I really enjoyed playing this game and am completely won over by the world you've created. I anticipate learning more about Rayan and Liam in your other games and comics. That being said, I have to criticize. Because I am compelled to criticize the stories that I love.
For such a short game, the detail each cast member gets is very disproportionate. The characterization of the protagonist and the love interest are very rich and expertly balance showing how comfortable the two are with each other in the present and giving the player a glimpse into their shared past. The detail of Rayan knowing Liam's favourite ice cream flavour, the way that Rayan made him breakfast in the morning without being asked to, and the fact that Liam is willing to miss the fireworks to comfort his dear friend are all examples of this. Where this game falls short is with every other character. Héléna is the only one of them who is shown to have a three dimensional personality, yet she is rendered two dimensional because we really only interact with her in the context of talking about Liam's feelings for Rayan. I would have loved to witness a Héléna side plot where she figures out how to fix the cleaning robot and secretly takes it home with her. On top of that, Héléna help's Liam work towards his ambitions, but he never asks about hers. Héléna seems like the kind of person to have a rough outline of how she wants her life to play out, why don't we get to hear about that? The lack of reciprocity in Héléna's concern with Liam's love life kind of make it look like Liam is just a bad friend. Héléna knows him so well, and gives him all this advice, but Liam never tries to return the favour and show up for her. And based off of the choice where Liam says Héléna is (just) a close friend of his, I don't think that was the intention at all. Meanwhile, Rayan's coworkers and friends, Roméo and Diane, are very flat and feel more like set dressing background characters than they do side characters. The only characteristics Roméo displays are his care for the well-being of at least Rayan which makes sense with the fact that he's a doctor- and just that! It is also never commented on why a doctor would be working a restaurant job. And then Diane, we know that she can be competitive and that the likes to tease Rayan at work. Does she ever go too far when she's at work or is she more responsible than she lets on? We don't even get a one on one either Diane or Roméo where there would be an opportunity to show the bond or lack thereof between Liam and Rayan's friends. It's one thing that the player barely knows anything about him, but not knowing how much Liam knows? The relationship one has with the loved ones of their friend/crush/queerplationic interest inform the interest (Rayan in this example) and the audience how serious the other person (Liam) is about getting to know them. The behaviours that someone's friends bring out in them are often different than the way they act in front of other groups of people. Whether or not Liam likes the way that Roméo encourages Liam to (for example I will make stuff up a la headcanons) be more conscious of his health and in tune with his body and mind, or if Liam thinks that Diane sometimes taking teasing Rayan too far. I did like when Liam confessed to Héléna that he felt jealous of Roméo being able to provide care for Rayan that he couldn't do himself. I would have liked to see Liam talk this over with Roméo one-on-one, or at least try to. In addition to all of this, I want to see Liam's bond with Chouchou! They live together, shouldn't they show some familiarity if not affection? This could again become another opportunity to show that Liam is serious about Rayan. Typically, if you love someone more than most, you treat their loved ones with a certain degree of respect. To summarize, I believe fleshing out the side characters would both deepen the player's immersion and their understanding of the dynamics between all parties, especially Liam and Rayan.
The rest of my grievances with this game come from the lack of variation in dialogue following the player's choices. I like that the game made me really think about certain decisions that seemed way more pivotal than they were (the beach confession that was interrupted by Diane, for example). It felt like a meta narrative considering how Liam was also stressing over Rayan keeping something from him regarding his health, when in reality he truly didn't know what was going on. For almost every other choice I felt like the option I chose didn't change the scene all too much. I was even more disappointed upon replaying the game to find out that for many there is only 1-2 different boxes of dialogue. It didn't feel like I was really impacting the narrative. The different endings containing completely new dialogue and art was appreciated though that is already expected. I would have liked to see a bigger difference in the choice box wording and in Rayan's reactions when choosing the queerplatonic versus romantic options because, to be honest, as someone on the arospec I often couldn't understand how they differed. I like that you added a notification in the top left that informs you about Rayan's feelings for you but I personally did not understand what they specified even though I played the game 3 times to get each ending. Could just be me though.
My final critique is more of a nitpick. Though it is just as if not more important than the prior faults I have mentioned. Why are Rayan and Liam so nonchalant about Diane's experience being harassed and potentially fetishized for being a woman who's also an android? She thanked them even though in my opinion it the least that Rayan could do as her friend or even as a bystander. Is this such a common occurrence for her? Do her friends not worry about her safety when she is otherwise alone at the resort? Why don't Rayan or Liam later check up on her to make sure she's alright after that encounter? I understand that the purpose of the event is to prolong and increase the tension of Liam's eventual confession, but this interaction has a lot of underlying implications that I'm not sure were intended or considered. I am not trying to communicate that the story would be better off without this scene. I am saying that this depiction of a woman experiencing chauvinist harassment and fetishization was not handled with the consideration it requires to read to me as tasteful. It reads as if neither Diane's wellbeing nor the injustice of a woman who's boundaries are not respected or considered by a random pushy man are all that important to her friends. And I just can't sit with that.
To conclude, I believe there is room for improvement within the character writing of Holiday Heartbeat's cast (less so Rayan and Liam they are nearly perfect), within the lack of "weight" or impact of the player's dialogue decisions, and within some worldbuilding and greater sentiment of the game. This is all in addition to a great potential.
To reiterate, I am saying all of this scathing criticism with love and respect. I can't express enough how I've been completely hooked by Holiday Heartbeat. I believe this to be a solo dev project and it is endlessly impressive what you've done here. And you know what? I'm gonna hit you with the classic: if i made a video game all by myself it would not be half as good as this. Not even a quarter as good, even. You have made something freaking amazing and this piece of aroacespec representation will forever stick with me, even if I do not forever identify with it. Thank you. You did great.
Note: Je vois que tu parle Anglais ET Français, et j'ai pensé sur écrire en Français parce que je devais and voudrais practiquer plus (c'est ma deuxième langue). J'ai decidé Anglais est meilleur parce que je veux communiquer le plus efficacement possible. Euh, ce que je voudrais dire est que je pense que c'est genial que tu est une personne bilingue.