Review Version: Ch. 10
Overall Score: 67/100
Value: Moderate
As is standard with all of my reviews I will break it up into 4 distinct sections each covering different aspects of an AVN. Text size is also increased for better readability and sections are labeled.
Note: I've purposely left out audio quality (e.g. SFX, ambience, soundtracks, etc.) due to how minor of a role it plays in a VN. While some developers take advantage of audio in fantastic methods, overall it isn't as useful of a metric when rating.
Story
“Power Vacuum” is a VN that desperately tries to adapt a sitcom into a novel. The subplot behind each chapter seems to have very little connection to the over-arching plot as each are attempting to mimic a “fun” little adventure in increasing ridiculous scenarios, but struggles when trying to tie everything together. The dev’s overreliance on drawn out references and the frequency at which they appear in conversations leads to bloated dialogue.
The setting primarily takes place inside Ophelia’s home, which is designed in a way to accommodate rooms which fill specific niches. A notable example is how the home contains a “spa” room as a method for avoiding traveling to other locations in the world. While this prevents the issue that arises with world scaling and timing, the size of the home and the rooms located within contradict the plot of the story in which the main issue revolves around the poor financial situation of everyone there.
Overall the story attempts to convey an opera style plot while also disguising itself as a sitcom. The end result is a hard to follow storyline as ~85% of the dialogue is pointless bloat aimed at increasing the playtime.
Characters
“Power Vacuum” contains a sizable cast of characters, all of which feel fleshed out and suffer from only minor breaks in their respective personalities. There appears to be seven (7) characters which are central to the story while the rest are designed as a mechanism for breaking up the monotony of incest.
The MC of this game is by far the most obnoxious character I’ve come across. His personality is flat, two-dimensional, and volatile as the dev seems to not have a clear direction on where he wants to take him. Most of his dialogue centers around references to books, or obscure humor that is bogged down by the abundance of terminology that you’d find on an organic chemistry nomenclature exam. His personality will shift to fit whatever narrative the dev wants to convey at any given point and frequently clashes with the established personality. Little effort is made to adequately justify the personality changes which makes this character a glorified plot device at best.
Brenna is a character that actually feels fully fleshed out as her dialogue reflects her personality. This is further supported by her character growth being properly justified rather than hand-waved away as is evident by her photo event subplot. Even further, she abides by her own rules she laid out – such as protecting Catherine at all costs – and never compromises to fit a changing narrative. Brenna serves as the example of how a character should be written.
If Brenna is an example of how a character should be written, Catherine serves as the opposite. I cannot being to understand how her character became such a mess personality wise, but her only purpose appears to be as a catalyst for furthering other subplots within each chapter. Her history is a mess of differing events, ranging from attending catholic school to being a WWE champion. As a challenge to the audience, keep track of Catherine’s background and personality at any given point in the story and try to piece everything together.
There are four (4) other characters which are central to the plot, including Hunter who serves as the antagonist to the MC, but this section has been a slog to write. The tl;dr version is the quality of writing behind each character varies wildly, but in general they are mostly well written despite my personal tastes.
Visual Quality
There isn’t much to discuss here as the art style of “Power Vacuum” follows a typical CG visual story. Each character portrays distinctive surface detail and exhibit realistic ranges of motion without entering the uncanny valley. The dev seems to have taken the time and effort to ensure each character maintains a similar art style, which is greatly appreciated as it avoids breaking the immersion of the audience.
The environmental detail also appears to have been given some attention as set pieces fit into the world and objects are detailed enough to understand their functions. This extends further to the lighting quality as the dev seems to prioritize only implementing necessary effects, such as proper shading and light casting.
Overall the visual quality is par for the course for a well-made VN. It’s not too gaudy or simplistic, which is a breathe of fresh air in the world of AVNs.
Lewd Content
The lewd content can be divided into two main categories: canonical events which happen with the MC, and non-canonical NTR events which occur with Hunter. Both are discussed in this section.
Let’s begin with the lewd content centering around the MC; it’s by far the best aspect of this VN. While the first few chapters progress slowly and only implement non-penetrative scenes, they feel well developed and offer enough excitement to keep the audience progressing through the story to more intimate content. The scenes which occur later on are well animated and can easily serve as masturbation fuel for days to come. Other than the scenes being repeatable as you progress the story, I found myself enjoying them enough to keep me interested in seeing what happens next.
The juxtaposition to the MC lewd content is the NTR content for Hunter. Just a word of warning; almost all of his scenes involve some form of penetrative content and are heavily themed around darker content. A perfect example of this is his first scene with Eva in which it’s heavily hinted that he drugged her. This is then followed by this specific scenario being the only case in which she can become pregnant as she’s mortified when Hunter finishes inside. Overall, his content can provide some fap fuel for those with an NTR fetish, but don’t have any impact on the story.
Conclusion
I wish I could rate this VN higher than a three (3) star, but there’s just enough frustrating elements that make it difficult to recommend this to anyone who doesn’t fit a specific niche. Even more frustrating is that when the VN starts to shine in all four (4) departments, it’s quickly followed up by either an hour long monolog from the MC or nonsensical developments which break other aspects of the story. Also, the next time I have to deal with a poorly made lewd reference I swear I’m tearing my eyes out.
