VN - Ren'Py - Completed - A Petal Among Thorns [v6.0.2-RE] [Lockheart]

Loved it from start to finish. Loved how Petal wasn't overly exaggerated when it came to breast size. If you are a fan of small breasts, gripping storyline, and well thought out plots, then this game is for you.

PROS
+ The characters feels quite lively, and immersive, especially Petal, she is really lovely, and cute, and her interactions with the MC is quite funny, and cute as well, along with how compatible they are with their humor, playfulness, etc. And they have some pretty good bond going on as well with how they helped each other with problems they have, stuff going on in their head, or how, and why Petal feels things she feels about to MC, etc.
+ Sex scenes are animated, and most of them are decent, even tho we have some static bad animations as well.
- Visual style, and quality, is decent, and Petal's design is good.

CONS
- Dialogues are nice, and all, but sometimes they feel too much, and overhelming because of reading too much dialogue back, and forth, and the game feels bit to slow-burn as well.
- The sex talk is bit awkward on most points, especially when MC tries to joke around, that's kind of mod killer for sure.
- Existence of Chuck, Wendy, and things revolved around them is probably biggest con of this game. First of all how they got involved with thing going on between MC & Petal was annoying, and unnecessary, things would be fine without writers involving them, in fact would be way better if they didn't exist in first place, how Chuck catches MC & Petal was quite awkward, and like he knowing wasn't enough snitch Chuck even went out his way to say his girlfriend Wendy as well. Secondly Chuck feels like created to rub on us how unlucky we are ''I don't know man, whatever I touch becomes gold'' says millionare Chuck who did almost nothing to earn that money. For the third like the whole thing wasn't awkward enough writers decided to add traumatic past to both Chuck & Wendy, for Chuck it's things his father done to him while he was child, and for Wendy it's things his brother done to her while she was child, both were awkward, and quite unnecessary, only thing it does is ruining the whole cute, and lovely development going on between MC & Petal.
- The whole blindfold thing was quite unnecessary, and kind of ruined the progress MC & Petal was making.
- Obviously the game lacks variety since we have only one love interest.
- Choices doesn't matter, and as a player you have no control over the story.
- The game doesn't have good amount of content to justfy the slow-burn, since it ends after the climax of the game without rewarding players like it should.

VERDICT
The game was good at first hours, but especially with Chuck coming into story quality starts to drop, things become awkward, and lost the magic, I wouldn't call it's terrible game, but for sure it's poor because of ruining the great potential the game had with a lot unnecessary things.

Looking at recent reviews, it's good to know that I'm not the only one disappointed by this VN. I've been patiently waiting for the trilogy to be completed. I waited years to pick up the story, so when Over The Moon was completed a few days ago, I went into A Petal Among Thorns with good expectations.

And indeed, the first 30-40% of the game was good. It's one of the few VNs that get the slow burn aspect right. It's well-written and entertaining enough to keep you engaged and always looking forward to the next step. You know that it'll happen, but the build up is half of the fun. And... that's where the compliments end. Because unfortunately, the payoff doesn't justify the build up.

Writing & Characters:
Visuals & Sexual Content:
Conclusion/TL;DR:
Pure disappointment. I'll still try to read the sequels because I'm genuinely hopeful that things get at least a little bit better, but on its own, this VN genuinely sucks ass. The MC is awful, the sex scenes are unsexy, and the payoff to all that great build up feels like a scam. If you're just thinking of starting the trilogy but aren't as patient as me, then reconsider. It's really not worth it. There's a different father/daughter game here that took HEAVY inspiration from Petal Among Thorns, and I actually liked that one more. I saw some people saying that Over The Moon ruined the trilogy, so... was this supposed to be the good one? Fucking hell.

Writing: ★★★☆☆
Visuals: ★★★☆☆
Sexual Content: ☆☆☆☆☆
Personal Enjoyment: ★☆☆☆☆

Also, I thought it was fitting to end this review with an excerpt that perfectly represents this game in a nutshell:
MC: "Don't forget to thank your waiter before you leave."
Petal: "Wait, what? What does that even mean?"
MC: "I'm not good at sex talk, I don't know what I'm saying. It sounded better in my head."
Petal: "You don't have to talk, just fuck me harder!"

Yeah, the eponymous "Petal" is cute, but that's about it. The fact that she'd spend more than a few hours with the uber-doofus/pussy/coward of a father-figure is a huge minus for her character; I mean, she's attracted to THIS GUY?? Yikes! If only every player were related to him, maybe we'd see the magnetism...
Because, spoiler/not spoiler: he is the antithesis of attractive. At least to me. And proabably 97% of females who might ever come close to playing this here...game? Nah, Kinetic story with a few "choices" thrown in as a bone. But seeing as how most AVN players are manboys, somehow that's...different? I don't get it. Either way, he's an absolute noodj.
Really, if it's ONLY incest you want to see, and are willing to put up with a shit ton of "edging" (no, 'cause "edging" means you're having an erotic experience), slow-ass burn with jokes that aren't funny -- go for it. Otherwise, pass. I hear this one is the best of the trilogy! -- Good luck.
Oh and MC is apparently a comedian? Best joke in the whole series!

This is primarily a two character story. The daughter is one of the greatest characters I've ever encountered in a VN while the father is one of the worst. In VN's, males are typically either too pathetic or too studly, and this guy is both. Tall, broad-shouldered, super muscular dude with a strong jaw? Too manly. Let's balance it out by giving him the maturity of a six-year-old. This guy is a professional comedian who isn't funny, but tries to be because he lacks the maturity to handle challenging moments like an adult.

The story sucks because the good old fashioned taboo romance is ruined by some pseudoscientific quirk.

The reason this gets four stars is we get a whole lot of Petal. She's the cute, wily, adorable, vivacious aggressor and adult in the relationship. The only thing sad about her is her taste in men.

While this is the first installment in a trilogy, the latter two installments are notably inferior as Petal eventually takes a backseat.

the character writing is not fun, better than bad, but not good enough to need play time from me especially as story is restricted in a room between 2 people. Taboo of the setting is not felt, the best thing I can say about this game is that is is okay for an incest game, which is not good enough for me

then -- it's not one of my favorite games. I still call them games because everybody calls them games but they're much much more than that. Anyway, it didn't engage me 100 percent. The visual novel is a psychological journey through the minds of the main characters. I can't stand visual novels where the mailman comes in and.... who are you? the mailman? what a big dick you have. Please stick it up my ass.
Instead, this is a good story with a lot of psychology in the dialogues. I liked it 75%. The author paid so much attention to the dialogues that were fundamental to the story, and those were really satisfying. Unfortunately, in the transitions between important moments he fell into such a high level of banality that it made you want to stop playing.
I understand that to do everything right you can't finish a game in two years. That left the story as a diamond in the rough, though. Some moments were of tremendous intensity. Moving. A punch in the gut. But others.... ridiculous, approximate, boring, trivial.
That said for me the author deserves a 5 if not a 6 or 7. He should be more thorough, though. What lies in between important moments should be up to par. The way I see it better a game released in an extra year but without trivial and stupid moments.

EDIT: I'm lowering my rating from 5 to 2 stars after reading the last chapter of the trilogy, which ruined the entire project.

Decent game but the whole plot of the ex wife is terrible. MC is a total cuck loser in that. Honestly made the game unplayable, it just made no sense in the story and killed any positive feelings for this game. Would be 5 stars if it wasn't for that.

the dialogue is weird, the comedy is bad (one-liners spam), and the story is campy. the renders are very high quality so they basically carry the game. i'd give this a worse rating if i wasn't treating it as a forgettable intro game to the sequel.

I love daddy/daughter incest, so i want so much to like this game... but it's SO boring!
Too much (and cringe) text and a plot that pretends to be slow burn, but it's only excuse to nothing happens for a long time.
I'm not masoquist enought to finish this game, but i'm pretty sure the sex is gonna be endgame.
I don't know why a lot o devs do this. If you don't actually have a story to tell, don't pretend, you aren't fooling anyone.

That said: the daughter model is perfect. She is beautiful. But that's all lol

Amazing. The art is great and Petal is an incredible mix of assertive and submissive.

Includes some fetishes, but keeps them light and accessible enough that they may appeal regardless if they're fetishes of yours already.

"A Petal Among Thorns" seemed to revolve around a romantic story between a mature man and a young girl (father&daughter), but it turned out to be disappointing. It is challenging to provide an objective review due to the focus on teasing, sex denial, roleplay (puppy girl - master), mild BDSM and similar themes. While these elements are not personally appealing, I will share my impressions of the experience.

The characters engage in excessive dialogue. While I enjoy reading, their conversations often feel artificial, unrealistic, and trivial. They discuss random topics, like when they are sitting on the sofa to watch a movie on TV that is unrelated to the story. I found it challenging to endure the lengthy and tedious dialogues about nonsensical matters. Additionally, the MC, who attempts to be a comedian, consistently makes poor, cheesy jokes that are cringeworthy and unpleasant to read. Despite the technically well-written nature of the dialogues, they lack colloquial language and instead resemble two literature scholars conversing due to the abundance of adjectives used.

Petal is a visually attractive character, beautifully rendered. She exhibits a strong sexual obsession with the MC, resembling a complex akin to Electra or other psychological themes. Petal's sexual advances towards the main character are thwarted by him. He is depicted as having a high libido masked by moral righteousness, establishing rules and boundaries to manage Petal's sexual urges in a methodical manner. This ultimately results in an uncomfortable and cringe-inducing scenario. Additionally, the nonchalant attitude towards BDSM activities, including Petal's desire of being deflowered while handcuffed (WTF!), feels totally out of place and weird. The absence of intimate moments, such as kissing (they never make out) and foreplay, kill the romance and further detracts from the narrative.

There are a few choices to make in the game, but they appear to be inconsequential as there are no alternate paths; the story follows a linear progression. The renderings are of acceptable quality, and the brief yet hot erotic scenes leave one wanting more, playing into the theme of "denial". The moaning sound effects during sex scenes add eroticism, but they are limited in number. The background music serves its purpose in complementing the dull dialogues, with its soothing tones even causing drowsiness on a couple of occasions.

In summary, the story is overly dense with lengthy dialogues filled with unnecessary details and nonsensical elements that do not contribute to the plot but rather induce boredom. The MC lacks charisma and even Petal, with her psychological peculiarities, fails to captivate. This visual novel progresses at a slow pace, offering an average number of erotic scenes (12, by my count). If you enjoy tease and denial, mild BDSM, and roleplay, then this VN may be suited to your preferences.

Review of v6.0.2-RE

A Petal Among Thorns is a the definition of a 3.5 for me. It does everything it's trying to do well, but what it's trying to do is often frustrating.

The game is about an adult girl seducing her father in a week. Despite this obviously being a fantastical premise, Lockheart chooses to tell it in a down to earth manner, and Lockheart does this successfully. The mc doesn't have substantial romantic or sexual feelings towards his daughter at the start of the week, whereas she does, and so he takes a lot of convincing. This ties into his insecurities about sex which we learn about; that storyline is told convincingly.

Throughout the entire playtime we hear his inner thoughts increasingly desiring sex, while outwardly he is timid and constantly trying to slow things down. Meanwhile his daughter is constantly asking him to dominate her, but he never does. That makes sense in the story, but it can be very frustrating for horny players. Even worse, during their sexual interactions both characters start to engage in some very hot dirty talk - "I'm your fucktoy" this, "I'll fuck you anywhere I want" that - but none of it materialises into anything real. And while the dirty talk is mostly high quality, we still get some typical AVN awful comedy. "Scrambling eggs" has to be one of the worst terms for sex ever coined. Lockheart was clever in giving the mc a backstory as a failed comedian, but can we please keep the jokes out of the sex scenes?

Visually, A Petal Among Thorns is a delight. Petal's model is excellent, all the renders look great, and the animations are smooth and actually look like sex rather than lego pieces being pushed together. The sex scenes are hot but not quite hot enough for me, partially because everything is so vanilla.

The real reason to play this is because it leads into A Moment of Bliss, which is like this game but better in every way. I had to struggle through quite a few moments in this game, but it was definitely worth it for the sequel.

TL;DR Chuck is the mvp.

This might be one of the best build up games of all time. The renders and character models were fantastic.
The ending was perfectly worked to match the energy of the next game. Good job Dev and keep working for us please.

Note: This is the first game of Lockheart's 'The Rose Garden Trilogy'. 'A Petal Among Thorns' (APAT) has recently been remastered with some changes to the story and narrative, and an updated look for Petal.
Having downloaded APAT a few months back, I only realized after finishing Chapter 1 that I was on an outdated version. For completeness, I restarted the game on 6.0.2.

TL;DR: If you like strong storytelling and characterization, and don't mind incest, then I'd suggest you play this game. There's a lot of teasing and edging happening, which puts this it in the erotic category. If you're just playing for the porn, you'll be frustrated.

General:
Text size is on the larger end, if it's too large, it can be resized using SHIFT+A. The game includes a configurable textbox, something I always appreciate.
The upside of the larger font, is that it's clear when it's italicized when showing the MC's inner thoughts. The game also includes a gallery for players to revisit the quality sex/erotic scenes.

By default, the MC is named 'Chester', and he'll be the 'Guardian' of his 'Ward', Petal, who is 18. Petal will call Rose her Keeper.
Because the genre includes father/daughter and incest in its list, I decided to change these default to be more in-line with an incestuous relationship after the game prompted for it.
Petal's age can't be changed, which, I think, is a good thing for continuity and coherence of the story.

Visually, the game is very appealing. The cabin is a great setting, providing a fully furnished environment for the story to take place.
Animations are well done, but aren't flawless. Some will suffer from the typical 'sliding into each other'-movement, while others (mostly in the latter chapters) will overuse the camera's zoom function.

The main draw for me for this game is its story, atmosphere, and writing.
The MC and Petal engage in actual conversations about their escalating relationship, they talk about boundaries and their likes/dislikes. All of these conversations also serve their purpose in the greater overarching story, of the MC and Petal growing closer and more intimate.

A main theme of APAT is black and white-thinking. Both Petal and the MC fall into this trap. Petal has very black and white views that align with a naive young adult's. People are good or evil, things are good or bad. The MC adopts this extreme way of thinking when it concerns his past and current trouble, with him blaming himself for it all. He wants to be a good provider, but he doesn't step up.

Spoilers below!

Characters:


Background:

It feels like this characters actually has a chemistry and relationship and dialog between them fun to read even they are sometimes awkward and this game has a lot of edging if you want fast fap this isnt for you story take times develop.

I am not sure how this is so well liked, as I am not able to get through this. Almost every sentence reads awkwardly. Most are overwritten, the daughter and dad basically sound the same, and the comedy is just not really funny. And no, that was not an appropriate usage of touché.

For an example of the writing: Dad: "Ugh. I feel like the life has been sapped out of me. I can barely move.", when the dad is feeling a bit ill.
Daughter/Petal: "Here you go, daddy. It's a cool, moist cloth for your head. It should help."

No one talks like this. It's a strange mixture of descriptive text to set the scene, mixed in with actual dialogue. It's jarring.

I give up.

Very well presented problem of incest. Without oversimplification and without overlooking the often disastrous psychological consequences.

The build-up of desire itself and the fact that taking consent to fulfill a daughter's dream is not a simple matter for a father is also realistically portrayed.

Probably the sweetest VN porno experience out there; simple, relaxing and just pulled my heartstrings; can't wait for the rest of the trilogy.
Top notch pacing with the reverse corruption/temptation theme.
If you are going to focus on just 1 girl in a game, this is the way to do it.
You know a game is good if others are trying to copy his style.

4.3/5 (rounded up)

Really high tier and great, game has beyond more then enough fleshed out reviews so just dropping a quickie as a thanks and unfortunate sequel I recommend skipping.

4.1/5
Sequel -.4 (because the sequel is very almost needed and is again imo best skipped)

-.3
Could have used a bit less of the teasing of characters to come (which again unfortunately the sequel should be skipped which makes this worse)

-.1
Not the highest end thing in any category but for sure high compared to vast majority in most of them

-.1
All other minor things