Well, I've been able to pick up a remote contract thing through an internship program my university's providing. 'Tis not an awful lot, but hey, some income on the side's always nice to have, no? Anyways, Project Absentia's out; An @everyone on two Discord servers I semi- frequent made sure to tell me about this, hence why I know. A lot of people there seem to like it a lot... but not me. I don't HATE hate it, of course, but I do think it falls under the category of 'elaborately packaged deveoper power fantatasy that you also get to play too'. The Steam storefront says that its inspired by 2000s to 2010s flash cartoons, but from what I've seen of it, that only applies to the artstyle, and even then it seems WAY more 20-teens than early new millenia. If I'm to be blunt, the project's heart lies closer to the Undertale fan project than it'd like to admit; I don't think we're gonna be seeing a Project Absentia/Retarded Animal Babies crossover anytime soon. It might sound cray-cray, but I've got a few things to back me up: * Primary Social Media of choice of Bluesky * [xyz]-core to describe anyting art-related * LGBT tag on the game's Steam Storefront Page * SanyaWaffles literally calls Project Absentia the equivlalent of a Pride Flag T-Shirt (recent post from Bluesky, in fact) * The game's website name is literally called gayangelgame.com * Look, I know it's just a redirect to the Steam Page, but you look at that website name and you tell me that isn't giving something away. I double-dog dare you. Yeah, I think that whole 'love letter to Flash cartoon' thing only really applies to a very, VERY select few. PokePorn stuff? Yeah no. Pico's School? Hard maybe at most (not taking Friday Something Whatever to regard), and it sure as hell ain't gonna be the suicide minigame. Retarded Animal Babies? I think you can figure out the answer to THAT question, genius. Happy Tree Friends? Eh, sorta, but you can forget about the Wishy Washy tribute. I can confidentally say that although Absentia most likely LOOKS the part, the plotline, emotional beats, and pretty much every single trope you've come to expect from your average Undertale shipping webcomic and Monster Prom literally any fan material? It's not just firmly in the driver's seat, it's physically sewn on; You try removing it, and you'll end up damaging the car. And that's if you don't get turned into swiss cheese on the spot before you even get near the car. And also the game supposedly contains degeneracy. Which probably means the following: * Hey look, a lesbians! * Hey look, some dude kissing another dude! * Fight the power, boo corporations! (except if they agree with us!) * Hey look, a lesbians by different name! * Hey look, an Trans Pride Flag! * Hey look, a several pride flags! * Hey look, a someone who identifies as a Non-Binary! (which is VERY in style these days, don't you know?) Which I know dead certain will never include stuff like lolicon, or anything not made to stoke the egos of Waffle Iron Studios, for that matter. (No seriously, you try mentioning the word 'loli' to these people and try not to get a horde of wrath momuments trying to cave in your sorry skull.) Because I'm an uncreative hack, I shall now give you a list of Project Absentia predictions, mostly on how the plot and lore-related aspects of the game are gonna pan out: * Every male on the antagonist side is complete, irredeemable evil. NO EXCEPTIONS. * Any male that's on Absentia's side is either already dead, a complete doormat, or an obvious mole. * Any character explicity defined as nonbinary or some other related identity will NEVER truly be against Absentia's side. Also good luck trying to actually bring any harm to any of them and NOT have the author chase you down with a machete on the spot. * Any female antagonist will either not truly be a villian (it was the stinky, evil male race that did it!), already dead and you should feel bad about that you monster or something, or a mole on your side. * "humans stinkybad and evil and so is money" could approximate a good enough answer for any open-ended question the game tries to throw at you. * Power vacuum? What the hell is that? * The Donald Trump Expy Will Die at the End Of This Game * Obligatory Deltarune references EVERYWHERE. No exceptions. * Easily gunnable mooks will ALWAYS be male, no matter what. (or robotic, but easily identifiable as male for minimum bad feels) * Dialog that isn't just ham-fisted, but the entire goddamn deli at that * "did i just HECKIN MOVE THESE BOXES with my HECKIN MIND POWERS OH MY GOSH, did i just SERIOUSLY DO A HECKIN MIND POWERS? OH MY HECKIN GOSH THIS IS SIX SEVEN TUNG TUNG TUNGSTEN CUBE CHUDSOYJAK RIZZ GRIDDY POGGERS????" (You look at the one-liner system for this game and you tell me the quips aren't just gonna be like that for every single level. I dare you.) * Please accept these Bluesky Approved Women kissing as a substitute for any question you have that we at Waffle Iron Studios can't actually answer. Of course, none of that's gonna stop people from buing this game in droves. I personally don't get Deltarune's appeal at all, but that didn't stop the game from selling like hotcakes and a half for reasons I don't think I'm gonna be able to discern anytime soon. It's not like I'd be able to stop you if you still choose to play it. At the end of the day, this is just the banal rambling of a bitter, miserable basement dweller; I don't really expect any of you to sympathize with me.