it's a bit overrated, the philosophical dialogues and themes are a bit ham-fisted and weak
but as anime goes it's quite decent, it handles its large cast well and creates an effective setting. there's always something happening, due to the scale of the setting, and it shifts seamlessly between different sub-plots
been like a decade since I watched it after some metalhead rec'd it, and I doubt I could sit through all of that now. but it's definitely above-average for the genre, so go ahead and watch it
if you like it, you might also like ideon and perhaps votoms, if you haven't watched them already. also monster, but that's well-known