I should start this review by saying that I am not a great fan of VNs, to put it mildly. Also, photorealistic 3D renders do not work for me really when it comes to porn games, as too often I will find myself in the Uncanny Valley, not sure whether I find a depicted person attractive, ridiculous or downright repulsive.
Thus, I was pleasantly surprised with 'Pale Carnations', as despite being a VN illustrated with 'Honey Select' 3D models I quite enjoyedplaying reading it. And it all due to almost perfect writing, at least as far as erotic entertainment is concerned.
It's a story of a male student, your typical geeky, relatable, bespectacled young man, who is still figuring out who he wants to be, confronted with an array of superattractive females of apparently all ages, shapes and personalities and a group of shady, powerful, lecherous old men serving as a contrasting (or complementing?) background to his masculinity. The story setup, consisting of a private club where one can indulge their 'secret' carnal desires inevitably leads to BDSM territory. There are so many things you can do wrong with piecing a hot story using these tropes, but so far (chapter 3) the authors manage to tell an engaging tale, bringing life and sort of authenticity to all but few personae dramatis, while at the same time depicting quite rough (and hot) sex scenes. There is both dick and heart put to it in almost perfect proportions. The protagonist is not simply a kinky moron, who somehow manages to enchant every woman he sees with his larger-than-average meat-rod and neither he's a complete, clueless nerd accidentally thrown into situations he's in. He's a mixture of both: full of sexual, oftentimes dark, desires and at the same time genuinely interested in women he meets, apart from their (exaggerated) boobs, asses and pretty faces.
The objects of his interest are also more than one-dimensional clones of one another. Theplayer reader is presented with an interesting menagerie of female NPCs, though admittedly, most of these types you've seen or read about before: a cruel yet sultry, domineering, elderly woman in charge; a tragic mother figure with a shameful past; a sexually adventurous, proud, rich tart with a heart who just might end up biting off more than she can chew; a plucky, muscular (a bit too much for my taste) Amazon of a redhead who one would both enjoy submitting to or trying to break; a demure, mousy, doe-eyed darling that any sadistic sicko just loves to abuse; an East Slavic (thus enigmatic in the eyes of Westerners) woman; a naïve, lollypop-licking blonde contrasted with a rebellious, gothy brunette, the latter of course being a delicate flower inside only protecting herself by thorny exterior. The writing of these characters is so good that you simply forget it's all been done before. Sooner or later you just start rooting for one or more of them, not just enjoy sex scenes with them.
Speaking of sex scenes, these are also well-written, never becoming those boring 3-page walls of text with clinical, overdone descriptions of what's already visible on screen, instead adding a lot of psychological dynamic context to what would otherwise be just a physiological act, not that much different from eating or breathing. Seldom you'll find the predatory, animalistic nature of (hu)man sexual desire and the internal conflict with the more cultured, considerate part of the (hu)man psyche depicted better than here, only an erotic visual novel after all.
And because it is only a visual novel after all, I cannot give it a 5-star review. The limitations of this format are too fun-spoiling to me. I am aware that for a lot of people it doesn't matter and they will enjoy this game immensely. I, however, really appreciate more freedom of choice when it comes to games. Virtual novels just occupy this weird space between a novel and a plaything, like a book with carboard cut out dioramas and choose-your-adventure skippable/go-to chapters or sections. Too many things in 'Pale Carnations' just happen to the protagonist, without any meaningful input from theplayer reader. His days usually start with a phone call from someone telling him to bring his ass over there. You just can't refuse, say you have other business to do and instead of seeing your Mistress mentor in her office, go to a cinema with Mina to see all those B and C-class movies you both love, or learn something more about haute cuisine with Felicia over a plateful of fettucine all'Alfredo like it's 1925 and jokingly ask whether sous vide techniques could also be employed elsewhere to improve texture and taste. Nope, you have two to four choices to make every now and then, and unless you've made them and then went back to a previous save and chose another option, you never know whether they were important, story-diverging choices or just options only adding colorful variety to scenes/outcomes that will happen regardless. Quite often, you do not know what your answer to a particular question is going to bring. So with most of these diverging story types of games you need a walkthrough prepared by other players or the devs themselves to make informed choices.
But, if you're not bothered by that at all, then it's a five-star production, though there is always room to grow.
Thus, I was pleasantly surprised with 'Pale Carnations', as despite being a VN illustrated with 'Honey Select' 3D models I quite enjoyed
It's a story of a male student, your typical geeky, relatable, bespectacled young man, who is still figuring out who he wants to be, confronted with an array of superattractive females of apparently all ages, shapes and personalities and a group of shady, powerful, lecherous old men serving as a contrasting (or complementing?) background to his masculinity. The story setup, consisting of a private club where one can indulge their 'secret' carnal desires inevitably leads to BDSM territory. There are so many things you can do wrong with piecing a hot story using these tropes, but so far (chapter 3) the authors manage to tell an engaging tale, bringing life and sort of authenticity to all but few personae dramatis, while at the same time depicting quite rough (and hot) sex scenes. There is both dick and heart put to it in almost perfect proportions. The protagonist is not simply a kinky moron, who somehow manages to enchant every woman he sees with his larger-than-average meat-rod and neither he's a complete, clueless nerd accidentally thrown into situations he's in. He's a mixture of both: full of sexual, oftentimes dark, desires and at the same time genuinely interested in women he meets, apart from their (exaggerated) boobs, asses and pretty faces.
The objects of his interest are also more than one-dimensional clones of one another. The
Speaking of sex scenes, these are also well-written, never becoming those boring 3-page walls of text with clinical, overdone descriptions of what's already visible on screen, instead adding a lot of psychological dynamic context to what would otherwise be just a physiological act, not that much different from eating or breathing. Seldom you'll find the predatory, animalistic nature of (hu)man sexual desire and the internal conflict with the more cultured, considerate part of the (hu)man psyche depicted better than here, only an erotic visual novel after all.
And because it is only a visual novel after all, I cannot give it a 5-star review. The limitations of this format are too fun-spoiling to me. I am aware that for a lot of people it doesn't matter and they will enjoy this game immensely. I, however, really appreciate more freedom of choice when it comes to games. Virtual novels just occupy this weird space between a novel and a plaything, like a book with carboard cut out dioramas and choose-your-adventure skippable/go-to chapters or sections. Too many things in 'Pale Carnations' just happen to the protagonist, without any meaningful input from the
But, if you're not bothered by that at all, then it's a five-star production, though there is always room to grow.
