Blankspace
Developer: NoBreadStudio
Publisher: Penguin Pop Games
Platforms: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S (Reviewed), PC
Release Date: Available Now
Price: $9.99 USD – Available Here
Overview
When it comes to a visual novel you never quite know what you’ll be in for. Will it be a straightforward kinetic novel looking to tell its own storyline without player interaction? Could it be one with multiple choices that offer numerous endings or even completely different routes that follow specific characters depending on player choice? Or can it work some other type of mechanic as well, such as offering army commanding or puzzle solving to mix things up even further? This makes the visual novel genre one that, despite having a simple surface, quite a complex one and Blankspace, a visual novel from NoBreadStudio now arriving on consoles via Penguin Pop Games is definitely one that is more than meets the eye, especially at its low entry price.
Story
Players take on the role of Chris who, despite being quite the rowdy partier in life going from what we eventually learn about him, rarely finds himself blackout drunk to the point of not remembering how he got where he is, but that happens to be the case right now. Chris awakens in a strange gray-scale room handcuffed to a pipe where the only thing of any actual color happens to be an aqua-colored hair woman who is similarly cuffed to the leg of a couch and seemingly unconscious. After making enough noise (or better yet, throwing a boot) to wake her up, Chris learns that the girl is named Beryl.
Despite also claiming to have no memory of where they are, Beryl is rather suspicious, as she indicates not only some knowledge already of their predicament but even the location of the first puzzles the pair will need to solve to escape their current predicament, or at the very least escape their set of handcuffs. Even after the pair free themselves from their initial chains, they soon find out that there is far more to this room than might meet the eye as seemingly every object is either bolted in place and those that aren’t are part of a puzzle, with the only door out being locked with no obvious key in sight. Trapped in this strange place with no memory of how he got there and so untrusting of this even stranger girl that players choose to give a fake name to her, it will be up to Chris and Beryl to figure things out and hopefully escape, or perhaps find an even worse fate.
Blankspace is an incredibly interesting visual novel wrapped up in a small package. It leaves players with a lot of questions right off the bat but not only drops a few hints early but happens to reveal the major twists almost right in the middle of the game, revealing most of the biggest secrets at a surprising time. While this could hurt the storytelling for some titles, the writers have managed to pull off this reveal quite well thanks not only to how impactful these revelations are about who these two characters are and the rooms they find themselves trapped in but also the fallout from these reveals. It is worth noting that Blankspace is a title that isn’t afraid to broach some darker subject matter and players should be wary of that as a result and both Beryl and Chris can ironically feel like a perfect match depending on how players choose to interact with her. Both characters are quite bold and sexual with their jokes and interactions as well, making them feel like real characters that players will grow fond of for the short time that they get to actually see them interact with one another.
In the end, depending on how stumped players might be by the puzzles and their reading speed, Blankspace clocks in at roughly three hours in length for a standard playthrough, meaning that this visual novel is quite short when mixing in its puzzle mechanics. That being said, since player choice plays a major factor in how certain scenes play out and the game offers six primary endings and a hidden one with special conditions, there is a lot of replayability here, even if all the puzzle solutions will remain the same. We do wish however that the endings were given a bit extra to go off of in most cases as it appears that even the SFW bonus content originally released for the PC version did not make the jump to consoles. It is also interesting to note that Beryl and Chris’ interactions and dialogue will vary quite a bit depending on how some dialogue choices are made and how mean or crude Chris is when it comes to Beryl, which also plays into the ending results.
Gameplay
Since Blankspace is a blend of a visual novel and puzzle game, players will be spending a roughly equal amount of time doing both, depending of course on their puzzle solving skills. During visual novel scenes players will read along with Chris and Beryl’s interactions and occasionally make choices, some of which seem completely innocuous but, as mentioned before, will factor into how the player is steering towards an ending. When not talking or “thinking” players will find that they can actually freely move around the room or rooms available to them and interact with various items in the world.
Movement is unfortunately done through tapping red arrows in the environment, something that can be tedious and imprecise as Blankspace was originally released on PC. The primary goal of exploring a room is to find the various puzzles that are scattered throughout it, various hints as to how to solve these puzzles that usually are in the environment or mentioned by Beryl, or find an item that can be used to open or help complete a puzzle. In fact, there is even an inventory system where players can select an item to use on an object in the environment or select two items and “combine” them to create a “complete” version usually used to solve or access a puzzle or other item.
The puzzles themselves in Blankspace have quite a lot of variety to them both in how they are solved and their complexity. Some are as simple as finding a few objects to combine and using it to complete said puzzle, others are more complicated and can range from figuring out how to properly decipher what certain symbols might mean or putting together a code using clues gathered around the current room. In fact there are even times players will need to return to old rooms to help complete a puzzle to keep things fresh. This level of variety and challenge feels properly balanced and while there are two puzzles in particular that were quite difficult to solve, eventually figuring them out was quite rewarding, especially since even Beryl asks not to take the easy way out on one of them.
It is interesting to note that while not necessary to complete the storyline by any means, outside of obtaining a highly specific ending, players will find that Blankspace also includes a few optional objectives scattered throughout each room. This includes an elaborate “find the difference” style piece of glowing art hidden somewhere in the environment as well as three of the developer NoBreadStudio’s logos tucked away as well. As mentioned, this is simply bonus material for the most part and having it included is a nice little bonus to the puzzle solving.
Audio & Visuals
It is a bit difficult to discuss Blankspace‘s chosen art style because there is at least a plot reason behind why the rooms players travel through are the way they are. The rooms are presented almost entirely in grey tones with hints of red spread throughout and all have a 3D model to them. As for the character designs Beryl is nicely drawn and has a decent level of fan-service to her outfit, especially in one scene, while Chris’ design is about as over-the-top as they come to the point that it is a bit ridiculous. There are a mix of CGs spread throughout Blankspace as well but for the most part dialogue is handled through the character portraits simply moving slightly and reacting.
It is worth noting that there is no voice work for either of the two characters in the game and even the sound effects are kept to a rather simple. Unfortunately the same can be said about the background music as well as, with one exception, the background music during exploration is incredibly simplistic and while it might provide a decent enough backdrop to exploring the rooms, it doesn’t do it enough to leave any lasting impression. The one exception does involve a spoiler but we will say that fixing an optional item at one point, at least as long as players are heading towards one of the game’s better endings, does have a nice song and sequence as a reward.
Overall
Blankspace offers a surprisingly interesting and well-realized plot hidden beneath its gray-scale surface. The game’s control mechanics are unfortunately rather annoying and its presentation may be a bit lacking though as players learn more about the reality of the characters’ situation it all starts to make sense, just like the many different and varied puzzles they will need to solve to complete the game. It is unfortunately a bit on the short side and while replaying the game to see the many different endings, the fact that all puzzle solutions remain the same does hinder it a bit alongside its short runtime. That being said, Blankspace offers a surprisingly unique and far more detailed storyline than initially meets the eye and feels like a real surprise as a result.
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