OK, so many things are fubar or I'm way more hungover than I thought.
Changelog: " -Removed the medium sandbox difficulty and changed easy to visual novel mode. "
Well, I call bullshit. Select new game, select medium (hover the twat, screen says medium sandbox before you click it), then menu comes up explaining "Visual Novel Mode" (so things are already messed up), then click "Start Game" and check the console. The variable "visualnovel" is false, continue past the intro and it's sandbox mode. WTF? This is clearly sandbox mode, medium difficulty, all by default. So, I looked at the code and sure enough medium is in fact sandbox mode. Either the changelog is completely wrong or the dev screwed the pooch with the code again.
Whoever tests the releases is clearly checking their Snaphat, Twatter, or Facecrook too much to pay attention.