VN - Ren'Py - Pale Carnations [Ch. 4 Up 4 Public] [Mutt & Jeff]

I first found this game because it was towards the top of the list for most highly rated/reviewed games on the site. At the time of writing this review, this game is the highest rated game on the site.

I started this game a couple months ago, but was hesitant to try it for two reasons:
1. I've played honey-select looking/DAZ modeled (I'm not 100% sure about the engine/system used here but THIS style) games before and even if the writing was okay, the animation limitations were a pretty big turnoff.
2. Aside from a massive anal fetish, I've never been into anything BDSM oriented. It can even be a bit of a turnoff for me.

Despite those two things, this game has easily become the favorite for me out of the ~30 or so porn games I've played from the site. Everyone is different, but for me, the reason this game is so amazing is because it's actually very believable despite the slightly cartoony looking models.
-Models are unique and gorgeous
-the CHARACTERS are dynamic. Most games fall miserably short here, and some do okay. This game does amazing with developing the characters. The best I've seen in a porn game. Details about real-life bands the girls are into or what their (believable) hopes and dreams are or why someone has the personality they do makes them feel more like real people than any other game I've played here.
-The setting for the game is a fantastic mix of being believable (you know there's a high-end brothel like this in every major city around the world like NYC or Tokyo) and providing tons of opportunities for sexual content without the MC just inexplicably attracting every woman to drool over him. This leads to a plot that is about a hundred times more compelling than the fappable, but not very engaging usual for vn's: college age dude has sex with everyone in sight for little to no reason whatsoever.
-Not everyone will notice this or care much, but for me this is a gamechanger: the music selection in this game builds immersion. It sets the vibe at the dance club, on exhibition nights, when at a girl's house, when having sex, etc. The music selection in this game is the best I've heard yet.
-The game is made of many many stills, but when you get to the animations they are a treat! They tend to be lengthy series of events with high quality rigging/lighting/physics, etc.
-A small one, but again adds to the immersion of the game: the modeled environments are beautiful and interesting.
-edit: I almost forgot one of the most compelling parts about this game to me: the detail in social interaction is kind of amazing to me in this game. I play these games with cheats usually so I can make sure I don't miss anything and with these you can see what turns a girl on, but may upset her at the same time. The complexity and awareness of social dynamics is basically unparalled (although when I first played Being a Dik I didn't play with cheats so that game may come close in this department but I still don't think it beats all the micro facial expressions, body language changes, etc.).

All in all, I felt I had to review this game. It's been much lighter on anal content so far than I would like, but in a non-porn world (which this game is modeling) that is more common in most modern cultures so I don't really have an issue with it! Again, it actually feels believable. The MC feels like someone I empathize and identify with rather than a slimeball or some 2D boring exaggeration of lust. Can't recommend the game enough.

Animations: 5/5
Models: 5/5
Writing: 6/5
Sound: 4.5/5
(not much in game for sex sounds but music is exceptional)
Sexual Content Variety: 4.5/5
(personally I would love to see more anal, but what has been included
is impressive and for non-anal obsessed people, it's a pretty easy 5/5)

This is the Nier Automata of AVNs.

You came for the fap, but you're going to leave questioning if you are true to your own desires and the people around you.

If you aren't seriously reflecting on your philosophy towards life after playing this, you're Killian, and no one likes Killian.

Most AVN's can make me feel horny. A few AVN's can make me feel love. Only one AVN has made me feel HATE, and it is this one. No that isn't a bad thing, it's a wonderful praise for this title. A title that transcends the sums of its parts. At point of Review, Version Ch4.Up1

Visuals or the Devil is in the Details:
4.9/5
First things first, the characters in this game all look distinctive from one another and the females are quite easy on the eyes. Pointed differences in colorations, silhouettes, outfits, and even facial expressions mean that even one-off extras are impossible to confuse for a different character. Which is always a solid start. However once you get into the game, you'll notice that the love, care and most importantly, direction, put into the character models is spread to all artistic aspects of the game. The backgrounds are highly detailed and even almost themed to subconsciously draw out certain emotions or feelings. From the posh red velvet and satins of the club's lounge and bar and its overly ornate decorations of it's furniture to the kitsch decorations of the MC's mother's house to the oh so wonderfully cliché (for a reason) post-modern minimalist yuppie loft the MC moves to. All of this works really well to create a level of immersion for the player as they step into the shoes of the MC. The adult scenes likewise use good work of angles, colors, and perspective to match the rhythm of the scene. The main LI's are all gorgeous and their appearance suits them, sometimes with devilish details meant to evoke resemblance to other characters, on purpose. My only criticism would be that all females seem to have a porn-star rack, but that is almost to be expected for a 3d AVN. so that is my -0.1

Audio or How to Set a Tone
5/5*
Unfortunately many games don't have either the development time or direction to be able to select a BGM that properly fits and elevates a scene. Music, and audio in general, is usually something we don't notice that we notice but proper implementation can really drive home whatever feelings, lust or otherwise, the visual in front of us makes us feel. Sometimes something as small as a single sound effect can shatter your immersion into the game and quickly remind you that you are indeed where you are simply playing a game. On the flipside, good audio typically goes unnoticed as a component because when it does its job, it blends into the writing and graphics in front of you like salt on a steak. PC does a wonderful job of not only having a decent size library of sounds and songs, they typically are used to their full extent fitting in with the story beat. However there is one track in particular that sounds too much like a certain recently popular pop song that I despise and every time the track plays said terrible pop song gets stuck in my head, hence the asterisk on my 5/5.

Writing, or how I Came for the Kink and Stayed for the Story
5/5
The meat and potatoes. Simply put, the writing in PC is transcendent. Some folks have a talent for writing hot smut, but some have a talent for writing. I think the later is true for the devs of this game. Little. Devilish. Details. Everywhere. Lesser writers will write excellent scenes that are held together by transitional ligaments. In contrast, the writing in PC feels holistic in a way. Even what may seem like simple transitions will sometimes remind of themes previously expressed and blend said themes with teasing of themes of the upcoming scene like blood flowing between two organs.
The debauchery and decadence of the kinks shown in this game reflect sometimes too well the decisions the MC has made that put him in said situation. The game relishes the rhythmic dance between lust and empathy as you are consistently forced to choose whether or not to debase and strip away the humanity of these women in your care in order to help further their goals. Its a strange and unique dichotomy your are often presented with. Often times "helping" a LI involves corrupting them and guiding them to give in their carnal desires and relinquishing the discipline to stave off desire that separates man from beast. Hell, the game itself even brings up Maslow and plays with that theme constantly. This is corruption done correctly. Every time you give in to your carnal lusts or encourage another to give in to theirs, there is an emphasis upon how that affects said person's wellbeing psychologically. You are not allowed to forget your shame, you are liberated by it. You must revel in it. Your shame exists to enhance the pleasure of lust, rather than detract from it. Or at least, that's how I interpreted it. That being said, none of this would really matter other than to get you hot and bothered if the game didn't exquisitely demand your empathy with its characters.
The Characters. The characters of this game are where the game truly shines. While a little suspension of disbelief maybe required(depending on your own life experience) to buy into some characters' motivations, the emotional investment I gave them, without realizing it(kudos), absolutely drove me wild. These characters are nothing close to caricature, and instead all have interesting backstories and lives that expertly enhance the situations you will find yourself in with them. You will empathize with them, you will desire them, you may even pity or despise some of them. From a technical standpoint, there is a variety of LI's and side characters for a variety of tastes and the main LI's are all excellently characterized to excruciating details that really bring them to life. This does an excellent job of emotionally manipulating the player in the best way when it comes to interacting with them. There is one character in particular that comes to mind from my experience. She didn't make sense to me, despite seeming quite a bit like multiple people I've had the misfortune of meeting before. This drove my curiosity to explore her path further. As I followed this woman's path and discovered more about her, I began to despise her more, which only served to fuel my curiosity and focus upon her. This eventually paid off in a scene where due to extreme kinkiness and debauchery, she peels away her "gold digging whore" (her words, not mine) façade and eventually reveals her true motivations and philosophy. Finally the nut had cracked and this LI showed a little bit of vulnerability. Normally the payoff in that situation is a feeling of sympathy or empathy or closeness. Instead I felt disgust. Disgust at a fictional character in a fictional setting chock full of terrible, awful people. This woman's philosophy and actions led to the direct result of her unhappiness and she's pointedly aware of that. So what does she do? Does she admit wrongdoing and open up to a different way of life? NO! She doubles down! Then she has the AUDACITY to leverage her power and station to drag you into her world of misery and hopelessness and depression by offering you her ill-gotten money! That, ladies and gentlemen, is the first time I've ever felt actual hatred for a fictional character. I quickly realized this fact and I was confused. I was perplexed. I loved it. Without realizing, the excellent writing of this AVN had gotten me so emotionally invested in it. Which given the previously stated themes of the VN itself, only served to compound the enjoyment I felt. No longer was I the MC being unduly influenced by the decadent and debauched. I was the player, being influenced by Art. All this because I wanted a kinky fap.

Overall or tl;dr
5/5.
A steamy, depraved, and sexy romp through an engaging and addicting story filled with loveable, fuckable, and detestable characters. Resolutely one of the best adult visual novel experiences I've had the pleasure of playing. Given what is already here, I have no doubt it will be a masterpiece upon completion and I look forward to the continued development of this game. A little something for everyone.

Excellent graphics and storyline, as well as a strong music. There is something for everyone, with well-designed and fascinating characters. The in-game universe accommodates a broad range of fetishes, physical kinds, personalities, and scenarios. The game is quite enjoyable to play.

first time play this game, love it . everything is amazing.
art:5
story:5(so many option)
fetish:5 (so many fetish in game love it)
very enjoying when iam play this game, keep good wok, and thankyou for made this beautiful game

Everything about this game is amazing.

The story - Good
The Characters - Amazing
The Choices - Worthy
The Animations - Amazing

All in all, it is easily a top tier game with amazing renders and depending on how it ends, possibly good storyline as well.

I mean what else there to be said? This game is the epitome of weird fetish/bizarre sexual desire done right. What I love the most about this game is that you got the actual options on what your characters behave towards the others, where its not some heartless motherfuckers hanging around without some actual explanation or else, or even bland characters that doesn't have any feelings or empathy to it, even though the overall settings might suggest otherwise but the overall writings and executions made this specific game/vn leave such an impacts to its players,


I can't write a full review yet about this game cause it's not fully finished yet, but if you're not sold yet with this VN, I can assure you this is the best game on this platform, so don't hesitate to try it

The author of this work definitely has a lush imagination.
I had a great time, really all the characters along the way screw with the story.
However, I don't like one thing, that's why I can't give the maximum rating, I would give four and a half stars, but it's impossible.
Why do all the chicks in this game have disgustingly large breasts?
If you had added diversity it would have been more fitting, I'm not a guy who likes big hang-ups, but well, you can see that this game is aimed at such, nevertheless I had a great time and will definitely play at least two more games because I'm curious beyond Hana's story how the story with Mina and Bromance will turn out.

Edit - I played another game, a typical bromance freak and I'm upping my rating to 5 stars, this game deserves it

It's a solid game, in the 3.5-4 range, I'll round up to 4 since it made an attempt at lactation content and the BDSM/domination is aplenty and not just a lip service barely BDSM scene like some games with the tag cop out with. It could use some compression, no game like this needs to crack 5 gig, but since other people have done that I won't dock it any points for it. It's worth a try if you haven't played it, it lives up to it's preview info.

Pale Carnations is something special.

In some games, the writing is good. In some, the humor is good. In some, the visuals are good. In some, the music is good. In PC, nearly every aspect is flawless. TD and GIL manage to make the game flow together as a unit, to an extent which I think no other game on f95 does right now.

The music and the sound effects fits each scene. I remember just staring at Hana for minutes after all the rough sex following the date, as she rides Edwin, piano music plays gently, the soft notes really letting you feel that moment of love and intimacy. That was the moment which gave me a new appreciation for the medium, which is evolving beyond just being something to turn to when we are horny. The power of music in a visual novel. When chosen appropriately, it enhances the whole experience tremendously and immerses you in the world of the characters.

The renders are visually stunning. GIL pushes HoneySelect to its limits. This is one of the best looking games out there. The art style is unique. All the menu buttons are flowery, to fit in with the "Carnations" theme. All of the main girls look very beautiful. I especially love Hana and Felicia's looks. Veronica is built like a bodybuilder and wears glasses. How many games do you get a main girl like that? The women at the club are all very sexy. The costumes of the house girls are super hot and really give you a sense of the club's decadence and the power of its members that they can get them to be wearing these and serving them, indulging in their every depraved whim. Playing Go with uncle Chuck using a beautiful woman's ass as board. Hot! The animations are smooth and fluid. Especially in the later chapters.

Every single character is interesting. The girls each have problems like real people and are not there just to be conquered, as in a dating sim. Hana with her diseased mother and father whom she despises. Under her hard exterior, she needs comfort and love. Rose with her daughter. The one thing in her life which keeps her going. Veronica with her gym. That is all she has. Felicia with her need of independence and some power for herself after realising she has zero ability to protect the things/people she loves. Mina as wholesome and adorable as she is, still sees her boyfriend cheating on her with his old maid, which leaves her scarred and never having experienced true romantic love.

The other characters at the club are interesting too. Kathleen with her sadistic pleasure, gets pleased and acts like a mentor to Edwin if you go on her path. Ian goes far beyond the usual supportive male friend character who is there just for comic relief, having existential and family problems of his own. Even though he's an asshole, he's a true bro in every sense of the word. In my opinion, Edwin doesn't appreciates him as much he should. I really like it when Ian says under his breath "I don't like it when you bend over for that bitch". More subtle moments of friendship please.

The dialogue is funny, and self-aware. It is written the way people would actually speak. I love Kat's monologues at the start of an event. The banter with Hana is fun. The characters feel like actual people , when they speak. Especially the women, which is very hard to do, for a male writer. TD is really good with dialogue.

Cons: I genuinely find it hard to think of a fault. Maybe that the affection numbers don't make much sense relative to each other in the statistics menu. That is a minor gripe.

I've seen the argument that the women doing all these depraved activities for money is not realistic and there are other ways. It doesn't really matter at all. Events which seem overly convenient if you analyse them further, will be there in every story, be it Star Wars, or Jurassic park. Its there for the story to happen, in an entertaining way. Assume it and move on to what actually happens to the characters and how they react to the events.

Final thoughts:
I have played this game 6 times now. That's how much I like it. It gets the highest recommendation from me. If you think you can get used to the brothel setting and the kink, you definitely owe it to yourself to play through this masterpiece.

I am not a fan of the extreme sexual torture and other tags. In fact, I am pretty vanilla in my tastes. Anal sex is the most extreme thing I am into.

Despite this "drawback", when it comes to this game, I think this is incomparable to any other porn VN. People have gone gaga over several other games in the past. They absolutely blow in writing compared to this game. Yes, even the ones you are thinking about.

But the key is to approach this game with reading in mind.

Despite the heavy dose of sex scenes in the game, which are often full of content. If you know anything about good books and good writing, you'll appreciate the pacing -- the ebb and flow of events and dialogue. As far as Porn goes, this is god-tier.

Granted, it's not actually flawless, as I am not a superfan of the premise or the extreme sex. But I still think this is one of the best things out there. It's definitely worth a try, as the depth of characters and plot can't be beat. But again, within this genre -- which is saddled with such a shitty writing standard that several games are supposedly amazing in their writing, when they're actually well below average in any other genre.

Despite the graphics not being amazing technically speaking, the visual design is actually top notch. Each character stands out, have their own look, and are easily recognized. The overall look of the game is consistent with its characters, and everything fits perfectly. There are several games that match the visual design, and also top on the graphics. But that hardly matters with the best writing in the genre.

I think it's the best adult visual novel I've ever played
The story is good and imporant in this game
The production team has perfected the story through quality animation, rich dialogue, and great character design
The different backgrounds of the female characters, their personalities and the stories that accompany them are well presented throughout the game and stimulate the player to think
In this process, the producers have also kept the importance of player choice in check, no more, no less.
For some moment, i feel like I was in MC‘s position facing hard choices, amazing experiences
Have a try, this is the best you can find on the market
is a crying shame that this game could not on steam.
10/10

A very, very decent game.
"But there's one thing. The game reveals itself at its best only if you are able to put yourself in the place of the character. Live his life and empathize with him. If you, like the main character, are able to watch in disgust as a woman tries to provide a better life for her child by putting herself on a wooden cock in front of a crowd of elderly rich men, or as an "Amazon" drinking rotten sperm for her lifelong dream, but feel the base lust reinforced by the opportunity to take advantage of women's vulnerability - you'll love it.
Animations are very good. Models are decent. The music is nice. Playing and supporting the author is advised.

Ch. 4 U1

Nothing overly interesting about story, but for some reason I was hooked on reading.

I'll cut to the chase: Team Mina 'n' Hana. These two...it's just crazy. I'm sure there was steam coming from my nose and ears.

Carnations written interesting and each of them feels unique.

Didn't like Killian's character. Very contradictory person with balance of the scales is leaning to the dickhead much more.

A lot of intimate moments without sex. Not a fan.

Game is pretty big as of now, I've spent several nights going through.

TL;DR: try it, it's good.

PS: Steam release pretty please. Godspeed.

Very Good game. Good animations, nice and detailed faces. The Character Story is reasonable and exciting. Sex Love Drama in a nice mixture. A little more copmplications, a littel more kink puts this game much closer to normal reality (for a sex game) than those smoothe running novels.
Performance is good, no blueecrren or anything

EDIT: Unfortunately this game loses a single star and gets this added qualifier. The latest updates have shifted the focus from grotesque kinkiness to boring character relationships and the main plot. There's still a lot of good here, but it is headed in a disappointing direction.

Pale Carnations may not be the best game on this site... yet. Because it certainly promises to beat its competitions by leaps and bounds. Currently it is a fantastic effort with loads of choice, believable characters (despite the outrageous and hyperbolic premise), extremely hot models and creative sex scenes. Despite all the insane fetishes and lewdness, I find myself remembering the first bathroom sex with one of the female leads the most; compared to most of the game's sex, it's very basic, but it is set up so well and plays into the primary kinks at play so well, it just shows this game's massive potential better than anything.

The game's only weakness is basically that you have to suspend your disbelief at times to make some of the female leads' motivations make sense. Well that, and the stereotypical dudebro "best friend" of the MC. Besides that, this is just a great game which might become my favorite NSFW-game ever once it's finished.

Choices had impact, which made each roadblock of answering a question that much more engaging. The elements that made the game pop is the renders that give suburb ability to judge motion. Having a sense of direction while being realistic enough not to be seen as a over reach of the human frame.

Update 08/26/2023, Chapter 4, Update 3: Since the time of writing, update 2 gave us more Mina followed by update 3's lengthy date with Veronica, and both continued the previous trend of lengthy, well-written, well-animated thrilling updates put out in record time. Everything I've written below still holds, and I'm tempted to call this game the GOAT. While Veronica's scene wasn't exactly my cup of tea, it was still exceptionally detailed and written, from the set up to the pay off to the important moments after, and the same is true of the Mina update prior. Not much else to add. Still 5/5.

TL/DR version: One of the best adult visual novels currently in production. An excellent moral choice system where you can reasonably choose between being a nice guy or an easily corrupted asshole with rewarding adult content no matter which way you lean, spectacular best-in-class adult scenes with believable and lengthy setups with excellent dialogue, gorgeous stills, and multiple stages of high quality animations, all of which are held up by a well-written and engaging story result in this being one of my all-time favorite finds on F95. 5 out of 5.



It's almost unheard of for a game to be accused of containing adult scenes that go on for too long, but this is an accusation I’ve seen levied at Mutt & Jeff’s Pale Carnations. To me, these claims read more like high praise pretending to be criticism. In the latest update (Chapter 4) the focus is almost entirely on one date with one character, and the payoff of three previous chapters of off-and-on introductions, flirting, and courtship. Mutt and Jeff clearly wanted to reward players for following this character’s route and for sticking with the flirtations up to this point with an end-of-date payoff that probably took them months to write, frame, and animate. It seems to go on forever, and I love them for it.



There are already hundreds of reviews saying roughly the same thing that I’m about to write, so I’ll keep this brief.



Pros:

Character design is top notch. Characters are distinct and, after playing through roughly 80+ visual novels, have no equal in terms of rendering quality and design. You’ll never mistake one character for another, nor will you find yourself thinking, “Hey, haven’t I seen her in *insert other VN here*?”



Adult animations are fluid, have a high frame rate, are well-staged, and are bracketed by exceptional dialogue and still frames which connect them. You’ll never find a character jumping from a blow job animation to a missionary sex one, but will have important still frames and dialogue maintaining the flow of the scene. Characters also do not instantly lose all their clothes. Scenes progress naturally as they might in real life, and it makes the payoff all the more satisfying.



I won’t go into details about the story as that would ruin one of the best parts of the game. You’re a somewhat nerdy college student who agrees to help out at a high end brothel during a time when they are hosting a rather brutal game. Several contestants are subjected to various humiliations in front of a crowd once a week with the promise of their (usually) financial debts being settled. You can either help out somewhat half-heartedly and play as the nice guy in a tough situation, or you can embrace the humiliation and even make it worse if you so desire. Do you want to lovingly masturbate a voyeur on stage while whispering sweet nothings that bring her to a spectacular orgasm, or do you want to roughly rail her against a beam before tossing her to the ground in front of the audience? The authors clearly have a destination in mind and put a great deal of time into writing a compelling story. The adult content comes organically from the story rather than feeling tacked on, and it makes a big difference.



Music and sound effects? Hooray! Background music is well-chosen and sets the mood for scenes, with some of them gaining some fame in the community as being a signal that an adult scene is about to get to the good part. There are numerous sound effects, but the one for cumming? Perfect choice. Not too cheesy or over-the-top but just right.


I began playing Pale Carnations over a year ago before Mutt & Jeff had begun using animations, and it was a 5 out of 5 then. I initially criticized their switch to animations as I found their use of dialogue and still frames were more than enough to get the job done, but I’ve since reversed that position. A great story, good audio, and well-written and animated adult scenes that check all the right boxes. Throw in a moral choice system that is equally rewarding to the nice guy as it is to the corrupt asshole, and you’ve got a solid contender for the GOAT.



5 out of 5.

Yet another porn game where I don't even feel required to have my cock out, simply because the story and characters are so good I don't NEED gratuitous smut to keep playing.

But for real, these models are my absolute favorite for porn games, and these girls are definitely beyond attractive, Veronika and Hana in particular. Yum. I also love that the MC isn't some giga chad, and you get to sorta shape him as a character, not many games like this give you that freedom. I really appreciated a game where the goal wasn't 'sex up everything' but actually feels like you're taking part in an unfolding narrative, making the story the focus instead of the porn. Very brave, and it definitely works.

The biggest thing I appreciate about this game is that, while most games with choices I feel like playing the 'good guy' angle, in Pale Carnations I didn't feel like there WAS good or bad choices, and even when you take a negative hit with a character all it does is take the relationship in a different direction.

So yeah, there's SEVERAL serious topics in this game, a lot of which I think are meant for we, the players to reflect on even as we enjoy this game, but the smart and witty writing, realistic personas and gorgeous art all wrap into a very enjoyable package.

My only complaint would be the animations. The few that there are, are most definitely rocky...but nothing that truly detracted from the game.

EDIT: I take the last bit back. The animations take a CONSIDERABLE jump in quality in the later chapters. Like night-and-day.

This might come off as pretentious but tbh, I don't know any other way to respond this game lmao.

The Meiko Kaji avatar, the Fulci reference... Those who reject this game out of hand due to some tags they might disagree with are missing out. This is probably, at from the visual preferences that guides me in choosing a game, the only well-written game of its kind. Even disregarding the transgressiv performance of the narrative and its parts... The pacing is on point, the ebb and flow of the interactions, the retreats and pushes, not letting the electricity of touch come its full conclusion, playing around the erotic, slowly tracing a path toward its implosive moment. Pure lust, pure eroticism.

The explicitness of the show juxtaposed with the personal, the two parts of the erotic, of its wish to be as close as can be, of pushing boundaries and thereby reaching a fulfilment of a person, which is the breaking of the taboo. I couldn't bear to finish. I stopped in the middle of the Hana scene, after just having cried and laughed at the same time. Both because of the reminisence it evoked, the very real feeling of that moment in a distant past. Especially that sequence when the MC urged Hana to release her grip, as he wanted to resume control, ringed so true, that primal moment of pure eros, if wanting to become one with the other which is so incredibly real, which drives these relations... Very well-done.

Really, even if someone balks at some of these tags, at least give it a go, skip through Carnation events and the "NTR" or whatever you want to call it, and relish in the more normalised events. They are for sure without comparison in this space. If they don't evoke memories of your own, know that they are true to life in a way that nothing on this site comes close to.