Oh crap, did I accidentally blow the lid off a sneaky subversive plot to humanize the manosphere types? Um. Shit. Uhhhhhhh, let's all pretend I didn't say anything and maybe they won't notice.
Well, TD and GIL are clearly woke, and they have taken a long and convoluted route to emasculate the player, and ultimately make frogs gay. Clear as day.
No, but seriously, a porn game can arouse you. If the story is well written, it can entertain you. But the story of Pale Carnation is also likely to make you think; maybe even stimulate some self reflection. If this isn't the best compliment you can attribute to a writer (
of a porn game, of all things!), I don't know what is.
And while I may be derailing a bit, I think one of the clearest proofs of that is the fact that people are arguing about the game's themes from both sides of the barricades, so to speak. A writer supporting a specific thesis is easily spotted, in my opinion. But when people have to interpret the story, and inject their view of the world in the discussion, that's likely the sign that the writer has struck deep. It may be argued that some themes are portrayed only for shock value, but that's not something I read in Pale Carnations: at the risk of sounding like a broken record, to me humanity and empathy shine through the ugly folds of the story.
Not to detract from PC's artistic merit, of course. Pale Carnation is a great blend of two arts. One of the best examples on this site, for sure.