VN - Others - Completed - Mojika - Truth Rears Its Ugly Head [v1.00] [NITRO ORIGIN]

A very well produced visual novel with a plot that failed to fully capture me

Production Quality
Mojika is what an "AAA" VN feels like. Very good art (and tons of it), official, good translation, an opening *and* ending song, good looking and functional UI, you name it. For this alone I'd say it deserves praise.

Gameplay
It's a Visual Novel, duh. There is a decent amount of routes but other than the usual dialogue options, in this one you make choices exclusively by deciding to look up at someone or something (spam enter/leftclick) or avoiding this (just wait and do nothing). I felt like this was quite a nice touch.

Visuals + H-scenes
These are very well made (the artist is known for "euphoric" other works which I will not mention because of stupid review rules). It's not just the characters though, the backgrounds are also very pleasant to look at and the visualisation of the MCs powers is pretty cool as well (also the true ending credits are amazing, ngl).
The soundtrack is another highlight - it doesn't have many tracks and some of them need a lot of fantasy to be called music but it's excellent at matching the atmosphere of what's going on in the game.
The fetishes weren't really my thing but I'd say there is stuff for everyone there (you may need to skip some things if you are sensitive to certain tags).

Story
This is where a VN needs to shine. For me, Mojikas story didn't click as much as it perhaps should have. The basic concept is interesting, the mystery is enticing and the true ending is satisfying. However, I never felt for any of the characters or the protagonist in ways that other VNs (again not mentioned due to the *lovely* reviewing rules) did. I also felt that there were some things not fully explained in the end. Still alright but less than I hoped for.

Conclusion
I give 4 stars, mostly for the very high production values and nice art. If you expect an epic story with tons of feels, this isn't it (at least for me) but I still recommend playing it, you may enjoy the story more than I did.
I also would suggest using the walkthrough after your first ending, otherwise it's probably quite hard to get all endings.

Also: Can SOMEONE please help me with the Kanji easteregg minigame, I am getting murdered...

This is a very fetish heavy VN game. At first ti feels like there's no choices to make, but it's all a similar style choice of looking up at the character.

It's not the type of VN I thought it would be, but it may be enjoyable to others

It's probably one of the most creative and artistic visual novel released up until today, maybe it was a bit too focused on h scenes when it could've taken a different path (I'm not disappointed but thinking about it objectively maybe it was a bit too much).
Still really high quality, 5 stars completely deserved.

Alright, I might want to say that it's not actually bad. Basically the intro and the phase actually made me want to read it more. THE VISUAL ARE INSANELY GOOD. I like the UI to.

(SPOILER ALERT)

At first, you will notice that the story will lead to something. But goddamn after I reached my first ending that's where I start to notice that things will be fuck up no matter route I will land into. Like godfucking dammit why me bro. I like dark fiction but why the heck it made me feel like this.

I want to say that all the things that I've experience are still alienated deep inside my heart and I don't still even fucking know if I'm going to get used to it. Like, man, I've never actually read a visual novel where all heroine are actually fucked up or messed up, like bro this world had gone insane.

All this fucking bitches are manipulative. I said it. I don't care what other people will say, but goddamn godamnit, at first you got this manipulative senior bitch, manipulative crush, manipulative egirl bitch, manipulative president, I don't know about the shrine girl though but fuck her too. man fuck all the girls. Fuck their endings and fuck their mother too.

I'm not saying I didn't like the game itself, Sometimes hate turns to something pleasing which means I actually enjoyed it. I admit it took me time to end the fucking game just BECAUSE OF ITS FUCKING ROUTING MECHANICS. LIKE WTF HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO GET TOWARDS THE OTHER ROUTE. IT MADE ME FIND A GUIDELINE, BUT FUCKING HELL EVEN WITH THE GUIDELINE ITS SO FUCKING HARD TO FOLLOW.

But you know what Im happy Im done with it, THE MUSIC ARE FUCKING HELLA S TIER, IVE BEEN FUCKING LISTENING TO THE INTRO SONG FOR LIKE COUPLE TIMES NOW

so yeah. man.

oh btw, i forgot to mention, goddamn i didn't expect at the end that they actually burned HALF OF THE FUCKING CITY?? >> (shown on the ending visuals) Like i thought it was just short/small type of area, no wonder why it took many prep. but whatever. its over. its fine now. theres no trauma. theres no sadness. theres no sickness. disgust. its over man. finally. i've gotten over it. im so happy. nah bro.

I only finished one ending, so you might consider this review uninformed.

I reached the "bad" ending that most people probably found first, saw the CG gallery was not even close to being completed and was incredibly confused. This game poses as a kinetic novel but actually has hidden choices. There aren't any dialogue choices that pop up, it just comes down to you waiting at specific moments instead of clicking. That certainly obscures the plot, which is probably the point, but it also makes it nearly indecipherable without a guide. In my opinion this is one of the worst designs I have ever seen in a visual novel. I understand why finding alternatives in the plot makes sense to be obscured to Suteru himself, but when you hide the entire ability of choice from the player then it ventures into the plot becoming a liability to the quality of the overall experience.

That said, I still really want to like this VN because I think the core idea of "seeing" someone's thoughts is interesting and has a lot of potential. And it's visualized well. The art is great, and the animated words that show around a character's head is neat. However, just within the first few minutes of playing the other stylistic choices bring it down. Is it necessary to have a shrill tinnitus-inducing sound within the intro sequence? Sure, I get it, the protagonist might be the most miserable person in existence but I don't need my eardrums to bleed in order to understand him. Do I really need to click the screen multiple times with no change in the dialogue to simulate a thought being stuck in Suteru's subconscious? There are better ways to illustrate these occurences.

Then the plot itself... I think that saying this is just an incel's revenge fantasy is oversimplifying it a bit, but it's also not wrong. Suteru does have a bit of humanity left in him, at least at first, which gives him some nuance instead of immediately becoming a monster that mind controls and rapes everyone. This leads to some deep and brutal scenarios where he is able to use his cunning and lust to strip away a person's mental defenses and eventually "dominate" them... kinda. He does some dominating but he also gets his ass kicked, both mentally and physically. The brutality just ramps itself up and up, and while I think the other routes are worth exploring, the medium in which they are told is not too enjoyable.

I still recommend this, because it has potential and might resonate with people who enjoy the kinks withn, but it just feels too weirdly executed for me to want to play it more than once.

Awesome game in all senses, coherent plot-wise through routes, incredible narrative, varied fetishes, and an incredible story (true ending almost had me in tears). All this not to mention the incredible scenes; Gumi was my favorite, sexually speaking. The only drawback in this game is the way of making choices and the complex way of getting through endings, but it was amazing to unravel the mystery slowly.

Not for the weak fainted heart people tho, had gory and heavy stuff and fetishes.

The standard most visual novels should aspire.

This is one of those depressing reads. The pacing, angst, and drama is what hooked me onto this story in the first place, but it's also what disappointed me later on when you get into the routes. Most of the routes are focused on depressing sex, and I get that the h-scenes are important for character development and tone, but they distract audiences away from the raw and brutal writing the VN entered with. That's not to say the h-scenes are terrible, because it is refreshing that the h-scenes actually mean more than fap material. The problem is that they're repetitive. The audience ends up with little breaks between h-scenes, so they're sucked into the pacing. The other thing I wasn't a fan of, and this is more of a personal gripe of mine, were route conditions being obscure without a guide. All routes are missable, and it is possible to do all of them in any order. There are even bad endings you could miss out on. But even though there isn't any enforced route playthrough, the routes are obviously made to be played before the next.

An interesting story idea and artistic presentation sadly completely wasted by horrible writing. The entire premise of mindreading in the game just boils down to, "oh this guy is extremely ugly".

The immediate setting of the MC isn't ever expanded upon, something that would help to explain the MC's quite frankly ridiculous actions. He mindbreaks himself for being extremely ugly and so he decides to punish... the girl he likes who is nice to him despite that? It's difficult to want to read a story from the perspective of someone who has the mental capacity of a stone. I turned message skip on shortly after the forced blowjob so I could get to the H scenes faster.

Furthermore, the game's unique presentation actually hinders itself. The 'look' and 'don't look' choices are incredibly difficult to even understand as a choice being offered to the player, and I'm not the only one who seems to have that problem. Logically, when you are reading through a VN you are clicking to get to the next line of text, and the game itself never shows waiting to 'not look' as an option. The only reason I figured out the game wasn't linear was seeing that I had somehow missed content in the extras menu.

The visuals are astonishingly beautiful, and the wordsight is a really weird and cool mechanic that emphasizes the psychological aspect of the vn, furthermore the OST fckn rocks too!
Overrall it can be a great experience, although to me, all the routes seemed kinda empty with unsatisfying endings, excluding the true route, but even if the plot isn't the greatest, the other points are good enough to make a really entertaining experience.
Also, there are buttstuff scenes, but they all are related to punishment stuff.

I would recommend going into it blind and then reading the walkthrough after clearing the first route.


Each FL from the cover art has their own ending with a different fetish, but all of them feel like failure routes except the true ending.

I didn't really like how slow the text appears even at max speed, but you get used to it after a couple hours.

The only pregnancy content is disappointing, but the runtime is short enough that you can probably finish this game in a weekend. That said, If I knew that there were only 2 barely visible pregnant CGs and that the mc was dominated far more often than he gets to dominate, I would likely have skipped this one.

why is it always the nice rapist that gets the girl?

Note:
The text portion of the guide is incorrect for bad end 2, although the flow chart is right. 3 gumi 'wait's is 'a barrage of words' not 'until the goldfish dies'.

The psychological aspect of the experience is truly captivating. The depth of the narrative and its emotional impact are amplified by the seamless integration of the story with the environment. Every element is carefully designed to evoke a particular response, keeping you on the edge of your seat. It's not just a visual or auditory experience, but one that engages your mind, urging you to dive deeper into the emotions and motives of the characters.

What makes it even more impressive is the way the storytelling is woven into the world-building. The atmosphere reflects the tension and nuances of the plot, making each moment feel purposeful. As you progress, you start to feel more and more connected to the environment, which, in turn, enhances the overall experience.


The music plays a crucial role in all of this. It doesn't just accompany the visuals; it becomes a part of the story. Each note is carefully placed to build suspense, provide relief, or accentuate a moment of introspection. The way the soundtrack and environment work together to immerse you in the story is nothing short of remarkable.


It's one of those rare experiences that's worth revisiting and easy to recommend, thanks to its brilliant fusion of psychological intrigue, storytelling, and music.

Mojika is black metal in the form of a visual novel. It's cold, disturbing, disgusting even, but if it grabs you, it'll inmerse you in its nihilistic and entropic world like some hallucinogen drug.

It's very experimental. You'll be seeing your foot for the entirety of the game, OST is (extremely good) ambient music*, and it has this heavy, onirical and dark feeling, kinda similar to manga/anime Aku no Hana (The Flowers of Evil). As for the story itself, it's weird, with all routes ending with this oppresive, ominous feeling, urging you to continue reading. A very nihilistic revenge story about a man hating the world, in a world that shows him nothing but hate. It reminds me a lot of All Night Long, Tokyo Decadence, and all those pesimistic jp movies from the 90s.

This game is mindblowing, but only for the right people, as you can see in some of the reviews. And also as you can see in some of the reviews, it won't leave you indifferent. It's not very graphic (fair warning tho: it has one of the most painful scenes you'll see in your life), but it's very psychologically unconfortable so don't go in with your thing out of your pants. But if you like depressive art, stuff that punches you good right in the brain, you won't forget the ride.

*check out Hata Yuusuke, Mojika composer, music. He's "Cruyff in the Bedroom" singer and guitarist. It's on Spotify.

I’ve been waiting months for this visual novel, and I finally got to play it! Like everyone else, I went in blind—no guides, no spoilers. I explored all the different routes myself and basically uncovered everything except the final route, which was way more convoluted (but in a good way, no spoilers!). Honestly, this is one of the best stories I’ve ever experienced in a visual novel. The protagonist’s dialogue stays short and snappy, making it super easy to read, and the pacing is just chef’s kiss. My only gripe? The lack of realistic… ahem… penetration sounds. They really leaned on the voice actors to carry those scenes.

Spoilers below, FYI!


I’m hoping this studio works on something even more twisted next time, maybe with time mechanics that force players to investigate clues around the clock. And make it a full-on revenge story, y’know? 10/10, no notes.
Let me know if you’d like

Mojika - Truth Rears Its Ugly Head is one of the games of all time. Seriously, this game is something else entirely and focuses primarily on the idea of

If you are born in darkness, can you ever really be "normal"?

Mojika goes to great lengths to find out the answer to this question. It is NOT for the faint of heart. It won't pull punches and will make you squirm in your seat.

Plot:

Mojika is an utsuge game and is similar to titles like Saya no Uta and DDLC. Hopeless, depressing and miserable. The plot will try it best to make sure you know that there is no happiness in this world. Everyone is out to get each other, everyone wants something back, no one gives a shit otherwise. Who is our MC by the way?

The MC is an orphan and INCREDIBLY ugly to the point where he gets assaulted simply due to his presence near people. He lives looking down and he dubs it his "120 cm world". Unfortunately, he is also a monster that barely cares about people's suffering. His ideology is that since he has lived a horrible life, he can do whatever he wants.

There were a lot of interesting story points in this game, but they're all locked behind a door of edge that is the MC's monologues. You have to trudge through the thoughts of someone who has never once been genuinely loved in their entire life.

Back to the plot, it was down right uncomfortable at some points with the stuff that was happening on my monitor. What makes it all the more horrific is that canonically these are 16 year old's.

Some of these scenes are just softcore torture porn.

Gameplay:

MC spends the majority of the VN looking at the floor. I swear by the end of it I was a master at recognizing Japanese floor patterns. The gameplay loop basically comes down to if you want to make MC look at people's faces. You know, so that he can use his broken mind read ability. Which he sucks at using.

MC: I am so ugly and sad... should I look up at this girl and find out if she thinks I'm ugly and sad?

*Chooses look up*

Girl: OMG HE IS SO UGLY AND SAD!!

MC: I will destroy this world!!11!

9/10 times MC then proceeds to get the living shit beat out of him... or he assaults the girl.


Music

Pretty great. It does its job of creating mood. Unfortunately when playing this game multiple times for its complicated routes, it does get repetitive.


Overall

This is very well made visual novel with great design and art though the idea behind it is incredibly twisted. It's depressing at best and horrifying at worst. I didn't ever think a visual novel could make me have such a reaction but I've been proven wrong. It's like a slow moving car crash and you can't stop watching because you WANT TO SEE THE END.

4/5 stars for being a very original, well made, and interesting game. But its too much for me.

I really wish this game was as interesting as it sounded.

Visually, it's great. The premise was something I thought sounded interesting when coupled with how they presented the text in game—but, unfortunately, the visuals and sound design are just about the only place this game shined for me.


With that all being said, I think parts of this game are enjoyable. It just takes far too long to reach those enjoyable parts with what you have to put up with to get there. Some people might like it, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who isn't looking to crank it to depression and doesn't mind dealing with an insufferable MC.

Full disclosure: Despite the rating I actually think this VN is closer to 4 stars objectively speaking. But given how this is a dying genre it may as well be 5/5 and I do think it’s worth checking out even if it’s just for idle curiosity.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Presentation ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
People in the know refer to Mojika as an ‘Utsuge’ (depressing game), not to be confused with a ‘Nakige’ (which is also a depressing game except in a more sentimental, wholesome way) If I had to describe this story it would be something like a dark modern retelling of the ‘Ugly Duckling Story’. For the longest time I thought this VN would be untranslatable, it has a lot of text messages in single cgs, stylized graffiti, floating text separated from the usual dialogue box, etc. The VN is also uncensored albeit with a legal notice watermark in the corner (which you can remove with a patch).
A lot of effort was put in this on top of an already unique VN experience. Which I'll elaborate further down.

If the synopsis sounds mildly interesting to you I do highly recommend you check it out as blind as you can, however, do be wary that this is going to be a tough read depending on your sensibilities and tastes. Know that behind all the doom and gloom there is some light at the end of the tunnel.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Gameplay ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
On paper this plays like any other choice based VN with a common route and branching paths. The interesting part about this is how the game handles choices. Our MC is someone that is loathed by his peers for several reasons, he also has the dubious privilege of being able to read people’s minds by looking at their faces. Since he is heavily bullied and ostracized people think a lot of mean things when they see him so he ends up just staring at people’s shoes for a good chunk of the introductory section of the story, So the way you get to act upon anything is by looking up and reading people’s minds (this is not always the best choice as you’ll find out) In a way you navigate this game by putting yourself in the MCs place and figuring out when would be the best time to use your “powers” to your advantage.

My recommendation is to play along as far as you can and only look up a guide when you feel like the game is starting to spin its wheels. But if you pay attention, the path to the ‘True Route’ will be fairly obvious after playing through some of the routes.

★ ★ ★ ★ Sound ★ ★ ★ ★
The music is stellar (imo), but it does get very samey. I do enjoy this type of droning depressing music but I can see it being grating for some people after a while.
The sound effects are well executed and are a highlight, if I had one complaint here it would be that the voice acting performances can get way over the top and for me they started landing on comedy territory at times.

★ ★ ★ Writing ★ ★ ★
This sadly is the weakest part of the whole thing, not that it’s bad mind you (I genuinely think this VN is a solid 8/10), it has a lot of genuinely tense, gut wrenching, cathartic moments. And it’s interesting and fresh but then the story starts meandering on the same topics or the MC would start acting retarded, missing the big picture leading to unsatisfying outcomes. And then there’s some padding on plot points that seemingly go nowhere.

I would describe the writing as messy but it’s more like the story has these beads of intriguing/entertaining moments, connected by a long string of bland perfunctory babble. Still, I quite enjoyed it and reading the ‘True End’ was satisfying enough for me. Your mileage may vary depending on how you approach the story as you may get more or less out of it.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Visuals ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
The main artist is Hamashima Shigeo, if you are familiar with his works you would know that he is often associated with off the grid extreme eroge content (Guro, scat, etc.). Most of the art here is surprisingly normal tho, with a few exceptions. If someone told me this VN looked ugly I would agree, the colors look washed out and some of the girls have this plain Jane look to them which makes them appear “normal” but I think this is to the benefit of the whole package and adds to the overall experience, so when something beautiful pops out it’s really eye catching and it works the same way when the truly grotesque rears its head.

★ ★ ★ ★ Porn ★ ★ ★ ★
There’s a lot of porn, and it comes early, the porn doesn’t work if you only ctrl-skip and/or unlock the gallery. Context is very important here for setting up the mood and circumstances that led to every scene in the first place. It has a lot of things that you can’t find anywhere else (mind reading while sexing as a quick example), and to get the most out of it you’ll have to be a seasoned porn game enjoyer (That enjoys reading). In a way there’s something for everybody, For me? I enjoyed it because I like revenge hate fucking as a porn setting but I wasn’t too enthused when the MC did something mean to a girl that didn’t deserve it (as much). If you are more sadistic than me then you’ll have a blast with this for sure but do be mindful that it goes both ways sometimes
And if you are asking “Is there NTR in this?” The answer is, not really. But if NTR makes you shit your diaper you're better off skipping this regardless, in a way it goes further than that since bad, cruel things happen to most of the girls (and the MC for that matter), this is not for the soft hearted by any means. There’s just one scene with mild guro and there’s no scat.

-Final thoughts-
I wish more VNs like this were made nowadays, we are living in the twilight of a dying genre with low effort moeslop and ntrslop getting shit out every other day. If you enjoyed this VN you can get it cheap from Jast’s store. My main goal with this review was in part to bring attention to this in the hopes that we keep getting interesting visual novels in the future.