I was wrong: walking into an animal doesn't harm them (you can even jump on them). But just touching them with a vehicle kills them.

I agree it repeats, though the dialog is pretty rich and there are even several accents. I can imagine in a direct play through there wouldn't be much repetition. I mean, I muck around a lot.

BTW There's also many different enemy idle animations, some only in one location, like fishing, eating a meal, exercises.

You're likely right that the author is more interested in analyzing the game, rather than being a die hard fan.