The game’s ability to unsettle without relying on high-fidelity visuals is a testament to its masterful execution of psychological horror techniques. You’d think a game with PS1-inspired visuals wouldn’t be able to get under your skin this much, but Mouthwashing knows exactly what it’s doing. The way it plays with visual simplicity, using it to obscure just enough detail to keep your brain working overtime, is brilliant. And when it decides to be explicit? Yeah, those moments hit. The sound design is just as effective, dripping with unease and perfectly-timed audio stings that ramp up the tension without overplaying their hand. As for the soundtrack, it's a whole other beast—it doesn’t just sit in the background, it grabs you and drags you deeper into the game’s world.

If there’s one thing that Mouthwashing absolutely crushes, it’s the storytelling. This isn’t just “good for an indie horror game.” It’s just good, period. The pacing is on point, the dialogue is razor-sharp, and the way it slowly feeds you information while keeping you uncomfortable is masterful. The characters? Compelling as hell. The mystery? So well-executed that you don’t even realize how deep in you are until it’s too late. It’s one of those games where you hit the ending and immediately want to sit in silence for a bit, just processing what you just experienced. Now, yeah—some parts near the end feel like they drag a little. Maybe a scene or two could’ve been tightened up, but that’s nitpicking. The bottom line is that this game’s story carries everything, to the point where even if the gameplay was an absolute disaster, we’d probably still recommend playing it.