I think there was definite value in exploring the environment: there were details to be found (both interactive and as background detail) that added to the story and the world-building in a way that I don’t think would have had the same impact in a VN format. It meant more to me because I made the decision to go and investigate some detail, and what I was thinking when I did that becomes part of my version of the story, in a way that following a script option wouldn’t.
On another forum I read about someone’s particular end game and it kind of blew my mind. HUGE END-OF-GAME SPOILERS FOLLOW, DO NOT READ IF YOU PLAN ON REPLAYING! They reached the end of the game with Kim in hospital, and Cuno as their partner! You don’t get a photo of the beast because Cuno’s too poor to own a camera. When your old squad turns up, he calls everyone fuckers and gets enrolled in a junior police academy. That this was even an option, which must have had a load of extra script, voiceover and testing effort that hardly anyone would see, just impresses me hugely.