Game is great. Writing is funny, avoids most of the suspension of disbelief plot holes, characters are well written, renders are solid, the separate subplots and game navigation are interesting, and it's just generally NOT trash. Would recommend.
Ren'Py - Power Vacuum [Ch. 12 Official] [What? Why? Games]
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lhucio
I downloaded this game because of the tags, many of them match my tastes, besides the screenshots are pretty good. To my surprise I already had a saved game, I had already played it in 2021, how is it possible that I did not remember?
After an hour of play I discovered why. I don't know how the last chapters of the game will be, but the first hour is TEDIOUS, and my brain did what it had to do, erase the trauma.
The worst of all for me is that it's a sandbox game, which I love, when they are well done. This one is a nonsense
If what you want is to play a VN with the most repeated storyline in the history of incest porn games, maybe this game is for you. If not... RUN -
_Utakata_
ch11 no ntr
The older sister must have magic pubic hair
One chapter you shave it off, next chapter it grows all back like you never shaved it off and later has a landing strip pubic hair
Youngest sister pubic hair is suddenly gone No idea why It's just gone
The renders are good
Story is to long and boring
sex scenes are good
Lot of woman
Uncle still being in the game with ntr off i don't understand why
Mc is a coward Always saying he's gonna do that and do this but let himself boss around by the woman
No bugs -
Donjoe81
Power Vacuum [Ch. 11 Official]
Pros:
Render Quality is OK
Character Models are passable?
Cons:
terrible grind
rinse and repeat
Story is boring
Dialogues are boring and repetitive
Sex Scenes: Didn´t see any in Chapter 1
Conclusion:
The Dev really lives up to his name What? Why?, because what is this shit supposed to be, except some bloatware, and why waste yours and anyone's time with this game?
This game is so terribly grindy. You have a list per chapter where you have to rinse and repeat, the same shit all over again.
There are like 20 tasks and you have to repeat every single task and boring scene like 8-12 times.
I stopped playing after the first chapter, because I don´t want to waste my time for this shit.
I can´t imagine how anyone would waste their time with the same boring scenes time and time again.
I also question how anyone can give this game more than 2*.
Don´t waste your time if you don´t like extremely grindy and repetitive games. -
every10min
Normally I feel like I come in on the high-side of game ratings, but honestly I'm shocked at how highly this game is rated...
The render quality is just passable, the story is mediocre, the writing is mediocre, but the grind is awful. The sandbox nature is there for no other reason than to present a grind, it literally offers no value, why not just put it on rails and avoid constantly repeating scenes?
The NTR is not really "NTR", there are obviously planted "bad decisions" that lead to almost humorous "what if" scenes that then reboot back to the point to avoid the NTR... its almost like this is an anti-NTR game, and actually getting any fake-NTR then punishes you with having to replay some scene to exacerbate the already brutal grind.
Grind is miserable, pace is glacial, NTR lacks punch... I got halfway through the second chapter before I came to my senses and removed the mind-numbing game.
I give it 2 stars because there is real potential here. A remake into a straight VN with no sandbox and a legitimate impactful-NTR story path to parallel the existing anti-NTR path would be a really solid game. What we have is much more of a bloated, unfulfilling mess. -
connor1518
This AVN is definitely for those who don't mind weird. If you like a more focused story line it's not going to be for you.
To start with it supposedly allows you to turn off NTR content but the Dev obviously likes trying to push for it. The ugly uncle Fester looking character continues to pop up. I'll give the Dev credit, he knows how to make one nasty looking abomination of a human. I don't care how much I don't like a female, I wouldn't wish him on her, just too creepy.
The physical transformation of the MC serves no real purpose other that to add weirdness. Some weirdness in a VN can be fine if it adds to the story line and not just for the sake of itself.
There are a lot of hoops to jump through to get to where you want to go, to the point that it starts to feel grindy and not a good grind. The plot is thin at best, it's more a simple slice of life thing with no real storyline, albeit a weird life.
You also have no control over which fetishes you want to partake in and which you want to skip such as lactating. A big detractor. Putting in a variety of fetishes is fine, even fringe ones but they should be optional.
I get that writers generally write about things they like themselves but this is why you make it optional. This VN is too self serving for me. -
hiddink
The game has a nice model design and is original that's why i put 2 stars. the rest is just bad there are a lot of repetitive things that you have to keep doing again and again at the same hours of the day and it is tiresome to play throught that, and if you add the amount of bullshit the dialogues has with jokes that noone understands (me, the player) then it's a whole mess, i played the first 2 chapters because brenna made me do it , i liked her a lot, but i cannot bear the jokes and dialogues that i don t understand the references, i skip that but what's the point on playing a game if you skip the dialogues? mate i really hope someone does a mod or something that removes that shit , i would rate this game 5 stars -
slick97
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. -
wildride69
My Review of this game up until this point in time. 4 out of 5 it's GREAT.
Animations are above and beyond and are amazingly well done. A ton of this game is animated and it shows a lot of time and effort went into this. Easily on Par with or dare I say better than Badik. (Yes I know Sacrilege but I'm a Badik Patreon and even I will admit these animations are damn good)
Humor is a 4 out of 5. Humor is subjective but I found my click through rate slowing down as 85% of the jokes landed with me. Not all but a lot were funny ( I'm with the side characters here and sometimes I wish the MC would STFU during sex scenes but as I am chuckling as I write this I hope they keep it in)
Story 3.8 out of 5 its a good story if you turn your brain off and just go with it like its a sitcom. Some aspects are really good others not so much, realism is strained to the max but in a fun way. Just don't think of real world repercussions and all is well.
GAMEPLAY IMO - I'm going to revisit chapters 1-3 now that I know how this game was meant to flow. For new players I would HIGHLY suggest taking your time through the first chapter and getting to know the control systems well, once you know that, its easier to get the most out of this game.
NTR Opinion - LEAVE IT ON. Why? It adds humor to this game, their are no mean spirited scenes here imo and Hunter is one of my favorite characters with all his scheming's, they also don't force anything on you, you basically have a WHAT IF situation with a flew variables that allow you to see what would have happened, and then it resets itself at the end of the scenes all the scenes are actually pretty damn funny imo. NTR may not be your jam but I suggest giving this one a try as it unleashes some much needed levity.
The only sticky point I wont bring up should be obvious to anyone playing this game so obvious I will let you figure out what I am talking about. I'm a grown up that can separate a fantasy game with real life. Games with Incest, corruption or most other things don't Bother me because fantasy and reality are 2 very different things. If you can't separate fantasy and reality you should not be here and I suggest you seek help.
Thank you to all those that responded to my initial post where I complained about Chapters 1-3, your encouragement kept me going and motivated me to get pass my initial opinions and like a good book this game got better and better.
So why not 5 out of 5, because it's not perfect so far the only game I have given a 5/5 is BADIK. Why? Everything hits on BADIK imo just right, Animations, humor, story, minigames (Except scramble I hate the timer on that minigame!) mods everything.
So 4 out of 5 Stars for me, thoroughly enjoyable and I will be checking out creators Patreon or hopefully subscribe star as I hate for others to tell me what Kinks I should and should not like in a Video game. -
primeumaton
edit: reviewed vol.8
At first I was annoyed by the repetitive grind.
I still am a bit, as seeing the exact same scene a certain number of times is a moronic system.
However, the sheer amount of content makes up for it.
Art: 4.5/5
The style it uses is used well. Little to complain about that wouldn't require a completely different style. Renders are high quality.
Characters: 3/5
Each character feels like their own person. They also all seem to be missing a screw and addicted to perverted situations, creating a same-ness through them all.
Plot/Story: 3/5
There is a lot written, yet little to be said about it. It has just enough to ignore that it is a day by day harem seducer/corrupter.
Sex: 4/5
The build up to sex is done pretty well with lots of teasing that doesn't end in blue balls until magical insertion that so many games do.
Some times there is animation, and it doesn't look too clunky.
All the sex is pretty believable as well.
Sex Frequency: 3.5/5
I held skip through most of it so the frequency seems higher than it is supposed to be. I think a main problem is the grind type of repeating scenes to do all the scenes to unlock the same concept over again, making theone or two sex scenes per event seem spaced out.
Grind: 3/5
The only thing you have to do is click each scene.
So it isn't difficult, just a lot of holding skip through nonsense you've see already for no good reason.
Enjoyment: 4/5
I haven't fully finished it yet. Probably close though. -
t.quill
Great story, Great writing, Perfect animations. Highly recommend to everyone. The creator is regular with the updates and the 'What If' sub-stories are brilliant. Only wish that all the 'What If' stories were made. -
Unicorn Mixer
I'm not a big fan of sandbox-style VN's. But the way this one is put together I might compare it to speed chess. The story is entertaining and holds together with every scenario. Really well thought out. The visuals are from good to great. The story is very good. But the key for me on this one is the sexual scenarios. They are all slightly askew of vanilla in a very pleasing way. Some are just insanely kinky too. Not a boring moment and no grind. Definitely worth playing.