Thanks so much! I'm glad you liked it :D
Sorry for the inconvenience with the song! I intentionally made the performance play out once (despite it actually being easier to program it playing multiple times) mostly because I was going for the idea that these characters are like real people; They work hard and are passionate (like you!), and would take some time to replicate something they worked very hard on (I imagine it like, if you finally reached a huge fitness goal, and you're out of breath and about to die but you did it, and someone's just like "okay cool now do it again" lol)
There are also lore implications for why it only plays once... stay tuned!
The story will be expanded upon in the next release, the demo! Everything in the Demo (demo) is kind of supposed to go over the player's head; There are definitely players that don't fit a "pacifist" description, but it is (wrongly) assumed that you are one due to your forced inability to retaliate (which will also be expanded upon in the demo)
About the avatars, I didn't think of it that way! I was going for a jab at the trope of how in older JRPG games (like gen 1 Pokémon) there aren't usually female options, but your interpretation also works!
This release took about a year in total to complete; I started conception last summer and now this summer, here it is! Actual development in Gamemaker started in September 2022, I think. It was quite challenging doing this on my own without any experience (I remember the sleepless summer nights lol), but I like to be challenged!
Again, I'm SO glad you and other users are enjoying my game! I'll keep working hard, and I hope Harmful Heaven progresses well too!