Well it's still a 72-hour project. I certainly didn't expect such a (relatively) rich narrative, and it does ask that its characters' views and motives have that much work and thought put into.
While you had to make do with seemingly-lightly-motivated characters contrasting against such a heavy topic, it's not something to beat yourself up for really. The way I see it, it's a miscalculation of the scope, and there's so much even a team can do within a small time. It happens.
From what I've seen overall (the game, its release state), and from your reply, I get that there are a lot of "could have been's" and "maybe's", but again I think that's okay. I got the point of the story and understood the intent of the planned mechanics through the gameplay, and if that's not already good, I don't know what is.
So truly, good job to you and your team. Even though I said I would have preferred to see the mechanics used to the fullest, that was still a damn good hour I spent playing the game!