VN - Ren'Py - Pale Carnations [Ch.4 Up.5 Public] [Mutt & Jeff]

It's hard to make short review for this game without "wall of text" but I'll try.
Main theme of corruption and depravity is deeper and stronger here, then in any other game I played, not a childish one.
Deep and proper character personalities is the strongest part here, players can't see what other characters think and slowly trying to reveal "Who they are". Multiple layers of Character personalities make it quite realistic and very interesting.
Story about underground VIP brothel is original and very interesting.
Plot is dancing mainly around moral choises and it's consequences is also deep enough and totally not boring.
Dark theme of the game is really strong, still there hope and love if You want it.
Visually game is very good, (highly modded) HS renders stopped Me long enough from playing, cause I played a lot "Illusion" games my earlier days and got bored of that graphics, but really amazing work with that.
And... I'll stop here, though still a lot to say, but again "wall of text"... deserved 5/5 for sure.

First ever adult game where I actually cared about the story and found myself immersed in it. The choices actually matter most of the time and shape the story, the characters are very interesting and have clear development. When playing adult games, I would usually pick the option that would give me the next sex scene but in Pale Carnations, I actually had to think about the decisions and put myself in the shoes of the main character. Very immersive and incredibly well put together piece of art. 10/10

Wow man I'm out of words for this game. As a med grad I am jealous, never had that much of action. Just gonna make a checklist to summarize!

Excellent renders, check!
Excellent animations, check!
Girls with varied gorgeous bodies and round personalities, check!
Outstanding LI character writing, check!
Round male side characters, check!
Original and interesting plot and setting, check!
Choices somewhat matter and define MC's personality, check!
Good and never boring pacing, check!
Satisfactory kink and fetish variety (but not out of place), check!
AA production quality, check!
Marvelous lounge music soundtracks, check!

As at most a mild kinky guy, some of the scenes were too much for me and that's a good thing. I like that LIs and MC are conflicted in their inner selves.
Hope this game doesn't end at the end of week 4. Such a masterpiece. The cherry on top would be a little bit more SFX during the scenes, but may be I am asking too much

I can't stress enough how good this game is.

I had some minor nitpicks with this one in the beginning, specially with the art style of the face of the girls, but after playing it, I got so, so attached to the narrative and the girls that I'm actually morally questioning myself multiple times on various decisions in the game.

Should I continue with Hana and have a solid relationship? I like her, this can have a future due to our circumstances, but I also love Mina, what should I do? Never thought a game would get me thinking about the side-characters as much as this one does. It's not on the same level of Mass Effect for me, but it's pretty close. I want a happy ending for my character, but idk who I want by my side.

And for a game to make me care so much about the ending, while being in the middle of development, that speaks numbers for me. Really good game, excelent animations.

May be a pass for those that don't like BDSM and other similar contents, and also wants all the action on the MC. Aside from that, one of the best ones I've played yet. Looking forward to 0.5

Review of Ch. 4 Update 1 version. Given it's set in a brothel I was hesitant to try this, but I was totally wrong. Don't let this stop you, it's a great game!

A really cool & entertaining game driven mostly by the alluring LI.

What i loved the most are the backstories as it gives a lot of depth & complexity to the characters.This helps to emphasise the saying "never judge a book by its cover".Best eg is Veronica who looks definitely like an amazonian with a fierce never back down personality but as u continue later on u find that she has nothing else left so is just giving this her all.
Not to mention this game has the best bro Ian i mean he definitely is the most complicated character ive seen in an AVN cuz he is a womanizer who goes after every pussy that comes his way including his postmenopausal maid inspite of having a cute model GF but when it comes to MC & his mom he is a freaking Angel

Gorgeous renders & phenomenal sex animations enhances the whole experience tremendously.

Sometimes on this site you stumble upon an absolute gem of a game when you least expect it & this is the Cullinan Diamond.
Writing & character development are top notch & I love the fact that even the incidental characters also have varied backstories so you always have the feeling that loads of different scenarios are bubbling away beneath the surface.
If you haven't played this game yet, please do. You won't regret it.

This is a review for Ch. 4 Update 1.

Pale carnations is a game about a student aspiring to be a doctor getting a job in a high class brothel thanks to the help of one of one of his rich friends. Over the course of the game, you can define the MC's personality where he either tries to be a decent person or falls into the depths of depravity and becomes an asshole. Most of the time I played this game I tried to make sure the MC was a decent person however the game does the corruption of the MC really well too.

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Story and Character Development

The story so far is not too complicated - the main character needs to help with running an event in the club and manage three participants who are prostituting themselves for the duration of this event who are known as the Carnations. These are women in desperate situations who will win a price of their choosing should they win. There are hints of politics between the club owners and illegal drugs however as of Ch. 4 Update 1, this is not deeply explored yet and the plot remains simple.

While the story is simple the characters are not. Most of the characters are very well written from the random patrons of the club to the whores to the carnations themselves. The two characters that stood out the most to me are the main character who is struggling to keep his decency in the midst of all the depravity around him and the MC's best friend - a deeply flawed individual that acts like an asshole but has some redeeming qualities.

Given the above you would enjoy this game if you like your games to have deep character development with well written characters and are fine with a plot that is not too complex.

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Renders and Romance

The renders are very well made with lots of details to them. While I think there are games that use different engines/rendering software this is one of the most impressive looking Honey Select 1 games I have played. The developers have put in a lot of effort into the visuals and it shows.

In terms of romance, you have five major characters. You have the three carnations and two other girls. One of the two is your best friend's naive girlfriend and the other is a co-worker in the club who works as a bartender.

When it comes to romancing the carnations, there is not too much of it. The main character has sympathy for the girls in the good guy route but his feelings do not evolve into anything more. He does not think of them as romantic interests and does not have other complicated feelings (such as jealousy) when they are forced to perform for the club. I feel like the game goes to great lengths to avoid making the player feel like they are being cuckolded if they choose to try and get closer to the carnations and I am not convinced that this is a good thing. To me it feels like as long as the game keeps doing this, there will never be a deeper connection between the MC and the carnations and they are not really love interests but rather girls the MC fucks because thats part of his day job. I think jealousy and negative emotions when seeing a girl you care about used by others is natural and I dont fully understand why the game goes to such great lengths to avoid it.

The best friend's girlfriend is cute, naive and very likable. Many people make mistakes when it comes to relationships and she has clearly made a big one. It is interesting to see how she puts up with the abuse her boyfriend puts her through (such as flirting with other girls) and the 'I can change him' attitude she initially has just like most people on their first relationships. The inevitable break up is also handled quite well. The only issue with her is that she feels a bit out of place compared to the other love interests as she is the only one who does not have ties to the club. As a result she has very little screen time as of Ch. 4 Update 1 and while her romance until this point is good it is not fully fleshed out due to lack of screen time.

The romance with the last girl - your co-worker is very well done and she is the only girl who at this point feels like a real love interest for the main character. She is the daughter of a former pornstar and one of the club owners. Her mother is sick with Huntington's disease and requires expensive treatment. Her father is a mob boss who was absent for her entire life but is now going through a mid life crisis and wants to bond with her. He ends up making her work in the club as a bartender in an attempt to get closer to her by agreeing to pay for her mother's medical expenses if she works in the club. She and the Main character have great chemistry together - they start off at a relatively equal footing and the romance develops very nicely as they go from coworkers to people who like each other to people who want to date each other. When her father finally tries to make her an owner of the club (a place she despises) the MC is the only person she can trust. The romance is very well done.

To summarize, the game looks very impressive for a HS1 game. In terms of romance, I feel like there are some very touching/heartfelt moments with the 3 carnations however the romance itself is lacking. The romance for the best friend's girl is done well enough but she suffers from lack of screen time and feels a bit disjoint from the rest of the game. The romance with the last main girl - the MC's co-worker is extremely well done.

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Overall I really like this game. I do not play too many games like this because the sex scenes can feel a bit cheaply written but this was not the case here. It is a very well written games with some great characters and I would recommend it to most people.

Version: ch.4 update 1
Rating: 4.5*

Pros:
Great Renders
Good writing
Good Story
Nice looking Character Models
Interesting Characters
Great Sex Scenes
Good Animations
Good Music/Soundtrack
Many fetishes
Different paths

Cons:
The Story is interesting, but I don´t feel hooked to the Story like in other Games.

The Sex Scenes are great and I like that there are pounding sounds, but the combination of pounding sounds and the lack of moaning sounds make the scenes feel a bit anticlimactic.


All in all this is a great game that I can recommend and I will follow the game's progress really closely.

Pale Carnations is such a different and distinct game, it is like a wild dream going on without stopping , something that is very considerable and significant
I like games with different paths and when choices actually making differences and that is the case here.
Characters depiction are stunning and ravishing , story is captivating and dialogues are touching .
Definitely one of my favorites.

Overall played more than 4 times and the story is very good and interesting, the graphics are ok and especially the scenes are not repeated over and over again. The expansion also makes it nice to see how stats are affected by individual decisions.

excellent game! the gameplay, the girls, and the story is just perfect i hope it's gonna continue for a long time and kudos for the creator that maked this one my peepee is waiting for the new update.

Superb writing
Superb art
Incredibly sexy

This game is beautifully polished and takes you on a dark journey. This game sets a new standard for the kind of storytelling that you can do in this medium.

The game is great:
- excellent visual, and especially the main girls.
- the girls have a unique personality and they are not empty of their quirks and flaws.
- the story is interesting.
- the sound design/music is right on the spot, even if not a main thing in the game.
- the story seems rather interesting, even if "easy" on the player character.

From this point, I don't see why this game wouldn't be a must play of the adult VN genre.

Game with an intriguing story, great models (curvy, muscular, goth – basically whatever floats your boat), great UI for tracking relationships and bio's of every character you meet. Not a big fan of the MC's model, but the writing makes up for it. Relationships feel real, considering the circumstances. Quite a lot of scenes which won't make you blue balled. 4.7/5

Version: 4.1

Best game on the site.

No, I do not say that lightly. It just is.

I'd stayed away from this one for a while, but boy am I glad I finally took the plunge. The writing is god-tier! It's really amazing the amount of effort the developers put into this. Every SINGLE one of the characters, including the wall dressings in the Club Carnation scenes, all act like real, complex people.

It's just aaaarggh really difficult to describe . These characters are REAL. The main girls are all so perfect, I get conflicted when deciding who to spend time with. I love them all. Felicia and Hana are now both my best characters in any adult game ever, and Mina and Veronica easily come a close second. Everyone else is also second. They are all that good.

Engine is old, but the developers do wonders with it. WONDERS. Half the time, I find myself staring at a scene, lost in the eyes of the girls.

And the sex scenes? Hoo boy. Don't get me started. They are LONG, varied, and crazy satisfying. Three or so of them number among the best I have seen anywhere, including movies.

I came into this game expecting a fun romp, and I am leaving with 5 waifus. Genius, I tell ya. Genius. I will follow this to the end of the earth. Don't drop the ball, Dev. This game will remembered forever.

Oh, and in case it wasn't obvious, I rate this a 100/5. Really would break the rating just for this game if I could. Awesome work!

Version: Ch4. Update 1

Rating: 8.75/10 (4.5 Stars is what I would choose if possible)

In Short: Wow... This game is something else. I have thought about how to describe it for a while now and all I can think of is "pure fun". It never gave that overwhelming swell of good feelings that you might get with other top titles and their stories (which is a shame, I prefer those) but all the way through I was just having a good time. Tons of sex and pretty decent writing (The game does a good job of letting you know other characters feelings too which is appreciated) There's also the start of a really good romance with a character if that's your cup of tea instead of fucking whores all the time

Other thoughts:

Models are dated a bit but I hear this is an older engine and this game pushes it to the max. I really can't dispute this as when you see the animations they are great.

Sex scenes tend to last a good amount of time also which feels nice. Whether its just for fun or the scene is meaningful to you, the extra time helps connect to the characters.

The story for me is pretty standard but I see people raving about it. Perhaps it's due to the nature of the game setting? Whores don't really do it for me and all the moral thinking MC does bugs me a bit. But I would call the story interesting for sure. I still want to see where it goes. I'm just not enthralled in it.

Music is solidly decent. I don't remember any standout tracks so it could be improved but the presence of it there was nice. Nothing to connect you with the characters though.

Really liking the last LONG scene with Hana. She's my favourite LI and hopefully the content in the game goes on long enough for you two to have a meaningful relationship. There are some obvious twists in the future with her dad so that'll be fun.

Conclusion:

I really like this game if you couldn't already tell. I just can't call it a masterpiece up there with my favourites because I honestly didn't connect with any characters until the end of the chapter (Hana) I think in a story that's a pretty big requirement. I cared about Ian too but that's different, I'm tryna get some pussy here lads

I honestly think it deserves 4.5-5 stars though for doing something so interesting and unique, pushing the boundaries and still trying to put romance and other elements in there too. I much prefer romance in a story too over a harem so my 8.75/10 is based on that, I can easily see why people give this 9-10/10 if the "topic" interests you. - Don't be put off from this game like I initially was. Give it a try!

Great game, it really surprised me and I surprised myself, because I never played anything close to this theme, so it was quite disturbing at first.

The story and characters are interesting and well written, love the dialogue and the choices, lewd scenes are nicely done and there is good variety. Also love the options to be more dirty or more vanilla in lewd scenes and outside of it - you are pervert, but you can be a pervert that isn't a total wacko and creep. I absolutely love the option to choose between fuck buddies or gf relationship with girls (at least Hana, not sure if it's same with Mina yet). I'm looking forward to see how gf Hana plays out and of course other girls, when I replay the game.

One minor issue I have is the color of the narrative text. For some reason I find the yellow hard to read in many scenes. If there could be an option to change that color, it would be great.

I'm a writer (i only write in my own language, not english). The way you write a book is a bit different than a porn game, but they have couple things in common. First you flesh out the characters, how they look, think and how they will react to certain scenarios. Then you write the end of the story and if you're done with that, a beginning. You'll probably have a couple of scenes that you want in your story, write them out, only now you can begin. There's more to it and it's easier said than done, but this is the essence. It doesn't matter if you want the scenes in your story thrilling, sad, funny or in case of a porn game, hot and sexy, you'll have to do this to see it through the end and have at least a shot at being successful. I'm certain 95% of the porn game developers don't do this and their game ends up abandoned and unsuccessful. I'm pretty sure Pale Carnations at least did the first and third step, because
the writing is great, the story is complementary and the scenes are hot as fuck (and it has some great animations). Just as it should be, in case of a porn game imo.

(pardon my english, i'm too lazy to do any grammer and spelling checks right now)