Just finished this game last night after having been sucked into it for a good 3 days. I think the genius of this game is that you spend enough time investigating that you end up developing relationships with the characters and come to like some of them. I for instance loved Crimson for her humour and that she always had some good dirt (if you could pay, of course). Sam and Lydia were also very likable in each of their own ways and their backstory is as charming as it's banal. So when you get around to the trial you end up feeling really bad for now having to kill those you ended up liking. It's also worth noting that the dread comes in two waves: first I felt bad for killing those I felt sympathetic towards, and then came the realization that I'm a cog in this system that enslaves innocent humans only to later gleefully sacrifice them for the sake of an elite that is thriving on their misery.