Really good start for a demo/alpha version, feels like a pretty well developed idea right out of the gate.
Positives:
1. Simplicity: The ability to quickly switch between items and actions is helpful and a great time saver, makes jobs much less of a hassle than they could be. It's very easy to get into a groove/schedule which is increadibly important for these type of games.
2. Game definitely feels like it has its own unique sense of style, lots of retro-futurism going on here which is a style/theme that I feel has been pretty neglected in the past decade or so in favor of the "iFuture" style.
3. Likewise, everything on the ship looks distinct, easy to see, and understand what something is or does. Like the engine looking like a battery, coolant system looking like a water tank, etc... Great visual shorthand.
Glitches/Bugs:
I only experienced 1 major bug which is why this bit is going before the critiques, because I don't have much to report otherwise. Ok, so if I'm in the middle of a maintenance job or looking at a console (Like the main console), and I get a notification from the computer, then there's ~ a 50/50 chance that the game's commands will lock up (IE, I can't move the MC, pick things up, switch items, etc...). I know this is an in-game problem and not my PC because I can open up a different app or open a browser and everything works fine there.
Critiques:
Most of these aren't too bad, actually. Mainly just quality of life improvements and personal preferences with these types of games.
1. The pacing can in the start can be a bit wonky. You have a reasonably paced intro, followed by a period of slow grinding, followed by a period of better pacing that gets quickly disrupted by things like engine failures or low stamina, which while the former is a quick fix the later can take multiple cycles to complete and puts a hard break on the pacing. (Items used to boost stamina could be a big help)
2. The "City Planet" areas are kinda difficult to navigate, due to buildings looking same-y and said buildings overlaying walkway entrances to get to other sections. Makes getting through theses areas a bit of a pain. This is why I said everything on the ship looks good, because outside of it things can get kinda difficult to deal with.
3. A shorthand alert for what needs to be done would be very helpful. On a few occasions something broke in the ship and I spent a couple minutes wandering around trying to find the issue because it wasn't immediately apparent what the issue was. Like the engine blowing out, because due to the red and black background a problem like that tends to blend in with the scenery.
4. The carrying/use command should be the default position, with the 3 tools being equipable as they are now. Bit of a nitpick, I know, but if I'm carrying a tool and I need to do something like get outside the ship to fix a problem, I don't want to have to switch out of the tool, get out, and then re-equip the tool I already had equipped.
As a side note: Have you ever played Rune Factory 4 or the Story of Seasons (AKA, the real Harvest Moon) Friends of Mineral Town Remake by any chance? They're made by the same man who made the OG Harvest Moon games and both are on the Switch (RF4's Special Edition is, RF4 is on the 3DS). RF4 is a story focused action RPG and farming simulator that kinda became the standard farming sim for the 2010's due to how much playability it has, with the FoMT remake taking a lot of those systems and refining them even more. Basically, if you're stuck with anything or don't know how to fix a gameplay issue chances are these games have already figured out that solution, so they're very much worth looking into if you have the time. (How to integrate a story with a daily life sim for example)