VN - Ren'Py - Pale Carnations [Ch.4 Up.6 Public] [Mutt & Jeff]

The graphics in this game are simply excellent, exactly what I needed, no more, no less. The female characters are very sexy and beautiful. Their facial expressions deserve special attention. The sex scenes... Excellent. For me, they're the best. The plot is interesting, and that's all you need. Although I should note that the text itself is very well written, unlike most porn novels. The characters are well-developed; I really felt like I was in their shoes while playing. The concept itself is very cool, unusual, and the developers realize it well. I give this game a 10/10, I'm really looking forward to new updates!

For a porn game, this is really good. The character development of the MC is well done, from innocent to brutal, really well conveyed in my opinion. The NPC development is also felt. Each character has a backstory.

The models are good, and the intention is really felt. As far as I've played this kind of game, this is the best. Even the NPCs are good, there are no bad characters.

The animation is also okay, although basic, it's nice to look at. It's just lacking a little bit of VA to make it perfect.

As for route selection, there are actually pros and cons. The plus is that you can truly explore as you please, whether you want to go here or there, it's up to you. But for me, that's actually a minus. I'm confused about unlocking 100% of the scenes in this game because it's too complicated, almost all the scenes are connected from top to bottom.

In a game about whores I was hoping to see proper lewd sex with gangbangs, DP, etc. but no it's all mostly vanilla vaginal and 2 anal scenes. Lots of negatives, such as outdated models, overly verbose writing, blueballing, convoluted paths and more.

Positives:

• Animations. Pretty high quantity but low quality (limitations of Honey Select).
• Cum scenes and the liquids look relatively good and dirty.
• Anal (but only 2 scenes in my playthrough)
• During sex scenes the dirty talk is hot (on the "corruption" path). About sluttiness, rough sex, degrading, using the girls. (Except for the stupid and unusual "sounds" that are written out. Such as "Heut! Hat!")
• Options for degrading or encouraging the girls.
• Dialogue choices, some depending on your traits/stats and some leading to changes in stats, relationships.
• Public use. But I only like this if the MC is in control, participates, makes the girl do it, so it's often not good here.
• Recording and photographing the girls getting fucked.
• Mina and Hana (despite the tattoos) are pretty hot (within limits of Honey Select).
• Good deepthroat. Outstanding facefuck of Hana, including roleplay.
• MMF threesome. But no DP, not even anal, such a missed opportunity.

Negatives:

• Blueballing!
• Character models and other art is poor, outdated. It's Honey Select so the quality is low anyway but the devs have also made these models with a bit weird proportions (e.g. too tall, ridiculously wide hips, huge legs, small head).
• Consequences of choices are not clear, might blindside you. E.g. suddenly another dude is kissing and fondling your girl.
• The proportion of sex for the MC is low compared to the length of the game and the huge amount of text.
• Must watch several of the girls get fucked, covered in cum etc. by a lot of guys (and a girl). Technically it's not NTR but still a turn-off. (Sharing should be including and under control of MC.)
• Most of the girls have unattractive personalities. There's the cheating and secretely sad slut, the depressed and desperate cheating housewife, the depressed and desperate bodybuilder, and the depressed and desperate bartender. There's also the comic-book villain evil pimp woman. And all these girls try to manipulate the MC for their own gain.
• Too much text. Uninteresting, verbose.
• MC looks stupid.
• MC is stupid. When girls throw themselves at him he keeps questioning why, basically trying to convince them to not date him.
• Route progression convoluted. Even with the walkthrough it's maze-like.
• Unavoidable Femdom. Several times you even get tied up. Handcuffed. It's annoying.
• Too many girls with enormous tits. Sometimes saggy.
• Muscular amazonian woman that tries to dominate and talk down to MC.
• No polyamory, just cheating.
• Game essentially ignores your choices sometimes. E.g. when in an event choosing to be dominant and sadistic the game still makes the MC submissive and licking Veronica the muscled girl.
• MCs dialogue is often the opposite of what I feel. E.g. MC is asked if he thinks a girl is hot. I don't. But the game doesn't give you any choice and instead responds with "yes she's hot".
• Hairy pussies on most girls.
• The dicks look weird.
• Writing is overly flowery, pretentious.
• Mina, one of the few nice girls, is already dating MC's best friend. So pursuing her means getting sloppy seconds from your friend and being disloyal.
• Felicia is already a huge slut, voluntary whore, that casually and constantly cheats on her husband with many guys. I find it unattractive because I want the MC to corrupt her instead of being the 100th guy to get a piece.
• UI is worse then standard Renpy UI. E.g. it takes 4-5 clicks to save the game. Settings are unclear since the devs removed text labels.
• The mom already did porn (for the thrill and for money), got fucked by a lot of dudes. Not an attractive backstory for an LI. Oh hang on, turns out you can't fuck the mom in any case. We just keep having to see her getting fucked by other guys over and over and it's unavoidable.
• Most of the women are old, 35 to 55.
• Anime ahego faces.
• The color grading is "off", everything looks a bit bronze-colored and washed out.
• Talking bullshit and bad jokes during sex scenes.
• Too much lesbian content.
• Again: Blueballing! Which is extra annoying in a game where several girls act like sluts (with other men) from the start.

Highly recommended! Especially if you are a fan of Eternum and this kind of visual

Of the advantages:
- High-quality and interesting story.
- All the girls are great!!!
- The characters are so well-developed that I literally got into every girl and each one has its advantages.
- Great storyline, not boring with an original approach.
- There are a lot of sex scenes that are unusual and common. Each with its own uniqueness, there are no repetitive scenes.
- A choice that really affects the course of the plot, which is often put before you as a player.

Minuses:
- I personally didn't get too many MC's "thoughts" during the sex scenes. Sometimes it's a ton of unnecessary text, although it could have been put into a more concise summary. Maybe it will be a plus for someone. But it seemed to me that sometimes it was too overloaded. That's why you get tired of reading this water.

This game is a gem and the only down side is that it is incomplete and I wish it kept going from where the update ended, and went more extreme to some of the "darker" paths and followed it out. That said, the art, story, and options just keep building and I love the variety of choices. Wish there was a way to see more of the gallary after you are at the end of the update though since the game is so long.

Firstly, if you like me started this game and got weirded out with the MC's mother, continue playing. The game will challenge you if that is right or wrong. It will make you reflect on your choices and how far you're willing go

This is the first if not the only game that I don't want incest content. (I cry a little when Victoria's scenes play)

Pros:

1. Story: The best if not the greatest form of storytelling. Choices are remembered, if you don't coerce someone into having sex they will remember and the dialogue will change. If you decide to be reassuring or cold hearted, it will change how the characters act around you.
2. H scenes: All of them are animated and given equal amounts of attention. They're never half assed. A lot of passion put into each and every one.
3. Characters: They all feel "real". They have their own lives and backstories for why they're there. It's your decision if you sympathize with them or not. If you want to exploit them with empty promises or if you remain sympathetic.

Cons:

1. It's Not Completed
2. Occasionally choices sometimes have you only choose only 1 (Mod let's you change that so you don't miss out... the mod is great as it tries to make the fact you're technically cheating the game work by adding it's own small dialogue )

Wow. Just WOW. I'm new to playing AVNs and have played a couple of the higher-rated games to start me off, but THIS game is different. The story is surprisingly amazing, and the characters are not only hot and unique but also intriguing. Choices are plentiful and actually change outcomes, unlike some other AVNs. I really feel like I'm the MC irl, finding new kinks I've never thought turned me on before lol. I'm so blown away that this game made me create my first review on an AVN. Sucks that it's still unfinished, but they are cooking something special with this one. If you want an interesting story with beautiful chicks (MILFs included) and kinks galore, this is for you.

I finally got around to playing Pale Carnations, and wow… it’s seriously good. I was skeptical at first, but it turned out to be one of the best visual novels I’ve played in ages. This isn’t your typical “porn game with some words around it.” The story is intense you’re a stressed-out pre-med student who gets dragged by an old friend into this luxurious, high-stakes brothel, and nothing about it plays out how you’d expect.

You play as Edwin, and stepping into the Carnation Club feels like being dropped into a velvet-lined shark tank. It’s not just “pick girl, get scene”, every woman there has a backstory, motives, and layers you peel back over time. Rosalind’s desperate single mom struggles feel completely different from Veronica’s pride-driven athlete arc, and Felicia’s trapped trophy wife situation is its own brand of tragic. The more you interact, the more your perspective shifts, and it makes the whole experience way more engaging.

The best part? Your choices actually matter. You can lean into Edwin’s darker side, stay mostly decent, or dance around in that morally gray middle ground, and people will remember. Characters react to you differently, relationships shift, and story paths open or close depending on what you do. Even the side characters feel fleshed out and real. The writing is razor-sharp witty, tense, sometimes brutal, but never boring.

For a game built in Honey Select, the visuals are top-tier. The models look great, animations are smooth, lighting is spot-on, and the music nails the atmosphere. Updates consistently bring new scenes, artwork, animations, and overall polish with each release. It’s still in development, but the quality so far makes the wait more than worth it.

If you want a VN that’s hot and makes you think, this is it. Just be ready for some moral whiplash… and maybe a little self-reflection about what you’d do in a place like the Carnation Club.

I am always skeptical of AVNs with high scores, especially with Honey Select renders. But man, this one is the shit, a stupidly good AVN. At the start, you build the MC personality, and it's hard not to find a combination that describes yourself. Good plot without being overcomplicated or oversimplified, the amount of work the dev put into the character's personality and the character's bodies is insane, considering that most of the HS models are always similar in every AVN that uses it. One of the best AVNs in development - with is also is its downside: 5 years in development and still not completed.

This is it. It's not a competition, and taste is particular to everybody, but this is the best game in this site. The dev team does SO much with so little, it's a shame this can't be on Steam, they'd make a killing and well deserved.

There's a story that is fun and intriguing, decisions with real consequences changing the characters and the MC, fantastically sexy graphs and animations (can you believe it's HS1?) but above all, really great and fun writing, depicting very different characters, of all ages, colors, and extractions, with different goals and motives, and the general notion that it will end badly for all, in a very well executed twist amongst games that tell us harems are automatic, heroes are everywhere, and everything will be alright.

It's great and fun and not as brutal* as some people people may imply.

*If you don't want to, because choices matter!

Overall: 5/5
I feel like the devs of this game knows its audience and genre pretty well. It doesn't cut around corners and push for vanilla game when it won't suit it for an AVN. It creates consequence for most of the choices of this game which is great because it's what mostly what makes VNs great. It's not just a glorified scene viewer or giving the audience the illusion of choice just so it can slap on VN genre tag to draw a community in. Most of all the characters (side characters included) of the game feel and look unique in some way. I can distinctly tell them apart by their character/personality and not just by a difference in hair and eye color. They each have their own motivations and struggle which forms a connection of empathy as a player to follow their stories and see how it will play out. Lastly the art, renders, and animations are great too.

I've been putting off playing this game for awhile now so I thought I'd finally dip in and I'm glad I did! This story is a fascinating exploration of how far morals can be pushed. The colorful cast are full of layers like how your best friend is first shown as a degenerate playboy but is someone who stands by you and may be looking for something fulfilling. My favorite woman physically is Veronica, but it's hard to pin down the best one in terms of motive and personality although Kathleen is a textbook psychopath. The reason I knock it down a point is because the sounds during the sex scenes are inconsistent and missing.

Insanely well written. Scenes are hot, especially thanks to the engaging story imo - every character is memorable and the protagonist is actually likeable despite what you might expect from the setting. Also the different paths satisfy quite a variety of power dynamics, I'm enjoying all the ones I'm following.

First of all, wow. I can't believe I didn't notice this gem for well over 5 years. Holy crap what a ride, but let's get to it.

Pale Carnations is a game that explores the dens of hedonism and debauchery, a focus around a brothel for rich and corrupt perverted bastards to flaunt their wealth and indulge in their twisted desire to show dominance over women while they socialize with their peers.

You are not one of those twisted bastards, you are Edwin Turner (Name Determinant), a 21 year old Med-Student living in a cheap apartment and struggling to make the funds to get through Med School, before an invite courtesy of your best friend Killian (Ian) Beaufort, and his uncle Charles (Chuck) Kohler, your mentor, winds up at your doorstep. Within the invitation, lies the premise of joining the previously mentioned brothel, the "Carnation Club", as a staff member that will attend to the needs of the patrons, the working girls at the brothel, and most importantly, working for the Annual Summer event. A Four week-long event where 3 women, or "Carnations", compete for a grand prize that will give them the financial aid and power they need to overcome their very reason for joining the event in the first place. Edwin's role is to personally aid and care for the Carnations so they can survive the month of Hell that awaits them, all for the sake of getting the money he needs to get through his medical school bills.

But as the den of debauchery clouds Edwin's mind, he thinks about his own desires, ones that he's tried to keep hidden from everyone else: the desire to hurt people, to dominate women, to treat them like objects for his outlet of lust. As the player you basically get to control how much Edwin indulges in these primitive desires that he is afraid of. Completely resisting them may lead to others walking all over you, though you'll certainly be seen as a kinder person by most, while over-indulgence can lead to others hating you, with some respecting your creative nature in sadism. Likewise, there are those who are more than okay with the middle-road, where some will enjoy it if you indulge in a bit of sadism without going too far...

So you have to weigh these choices as you engage with the Carnations on their path to winning the weekly exhibitions in order to win the grand prize, and your actions can help them shine brighter and win easier, if you choose. Will you show more favorability towards Rosalind, the single mother whose deadbeat husband left her with crippling debt and nowhere else to turn to? Will you help Veronica, the silver medal athlete who is at risk of losing her gym and is too prideful to let go of the last bit of her dream from crumbling? or will you find more rapport with Felicia, the hedonistic trophy wife of an entrepreneur, who is desperately trying to claw out of a gilded cage of her own making? Will you find more romantic relationships with other women, like your sadistic boss, Kathleen, who sees the monster that Edwin tries to hide inside himself, and wants to bring it out to make him more like her? Maybe you find your best friend's cute girlfriend, Mina, too irresistible to leave alone while your best friend is busy flirting with other women in his womanizing ways. Or maybe Hana, the goth bartender at the Carnation Club who is stuck working there for personal financial reasons, and is hoping to find a kindred soul that finds the club as deplorable as she does.

Before this all even starts, however, you have to determine a large part of Edwin's backstory. Yes, a visual novel with a character creator, and permanent traits no less, that based on background choices, you can take special dialogue choices that would otherwise be unavailable. For example with Strongman, Edwin is bulkier, a bit stronger, and able to be more intimidating than normal, and with Social Chameleon he can lie and deflect his way through any conversation. These all have an impact on the story in whole, as well as valuable choices you can make, so mix, match, and experiment.

The game runs with a bunch of dialogue choices and a lot of flag variables that help determine how the story progresses. Some stuff is quite missable if affection or trust values aren't high enough, or you didn't get a high enough score via dialogue choices in the scene you're in, etc, so you can be certain that the game invites multiple playthroughs and making impactful choices involving the 6 main female leads, as well as side-characters that may help Edwin if they're on good enough terms and you leave a good enough impression.

Sound is very well balanced in this game. There's some silly and dramatic audio cues, and plenty of Royalty Free music you may or may not have heard in other titles you can find on this site.

Most sex scenes are animated as well, with some blending of stills in the mix, and for a Honey Select-based game, the character models and maps are very well designed and placed throughout the game, leaving little room for critique.

The story, if I hadn't laid it on thick enough, is very well written for a game focusing around smut, and a heavy amount of the game's theme focuses around sadism. If you like seeing women get spanked, whipped, and occasionally choked (asphyxiation play in general), this is the game for you. How far you go as the main character is entirely determined by you, as no one can truly force you to be the monster several characters (and sometimes even your own inner thoughts) want you to be. You can treat some characters like absolute garbage and degrade many women, or you can be their ally and shoulder to lean on. Show dominance or show compassion, or mix both, the choice is up to you.

As of this review the game is not complete yet, but I had a wonderful time playing it, and can't wait for more updates.

I completely forgot to review this absolute gem of a game.
It goes without saying this game is a 5/5, absolute perfection.
The Honey Select models and animations are efficiently superb, the story is engaging, the relationships are malleable and the characters are extremely enticing, heart-warmingly loveable or both.
There's a plethora of different choices to make that will shape your story and your relationships in completely opposite ways.
I have nothing but good things to say about this absolute gem of a VN, try it for yourself and give in to Love or Lust, it's your choice!

This is a very personal review, and my score is a 5/5. It does not matter if the game is not complete yet; barring a disastrous finale, I don't think my opinion of it will change. Here's why. Objectively speaking, Pale Carnations has some flaws: it sometimes gives in to tropes, or to the dreaded "porn logic". However, the game's positives completely overwhelm the negatives - and then some. Also, rather than being completely realistic, the game aims for verisimilitude to its great benefit, because this allows it to speak about human character and emotions despite its concessions to "game-isms".

First of all, this game is about the weight of past choices, their impacts on those around us, and compromises, both willing and unwilling. It's a game where absolutes gets thrown to the wind, and everything is bathed in shades of different colors.

Maybe fate dealt you a bad hand, and you're stuck shouldering a weight you never asked for and don't deserve - still, you have to keep going, because people depend on you, and it would be selfish to relinquish. Or maybe you've made a mistake, and you feel obligated by it.
Maybe you're compromising with your conscience, or you're stuck with unpleasant people, doing unpleasant things; and yet you can't quit, because you fear the unknown, you've got too much to lose, or you don't want to betray yourself and what you believe.
Maybe you convinced yourself you can't change things - and this is probably true, but still something keeps telling you you're picking the easy way out, and it would take so little to have an impact around you.
If so, and if you're able to immerse in a story with a modicum of empathy, Pale Carnation will resonate and captivate you like no other. Its nuanced characters (both protagonists and antagonists) and its themes will make you think, maybe even challenge your views - if it isn't the best praise for a game, and a porn game at that, I don't know what is.

Now, the game's themes are not to everyone's taste: BDSM, humiliation and coercion are part of the package. And yet, the game managed to captivate me, even if I'm as vanilla as they get, because those themes are not there just for shock value.
In an ocean of bland landlady / tenant stories, Pale Carnations is memorably unique, and manages to balance hope and despair, making its underlying humanity shine through layers of filth. If any of the above tickles your fancy, I strongly suggest to at least give it a try.

One last note: I didn't talk about the technical or graphical side, because to me the story trumps everything else. But I'd like to say that GIL managed to push the Honey Select engine to its limits, and his pictures and animations are notably expressive, and perfectly able to complement, punctuate and prop up the story. And, like the story, they can be both incredibly sexy and repugnant where needed.

"These are your lies and your frailties. [...] You [...] have a devastated life, like all of us. So instead of lecturing us, of looking at us with disdain... you should look at us with affection. We are all on the verge of despair, we have no other remedy but to look at each other's faces, keep each other company, tease each other a little... Or do we?" - Jep Gambardella, "The Great Beauty"

Story: 9/10
Renders: 10/10
Animation: 10/10
Sound: 8/10
Characters: 9/10

This was my second playthrough of the game. I had played it earlier when it had less content, but I liked it instantly. I didn’t leave a review back then, so I thought I should share my thoughts now.
First off, the character design is fantastic, something that many other Honey Select games often get wrong.
The animations are smooth and top-tier, and the character expressions combined with the sound effects take the experience to the next level.
The story and dialogues are very well written, I think
Overall, this is a must-play game.

Loved the disclaimer at the beginning, set the tone perfectly.
This is quality writing, beautiful renders and animations but I have to admit this game is making me ask questions about myself.

I don't like muscular women but I love Veronica's look and character.
I don't like ditzy blondes but I love Mina and Felicia.
And I don't like goth chicks but I adore Hana

The h-scenes are very intense for my taste, definitely more than I am comfortable with, but they are so well executed that they still get me going.

I'm not sure about replay-ability but for one play-through (and I am not done yet) it is one of the very best games on this site. Wholeheartedly recommended.

Also, solid choice of scotch. Doesn't always have to be single malt.

I played Ch.4 Up.5 and its currently the most recent version of this game (not complete yet). I'll go over the pros and cons for brevity.

PROS

• Amazing character models. This is probably the best renders that i've ever seen on the Ren'Py engine.
• Great story. It has a serious kind of story which gets more dramatic as you play through it. It consistently has really great dialogue between characters which admittedly can get a bit lengthy.
• Great characters. The characters for the most part have clear motivations, distinct temperaments and unique looks. They feel like different people and act naturally.
• Good player agency. You have a good degree of agency over what is going on so much so that replaying the game and making different decisions will give you a different experience. From small changes in animations to whole new story and "action sequences". It is a visual novel after all so you can only change so much but its definitely enough.

CONS

• Some of the sex scenes could use a bit more sex in them. Self-explanatory this one.
• This game has a bunch of tags and it does its best to fit in all of them so they'll be stuff that you'll like and stuff you won't. What will most definitely happen is some tags won't get as much love as others do.
• Some of the camera work in some animations is kinda disappointing. This might be personal preference but i feel like some scenes could have been elevated by better angles and focuses.

I gave this game a 5 star because it managed to make me care about some of the characters. A lot of the kinky stuff in here isn't my cup of tea but that's a personal preference so that doesn't affect my overall rating of the game. And for the love god, give us MORE Kathleen Pulman.

It is the best game I have played on this site. It has everything . Lots of choices . The girls and even the friend is so well written . And the sex scenes are so well animated , I love how the sex scenes are not vanilla . There is a lot of kinks in these scenes and I love it . Although I would love choking or breathplay action .

The only cons I can find is the time it takes for each installment cause I am addicted to this game