A scene from the game, showcasing the low-poly style. Photo courtesy of the website Bloody Disgusting.
“MOUTHWASHING”, a psychological horror game released in September of this year, with a demo released in February, has gained a lot of traction since its release. Not many students at San Luis Obispo High School are aware of this game’s existence, so Expressions wanted to bring more attention to it and the horrifying story lying beneath its pixelated surface.
“MOUTHWASHING” was developed by a small indie group by the name of Wrong Organ and published by CRITICAL REFLEX, who may be familiar as the publishers of Buckshot Roulette. The game takes on a PS1-esque style, featuring some loveable (and not-so-loveable) characters, such as a quiet Anya (see above image) and the rowdy, rambunctious Daisuke.
“It just lets you figure out the story yourself,” said senior Anika Richard.
The tale of “MOUTHWASHING” is a tragic one, to put it gently. Five people are stranded on a freighter ship in space after their captain crashed it for seemingly no reason, his skin blown off in the wreckage. He is now permanently bedridden, leaving the other characters to fumble about and figure out how to live in the circumstances they’re trapped in. As the game continues, we bounce between times of pre- and post-crash, learning the true story of what happened and who really did it while jumping between character POVs.
Without significant spoilers, a warning. Some of the topics in this game are not for the faint of heart, like sexual assault and suicide, as well as incredibly uncomfortable and gory scenes. The lower-quality style the game takes on almost makes the visceral scenes that much harder to stomach because it leaves more room for the imagination. Of course, some verily enjoy this.
“I frickin’ LOVED the gory scenes…I love when games branch off into more graphic areas!” said freshman Irelynn Zurbach.
Arguably one of the best parts of this game, other than the outright disgusting horror, is the use of unreliable narration. Our main character post-crash, named Jimmy, is the definition of unreliable. Most people are automatically wired to believe that the character they play is the ‘good guy’ because they project themselves into the character. This is incredibly intentional, to really push the players into the same assumptions and skewed ideas Jimmy holds.
“We see things through [Jimmy’s] perspective and can’t tell that we’re in the wrong until the last third of the game,” said Richard.
“MOUTHWASHING” is a fantastic game, check it out Tigers!
Source: bloody-disgusting.com
