What a gem. I just started playing this a few days ago, and it has really stuck in my mind. I had seen it on the Latest Updates page from time to time, and other threads around here, and it was in my "to play" directory for a long time, but I had just never gotten around to it, mainly because of the HS graphics, and the overall theme from the brief description seemed interesting, but didn't grab me immediately.
But, when I started the game, I could see right away that the dialog is really very good. You slowly start to see more and more depth to the characters as this game progresses. I love how each character does not fit into the little box that they would inhabit in most games here. The MC himself starts out as the blank-slate "good-guy" that I see in many games here, but with time, you can see he can subtly change based on his choices throughout the game.
Every other character starts out seeming like one thing, but expands from that simple definition more and more as the game continues. Rosalind starts out as the "mother type", but is showing more and more signs of inner power, which you can see flashes of in some scenes. It is still early, but I can tell that we will see more and more of her true motivations with time. Felicia starts out looking like the easy spurned wife, but despite her vivacious nature, there is a fierce intelligence behind her eyes. I loved how in the first Carnation scene she was the only one to really try to analyze the situation, and adjust her dialog and behavior to match the MCs preferences. I thought she should have won the competition there, just because the other two women just played to their type regardless of how the MC behaved. But it was up to the judges in the audience, so they might not have seen it.
Veronica, while I didn't like her character much at first, grows on you. See seemed one-dimensional at the start, and I am not usually into muscular, overly dominant women, but she slowly starts to open up, and you can see that she is struggling with her inner nature, which isn't just a need for dominance, and it is fun to see. And Kathleen, what a well written character. You start off thinking of her as a business woman, then you see her sadism start to show, but I still get the sense that there is more behind her character than we are seeing. I hope that we can see a little more of her background, to understand her better, and see that there is more depth to her motivations, and that she can show other qualities as well. I am not clear yet, for example, if the MC can help her grow as a character, past her sadistic and selfish tendencies, but I would love to see this. Her character has great potential. Even the relationship with Killian is great. Usually all male characters in these games are sidelined immediately, but I can tell that there is real affection between the MC and Killian, and he is a good foil to play against, good-naturedly.
I could go on and on (too late, haha), but my overall point is that the writing is excellent, and the complexity of most of the characters is far above what I typically see in other VNs here, even ones that I like that I consider top-tier. Great job to the devs for turning what could have been a straightforward story, with cliched stock characters, into something much more interesting, where each character reveals more and more depth and growth as the game progresses.
The graphics are surprisingly great. I generally stick with DAZ games because of the much better graphics and realism, but there are a few HS games I enjoy a lot due to the story (HH, OIAL, a few others). I thought OIAL had the gold medal for pushing the HS graphics quality as far as possible but the Gil and TD have have done an amazing job making the graphics stand out here. I really don't know how they do it. Clearly with lots of mods, but I am very surprised by the high graphics quality they were able to achieve with HS graphics. They have done a great job with both character design, making each character look unique and outside the typical HS mold, and overall graphical quality.
Finally I have to mention the sex scenes. I usually play these games for the story, with the sex scenes as a fun bonus, and something to look forward to eventually, but the dialog, story, and character growth is what drives me to play these games and holds the most sway for me in how much I enjoy the game. So for me, character comes first, then dialog is a close second, then story, and then finally the sex scenes. Some of my favorite games don't have the best sex scene mechanics, or visuals, but with Pale Carnations, the sex scenes here are very good. The combination of choices of the MC, the women's budding personalities showing through, and the situation itself, make the sex scenes very hot. I loved the scenes with Kathleen, and the ability to surprise her a bit, that was a lot of fun. And the carnations scene with Felicia was amazing. I loved the little whispered dialog between her and the MC. I would have loved it to be a lot longer, but I understand that it was limited due to the constraints of the story and scene itself. I hope to see a lot more like that in the future.
All in all, Pale Carnations was a very pleasant surprise, and I enjoyed playing it immensely. The devs have really made something special, and I very much look forward to seeing how things progress with each of the characters, and how the MC guides his character, based on the choices and directions he goes in the game.
