Hmm... I enjoyed the crazy story, and I honestly didn't think Squall was a Gary Stu at all. He was insensitive on the outside, sensitive on the inside, and generally just kind of immature. The timing... yeah, that's true, but you can get high crit rates with other characters, and I've had him miss pleeeeenty of times.
I would sort of hope that the main character, who ended up being the military commander of an academy, would have the best stat growths--because it definitely wasn't his personality =/
And yeah, I kind of like that theory, too.
Perhaps I should rescind what I said about Squall being a Gary Stu, in that he didn't act like one, but was treated like one. He has no presence, speaking ability, or leadership ability, but is thrust into the role of leader at every opportunity. He is as immature as a child, with an inexcusable lack of social skills and the tendency to throw
tantrums, and yet is the subject of the game's most prominent romance. After disc one, all other characters miraculously lose their depth as Squall steals the spotlight and never lets it go. I just feel the game suffered for it, is all, it's still a great game
Plus, there were several loose-ends that were simply never tied up. The biggest being Empress Ultimecia's existence, since the game never really mentions her until the very end, and we simply never learn who she is or why she's so very crazy. I also like the fan theory that she's actually Rinoa, who having obtained the power of a witch, gained immortality and pro-retroactively time paradoxes the events of the story into place when she goes insane a 1000 years into the future.
I can understand enjoying the bizarre story though, it's something that keeps you entertained even if it doesn't make sense. The particular style the game, the mixture of pixelated characters and hand-drawn backgrounds, lended itself well to telling the story as it became more grandiose and outrageous with time.
Eyes on Me is an awesome song as well.