I'm very surprised.
Initially I didn't think much of the game, it seemed overtly simplistic and not very rewarding, but when I started to dig in deeper in the characters, it hit me like a truck.
At face value the characters seem somewhat shallow, archetypes instead of real opinions. We've seen it a billion times, the overtly attached girl, the rebel without a cause, the rich, older bachelor, etc...
If you leave it there, you'll be doing yourself a disservice. Once you start to interact more, you'll be shown how they truly think about life, their ideals, what drives them onwards and the impact that both the environment and character have on their growth.
Most importantly, it shows a journey of personal philosophy.
We all go through philosophical journeys in our lives, during them we change our opinions and ideas countless times over, this journey has "cycles" and are never-ending, for our growth never stops.
I'm not fully aware of exactly how, but the author seems to have very solid insight in the cycle of radically different journeys and growths.
For example, Hashimoto.
Her outwards aggression and petty crimes are, in her mind, the only way to subvert a system where both the parental and governmental institutions have actively turned their backs on her in a matter of literal life-or-death.
At first she's confused, angry, reckless and without aim. But through your interactions you can see her journey. She better shapes her arguments and philosophy with inspiration of some classical Marxist work, her actions become more guided, sharp and impactful. The last scream against the dark becomes the winter storm, she's no longer content with rolling over and accepting her predestined ending.
So far, I've only reached this point in her lore, I still have to play a lot more but I've seen the other journeys and most seem to have a similar level of depth. It's very realistic and I congratulate the author in the very fine literary work.