I don't think the dialogue ever really bothered me. There are some exceptions as well cause Locke does have a moment with Celes if I remember correctly and Strago won't join unless Relm is there, so they definetly have a few moments. Of course Edgar and Setzer are also given deeper growth since they are required to recruit. Gau's "reunion" with his father is also affected by who you have in your party as well.

I focused more on the fact the characters were trying to overcome their personal hang ups and don't let "them not mentioning anyone by name" bother me as much. I was more concerned with Cyan overcoming his grief and Terra learning to believe in herself. That's just my thoughts though. I felt the personal growth of the cast was done rather well in the second half and its hardly worse than the character growth of later entries.