Keywords: (Very) slow burn, humour, harem, choices don’t matter.
Overall, this story has been very enjoyable so far and I’d recommend it to anyone who likes these sort of “gather your harem” types of games. However, there are a few areas where Power Vacuum could be improved. Spoilers ahead.
Tone: This game’s banter is witty and enjoyable, and it makes for some funny and endearing scenes. However, the story suffers from excessive and poorly timed humor as the author can’t stop inserting jokes into even erotic moments, making them feel like they were filmed before a live studio audience and the characters are pausing mid-thrust for an audience laugh track. The ironic thing is that the author seems self-aware in a nearly identical situation—While Eva’s giving the MC a blowjob, the MC makes a joke about something that happened with his sister, and Eva starts bringing up her previous lovers as an example of how mentioning stupid shit, mid-sex, can kill a mood. Despite this, Power Vacuum hurts the eroticism and drama of many of its strongest moments with awkwardly inserted humor.
Pacing: There are no random events, and chapters progress solely through story events. Because one character’s story can have 12 events in a chapter and the others have 6-8, you’ll find yourself skipping 15 hours of the day or repeating the same placeholder bonding events just to hit that one character’s daily event, 4 days in a row, so you can go to the next chapter. This is especially unfulfilling as some of these scenes which were important enough to make for such lopsided pacing are repetitious, being the same dry-humping scene from the previous night with different banter thrown in.
huNTeR: I had high hopes for this character. Despite looking like a bloated crypt-keeper, Hunter's presence could have represented conflict and challenge. He announces that he’ll be seducing the house members at the same time you’re trying to win them over but, in spite of this, he only has a few hardcoded events which you can’t even fail. Even with NTR turned on, the game rolls itself back before he can pluck a girl from your harem. I would’ve loved to see Hunter as a real antagonist with more presence, and to see his actions have real stakes, but instead he’s just Chekhov’s dong left on the mantle—another storytelling device foiled by humor.
Still, I only speak so passionately against the story’s flaws because it is so damned enjoyable. The linear story and its unique characters are endearing and lovingly written. The majority of sex scenes are spicy. You will not waste your time with this one.