this is an extremely good game that I would have no qualms rating 10/10 if not for one thing that really drags it down--
the "artwork."
for a game with such care and attention to detail in the mechanics and writing, the sludgy AI generated artwork really does not match the standard of quality. While I understand why it was done with the scale and scope of this project already, skimping on the visual element is probably one of the worst places you could, since a.) we have to stare at these pictures all the time and b.) visual identification is a large part of the game. I don't think I'd be alone in saying that the parts where you have to identify people from images were made artificially much harder because the additional images either straight up had virtually no resemblance to the original people, or because the important details (ESPECIALLY eyes, or clothes) were impossible to distinguish. If these sections were made with original artwork or even photobashing of real people, there would be much more opportunity for intentionality and clarity with the visuals that this otherwise incredible game unfortunately severely lacks.
While getting artwork can be hard, there are a lot of similar indie puzzle games with more "unpolished" or even "amateur" art that succeed immensely at what they're trying to do, because the art fits that purpose. If the photorealistic style is absolutely integral, there are also easy ways to make realistic 3D models of people (like Metahuman) that would let you create realistic images and have a much more increased level of control over any and all connected/future graphics. There's clearly already enough photobashing present in this game that makes me think a tighter graphical direction could really elevate the experience. If this was a 15, 30, or even 2 hour game it might be perfectly serviceable, but for a potentially 10 hour experience, having visuals that feel like placeholders really cheapens the whole thing, which is sad because otherwise this game was extremely good.
I'd love to see some sort of remaster of this in the future with actual human made graphics, but otherwise, I had a really great time! I'm very interested to see more!