I finished the game. I didn't really enjoy this, sorry.
The interpretation of the theme wasn't very creative. I read the "How does your game fit the theme?" text after playing the game, and a lot of the elements you mentioned I didn't realize were related to the theme. Like, I didn't know the graveyard meant that generations of lizards died fighting the dragon. There wasn't any text on the tombstones or whatever to make the connexion, I just thought it was a random graveyard lol. Other than that, the interpretations kinda feel shoehorned in. They don't add to the gameplay. Like using the scales to buy stuff at the shop? That's just a money system like in every single game with a money system.
Visuals were easily the best part. While some stuff like the lizard characters didn't look good in my opinion, the forest background was honestly beautiful. The death screen is... a little disturbing? lol. Seeing the "pass on?" text and then the dragon's head is like you passed on to the afterlife yet the dragon is still haunting you in hell.. hahaha
Also there were a LOT of little things that bothered me and kinda make this game look like an unfinished demo. Here's a couple:
-I got knocked so far away that the forest background just became plain gray
-I really, really often got hit, heard the sound that's supposed to mean "the armor took the hit, you're fine" and then died a couple seconds later despite not getting hit.
-You're supposed to die to get the wings and make progress? Couldn't you just go back to the shop and buy them once you got enough scales?
-Navigating the dragon is confusing. Some parts of the dragon have collisions, some are part of the background (wings, for example) but telling apart what you can go through and what stops you is impossible.
Overall, I definitely think you could've thought of a more creative way to implement the theme and could've ended up with something more memorable. You can do better than that!