instead of a person who fears loss (which he first experienced when ellone "sis" left the orphanage).

The character was not 1 dimensional, and as long as the main characters have a background and a story and are explored it is bound to be good.

There is only so much you can do with a script. How much character devlopment did Yuffie, Cait, Vincent get? Pretty much 0. (and ff's before 7 were woeful imho)

The story revolves around the main main characters and so they are further analyzed, whereas the other characters are delved into.

edit: XII had absolutely no character development or decent story which is why it sucked