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

This game has ruined other games for me. Peak writing, peak characters, peak immersion.

The characters are woefully human with well explored motivations and personalities. The MC isn't a simple braindead self-insert, he has his own motivations, and while the choices we as the player take shape him in various ways, he isn't a blank slate. Killian is an amazing 'brother', I absolutely love the man, but I'd also sock him in the face for some of his decisions, he's realistic. The girls, I won't go too into detail with since there's just so many. But I loved every moment of time that my boy(Player Character) spent with them. The history, personality, and motivations of each character just fits perfectly. Their reactions to the PC's own actions and the situations they find themselves in are masterful, there hasn't been a single moment where I found myself annoyed at the inconsistence of their actions, even in the times PC acts like a creep, he acknowledges the fact rather than the game just passing it off as a supposedly natural interaction between people.

This game does a masterful tightrope act of balancing the depraved debauchery that the PC finds himself in, and certain wholesome sections of the game. As a man, I'd consider my sexual tastes definitely fucked up and jaded. I usually find typical romance to be a snoozefest, but I actually enjoyed the wholesome interactions between certain characters. The girls fulfill a role and a niche, but they weren't just ready made cookie cutter molds pulled right from the factory, they were naturally-written and realistic.

The models and renders were beautiful, but I will admit that the game could use some improvements in some H-scenes. But as it is now, it's far above simply serviceable. UI had the perfect touch of class. The affection system is more developed and well-thought out than the basic standard of these types of Visual Novels. Gallery has some glitches and kinks to be worked out, such as relocking some events after a crash(it seems). Even though as of the current time of me writing this review, the game is unfinished. The amount of content this game has is more than adequate to satisfy whoever chooses to read the VN, and it'll still leave you sorely starved for what's coming next.

Thank you for the masterpiece, Mutt and Jeff.

I'm down bad for both Mina (I'm sorry Killian, my brother in Chuck) and Hana.

Chapter 4 Update 2 Review (SPOILERS)-
I am actually worse than Killian. I'm a sick greedy fuck who wants it all.

This game will definitely make you feel the consequences of each of your choices, if you’re able to put yourself in the shoes of the player character. And fuck, the story is good. So fucking good I can't help but to update my review again. Shit's so good I want Mutt & Jeff to take their damn sweet time to make sure they make a Magnum Opus surpassing anything ever written when it comes to erotic literature, and that's exactly what this is. Just hoping I don't die before I get to read this Supreme masterpiece in all its glory.

For the games we play for fantasy and escapism, this game is really, and I mean REALLY difficult to take as just a brainless fuckfest game. I've never felt more self-loathing and hatred for my own circumstances than any other game. Not because of all the fucked up shit the club puts the player character AND the audience through.

To put it plainly, even in this game, I had to rein in my own inhibitions to go balls to the wall absolute monster of an inhuman being for the sake of the Carnations, even though its ultimately what I want to do. I want to be able to have my cake and fuck it too, but much like reality, it doesn't come sliced like that. What is it that you ultimately desire? Are you willing to give up your own gratification just to make it slightly easier on these woefully human fictional characters? I'm somewhat of a perfectionist when it comes to "route-hunting" and this game makes it plainly impossible.

As the Protagonist states "These kinds of justifications, I refused to make them. If you're gonna be shitty, I believe you should embrace it." - A philosophy I wholeheartedly agree with.

I wish at times, that I was as inconsiderate and thoughtless as my Ian. I agree with Uncle Chuck and Felicia's philosophy on hedonism, but Mina and Hana have also drawn parallels to my own relationships and my FUCKED and warped views on sex and relationships. But in the end, this game has helped me realize I'm fucked up for a reason. One I'm not ashamed to embrace. You will end up hurting the girls you come to endear one way or the other, especially when you're as greedy a fuck like me or Ian. Unless you're so unabashedly faithful to a girl or compartmentalize this masterpiece as just a game, which is kind of hard since the writing is so fucking good.

I'll skip going into the Carnations since they're far more entrenched in the club's story and progression, not to diminish their own qualities and motivations, but Mina and Hana are somewhat different due to their positions in relation to the story. As of this point, my next two paragraph will purely be my own subjective interpretations.

Mina and Hana are both somewhat two sides of a coin.
Mina represents somewhat an escape from the club, somewhat related, but not embroiled in it. Her character fulfills what she was written for, which is doubly ironic due to her role as an actress. She's a bubbly young girl who heals your heart and soul in between the "intermissions" of the club, shall I say. Her character brings joy to even a jaded fucker like me. Enough that I was willing to drive a wedge between her and my brother-in-arms Killian. Realistically, I follow through on the "bros before hoes" rule, but I was willing to wage war on Killian and fuck up their relationship for her, like the absolute shitbag I am and move straight into leading her on and fucking her brains out after I agreed with Hana to a relationship. Of which I'll get into next.

Hana represents the existence of a somewhat normal relationship in "coexistence" with the club, shall I say. The player character shares a past with some relative similarities. She fits my tastes as big tiddy goth gf, but she's more than that. When she gives herself to you (as the player character), she's letting her guard down, allowing herself to be vulnerable as she trusts you. I love Hana, so when she propositions the relationship after a really good time, I accepted. But when push came to shove, I'm no different than Ian. I betrayed her trust, but I didn't feel particularly guilty, I simply felt greedy. And the game makes sure that you as the player character truly understand what you're doing, that you're aware of feeling, what you're choosing.

Greed is a great quality, but I'm the type to eat until I burst, and I know by the end of this, I'm about to explode.

Unlike my previous review which existed before we were able to bang and commit to Mina or Hana, I feel empty after it, I'm still craving for more, but the deeper into the hole I go, the more I truly understand that when you look into the Abyss, the Abyss also stares back.

As for the technical aspect of the game, it's been improved since my last review, the previous issues in regard to scene-locking were no longer present in the current build. The music runs through a somewhat limited track, but it does the job at setting the mood. Adding the audible *thwack* to ass-slapping was a MASSIVE improvement, and there are some scenes which add faint moaning sounds, which while it would personally be a good add-on, would require a not-insignificant amount of work as it should be tuned to the voices of the tone of voice to the girls as M&J envisioned.

TL;DR: If you have a craving for finely written erotic literature, if you want something to ruminate over even after you shut the game off, if you want to be taken for an emotional and mental ride if you're willing to immerse yourself in this game and its immorality, then you'd be doing yourself a disservice by skipping out on this game.

For the love of fuck, Mutt & Jeff, I whole-heartedly appreciate the passion and work you put into this game. Your writing and quality make the game for above simply a cut above the rest of the games. Since to me, this game wasn't simply a game. It's unironically a journey, you guys just seem to one-up yourself with every update. I don't feel a need to set unreasonable expectations upon how this work of art will end because this game will undoubtedly cement itself as a masterpiece among the rest here, shall I say.

P.S. - Get the voyeuristic history perk, as much as I love being a neurotic firestarter, it doesn't particularly play as much of a role due to the nature of the story, though it might change in future updates.

-Slaughter Demon

The first and only game I subscribed to Patreon to support the development.

The story is very exciting and with a lot of decision-making possibilities. There are many situations that develop differently depending on the choices made.
The characters are charming and hot. The quality of the models and the animations is very high

A must play!

For me the story didn't feel engaging but more routine so can't say that the game has exceptional writing or something like that. Renders are decent more or less, some characters a kinda likable but that's it, I wasn't hooked at all after finishing it.

This game flew under my radar but it was phenomenal. Strong amount of content as of the current version (Ch3 update 3). By far one of the best games on the site. It should be noted that this game does have extreme content since it essentially follows a porn version of Eyes Wide Shut.

The storyline is intriguing and provides a nice context for exceedingly depraved scenes to take place. It also grants the option of a moral quandary for those who want to follow that path. The dialogues and writing are stellar with minimal errors; the character design is also varied and well done. Probably the most praiseworthy aspect is the pacing. It strikes a great balance between a slow burn (which I always like) and progressing the relationships.

The game has no grind and is a fairly straightforward visual novel. Although fairly linear, the player can make a few meaningful choices.

My only real complaint, albeit a minor one, is that the body types of the character models could use more diversity. With a few exceptions, they all look somewhat same-y. In any future games, the dev might want to consider adding some more petite characters as well.

Overall, this is a rare instance of a game with both excellent visuals, gameplay and writing. A true gem.

When I first started playing game I thought it would be mindless banging game, Oh boy how wrong I was. If you like great stories and character developments this game would be perfect for you. While some of the moments and LIs were outside of my comfort zone, it still was great experience.

My taste is more tame so it was natural that it was Mina and Hana who sold this game to me. I am sucker for good romance and this two girls have big protentional. Other LIs are interesting too, Hell Felicia to whom I was looking very skeptically managed to turn me towards her positively. She too has chance to develop interesting and cute romance if developers decided so.

On technical side, Menu & interface are very clean and very good style. Sex scene are very well paced. They are lot of them but you are not overwhelmed with them

There are two things that I didn't like:
One : Ahego faces are overused. In some scenes more natural and intimate face expression would have been more then enough
Two : 50% of soundtracks hit well the mood while other half not so much. if support of the game increases, Devs could try to license betters tracks..

And one personal wish. It would be great to make MC little bit more handsome on later stage of the game

Easily the best 3D game available on this website.

Juggles incredibly sexy scenes and a variety of fetishes with compelling and likeable characters. A unique setting that leaves you dying to find out what new concepts and events are going to take center stage next.

The production quality is top notch with detailed expressions and fantastic animations.

this game is extremely well written, clever, and smoking hot. The authors understand how to make characters and they understand how to draw and animate them. The love interests are three dimesional. And the sex is filthy.. I had no idea that a Honey Select game could be this good.

VERY strong storytelling for a porn title, that doesn't immediately throw your sleezy childhood friend under the bus and builds up the tension and reasons for each character.

I'll describe it as a pesudo slave trainer game, that instead of management gameplay, follows the VN methodology with plenty of decision impacting choices instead.

Models are great and while it hasn't reached my kinks, it does what it is doing perfectly fine.

The little emotional reactions of the models are also top class. It's always the little things that separate the best from the rest.

This VN is a masterclass in the aspects of erotic, story, characters and setting.

First things first as erotics is the most important factor for me in an adult VN. The sex scenes are top notch. Exceptionally well done in my opinion. I mean what can I say: The sex scenes have beautiful girls in them, hit all the right kinks, are well written, have story relevance, fit the setting and even bring forth character development. I think the descriptive writing and dirty talk dialogue needs extra praise. The language and words used to describe the action and visuals fit the tone of the scene, much appreciated. And most importantly, we get character motivation, internal thoughts and desires during sex scenes. This makes them so much better. To top it off, most, if not all sex scenes, are story relevant, make sense, feel real and are a tool to develop the MC and the girls. Chefs kiss.

The Girls feel like real people in an adult VN should. Each has her own personality, strenghts, flaws and motivations and a good character arc as well as reasonable relationships with the people around her. The main girls also have good bonding moments ith the MC and each other. They feel like people and getting to know and fuck them is a blast.
Ian is a dick but thats the point, I even feel kinda bad for the guy, smh.

The story is original, well planned and fun. The weakest imo is the intro, since it feels a bit disconected and takes its time, but nothing too detremental. Once it gets rolling it got me good. I like hwo the girls were introduced and the active role the MC takes in the story, while the rest of the world still turns. The MC is part of the world not the whole world. Gives it a more realistic feel. I also ike the diversity of emotional depth the story offers. In my case the MC can basically live out his sadistic tendencies like he wants and gets rewarded for it. But there are still deep and cute moments, like with Felicia, Mina and Hana. I initially played for the darker themes like "slave" or "domination" but appreciated the normal relationship parts of the game almost the most.

Give this one a try. Very nice story, hot girls and exeptional erotic content.


What I wish for.
I feel like the MC is still very tame, which makes sense in the story. I'd love to see him let loose a little. Maybe slap a girl once or twice. Not in a violent sense but erotic. Maybe choke her a bit. Nothing to extreme but I feel like most people would do some light slapping/chocking before they went to " face fuck her in the locker room and crash land your belly on her face while cumming in her mouth" ^^
Also in the domination departement. The MC seems to only be able to be domineering situationally and on a shallow / superficial level. As the story unfolds I'd love to see the kind of domination that reaches an emotional level. Not like control through fear as Kat has over most girls, but rather power due to control. Something deeper, onger lasting that has to be earned. Felicia would totally not work in that kind of scenario, this would probably only be suitable for someone like Rosa, Veronica or some of the house girls. But maybe thats alost too dark and goes more into conquest"ish" / owning terretory.
Oh and since week 2 has a humiliation theme maybe my arch nemesis, the magical face cleanser, could be put on break for a while. At this point its almost ridiculous. 3 gallons of cum get sprayed on a girls face, a mandatory -> fades to black transition -> face is spotless... how is that even possible?

Hello, first review here, sorry for my english.
I've played many but I wrote something now because Pale Carnation is a great story, maybe the best for now. For the first time, I have no awkward moment when reading it, it felt organic and relations between characters are beliavable. Finally, the MC is someone who is not dumb and generic and feel like a real person and caring for others (with good path).
Lewd scene are so cool and has some usefull for the story.
The thing I loved is that there is friends path with Hana, Mina and Ian, which feels real and entertaining.

5 stars.
My favorite character is Rose, here scene with MC are incredible.

[Ch. 3 Update 3 Public]

Pale carnations is one I saw at the top of F95, and was just never grabbed by and it's exactly the "never judge a book by its cover" metaphor.
Its story, themes, and characters weave an intriguing and honestly gripping narrative that exactly deserve the praise it gets.

H-scenes
Overall the animations and statics are phenomenal. Truly wasn't expecting how dynamic and subtle some are.

The "worst" complaint you will find is the darker tones and ethics of what the set-up is. May be a little too "real"-- a bit too depraved for some.

A lot of kink variety given the nature of it; though a lot of the PCs choices are on the "tamer" side for most selections.

In conclusion: Absolutely was not expecting to love this as much as I did, and it fully deserves all the praise it gets. Can't wait for more. Play it

[Reviewed Chapter 3, Update 3]

One of the best games in active development. So much well-developed content, beautiful girls and renders, engaging dialogue amidst a gripping story.

The Good ()

• Some of the most fully-realized characters in VNs
• Gorgeous models -- hyper detailed and beautiful (all with Honey Select models!)
• The girls are all super busty and curvy -- absolutely my taste but may not be for everyone
• Intense, sexy H-scenes with great animations
• Intriguing, unique narrative that is contained to a specific series of events -- giving it an end in sight
• Hours and hours of content

The Not-So-Good ()

• The game has a number of pretty dark, central themes -- BDSM, humiliation, male- and female domination, urination, etc. These are not my typical preferences so I've skipped through a lot of scenes to avoid this content, but they are largely unavoidable.
• Unremarkable, ugly MC that quickly finds his way into the hearts of all the girls -- the plot at least tries to support this with story points but it's hard to find it super realistic
• You have to "pick" a main girl early-ish in the story -- at the current phase, you don't lose access to much content but I could see more branching in the future.

Overall, an outstanding title with so much care and consideration for the story, art and dialogue. Can't recommend this enough!

For me this is probably the best game I've played on the site. It does a lot of things very well, and it's probably the first time I've actually cared much about what happens (and I've played a fair few games on here). There is genuine importance to your decisions, and the character motivations and reactions are as realistic as possible given the scenarios while still being entirely a porn game. This helps it feel more grounded while still being a hyper-real fantasy. Some of the themes go a little too far for my liking, but those things are mostly avoidable. The game encourages moral reflection in a way that no other game on here does. The art is also top tier, as is the majority of dialogue.

So, I had to play the game. I am usually a big fan of 2d art, but I had to give it a try because of the ratings. Man, I was in for a surprise ride. I stopped playing the game at first after seeing the shit that MC's mother went through. But I decided to try it again to see where things go. The character design and storytelling of this game are something else. I am amazed how a brothel game can be so entertaining. I love most of the characters too (Except veronica and I am glad there is an option to pee on her ). I also love the paths and stat system of the game. Although I believe there is maybe a bit too much text. But the sex scenes are pretty damn good.

This game is definitely not for weak-willed people as there is some realism implemented in the game.

It is hard to believe how much distance a porn game can reach!

Way to much internal dialog, and unnecessarily explaining what is happening. Some is always needed, but this is just overkill. Very little body variation in the models. The only one that's different is the bodybuilder Veronica, and she still has big tits and a large ass like the rest. The concept for the game is good. Love the mother's past twisting the MC's perspective. The writing is also pretty good, but if you are going to put in sounds you don't need to write them out as well. I was a bit disappointed overall probably just because of how highly it is rated. I was expecting it to be on the same level as other games rated that highly. It's still a good game just not a great one. I'd have given it 3.5 starts but that wasn't an option. Good luck to the development team, and perhaps I'll check with this again down the line.

Good game
The drawing is beautiful
+ The plot is cool
+ Some gameplay features are interesting
- I went too far with the heroine's breasts, too large, disproportionate to the body, hangs ugly in the scenes
- Entering the story is delayed
- Sometimes skewed towards gameplay rather than porn

great game!
This is one of the best … It’s still in progress but there is lots of great content and the overall execution is top notch.
I look forward to more of the competition and the progression of the sub arcs.
I have one minor gripe regarding how arcs can go fubar by one bad choice but other games do the same so it’s fine… I was screwed on my first play through of RosaLind and missed all her content but fortunately I had a save and it was recoverable.

Keep up the great work.

*edit* … I enjoy the overall BDSM overall & the sweet/dirty pleaser characters (Rosa,Felicia,Mina)

Very good game, love the setting and direction of the story. Characters are good too, personally a fan of Hana and Felicia.

Maybe this is me being unreasonable, or perhaps this is actually the roadmap for the devs, but I feel like once you consider the story and situation the girls are thrown into, it's not actually that depraved or hardcore. I personally feel like the challenges and scenes could be turned up a notch, but again maybe this is just the devs easing into things and they do plan on doing a lot more hardcore scenes in the future.

edit: Hana finally got the holy ghost fucked out of her!

(Light spoilers) - Ch. 3 Update 3

I've played quite a few AVN's over the last few years, and I don't think a single one of them has hooked me as quick and thoroughly as this one. I was really not expecting it at all. As of writing I've only played through it once.

Its most appealing quality (for me) is the writing. This game may not be 'socially conscious' in a traditional sense, but it's not completely divorced from the cruel realities of things like sex work and porn. I'd imagine these are the kinds of things a lot of consumers of AVN's aren't interested in thinking about, and sure, a lot of these games are just for getting your rocks off, but I find it refreshing for a game to ask you whether it's ethical to help push a desperate mother into a depraved game show. One way the writer(s?) drive this home is by giving you a close, personal connection to the sex world: your loving mother. Her plight constantly came up in my playthrough, and I was glad for that. It really helped ground that 1) our MC and his mother love each other, and 2) the porn industry can be brutal and somewhat indifferent to the struggles of the people involved in it.

Most interestingly, the game allows a level of nuance I wouldn't have expected. The club ultimately is about indulgence, and many of the game's great characters have varying ideas about what that means. The ability to make dialogue choices allow you to come to your own conclusions as well. Are you working at this club just to get into med school? Do you think it's okay to torture these characters because they "volunteered" for it? I appreciate that the game is willing to ask these questions in a way that doesn't feel like it's forcing me to definitively decide one way or another.

Pale Carnations is also willing to allow genuinely sweet moments between characters. In many ways, it is a pretty dark game, with people being exploited all over the club. In that context, allowing very human interactions between the characters is something I really appreciate. One moment in my playthrough that stuck out was our MC's cuddle session with Rosalind, in which he's brought back to a nostalgic moment with his mother playing piano. It's a legitimately beautiful scene and I was a little awestruck that I was even seeing it. In most games, you have the sex scene, then we cut to the next scenario. Pale Carnations is willing to let you sit with the characters, talk, reminisce, and trade these small human interactions. It's about as refreshing as some of the bigger moral questions that I mentioned before.

Overall, I really enjoyed my time with the game. It is remarkably well-made in many more ways than the ones I talked about (the character designs, for example, are fantastic, as are the animations) and I'm really looking forward to seeing where the story goes.

Many adult VNs are the work of a single creator. And some are more talented at writing while some are more talented at the art. Pale Carnations however is the work of two creators that have joined their talents in both aspects, and it shows. This is probably the best that an HS1 game can ever look. The characters's poses and facial expressions are right on spot and diverse, as is scene setup and camera work. But this is also accompanied by great writing that could easily make this story just a great text novel to read.

After playing this it's really hard to find many another AVNs that can live up to the bar of expecations that this game has set.