"Mouthwashing" Review

Publisher: CRITICAL REFLEX

Developer: Wrong Organ

Platforms: Microsoft Windows (Reviewed For)

Taking a page out of Yahtzee Croshaw's 2015 Undertale plan, here's a teeny tiny review of something I played and finished within 24 hours of publishing this. It won't be my GOTY (sorry to spoil that for you), but I think it's worthy of enough award placements to warrant putting something out there. 

You're likely familiar with the subject of this tiniest of tiny reviews, Mouthwashing, by reputation (if you've been keeping your finger on the gaming pulse). So, here's what you need to know: Mouthwashing has earned a place among this year's indie darlings, but with a pretty serious asterisk to add to any recommendation. 

And it does get a hearty recommendation from me. This is, simply put, one of the most captivating stories I've experienced this year, also sporting an incredibly complex cast of characters. It's a story that absolutely must be experienced with as little knowledge as possible, save for one thing: the horror elements. Mouthwashing's horror elements are a fairly small part of an already small game, but they're exactly as upsetting/disturbing as the internet has made them out to be. Strictly speaking, there isn't much in the way of abject gore, for example, but what exists is really effective. So, that's the big asterisk on the side of this recommendation: if you're even remotely squeamish, you're going to have a bad time. And that's just the physically horrifying stuff, to say nothing of the psychological horror.

Beyond this, there are also a handful of actual "gameplay" sections, but they aren't great. One segment has a decent concept but the two or three other ones are just kinda "meh."

You can't possibly know how great the story and characters in Mouthwashing are just from reading this, but that's a compromise I'm willing to make if it helps you feel intrigued enough to give it a shot. This being a maybe 3-hour game with not too much outside of the narrative, I'll be using my doubled scale that I use for smaller games. 

Let us review:

Lackluster minor gameplay segments - 0.5

The final score for Mouthwashing is...

9.5/10 - Near Masterpiece

Excellent work, Wrong Organ, excellent work!