Starting the game, I was curious why I had the option to attack my party members. Then the first turn happened, and I immediately realized why. Jack was a douchebag, Hilary was an idiot, and Kyle was a Kyle. I laughed out loud!
My first run I deliberately killed Hilary after she healed the slime 4 times in a row (almost killed Jack too, but he had too much HP), then died to the goblin. My second run I kept everyone alive, and beat the game! Correct me if I'm wrong, but it felt like my allies got smarter as they levelled up, which sends a pretty cool message about not trusting first impressions.
Honestly, I had a lot more fun with this game than I expected. Every time I healed an ally, I asked myself whether it was even worth it, or whether it would be better if I just let them die. Then I won, and it genuinely felt like the power of friendship prevailed!
By the way, the quotation mark character in the story text didn't show up for me. It was just a square.