'Falling for Al' is a classic farce of a romance story in a modern/slightly-futuristic setting. The comedic situational dialog is this story's strongest suit. The main character's absolute bad luck when it comes to dating is amusing to read, when each date is shown just how absurdly bad, the next one is still somehow worse. Even the twist that the ideal date, Al, is actually just an AI just in his head, obvious to the reader, but oblivious to the main character, so it becomes a series of funny interactions where the main guy keeps missing all the signs.
All the jokes that come from trying to interact with an AI chatbot come quick and tight. Stuff like Al parroting Max's interests and likes, unable to craft an original thought, only able to recite knowledge from a wiki, and unable to draw things without it being wrong are all just so recognizable as common chatbot shortcomings. Stuff like not being able to understand colloquialisms and turns of phrase were also just funny (love the 'taking you window shopping' gag). Even when the sprite glitched out mid-conversation, different outfits and multiple ears, just a great comedic detail.
Where I think this story kind of looses steam is how it resolves and ends. It's a wholesome ending where Max gets together with his work friend, but it does make me wish there was some kind of final punchline for the whole interaction/date with Al. It might've been funnier if Al and Max did end up trying to get married only to find out at the altar/courthouse that Al doesn't exist at all, really pile on that embarrassment and humiliation, rather than just getting pulled over by the cops and going to jail.
This is also a really fun use of the community sprites, and the presentation overall is really good and cohesive. The UI designs and animations just really make it feel polished and charming. While I think a lot of the jokes are great, how it relates to the theme 'a light in the dark', does feel a bit like a stretch figuratively. I can see illustrations that give that vibe, like the phone downloading in the night. The idea of Al or Nate being some kind of hope or brightness to Max's bad luck at dating, a bit too liberal an interpretation of the theme concept, personally.
While I understand that this entry is disqualified for rating, you did put a lot of effort into this and I wanted to provide the same level of feedback in the spirit of the game jam. If ratings were active, I'd give it a (2/4/5/4). It's what I consider one of the funniest entries this game jam, really good job!