This isn't the first time that I have said that a game is difficult to review. Mouthwashing is a very difficult game to review. Usually, however, when I say that I'm having difficulty reviewing a game, it's because I have very mixed and conflicting feelings about that game. Or because it's borderline impossible to review the game without discussing extensive spoilers. Well, that last one actually is true in this case, but there's a more important reason why this game is difficult to review: Mouthwashing is a very difficult game to play. Not "difficult", as in "challenging", the way that Dark Souls is "difficult". Not "difficult", as in "broken", the way that a lot of awful low-budget indie games might be. Instead, Mouthwashing is thematically and emotionally difficult to play because it depicts a lot of very disturbing and grotesque subject matters that are just hard to sit through.
The low-fi, PS1-inspired graphics do not, in any way, take away from the visceral visual design of the game. In fact, the low-fi visuals, combined with a film grain filter, give the game a gritty, grimy feeling that might have been harder to accomplish with higher-fidelity graphics that might fall into the uncanny valley. For example, it might seem that the lack of facial animation is a flaw in the game that makes it difficult for some players to understand the emotional context of what the characters are saying, and to read the actual plot of the game with a cold detachment that will make the story harder to understand. And while that is true, there is also a very valid thematic reason for why the characters don't have facial animations, and for why their emotions aren't immediately obvious.
The crippled, disfigured husk of Captain Curly is disgusting to look at, and even more disgusting to listen to. The pain and humiliation that Captain Curly is subjected to are absolutely horrific to behold and contemplate. And that's just the start of the awful things that this game subjects the player to!
This a grotesque game that can be difficult to play.
But this isn't a game about body horror; it's a game about abuse, and the failure or unwillingness to take responsibility for one's actions.
But this story is delivered in a disjoint, non-linear, and sometimes abstract manner that can make it difficult to follow on a first playthrough. It might take a second playthrough to really understand what is going on, and what had happened prior to the events of the game. Thankfully, the 2-ish hour runtime means that a repeat playthrough isn't much of a burden at all. It's nowhere near as annoying and burdensome as something like having to replay Silent Hill 2 remake to try to get different endings, or to collect all the collectibles.
And this is where it starts to get difficult to talk about this game without spoilers. Honestly, if low-fi, psychological horror walking sims about abuse aren't your jam, then you won't play this, and probably won't care about spoilers. Otherwise, if you're into this kind of thing, then you probably know who you are. If you haven't already played the game, and you might be interested, then you should stop reading and play it. It gets my fullest recommendation!
It is impossible to talk about this game's merits without major spoilers...
Pony Express Psycho
Early in the game, it seems like it's going to another Silent Hill 2-inspired game about some hidden or repressed guilt of the player character. These are a dime a dozen, and I usually roll my eyes whenever a game tries to pull a "repressed guilt" twist. I get that the interactive nature of video games puts games in a unique position to explore themes related to the agency or decision-making of the player or player character. As such, guilt is an interesting emotion to explore in a video game. But it's something that has been repeatedly explored so many times, that it has become clich&eacut;.
But Mouthwashing isn't about guilt. In fact, it's quite the opposite. Mouthwashing is a game that is about a character who doesn't feel guilt for his actions at all, even though he absolutely should. It's about a character who refuses to take responsibility for his actions, and who constantly projects his own insecurities as victimhood.
It's also a game about failing to notice these sociopathic qualities in a friend, waving away red flags, and accidentally enabling toxic and abusive behavior. And it's about how big of a mistake it is to trust such a person enough to elevate them to (or near) a position of power -- power which they will certainly abuse.
Character faces do not emote. Their emotional state has to be inferred from body language and context clues.
Remember how I said that the lack of facial animation has a thematic justification? Well this is it. For the most part, the player is playing as a sociopathic narcissist. One of the defining traits of sociopaths and narcissists is their lack of empathy. The stoic, emotionless faces of his crewmates is genuinely how the character sees the world. He doesn't see or notice how other characters feel because he only recognizes and cares about his own feelings. At the same time, however, sociopaths and narcissists are keenly astute about picking up on things that might motivate another person into action, and they are experts at using those motivations to manipulate people into doing things that go against their own best interests, but which also benefit the abuser. That is something else that we see the player character to throughout the game, to pretty much every other character.
These are the sorts of things that, if you only played through the game once, and aren't looking for these signs, you might not pick up on any of this. If you aren't paying attention, and picking up context clues from body language and other incidental bits of dialogue, you can completely miss the way that the player character frames or ignores signs of his toxicity. You might even see the player character in a more sympathetic light, without realizing the completely evil things that he's done.
Helpless to escape the horror
This is the horror of Mouthwashing: the horror of seeing the world from the point of view of an irredeemable delusional narcissist (who also happens to be a pervert and remorseless sex offender). It's the horror of how that person can rationalize their toxic and destructive beliefs, and how they can be completely oblivious to the harm that they're causing. Or worse yet, that he might actually revel in that harm. It's the horror of seeing that person operate with power, within a systemic framework that makes it difficult to hold that person accountable for the crimes they've committed. It's the horror of seeing that person taking advantage of the system to gain more control, ignoring the advice of people more knowledgeable than him, blaming others for all of his own problems and mistakes, and using any excuse necessary to discredit, silence, or outright eliminate people who might challenge his authority or hold him accountable. This is the horror of realizing that such a person is willing to burn everything (and everyone) down in order to avoid suffering any consequences for his actions.
And perhaps most importantly, it's the horror of being stuck having to watch this all happen, without any power to do anything about it.
Ignoring warning signs and not taking proactive steps can enable an abuser to hurt their victims.
If this is all sounding familiar, then you probably understand why this game is so difficult to play.
But it goes far beyond all that.
It's also about how well-meaning people can accidentally enable such behavior. How desperate attempts to apologize for the narcissist (to try to see the good in everyone) can lead a person to looking past the legitimate concerns of victims, and focus more on the feelings of the offender. How this sort of behavior can become a shield for the abuser against any sort of accountability. And how the narcissist will manipulate these people into giving them the things that they want.
And, of course, there's a healthy dose of corporate dystopia world-building that criticizes the heartless behavior of corporations in a capitalist system that treats money with more inherent value than people.
Disturbing in the most real way
I honestly don't know what more to say. Mouthwashing is disturbing in very real, topical, and poignant ways. My reading of the game, which I alluded to in this review, probably isn't the intended reading of the game. Maybe it's intended more to be a cautionary tale about recognizing the signs of domestic abuse. In any case, it works brilliantly as a warning about narcissists and their enablers, in general. But that's part of what's great about this game: it works on multiple levels, and in multiple contexts. It uses its interactive medium to put players in a unique headspace in ways that non-interactive media can't easily accomplish.
Mouthwashing is a stark cautionary tale about not ignoring the red flags of a destructive personality. It warns us to take action while we can, so that we don't later become stuck, helplessly watching, after it's too late to do anything.
Mouthwashing also takes jabs at the callous nature of corporations.