oh man, I completely missed the fact that this was only still a demo; you cannot imagine my dissapointment upon coming across the "end of demo screen" lol. Well, either way, that just speaks to my enjoyment of the game so far!
For a demo, it doesn't feel too lengthy nor too short; it comes to a satisfying conclusion while still leaving you wanting to live in the world a little more. The cooking mechanic is shaping up to be a super cool addition to the world building, especially with all the new ingredients.
Speaking of the lore behind the world, MAN. It is all so intricately crafted, one can tell so much care went into the world-building. And that makes it all the more fun to explore! Really, it is a treat to actively explore and learn more about the world as the story progresses. I'm also very relieved at the fact that the exposition isn't too piled on to the point of getting too much to get your head around; alot of fantasy-like games fall into that trap! Yet here it is cohesive and yet ever-expanding.
The character's are really likeable, but that's about all I can say at the moment as we haven't truly gotten to know them yet; which I am looking forward to.
I have very few criticisms, and they are so minor they barely stand up against my vast praises. For one, I wish there was just a bit more variety in choices presented to the player. One such example I can think of is either fully buying into Ka'era's (gosh I hope I'm remembering the name right) romance path from the very beggining or being a bit too standofish for my personal liking. It would be nice if the romance aspects of the game were more of a , well, choice. Like how, when the security guy catches us, MC's monolgue regardless of prior choices comments on how "handsome" he is. Overall, I think the player experience would feel alot more representative and immersive if, say, we were given more choices than just two in each given scenario. These, of course, don't have to have a greater impact on the story as a whole, moreso just helping the player to identify a little more in their role as MC.
Otherwise, I also feel that having two whole other humans in the story, as charming personalities as they have, hinders the fun trope of supposedly being the only human on board. Not only that, but it also takes up valuable character slots which could've been used to expand upon the diversity of alien species present in the story. I also think, especially with the established species diversity, that it would've been super cool to include a character or two that lay somewhere other than the two ends of the human gender spectrum, whether that may be on an "identity" basline or biological(since the possibilites are endless in a setting like this)
All in all, something I'm really looking forward to seeing more of: 5/5