I played Ch. 3 Update 3 shortly before Ch. 3 Update 4 was released. I replayed from the start just to get to enjoy this masterpiece again. I've held off on a review, needing time to find something critical to write as counterbalance to my exuberance for this project. I've enjoyed quite a few adult games and visual novels, probably a few dozen. Maybe I haven't played enough or the right ones, because I've never read or played anything that can be compared with this VN. The TLDR is that Pale Carnations is stunning, both visually and literarily. You're doing yourself a disservice if you ignore this gem.
That said, I'll offer some warnings to less flexible or more sensitive readers out there. If you're looking for either a light bdsm thrill or an uncomplicated love story, this won't scratch those itches. If your goal is for MC to accrue a harem of adoring sex slaves, it isn't in the game yet, and I'd be surprised if that's where it's headed. If you want an open world to expore and choose your own path, let me remind you that this is a visual novel. If you have need of a protagonist white knight fighting every perceived injustice on behalf of all women everywhere, this isn't that. Basically, the protagonist is a good guy, but, like a real person, he has less-than-altruistic desires and urges occasionally influencing his impulse control. There is content featuring prostitution, humiliation, degradation, misogyny, abuse of power, and more, and a quite a bit of it pretty unavoidable. You'll play as a character committing, contributing to, or allowing several of these acts. You can influence several scenes to some extent, but there isn't a monogamy & missionary-only mode for this game. You'll be faced with behaving cordially, sometimes friendly, with many of the worst perpetrators. A core concept in the game is people choosing to behave outside their sexual comfort zone, motivated to do so by rich elites for their own perverse entertainment. If that's how you define rape and that outrages you, just move on. Really, all the squicky elements are well handled, and it's all disclosed in the tags.
The writing:
The first thing to note is the writing is immaculate. You'll never be distracted by poor grammar, sentence structure, spelling, or word choice. The only exceptions I noticed are two forgivable uses of "conscientious" when I believe "self-conscious" was the more appropriate word choice. On that note, the vocabulary isn't childish, but nor is it complicated or pretentious. The skillful execution of the technicalities of good writing allows one to focus on the narrative, and oh man is this a compelling story. The plot, briefly put, centers around a young man who is convinced to accept employment at a high-end brothel/sex club for the powerful and wealthy. This premise is not just a vehicle for a slide-show of fetishes and kinky sex, though there is plenty of that. The premise is, like all AVNs, a vehicle to introduce the MC to hot chicks, but more uniquely, an opportunity for us to view and somewhat influence the main character's navigation of the disparity between his base compulsions and his ethical principles in the face of a intense temptation and the context of a sympathetic backstory. His character is troubled by his actions, his compulsions, and the situations of those around him whom he cares for. Which brings me to the second way that Pale Carnations rises above the standard. These characters aren't simple avatars of clichéd tropes. The psychology, history, and motivations of most characters is explored or reflected on. Because they are written as real people with realistic emotions and needs, they are likeable in a way that porn games don't usually achieve. Their backstories are fully developed, and their personalities are both believable and consistent. There are breaks from character that might be surprising, but never preposterously so, never more than one sees in the real world. Given the unusual and trying circumstances that give rise to these character breaks, they feel organic and natural: character growth. The most notable and most important character that is developed is the protagonist, the player character. In Pale Carnations, the main character isn't a faceless cardboard cut-out for the player to puppet through their own fantasies. While the player is given some options on how the MC can act, the internal monologue is written in first-person. The MC is his own fully-developed character, not an nebulous stand-in for you. His emotionally intelligent deliberation on psychology and ethics never feels overbearing. Rather, it is artfully juxtaposed with clever dialogue and rich storytelling. The descriptions of places, things, actions, and people are gripping and always tonally consistent. Dialogue is so very well delivered. No word feels unnatural, except where intended. Reactions and replies make sense, conveying believable emotion. There's plenty of witty retorts and humorous observations. Using renpy to add comedic (and dramatic) timing to conversations is far above and beyond what one expects from visual novels. My favorite examples of this are most dialogues with Hana, especially a scene where she sits on MC's chest and they discuss their days, of which I'd love to share more but won't spoil for new readers. All said, I wouldn't be surprised if TD (author of PC) has professional experience writing fiction in some other capacity or medium.
The visuals:
The visual assets are gorgeous, just abso-fucking-lutely beautiful. I'm not just talking about the women, who are all stunning, but every scene visually ranges from superb to breathtaking. The attention to detail is amazing. There are reflections, material textures, skin textures, moles, freckles, wrinkles, proper consideration to physics, consistent and logical light sources, and depth of field. There's even hair stubble, and food looks like food rather than a six-year-old's scrawl. The faces are expressive, matching the emotion that's described in the text. The color palettes are deeply satisfying and add to the tone of the scenes. The visual perfectionism is such that it stood out to me that Harper's hair isn't obeying gravity during the dunking scene. That's all I'm able to come up with. That's how far I'm reaching. I'm nitpicking this minutiae in order to find any fault with the artwork. The animations are spectacular, smooth and seamlessly looped. They're every bit at good as the stills. In fact, the animations seem to be even more detailed and intricately perfected than the stills. Gil should offer classes on how to make Illusion look this beautiful. I've never seen it look even half as good as this.
The audio:
Music is a bit less important for me than the first two categories, but my expectations were again exceeded. The soundtrack is great. Once again, the tone and mood of the audio are skillfully matched to the scenes. There are: ominous, unsettling, tension-building tracks; uplifting, victorious tracks; chill jazz grooves; upbeat, happy melodies; wistful, melancholic tunes; potent, raw rock riffs. Every one of them enhances the experience of the scenes they're supporting.
Five or even ten stars isn't enough for this game. It gets all the stars.
