Mixtape Review | Why This Divisive Narrative Game Works for Me

You’ve heard of Mixtape. Even if you don’t like this style of game, or if you try to avoid the internet. You’ve heard of it. Maybe that it’s “the best game of the year” or that it’s “Woke critic slop” either way, there’s a very good chance you’ve seen the name. 

Well I thought it would be a good idea to stoke that flame a little, months after the original controversies dies down since I do have some stuff to say on this game and how it is undeniably, for me, a game of the year contender.

A story that resonates.

Mixtape is the latest game from Beethoven and Dinosaur. The developers behind the phenomenal Artful Escape. A game I seriously adored. To the point I platinumed it twice in the same day because I couldn’t get enough of it. It was a simplistic side scroller with more of a focus on storytelling, art direction and music over deep gameplay, that’s B&E’s bread and butter.

Mixtape is, quite clearly, an evolution of that. With a much higher budget and more experience with developing, you can tell there’s been a big upgrade here. Mixtape plays similarly to something like Life is Strange where you’ll have a variety of cutscenes and then have to explore some smallish areas for collectibles or story moments. These story moments are where it counts though. 

Mixtape follows a group of three friends: Stacey Rockford, Van Slater, and Cassandra Morino. They head out for one final night together before Stacey goes to pursue her dreams. A story thread which, inevitably, breeds conflict throughout the narrative. It’s a game about teenage angst, those euphoric moments as a kid and those times you feel like the world is out to get you. Mixtape wants to make you feel like a kid again, and to me I think it works incredibly well. 

I adore this story. It’s a coming of age told in a way that fits B&D’s style, full of funny moments and some genuinely heartfelt interactions. All of this elevated by the thing this developer does best, integrating music.

Grab your vinyl player.

Beethoven and Dinosaur love music, Artful Escape was designed entirely around its sound and music which was all created for the game. This time around, Mixtape uses a range of licensed tracks themed around the time period it’s based on, surprise surprise it’s the 80’s. 

I, and I doubt I’m the only one, think media that homages to the 80’s has started to lose its sparkle. It was cute for the first few years but every film or tv show seems to be required to feature the same 3 or 4 songs that made that era so memorable. So it’s pretty easy to be a little bit wary about mixtape doing the same, the good thing is they have no interest in reusing any of those songs.

In the 23 songs the game uses, I knew maybe 4 of them? Beethoven and Dinosaur chose to use some real deep cuts that one serious fans of the time would be aware of, and it works wonders for setting you in the time and space. They have more focus on choosing music that fits the tone of the scene rather than one they know all the players will recognise. And it worked on me since my personal playlist got way bigger after this.

The music helps to create some unforgettable moments. Driving flying cars through a sky of fireworks to the incredible “More than this” or simply skateboarding down the street to DEVO’s “That’s Good”. Every scene is utterly electric, puts you in the period and makes you feel at home with this ragtag group of misfits. 

*Photo of driving scene*

Play Some Tunes

As mentioned earlier, Mixtape isn’t prioritising its gameplay with this experience. Which is partly the reason it seems to have gathered so much distain over the internet, but at the end of the day, it isn’t aiming to be Dark Souls. Mixtape knows what it is, and it does it really well.

This feels almost like a Warioware game of sorts, it’s essentially a collection of mini games thrown between its narrative exposition. You’ll be trying to get baseball home runs, then doing a subway surfer style running sequence in the vein of Ferris Bueller. You’ll even have a playable make out session which is just as uncomfortable as it sounds.

All of these moments work to make you feel the way the narrative wants you to feel. People complain about how something made them feel weird, but that’s the whole point and I think it’s great we have some games out there not wanting to settle for hype moments and aura. 

Verdict.

Mixtape isn’t a deep game to talk about. It has a super fun story, some fantastic music and gameplay that exists to amplify those other elements. It’s not trying to make you love narrative games, it’s not trying to give you a sprawling 40+ hour experience. It knows what it is, and it does a fantastic job at it. 

Mixtape might just be one of the best games from this year, for how effortlessly well it pulls off what it’s trying to accomplish. I, for one, can say I never lost faith in Beethoven & Dinosaur and I cannot wait to see what they do next.