Mixtape review

A Beautiful, Flawed Nostalgia Trip

Mixtape is a three-hour nostalgia trip through '90s suburbia, following a charmingly delinquent trio in their coming-of-age journey. Developed by Beethoven & Dinosaur and published by Annapurna Interactive, the game invites you to step into the shoes of Stacy Rockford, a music enthusiast and imminent high school graduate.

As I played, the only thought rattling around in my head was that Mixtape is a good movie. This isn’t an indictment of the medium, but rather a reflection on how video games can, broadly speaking, do more interesting things with themselves. While the narrative is sharp and the soundtrack superb, the game’s reliance on interactive elements often distracts from its core strengths.

The Cast of Misfits

The story centers on Stacy Rockford, who has curated a mixtape for her perfect last day before heading to New York to pursue her dreams. This decision leaves her friends, Van Slater and Cassandra Morino, behind, disrupting their planned road trip.

The cast is defined by their dynamic and distinct personalities:

• Stacy Rockford: A music aficionado and disillusioned teen who hates "Jenny F*cking Goodspeed."
• Van Slater: The emotionally centered chill dude and Stacy’s superb best friend, often cited as the most mentally healthy teenager.
• Cassandra Morino: A perfect student trying to find her own identity while languishing under the thumb of a deeply strict cop dad.

Unlike many titles that fall into the trap of making teenagers sound artificially youthful with effusive slang, Mixtape avoids this pitfall. Stacy and her crew are portrayed as smarter than the adults give them credit for, engaging in deep conversations about the existential horrors of entering the adult world.

When Interactivity Fails the Narrative

The game’s vision of '90s nostalgia bathes the world in vivid color, particularly when reality frays to reflect a teenager’s imagination. However, these moments are interrupted by minigames and walkabout sections that don't always serve the story.

There are standout moments where the mechanics work perfectly:

• The Kissing Scene: A disgusting, tongue-slathering session that properly reflects the biological awkwardness of teenage intimacy.
• The Finale: A final sequence where Rockford starts a new chapter, using interactivity to draw the player deeper into the narrative.

In a three-hour runtime, these are the only two moments where the inclusion of player input truly enhanced the story. Otherwise, the mechanical interludes often drag on with rudimentary controls or feel like distractions rather than enhancements.

Visual Storytelling and Emotional Resonance

When disconnected from the need to push buttons, Mixtape shines as a gorgeous coming-of-age story. The game excels at visual storytelling, using the medium to create immersive, dream-like sequences that capture the messiness of adolescence.

Dream Sequences and Nostalgia

The game’s imagination runs wild during key emotional beats, creating memorable vignettes:

• Fugue States: A betrayal sends Stacy into a drifting fugue state where she floats lazily through a monochrome world before waking up in her bed.
• Abandoned Theme Parks: These locations come to life as the characters talk nonsense on the back of a stegosaurus, witnessing the end of the dinosaurs.
• Phantom Crowds: A sports stadium erupts with ghostly audiences as Stacy discovers the girl she has a crush on is surprisingly good at softball.

The onset of nostalgia is a particularly strong touch. Young Rockford constantly drifts into charming flashbacks, pre-empting the post-high school malaise that typically hits in one's mid-20s. It is clear that Mixtape was made with a burning love for the '90s, the impermanence of youth, and the chaos of being a teenager.

The Problem with Mandatory Minigames

Despite its visual beauty, Mixtape is only passingly interested in using interactivity to its advantage. The game often feels distracted by its need to make the player push buttons, even when the narrative doesn't require it.

The softball minigame, for example, was meant to establish how good Cass is at a sport she doesn't care about. However, my fumbling through the mechanics spoiled this key character beat, pulling me out of the narrative rather than immersing me in it. Similarly, while it is fun to bump into parade floats during a heartbreak scene or stumble through movie racks in a drunken fugue, these actions feel like opportunities to mess with a physics engine rather than absorb the story.

Final Verdict

Mixtape is a deeply charmed, sharply-written passion project that suffers from its own ambition. It is a gorgeous, darling experience that would be excellent as a film or a novel. As a video game, however, it struggles to justify its interactive elements.

If you are looking for a high-octane action experience, this is not it. But if you appreciate a well-told story with a superb soundtrack and beautiful visuals, Mixtape offers a poignant, if flawed, look at the end of an era. Just be prepared to sometimes feel like you're watching a movie through a layer of glass, rather than living it.