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

First off, I’ll say that this game should have the NTR tag. What’s there is avoidable, but it definitely qualifies.

If you want a TLDR for the current build [Chap 3, Update 2], I think the writing in this game is incredible, better than any other game on this site at least certainly in terms of dialogue. The models and animation are top tier. If the subject matter is not a red flag for you then this game is 100% worth your time.

Now onto my full review:

I knew this game was going to be special from the opening scene. Seriously. I normally write my reviews after finishing the current content, but I was less than a minute into this game and decided to write the review as I played. As such, this review will be somewhat chronological in terms of my thoughts being brought up as I they came to me rather than a structured argument.

As I said, the beginning is great and I knew the writing was going to be quality just from the MC’s opening monologue. “You simply can’t take stock of a man’s character who lives in an immutable bubble. I have simply never been given the opportunity to prove my conceited self-image right or wrong.” That’s some really good shit right there. Several levels above the average writing in even the better porn games out there.

A final warning that there will obviously be spoilers below, so be warned.

The writing continues its high quality when the MC shows up for the job and actually refuses when he realizes what it is. He actually behaves like a rational person. He doesn’t just do what needs to be done in order for the plot to progress quickly and smoothly, he does what makes sense. He only goes back to work there after being given a completely ridiculously good offer that any reasonable person would accept. That’s good writing.

As the MC took the tour of the facilities, it dawned on me that the environments in this game are also rather nice. Many areas are completely unique compared to the copy and pasted environments of most games made from Illusion models. It was refreshing and it all felt very cohesive.

I’ll be honest and say that the more I learned about the premise, the more worried I became. The premise was interesting to be sure, but I hate NTR and the idea that all these beautiful women that the MC would surely be involved with sexually -- and likely romantically as well -- are going to get boned by some fat old rich dudes really did not appeal to me at all. I figured I’d give it a chance though since there was no NTR tag on the game.

There were definitely hints of NTR-esk shit early on, but I expected as much as I saw because of the prostitution tag. There was nothing with the main girls in the prologue. Some of the main girls: Felicia, Hana, Kathleen, Rose, and Veronica had scenes in the prologue, but none of them had sex with clients, so I was hopeful it would remain that way despite some evidence to the contrary.

Week 1 rolls around and you’re pretty quickly treated to some clips of your mom getting fucked by two thugs in a porno and I knew I was probably going to be dipping out of the game pretty soon after I saw that. But I decided to stick it out. I still had hope that at least none of the love interests had something similar.

When the first competition occurred between the 3 Carnations, I learned the main love interests wouldn’t be completely protected as one of them needs to get bukkaked by the crowd of old rich fucks. Though I didn’t stay to watch, just knowing it happened at all soured the scenes prior to it for me. The fact that this outcome is apparently unavoidable bothered me. At this point, the only reason I stuck around was because the writing was really solid and I totally fell in love with Hana, who thankfully seems to be one of the only LIs that are likely safe from the NTR.

For the next long stretch of the game, there were a few instances that might have taken me out and made me stop playing. Just personal taste stuff, not an indictment of the quality of the game. In fact, it’s the opposite. The fact that I stayed despite it not being to my taste really speaks volumes about the writing. I knew for sure that I would be in it for the long haul when Rose sings you to sleep and you recall your mother singing you a song. This song happened to be one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite artists, Leonard Cohen, and a song my father used to sing me. It made me surprisingly emotional. Far more than I would have expected from a porn game.

Ultimately, I'm not terribly happy that you can't completely protect the main girls, but I recognize that it's my own personal taste and not an issue with the quality of the game: Hence my positive review despite my own problems with it. The writing is good enough that it allowed me to push past a lot of the problems I had with it, and Hana being best girl also gave me plenty of reason to complete the current build and look forward to future updates.

The realism narrative style is unexpectedly deep and relatable, all the choices are incredibly immersive. If only the deveopers have enough capital to make a game that doens't rely on lewd contents to attract people to fund their project, the potential of this is huge. I mean lewd is certainly welcomed, but if the narrative isn't circled around lewd, the writer will have a much better opportunity to elaborate both plots and characters.
Edit: Hana best girl. period.

(Review as of CH 3 Update 2)

I have to say that I did not go into this game with many expectations, especially since on the surface it seemed to me like another one of those tropey BDSM domination games that plunges your MC into some kind of dystopian setting where everyone drops to their knees at a moments notice and no one has any personality.

But I was wrong, oh so wrong, when I decided to give Pale Carnations a shot.

Granted there is some suspension of disbelief required from the player (which is natural for any game really) but this game is unbelievably refined and all the characters have so much depth and personality it's simply astounding. You truly feel for these characters and you feel like the decisions you make and the consequences that they have actually have an impact on not just the MC, but on you as a player as well. That is VERY good storytelling.

One of the greatest aspects of Pale Carnations is that it does not sacrifice one thing for the other. Usually, games that have good plot lines and dialogue end up sacrificing the sex scenes and the other juicy bits in the favour of a more comprehensive and realistic storyline. Pale Carnations on the other hand does not leave you blue balled. It combines the best of both worlds by introducing you to a myriad of layered and well thought out characters while also allowing you to enjoy the scenes that you came here to enjoy without having to wait for too long at a time.

Conclusion - Pale Carnations is a true gem over here on F95, one which you should not pass up if you happen to be a huge fan of the BDSM genre and/or love a D/S style game that has build-up. It also touches upon themes of romance and companionship very well should your character choose to focus more on that instead. So in short, it is a game that truly has a little something for everyone.

I just wanna say, I usually press the left-ctrl key all the time while playing erotic VN, well not for this one. It's well written with enough thrill to make you curious about what's gonna happen next. The girls are also well designed although I'm not sure if this goes to HS praise or the dev, anyway, good job. Also, love the way MC can go sadistic or be merciful.

Go support these guys on Patreon, they deserved it.

Pale Carnations is the impossible game.

What do I mean by that? It's a corruption/BDSM game/domination VN that makes you care about these girls. They're not just wonderful eye candy, they're people who you want to see succeed in an insane competition.

Not only that, but the lore makes total sense within its own world. This isn't any story full of debauchery, it's one full of intrigue, care, and even love. This is exhibitionism with a classy spin.

Now, don't get me wrong. This game is also self aware and isn't 100% serious or cruel. It knows when to use levity to continue the plot without too much suffering.

The game is beginning to diverge, and the consequences of the MC's choices are getting more and more important, which I hope leads to two satisfying conclusions.

As for the fundamentals, Pale Carnations shows true commitment to quality. This game has a slick and stylized UI. It even a sad jazz piano theme in the menu. The girls are all beautiful. The replay menu is even contextualized as a room.

Worst I could say, the male characters are still too similar to the HS stock dudes. Something that isn't too hard to get over.

Pale Carnations is truly a one of a kind experience. I haven't really seen anything like it, and I can't wait for more.

Probably the best Honey Select AVN on the site. The girls look unique, plot is also unique. One think stopping me from doing full 10/10 is: why not just go full animation in every sex scene? We all know HS can do animation. But still, 9/10.

This game is a beautiful mix of "fucked" and "this is amazing" in every way shape and form.

The writing is great and consistent and the humor in the game when implemented is great! I also truly feel like a genuine POS when choosing the more sadistic routes and making me feel guilty about computer models mean's that the writing is doing its job.

The renders of all the females are beautiful, Hana and Mina especially but alas along with these styles of games the male models are not the best looking, the main protag's smirks feel like they are supposed to be "sadistic" but they don't hit the mark. More like a pervert who just got a whiff of a females sock for the first time.

If I have to point anything out to anyone who can't read the tags this game probably isn't for you if you aren't into heavy BDSM, objectifying women, cheating, and lastly fit girls.

If I had 3 words to describe this game, then they would be "Beautifully fucked up". It goes over a concept and theme that is morally wrong on so many levels, yet it somehow has class.

It's extremely well written, the characters are good, their personalities are all unique, the renders are good, the music is good, the story is good and the list just goes on and on.

I'd like to mention tho that it does go into themes of very heavy bdsm and objectification of women (not from the characters point of view tho) so if you really aren't in to that kind of stuff, then you should maybe stay away, but that is if you are really against that stuff.

As I mentioned before, the topics this game goes over are fucked up, yet the game is aware of this and sees it that way as-well, it isn't one of those games that isn't aware of the topics it's portraying.

Overall really good game, wish the developer the best of luck.

This is a really great game. The story is one of the better ones on this site, although it does have its plot holes and weird moments. But overall still really good. Your choices actually matter in the game and this leads to the story playing out differently with different choices. My only complaint would be your choices basically lead to missing scenes rather than an actual branching storyline. There are a few branching scenes, but overall the story is linear.

The characters are well designed, physically as well as their personalities. I'm not a fan of the super-buff girl in-game. I think the muscle definition could have been toned down without changing the story. It's just a bit too extreme. But that's just my personal opinion so no points off for that. The music/sound is nice, nothing spectacular but well done. The scenes that are animated are good too, it's nice to see a game using honey select that isn't the basic honey select animations.

Overall a great VN, I'd recommend it.

Ch. 3 Update 2

This VN is unique and has a well written storyline. The genre of the story is not exactly my taste but twas still able to keep me interested.

The game has excelent graphics. a medium-wide sized variety of characters and each of them are aestetically pleasing to look at. Each character also requires a different amount of courting to get close to her which distinguishes a character from another as it shows their different personalities.

The game is well paced as you are receiving a good amount of scenes at the right interval.

There is a Traits system but it is lacking. The game would be exactly the same regardless if the system existed or not. The devs could definitely improve this system as it isn't impactful and feels a bit useless/unnecessary.

The relationship point and unique female character system is also lacking. The game doesn't have many options that require you to have "x" amount of points. When you reach the necessary amount you can find out(in the walktrhough pdf) that you are exceding the minimun amount by a lot(even when you are chosing mixed paths causing you to lose/not gain some points from "x" female character). So there is not reward in having a "perfect game(no missed points for the chosen path)" and wastes time.

Despite me having a whole paragraph about the bad usage of the systems I extremely enjoyed this game and time flied when i played this game. I would recommended trying this game out even if you didn't like the synopsis.

Generic Visual Novel with click-to-see-next-slide gameplay, unique (kinky Eyes Wide Shut-type of), well-written story, no dialogue options but impactful choices in almost every scene and lots of effort put into other aspects of this project (soundtrack, ui, proof reading etc.) You can also shape MC backstory and traits (opening other possibilities) which encourages replayability and puts more weight on player autonomy. It feels like you can shape the story to your liking.
Pale Carnations is one of the most well-written visual novels with immersive story based off a simple but genius premise that's exploring a pretty unique subject (extreme BDSM).
The luxury brothel setting is a stroke of pure genius and also very refreshing one: instead of using the same setup of "young man finds himself living with his step-mother's best friend's landlady's neighbour" cliche story over and over again in every single game with grinding step by step toward some adult content, you get the kinkiest possible sex from the very beginning.
It's a high quality VN that takes you for a wild ride. The graphics style (weird, off-putting Honey Select models) grows on you and the rest of the game is a masterpiece. It surpassed my expectations in every way.

As a new-ish AVN dev, I am always exploring other AVNs. In our community of AVN players, we have a wide assortment of fetishes and ideas for what the perfect adult visual novel should be. For me, I really didn't think Pale Carnations would be my thing. Boy, was I wrong.

Let me just start by saying that I am the type of player that prefers a wholesome story where the MC is at least trying to be a gentleman. I'm not into a lot of the crazy fetishes that are out there these days. Pale Carnations is one of the most well-written visual novels I have played. It constantly pokes at your moral compass and dares you to peek into that world. And even if you're not into the stuff happening in that world, you want to press on. You'll be faced with decisions where you're absolutely torn between them.

When those decisions come, don't be afraid to choose and explore the story because this writer knows what he is doing. Every story must have those bitter moments making the sweeter ones even sweeter. If you're like me, you will definitely reach decisions where nothing you would choose is among the choices. Do not let this deter you. Choose something you might not normally choose and let the story play out.

Each character is so well written that I found myself caring deeply for some, disgusted with others, and lusting after several. They are believable. Mina is so damn cute... but she's your best friend's girlfriend. Do you go after her? Is it NTR? Hell I don't know. I personally find all the NTR debating a waste of time and prefer to just experience the story the way the writer has written it. So yep, I'm going after Mina. (Sorry friend). It is just a fantasy story after all. Here, you can step into the shoes of a person who chooses to do things you might not normally do.

Graphics are very top notch. Animations are fluid (literally) with camera movements and great angles. The scenes are very erotic and the timing is flawless. Sex scenes are worked through, not just instantly in your face. I love that. These girls are all stunningly beautiful, very well designed, very sexy.

Choices matter. From what I have experienced, every choice has some affect on what you're going to experience. There are tons of lewd scenes already. Yep, some situations are intense. And may even piss you off. If they do piss you off, thank the writer because he did a freaking awesome job with this. Pale Carnations is one of those unusual gems. A dark secret, a guilty pleasure. I love it and can't wait to see where this ride takes me next. Job well done Mutt & Jeff.

Top ten easy on this site currently. Story is based off a Simple premise but woven into a complex static charged thrll ride.
Prepare for the uninspected.

Went in thinking about how I was going to play this, yeah, yeah.
Next thing I know the games nuances had me all mixed in a good way.
Enjoyed every minute of it.

At first I didnt mesh well with the know it all protagonist ,
but I grew to adore the narrative. AlsoI love when characters your not initially iterested in suprise you later on.

Kathleen is a bad mamma jamma.

Kudos to Mutt & Jeff for a good flippen game.
Keep it up!

I gotta admit, the writing for this one took me for a loop. I did not expect myself to be engaged with the characters as much as I am. Each main girl brings something different to the table and it's hard not to care or understand them.

The whole setting is also insane, but believable within it's own world. Definitely went beyond what I expected from a BDSM heavy story.

Each nugget of information is as tantalizing as the last, so I'll be keeping my eye on this one.

One of the most well crafted stories on here, exploring a pretty unique subject matter, and defying convention by treating the women with sympathy and even sometimes empowerment, despite the premise of the game itself being about objectifying them. Not saying it's a feminist masterpiece or anything like that, but it is clearly written with some thought.

Another very admirable trait is the amount of divergence allowed in the game. Even though they may not affect the main plot, difference choices do still drastically impact the substories and scenes you get, which certainly encourages replayability and puts more weight on player autonomy. Hope more developers will do this.

Lastly, the scenes themselves are well made, and benefit greatly from the game's subject, which automatically shifts it away from the same vanilla scenarios and positions seen in every other VN.

Shallow characters, nonsensical dialogs, that freaking screen transitions that really kills the mood, a story that is really, really hard to believe and feel immersed. Although the concept feels nice, the way it is presented is hideous.
And the way your agency (towards the MC choices) works feels waaaaaay off

Ch. 3 Update 2 Public

This is a game that shouldn't work for me on paper. I don't normally VNs and I don't normally like this style of art and animation. However I was blown away by how good the writing is. All the characters feel like different people with strong personalities and motivations. The VN has some choices and mechanics that make it feel like you're making impactful decisions. I really love it and can't wait for the next update.

Cannot wait to see where the story for this game goes, each update just gets all the more intense and the art style is very uniquely done. Aside from 2 other HS games I'd say it's definitely up there with the best graphics and the effort shows in their animations. The story telling is at a great pace and each character leaves you wanting more of them.

Game take it's writing to heart, with good storylines being developed, characters that aren't just caricatures of porno tropes, the MC is also a normal human being and not some degenerate asshole which is a big win. Honestly the game is more like a visual novel with porn elements than a porn game with visual novel elements which is fine by me, always cared more about story tbh.

Game has a planned direction so one can expect a proper ending instead of it just being bloated with content. The character interactions between our MC and Killian is pretty well written too, and it almost makes me feel bad for going for Mina. Almost.