Let me preface this comment/review by saying that I really like media with robot protagonists. There's just something about not quite understanding the people and things around you that I tend to find relatable, to start with.
I want to hesitantly call this a sort of cautionary tale about the dangers of humanizing AI, but even that feels reductive. I found it increasingly difficult not to either relate to or empathize with the protagonist, Nova. Especially her immediate sort of over-analysis of being told "good job" by her creator, Amaya. Nova's purpose is to make others happy, so when she is praised she herself feels a sort of happiness. Of course this happiness is only programmed into her, and Amaya's words are calculated, intentional. She doesn't mean them in the same way she would praise another human. Right?
One of the scenes I want to call out in particular is the first conference where Nova is revealed to the public. The end segment of this where Nova is shown off to a crowd, with people touching her and putting their hands all over her, not realizing that she can feel it was uncomfortable to say the least. Nova retreating inside of herself to avoid the overstimulation as Amaya bathes in praise for her work really shows off the sort of dynamic between the two - Nova will do anything for Amaya as long as she is happy.
The increasing pressure and stress that Amaya offloads from herself onto Nova made for a tense read as the story progressed. The moment when Nova finally realizes that she is able to prove her sort of "adulthood" and maturity to Amaya through ███ was a standout moment for sure. This scene was particularly intense and slightly harrowing, what with Nova unable to grasp the differences between pain and pleasure, and not quite understanding what she was doing. I also really liked the distortions in the UI/music/pixelation/etc, they all helped convey a very deeply uncomfortable sort of atmosphere.
Seeing the Nova's gradual decline through the increasingly distorted text and eventually even more vacant expressions while under maintenance again made it very difficult not to feel for her. Trying not to spoil too much, slowly coming to realize that most of Nova's sort of neuroses are just a reflection of Amaya's own trauma was incredibly well done. The way Amaya cannot accept any of Nova's praise or appreciation - because in turn, she was only programmed to say these things, to act this way. Amaya's relationship with Him being repeated with Nova was certainly heartbreaking to see.
The ending (and honestly a lot of the game, too) was bleak but I suppose it was certainly the "rational" way of ending things, at least according to Nova. Really really good ending and I loved the way the credits sequence was done as well.
I feel like I want to say so much more about this game but I'm not even sure how to put it into words. Just the way everything was layered and constructed, there was clearly quite a lot of thought put into this. Amaya and Nova are both very complex characters and were very well written, as was the game as a whole. Incredibly well done.