With men like this, girl deserves to choose the bea- I mean, dragon... (Thank you for giving me the opportunity to beta read/test this fantastic game!) Overall, it was beautifully made and very polished, and I really loved this take on the "princess trapped in a tower."
The VAs all absolutely knocked it out of the park and were perfectly fitting for their roles. I especially loved the breadth of emotion from Amaia's VA, from her more playful lines with Vasserelli to her scared and enraged lines with Azaiah and Caleb, the majesty of Happho's voice, and how Azaiah's VA managed to effortlessly go from sounding heroic to sinister. The background music was also very well chosen, particularly during the intro scene and the climax.
The art assets were gorgeous! I really liked the framing of the GUI, with the borders on each side - it evoked the feeling of reading an illuminated manuscript, with a real medieval flair to it. It was also a very clever way of communicating the change in setting each time. The soft, painterly style and soft pastel colors were really lovely, and I really liked the character designs as well (Amaia was gorgeous, and I especially liked how "dragon-like" Azaiah appeared - as well as the contrast between his black armor and Caleb's white armor). In particular, I thought that Happho's design was very unique and fitting - more like a Chinese dragon, where dragons are associated with wisdom and royalty, than the more typically monstrous/animalistic Western-style dragons. There were an incredible amount of CGs (PARTICULARLY for a Nano game, with the strict time limit), and they all served to make the game feel particularly cinematic.
SPOILERS
I really loved this take on "the princess trapped in a tower" - rather than being trapped there, the tower is a place where Amaia finds freedom to find herself. The entire game evokes the feeling of "A Room of One's Own" by Virginia Woolf. It's an essay that I was thinking about particularly recently after reading more about Tolstoy and his horrific marriage. The diary of Sofia Tolstoy is particularly enlightening - in it, she declares that there were very few female writers/artists/composers in her time because their energies are consumed by their families and their husbands - their artistic abilities remain "embryonic and atrophy" and by the time they have finished raising their children to adulthood, it is too late for them to become "anything." These concepts are very well integrated into TDP. While Happho frees Amaia from her marriage, most importantly, she gives Amaia time and a "room" to rediscover her passion for the piano, which was taken from her by her domineering fiance. Her freedom comes not from killing the abuser that cages her - it comes from finding herself.
I also quite liked how, in the end, Amaia does not simply seek to carry on Happho's legacy, freeing brides from unwanted marriages. Instead, she seeks to provide girls with a space to explore their ambitions. It's a touching way to communicate how women's rights have been slowly fought for over time, building on the efforts of women that came before.
I also appreciated the breadth of "masculine" representation. Of course, you have Azaiah - the domineering face of toxic masculinity and oppression. However, he's not "evil" - certainly not at first glance. At most he seems like a "bold, assertive, ambitious" man - the kind of man that you could see running a kingdom - until you learn what he did to Vasserelli. But at the same time you have Amaia's kind, caring father Horacio - who nonetheless perpetuates antiquated beliefs by believing that he needs to quickly arrange for a strong husband who can take care of his kingdom and his daughter, focusing on Azaiah's 'strength" while ignoring his true colors. And while Caleb means well and truly loves Amaia, his belief that he is the "white knight" coming to save the princess is simply another flavor of the toxic masculinity that Azaiah embodies - a masculinity that positions himself as the hero, and Amaia as his damsel and love interest. I think that while Azaiah is the only clearly "vile" one of the three, I appreciated how all three "weighed down" on Amaia's freedoms in various ways. However, at the same time, you have Vasserelli - who respects Amaia's talents and cultivates her ambitions, while encouraging his daughter to do the same - showing that it is not a war of "genders," but of oppressive systems and mindsets.
I'll also touch on Happho's character. She really felt like a surrogate mother to Amaia, which was fitting, as Amaia never grew up with a mother to teach or guide her. The scenes where they were cooking together, and Happho opened up about her own experiences in the past, felt very warm, and it felt like Happho was a parental figure, helping Amaia to "grow up." It was a surprising take on the typically "monstrous dragon," but perfectly fitting for the story that the dev wanted to tell.
Overall this was a fantastic game about female empowerment - I hope that all women can find a "room of one's own" as Amaia does. Fantastic job to the dev!