Overall, LOVED this game. It's a very serious contender
Gameplay:
Loved the arrow indicators for interactables.
Loved the ability to switch the encounter rate and difficulty to focus on the narrative. (I played at narrative and 99. Encounter rate still seemed high though for some reason?)
Visuals:
Excellent mapping and atmosphere.
Perfect font choice and use of color.
Ocean color transition seemed to go in the wrong order? Maybe? Typically darker colors would be farther from shore.
Great blending of default resources with custom art.
Audio:
Great use of music.
Eventing:
Entertaining cutscenes.
Puzzles were... puzzling :) Other than taking a sec to figure out the expectation, they were fun.
Well balanced, complex, and fun. Difficulty levels are a great touch.
Automated mouse highlighting would reduce clicks required, speeding the pace of encounters.
Great use of animations.
Minor notes:
No music or battlebacks during combat on the ship at the beginning. Would've been cool and looked better with a ship battleback.
I did not encounter any bugs during gameplay.