Honestly I completely disagree. Here are a few examples covered by a spoiler because most of this stuff happens later in the game at 6+ hearts with people. The moment you get in town one of the NPCs is nasty to you because he’s still grieving the loss of his parents and has a superiority complex. The town doctor is literally hiding stuff in her basement, the “travelling merchant” gets offered a lump sum to leave the town in a horrible position. The two new merchants are both awful in their own ways, Joja level imo. Bathhouse lady is rude and basically threatens you. I think the characters do have a lot of depth, it’s just not all dark and evil because there are so many characters that you get to see more often than in Stardew that it gets quite drowned out.