The art here is gorgeous! And with knowing how bitsy works, I know it must've taken a massive amount of time. I think the art and colors really do the game justice in telling this story about change and how a person adapts with it.
I'm having some hard time reconciling in my head what the game is actually about though. The seasons changing really hits home the theme of change and how you react to it. The world and characters are all changing around the player, but you are still focused on finding sticks. But then you come to find out that the dog was still there with you and that you shouldnt be so laser focused on your task as a loved one might be right there in front of you this whole time. This to me doesn't really interact with the theme of "reacting to change" in a very, for lack of a better term, elegant way.
I would personally ditch the seasons altogether. The changing of seasons is such a powerful trope in storytelling that I felt as though I was distracted by it and missed the actual, more interesting, story.
With that being said, the ending really hits the theme of a kind of "stop and smell the roses" vibe really well. As a player, you are always given a goal and all you really think about is achieving that goal. So almost mindlessly playing can be the norm until you are hit with those ending words. I even think the "lame" puns played into that mindlessness as I alomst didn't care what the other animals were saying because all they were going to do is give me a pun. Which, whether intentional or not, also really empowered the ending.
I personally love when a game hits you with an ending and you have to stop and think and ask yourself "did I just play through the entire game and miss out on the entire game?" So you inevitablly play through it again and oggle at all the clues you miseed out on.
So far, this game has been one of my favorites because of the awesome story telling that is simple yet beautiful.