This was an incredibly charming demo! It's SO polished, with so much thought put into the little details. The small storybook sequence at the start is very immersive, and I LOVED the execution of the signature for agreeing to the disclaimer - it's a clever idea that really foreshadows the "deal" that Rue enters with Parker (when she agrees to become their apprentice).
I absolutely loved the aesthetic, it's incredibly cohesive and well executed. The UI is beautiful - it's very floral and elegant. I especially like the twisting tree trunks on the save/load screen. The sprites and CG are gorgeously rendered and very expressive, and the painterly style of the backgrounds really helps to lend the game such a mellow, comforting mood. The composition of the title screen is ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS, I love the distorted perspective, the wisps of smoke, and the way the entries pop out of the bottom.
I really loved the dynamic between Parker and Rue! Parker's teasing and playful personality is a really good match for Rue's shy and subdued demeanor. It was fun seeing Parker get under Rue's skin, making her more than a bit flustered. Parker's VA did a fantastic job at making them sound suitably playful and mischievous. Overall the demo did a very good job of characterizing the two characters and their relationship in a short period of time, and I'm interested to see how these two develop in the future.
The setup of the story and mystery at the start is very intriguing, and I'm curious to see where it goes. I can tell that there's a lot of complex worldbuilding going on behind the scenes, and the game does a good job of introducing concepts to you slowly. The terms are understandable based on context clues, but I also liked the addition of the glossary, which gives a lot of good lore details!
Overall this was demo was SO intriguing, and incredibly polished - fantastic work!