Power Vacuum [Ch. 8]
Overall: Excellent
Story: 3/5
This game isn't going to win any awards based on the underlying story premise, so if you're looking for some high stakes drama then look elsewhere.
Originality: 3/5 (non-NTR)
For those like me who avoid NTR, the plot is not particularly original: MC develops into superhuman love machine and eliminates obstacles to sexual conquest.
Dialogue: 4/5
Plenty of witty dialogue here, with a fairly consistent voice throughout (i.e., it is obvious that a single writer is responsible for the dialogue, unlike some VNs where the opposite is equally obvious).
Renders: 4/5
Art render quality is consistently good. Improvements to lighting and shading are evident in later chapters.
Sound: 1/5
No soundtrack to speak of, though a cameo video provides worthwhile dialogue.
Playability: 3.5/5
This is a sandbox-style game with limited introduction. On my first attempted playthrough, I was concerned that I needed to keep careful track of days/times to progress. Fortunately, this is not necessary; however, it can sometimes be difficult to judge when you are repeating a scene or whether a new scene with different ending is playing. This leads to a feeling of repetitiveness for some paths. Note that ALL paths are required as well - gameplay is highly linear in NTR-free mode, almost to the point of being a kinetic novel with virtually no meaningful choices.
Performance: 4/5
Animations sometimes hitch or play more slowly than they probably should. Single render images sometimes momentarily pop up between animations. I'm sure there are Ren'Py workarounds to these - I'd love if What? Why? Games dev would consult with someone like Stiglet who seems to have developed code that produces smooth transitions without large file size.
Animations: 4.5/5
This game does animations very well. Most are short loops, but there is impressive level of detail in many scenes. Some hiccups with loading though.
Content: 5/5
Despite some grindiness, there's lots of content here to play through, and I expect quite a few more chapters before we hit the end of the story.
Lewdity: 5/5
For a harem game, this is surprising slow in developing sexual content as a consequence of the 'plot' setup. A few scenes like the Brenna and Eve threesomes in the hotel are, however, some of the absolute hottest I've encountered in any game to date. As the harem grows, I can only anticipate how these scenes might spiral into further debauchery.
Aspects of gameplay that I think could stand improvement:
1) Meaningful choices: I know harem games eschew these, but it would be nice to be able to decline certain characters or fetishes. For example, I don't find Mallory to be appealing - mean-spirited, promiscuous, etc. - and would have no issue whatsoever skipping all her content, including the revenge scenes. Similarly, for those like me who are not keen on lactation, humiliation, or other fetishes, it would be nice to be able to sit these out to the maximum extent possible.
2) Fewer girls: I know harem games eschew this too, but more girls does not mean more sex - it usually just means less character development. Would happily trade recently introduced Kumiko and Rebecca for more intimate scenes with other characters (Brenna movie night, etc.).
3) Intelligent timeskip. Rather than having us advance time on an hourly basis with most hours being empty filler, I'd much prefer some code be added to detect when the next scene would be available and skip directly to that time. Quality of life improvement!
Overall, this is an absolute GEM of a game, absolutely worth your time.
