Survive's definitely a surprising game to get into considering the turn-based strategy RPG part of the game ends up being a much smaller part of the game than the marketing would likely have you expect, which could take some getting used to!

I'd say you're looking more at a 80/20% split of VN and Strategy RPG instead and considering the difference in quality between those two parts I honestly couldn't be happier about it.

Digimon's writing has always been surprisingly good, and Survive is no exception; I'd dare say Survive is the best example yet.
It really doesn't pull any punches with how dark and traumatizing its setting is for its young cast, and it definitely brings out the worst of them at times. But that's exactly where this game shines - it never goes about dealing with these issues in a too simple way by shrugging them off and it never utterly demonizes them for it either - it handles how heavy its story is with exactly the tact it deserves, and that makes for such an incredibly compelling story and cast. By the end of it I honestly love all of em. The route system made it so everybody got their time to shine, and I think there's something to appreciate for everyone here because the stuff these characters dealt with in their own world amplified by having nobody but eachother in such a relentless setting definitely cuts deep.
It can be doleful, and it definitely doesn't always end well; but it genuinely cares so much for its characters and the people that see themselves in them, and its confidence in their ability to heal regardless of what they've been through is so bittersweet. Didn't think Digimon of all things would ever portray the cycle of abuse this well, but I'm all for it.

It's not without its flaws unfortunately; I've yet to mention the combat and well, that's for good reason. It's nothing actively terrible, but it's nothing to write home about either. Very straight-forward, but it does its job well enough and doesn't play too big of a part in the game luckily.
And as much as I love the route system it has narratively, I do wish there was a bit more room for variation when it came to choices; because it really doesn't take long to figure out how your dialogue choices affect what route you're gonna end up on.
Essentially, any dialogue option that doesn't have to do with character affinity will glow green, orange or red for Harmony, Wrathful or Moral and well.. these are always in the exact same spot which gets obvious pretty quickly.
Which is fine on it's own, especially for replays where you're actively going for routes you haven't played yet; but that's about all your choices affect. Anytime you get route dialogue, you're either coincidentally saying the right thing or characters will immediately go "well that doesn't sound like a smart idea, let's just do <what the story was planning either way>" which is a bit lame.
I get that adding a ton of variety to this would be a massive undertaking, but I still feel like there could've been a better way to go about that than how dry it is currently.

I also felt like Wrathful and Harmony's story beats were a bit too similar, which was a bit hard to get through as someone who started with a Moral playthrough.
Luckily, the fourth route more than made up for it though; and I was really glad to have played through all three of them to fully appreciate it. Might be my favorite NG+ content in any game yet, especially thanks to how tongue-in-cheek it is about story beats you now know but the cast absolutely doesn't. It's so much fun, I can't keep track of the amounts of times I went "oh come on!" at characters accidentally yapping about completely accurate worldbuilding details and it was great to have some well-placed levity in your victory lap to make things a bit more soothing after all you've been through with its cast.

All things considered, these are reaaally small issues compared to what the game does well narratively, so it doesn't bother me too much because it does that so damn well that it more than makes up for it. I just feel like it'd be worth mentioning because its trailers can be somewhat misleading, and anybody looking to sink their teeth into the strategy RPG part of the game can definitely get disappointed in its depth if that's what they're looking for.
The story's what makes this one worth experiencing, and if you're able to put up with the occasional basic strategy gameplay and a linear storyline for a shockingly well-handled mature narrative, then I can't recommend this game enough.