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

Honestly baffled at how this game has a higher weighted rating than the runner up. The story plotted around unique hot babes working in debauchery and finding solace in an ordinary college student has average execution at best; a shocker considering there is a ton of potential in storywriting about a brothel connected with high end society.

Very early on, the writing falls short of establishing the size and magnitude of this debauched tale. Our protagonist is given a background of wealthy connections to get his foot through the door of what would be a corrupt and hedonistic realm. But then the story spends so much time shrouding the purposes of the Carnation Club in ambiguity, distracting you with mediocre introductions of the side characters, and forcing a buildup for the reveal of a potential Hollywood Babylon that ultimately ends being anticlimatic. What the reader anticipated to be a dark, twisted exploration of depraved sexual escapades turns out to be a lighthearted BDSM dungeon. The hook was so terribly weak for a 4.9 rated game that after MC got introduced to the entire cast I just skipped unseen texts to get the story over with and reach the girl scenes.

What the game lacks in storybuilding and writing is made up for in the unique LI cast. Their designs aren't generalized enough for harem playthroughs but unique enough to be memorable characters with a lot of depth. However, this game's MC is too much of a snoozefest and a terrible fit for the LI cast. When you get to know each girl, the MC's speech options are so lacking in depth and ordinary that it seems like the LIs were paid to give the MC attention. Every single encounter is the MC going, "Oh, I'm just an average Joe that goes to school" and continuously asking the LIs questions as if they were doing QnA interviews. Then magically the LIs open up about their lives and give a sob story for this average Joe to comfort them. It's like they're speaking to a mirror. The LI cast dropping their panties at the slightest hint of affection from MC completely destroys any ounce of depth to their character, and makes every scene seem like poorly choreographed pornography.

Render wise there's not much to say about Honey Select characters, if the creator chooses to have their characters all look the same then that's up to them. However, this only increases the need for exceptional world-building and plot design, which the game sorely lacks. This might seem like a harsh review but considering all the 5 star ratings, the playthrough was a letdown in comparison to the high expectations I had for this game.

Every girl is a big titted, slim waisted bimbo with a anime-ish model. MC works in a "high-class" brothel, so a place for old slimy fucks with loads of cash. Things get actually uncomfortable, ugly, and disgusting. You don't even get to skip or opt out of the more unsavory bits. MC's mom did porn and he still didn't get over it, you get to watch stills from it and even watch him watch some while you squirm. There's a feeding scene that might actually get you to gag. There's plenty of Ugly Bastards and while they don't get shoved into your face, they do get down to some business. Consent is stretched to the point where a direct "yes" should probably be understood as "no".

So, in a game like this, what's the best scene? Well, you take a girl out (not an escort) for some ice cream, then to see a movie and then for some karaoke. You get three progressively more intense makeout scenes, culminating with both of you busting through the apartment door with the girl wrapped around you. Then things get much better.
Seriously, the whole sequence is absolutely amazing, this thing goes through storytelling arcs, plural. This is a sex Scene with capital S, and it's not just balls to the wall all the time. There's plenty of gear shifts and the whole thing is topped of with some character development and some actual intimacy.
Depending on what your kink is, there just might be an even more intense finale around the corner, and the whole thing didn't just come out of nowhere - there's also a great scene before all of this.

This no rape fantasy, competition scenes are meant to disturb. Quite possibly because they are also somewhat hot... but absolutely disgusting! And hot. The game takes a proper look at the darker sides of pleasure and desire, and what lines people might cross to get some, and how will they justify crossing them. It takes some mental effort to see clearly evil people as "dark-ish gray" and to not see the sex workers as just victims, but at least effort is put into this. The game is actually surprisingly humane and the MC is not a piece of shit, though you can steer him to the dark side. There are also a couple of slightly subtle "traps" that might knock you off of your high horse into some delicious hypocrisy. while possibly off-putting in execution, is actually a great plot point in the end, and provides (limited) character development for like 5 characters.

I don't want to talk too much about writing, but it's excellent. No bullshit filler, you've got proper characters and proper scenes. Maybe 20 lines of dialogue are spoken but you get characterization for 3 people, 2 relationships, some plot and then some Plot. Then there are visual details, things to pick up on that no character talks about. There are tropes and archetypes, but this is basically a demonstration of how to use them effectively. Just a great job all around, and it also can be funny - tons of VNs try the self-aware angle of "this is shit porn dialogue". This game does this while delivering a joke built around the word "quim".

I'd strongly suggest giving it a try even if the things in the initial paragraph are a hard pass for you.

Note: I'm basing this review on an incomplete playthrough of Ch4 Up4 (I left by the time the MC had to interview one of the girls).

This has all the looks of an excellent game if the kinks are right your alley and helping running a brothel is something you'd like. For me, being forced to handle those girls like cattle is something I couldn't stand. Still, I do appreciate the hot scenes and nice renderings. What you can do with Felicia in your first sex scene isn't something you see often. And the way Kat is "handled" by Ms. muscle girl was also hot, no matter how unlikely.

What puts me off completely is the shitty japanese style with the run-of-the-mill enlarged legs, odd hips, mandatory big tits, generic face and random hair color where you only find out this or that girl is 30 something by someone telling you, because the way some of them are drawn (*cough*Rosalind*cough*) they look the standard inflated 17 yo teen. But that's probably my hatred towards all these japanese-style games speaking, and not the developers churning generic Oliver & Benji crap forever.
Yeah, probably.

Ch. 4
This VN is really special because it's almost paradoxical?
Majority of the sexual content in this game is best described as depraved. The acts that these characters are put through are diabolical, and yet that doesn't take away from anything in the story or writing? A game this kinky wouldn't normally be this well written which makes it such a joy to play. This is a polished and well thought out game. The little nuances in this story that separate the depraved from the wholesome is what makes the entire thing work for me. It also helps that the main character is also well written enough to allow you to form your own opinions on the situations rather than spoon feeding what you should be thinking or doing. An all around fantastic experience.

Great game guy’s

Hmm how to explain.

A guy MC who is making his way as a pre-med student and making extra money tutoring other students is sick and tied of trying to teach people who have no interest in learning.

He is ready to finds money elsewhere to help pay his way through school.

He then has an old friend send him a letter in the mail inviting him to a new job, one that will blow his mind in more ways then one.

Suddenly he is in a world he could never have dreamed of.

Beautiful women, friendly, and some of them, not so much...

A couple of guys that are nice people at heart, and others that are assholes.

And a new look at life in a way he could never of dreamed of before.

And of course the MC can be a nice guy, or he can be bad to the bone.

I highly recommend this one despite the dark and debauched tone the of the overview. The writing of the VN is fairly serious here and worth a read. I did not think I was going to enjoy this as much, despite my own interests being rather vanilla on this site. Rather it turns out, to my surprise, it's likely the best way to enjoy the story anyway as you confront corruption.

The main theme of the Carnation Club is not just about sex, it is a story of trauma, and inner moral conflict about the temptation of easy money versus how far you'll go to exploit other people. Or whether you decide to stay to fight the system the best you can, and stop the filth where possible, because you know your replacement would mean the continuation of the abuse. There are many hours of content released so far. One of the things I like best about it is that it's hard to predict what's going to happen next, it's a fun and terrifyingly filthy ride.

The story has its interestingly deep moments, wholesome moments, and disgusting(skippable) moments, but there is also a hot ass MILF who is down bad. 10/10

TLDR: Might actually be the greatest game on the site.

I was loathe at first to give it a go because just by skimming the description, 'cruel erotic games' and sadism aren't really my thing... but I'm SO happy I did. The art + story are great but the character writing is amazing, legitimately mindblowingly good. I haven't played this game in months but I still remember the girls from the game (and the MC) clear as day, that's how memorable they are!

BTW, if you're curious, there isn't actually that much of a focus on sadism etc., like sure at the club the game does show some of those scenes but it makes up like maybe 5% of the gameplay experience and you can just skip those scenes if you like (which I did at times).

The vast majority of the game is actually wholesome as hell, I'm not even kidding - some of the most likeable and well-written characters I've encountered in erotic games.

(Oh, and obviously the hot scenes are hot as all hell. The girls are insanely fucking hot. Like goddamn. The elite writing makes the sex/erotic scenes even hotter )

Extremely replayable, I'm omw to replaying it as we speak.

PLEASE give it a go

Finally got around to replay this (chapter 4 update 4) and update my review - visual novel with a male MC.
The best bdsm-game on this site. Gorgeous renders, really well written story and characters. The sex-scenes are hot and draw you in.
Plot is about three women who compete in a sex-club for a prize - each woman has something she's willing to fight for. You play as their "manager" who motivates them and keeps them competing. Each of the three competitors is fascinating and is more complicated than they seem at the beginning. There are also two other girls you can seduce - so five main heroines. There are also some sidegirls, but they only have scattered scenes and you can't focus on them.
For the NTR-complainers - the three competitors can have sex with other people, but with the right choices you can keep your favourite for yourself.
There is a lot of reading - don't expect a stroke-story - I personally love it.

Has a lot of really varied bdsm-content - among it stuff I have not seen in any other game. The club tries to break the competitors will through humiliation, pain and shame - personalised for each competitor - has spanking, whipping, bondage, device bondage, humiliation, exhibitionism,....
The nice part is that it is all consensual - while they might dislike it, all girls willingly compete to reach their goals.
It also has a great story - the main story beats stay the same, but within that structure your choices actually matter and change outcomes and your relationship with the characters.

Each and every update keeps me on the edge of my seat. This is deservedly consistently the top game on this site. The creators take their time with the updates, but always deliver quality, update regularly and seem to have the story planned out till the end.

The game is far from being complete, but with the current (Ch 4 Up 4) amount of content, it is the BEST HS1 (Honey Select 1) art style based AVN and in general the best AVN to date.

I play AVNs for the story, sex scenes are just bonus content. And this game has both amazing story and animated sex scenes. Be warned though, the game is not for the light hearted.

This game have everything. Let me explain why: first of all you can change the MC, from being "normal" to a total sadist. You have an incredible roster of girls, from a sociopathic hag, to a cute blonde babe. Then, almost every girl route can branch, for example you can choose to a GF or FWB relationship.
There are some long periods where you can't find any of the thing called sex, but I guess you wouldn't play VNs if that is a problem

Version: Ch. 4 Up. 4

At the very least this is one of the best HS AVNs out there, but in my opinion Pale Carnations is the best AVN period.

I'll admit that this game may not be for everyone, especially for the most vanilla people who can't tolerate bdsm, humiliation and prostitution. Yes, MC's mom was a whore because she had no money and had to feed his son. That's a story of motherly love. And yes, you work in an upper class "brothel".

This game tells the story of a young man who discovers the depths and the many layers of human psychology and may or may not indulge his most depraved (mostly sadistic) desires: that's up to you. You can be an asshole or be a good and empathetic person or something in-between. That's a story of debauchery. Anyway, who said a sadistic person is an asshole? Choices matters and have consequences and there's a good amount of branching which greatly improves the replayability.

In any case, there is a total of 5 LIs and 2 of them are not selling their bodies, if that's a problem for you. There are a lot of wholesome, emotional and romantic moments, especially in the latest updates, even with the three Carnations. I've found a lot more romance in Pale Carnations than in other famous AVNs.

Music is good, writing is excellent, animations are great, renders are the best in the business as far as Honey Select goes. There are even some SFX sounds during lewd scenes: I hope that Mutt and Jeff will keep using them and add new ones.

I'm really looking forward to the next updates and the remaining exhibitions. I expect the worst, in a good way.

P.S. Kilian best bro in any AVN.

I have to say this game surpassed my expectations, here are some of my impressions:

1. Story: It was interesting and every plot was engaging to the point where I couldn't stop playing for hours. I think its main asset is the hotness/lewdness... I mean if this is not the hottest AVN out there it should at least in the top 3.

2. Characters: Excellent characters. The MC can become a twisted pervert MF (hahah..I liked that). Girls are awsome, at the beginning I thought some of them were a bit dull but as the story progresses you get to know their real motives and their backgrounds.

3. Music: Great tunes so far.

4. Renders: I'm not gonna lie they're not great but good enough.

5. Animations: Not bad.

So far this avn is definitely a 5-star no doubt, however, I prefer to rate games from 1-10, so I'd give it 9/10 because IMO there are 2 things that could be better: 1st the writer, at times (and despite being very good most of the time), writes too much (and by "much" I mean there are some unnecessary texts here and there) and 2nd I wished the renders and animations were better (sorry if i'm being ignorant and maybe this the best that this engine has to offer).

So, I think this is a MUST PLAY for everyone interested in AVNs especially for those who like nasty MCs xD

I'm almost 3/4 into the game and I'm loving it so far. I don't want to spoil anything but can say the writing is excellent. The characters are captivating and the story interesting. The models are 10/10 and the debauchery up there, although I wouldn't mind if they could turn it up a notch.

It has been a rollercoaster ride for me and after reaching week 2 I told myself its enough because I couldnt bear to watch more of this. So first of all, MC's mother is a whore yeah you read that right so as you progress through the main route you will get a flashback of his mother doing a porno shoot and getting banged by random male guys and seriously you cant avoid this, dev didnt even bother to put option to skip this or avoid it.

The next is veronica feeding scene yeah right she gets that as a punishment for punching her sponsor and kathleen suggested this punishment to her so what will she eat? You guess....Pig's intestine, some sperms of some unknown animals,etc yeah I seriously wanted to puke after watching this and wanted to kill kathleen in real for suggesting this shit.

The next is your best buddy killian I think he gets more laid than you and there are scenes involving him and there is no option to skip the scene, yeah he's a good guy but I dont wanna see him banging some characters...the scenes involve with random female character ( Non- LI) but later on you can share your LI such as rosalind or felicia if your bromance with him is high or something ( I dont know much but I checked on the gallery )

Lastly, there are random sex scenes involving random female characters with other males yeah and you cant skip that too at least if the dev would have given us an option to push the camera away from it would have been much better and yeah there are scenes like while you are talking with some big macho dude ( Sam or something ) some random girl is sucking him and there are some lesbian scenes which are part of main story like veronica and kathleen..I dont know much but I suppose there will be lots of scenes ahead with felicia,rosalind and veronica ( They are LIs ) and they are part of exhibitions so I think they will be getting banged by other than our MC.

Conclusion :
I knew what I signed up for after reading the tags but I didnt know it was that bad I thought at least it would have been avoidable or skippable or at least dev would have implemented warning before any of these stuffs started but no and seriously I didnt expect veronica feeding scene and MC mother being a whore. Of course writing and able to shape up your MC and relationship mechanics are good and you can make even MC a literal kind and generous who is considerate of others. No offense but better stay away from it if you dont like sharing your females and you dont want to watch unavoidable stuffs.

One of the best written VN I have ever played, the interactions between characters feel natural and not forced or cringy. If you're looking for a good written plot in a game, then this one will impress you. I'm surprised at how much contents in this game for only 4 chapters currently.

If you're looking for a quick fap with some specific fetish in mind then this is not for you, don't be a dumbass and complain about the lack of sex scenes in this kind of game.

I personally like the build up and decent plot instead of *BOOM* meaningless sex all of sudden.

Overall - 9.5/10
Must try.
Beautiful graphics
Quality + Variety of Hscenes - this can be the sole and main reason for playing
Everything not Hscenes are worthwhile, dialogue is fun and choices do impact a bit
Game not complete
Story - 8/10
College kid invited to secret gentlemen's club for the rich -> exploiting women in need.
Story isn't crazy, but it's intriguing enough to want to know more.
Renders - 10/10
All models + background look amazing
Animations - 10/10
A lot of animations - good
Hscenes are amazing
Sound - 7.5/10
BGM is there - generally sets the tone, does miss on occasion but much better than none at all
Playablity - 9/10
Long - a lot of dialogue, decently interesting can get long winded.
Options have bearing - choosing which girl's path can impact down the line - always good, don't expect choices too different from each other.

BOYS strap in for a daylong gooning session cause this game is one of the absolut BANGERS on this site


The story is engaging and doesn't need much time for you to become immersed and interested. The characters have rich personalities, and you'll inevitably start shipping one of the girls. Kinkwise you can find almost anything.


My biggest Con:
The game is too good, and I'm not even kidding. Once you reach the end of the build, you'll feel empty. You'll come to realize how depressingly boring real-life people are and start questioning life itself.

The only cure I can suggest is to replay the game several times and start hitting the gym

Im a nitpicker motherfucker that likes to prented to know more than I actually know about a lot of stuff. And having developed a taste for VNs...
All I can say is that, this game is so unparallel that for the first time I simply enjoyed a sex scene, this is like.. beyond triple-A story, it's like from some reaaaally great obscure romance, this is erudition in form of a game... bravo!

Almost no cringe, which is rare for these games.

Every scene (not just the H content) feels so real with how the characters interact and express emotion. I forget this is honey select or even an AVN at times.

The relationship system and intertwining routes are impressive.

The characters are so good that it's honestly hard to commit to just one.

Pros:
animated sex scenes with alternatives
pretty advanced relationship system for renpy
i like owning girls and having fun
i love branching pathes in the stories
Cons:
generic 3d models and kind of ugly characters
decissions with single most optimal path...walkthru play simulator
most fun options unlock least content
game is very unfinished and outright annoying to play if you lost points for unlock
game would do better as sandbox with repeatable interactions
a lot of decissions does not cost anything - early in the game player have decent stack of money given and there is nothing you can do if you have/not have the money
there is a lot of encounters that could give you chance to be abusive, but they just doesn't go anywhere

Edit: character creator does not actually matter other than 4 times you can use some perks
in version i played Ch4 U4 best choices seems to be:
helping - if you are nice enough you can score a lot of points in veronica scene
Energy - sex scenes
Muscles/Social butterfly - scoring some points
Voyear - creep-based bonus scenes and 1 dialogue
i still can't give 5 stars because i hope game will get there eventually, but not 5 for now