You know what they say -- sex sells. In this case, “sex” is “nostalgia” packaged into a short two or so hour romp that doesn’t feel like it wanted to be a game. Mixtape is about as auteur as auteur gets -- it’s pretentious, it’s cinematic, it’s story-focused, it’s stylized, it’s… not a game.
Developed by Beethoven & Dinosaur and published by Annapurna Interactive, Mixtape is a bold game with ideas of music nerd nostalgia and a story of rippled friendships as you grow older. The trio of friends -- Stacey Rockford, Van Slater, and Cassandra Morino -- want to make the best of their last day in their hometown of Blue Moon Lagoon by going to a party, but not wanting to go empty-handed, the B-plot is them going to find booze and enjoy their final night together. The A-plot is Stacey and co reminiscing about arbitrary moments of their friendship.
Moments like Cassendra taking the fall for Stacey after they all TP the principal’s home. The moment of Stacey and Slater in a photobooth taking silly pictures as teens do. The moment of them making slushie recipes. Those are little moments, but big moments happen to, moments like Stacey’s first kiss, an awkward and frankly gross interactive minigame that we’re forced to sit through, or how they were entrusted with an old abandoned shack in the middle of the woods they’ve affectionately named the “Ritz,” claiming it as their stomping ground or hideout.
I didn’t have a normal childhood -- I was stricken with Leukemia at the age of 18 months, I was homeschooled for all of my education, even when it was deemed in remission, I never ended up making friends during my childhood and even teenage years. That is to say, this game’s narrative is a bit cathartic of seeing a friend group like this grunge, "in it together but not really" kind of way.
The best way I can describe the three’s dynamic is… a clique. Stacey is de facto leader and music-obsessed nerd, Slater is the laid back “cool kid” who wants nothing more than to hangout with his friends, skate, get drunk, and listen to tunes, and Cass, the newest of the group, is hanging with them not just because she likes their company, but because Stacey brings out the rebellious side of her, one she wants to tap into to get back at her uber strict police officer father.
Their personalities compliment each other, Stacey, though, is insufferable, and while I know this is intentional and perhaps partly clouded by my lack of a friend group growing up, but to me, she is selfish and controlling. She’s selfish as she opts to flake out on a road trip the three of them have been planning for years, a monumental moment of their lives and friendship, to chase a chance at becoming a music supervisor -- not a definitive path, but a chance, something she views as her only chance. She’s controlling, as it feels like she views her friends as sidekicks and that their world has to revolve around her. There’s no way of explaining it better than her feelings toward Cass’ other friend, “Jenny F***ing Goodspeed.” Jenny’s taste in music -- or rather her indifference to it -- turned off Stacey, and music being the only thing that she cares about, led her to loathe Jenny.
In terms of story, the game is competent, it’s very cinematic with a fixation of musical synchronicity. If your game’s gonna be called Mixtape, you’ve gotta have a banging soundtrack, and it doesn’t disappoint, the whole concept of the game is using licensed music that fits the strong shift in the moment, something that Stacey has a knack for. I wouldn’t expect the game to not have a cinematic flair; Annapurna, the publisher, has a storied history publishing games that are more movies than games, which makes sense as they’re a subsidiary to a film production company.
Stray is the best example off the top of my head, but they also handled the PC port of Journey, as well as Open Roads, Outer Wilds, Hohokum, Wanderstop, and What Remains of Edith Finch. Many of those games aren’t considered “games,” but rather walking simulators that serve as a vessel for a strong narrative, it’s clear a majority of Annapurna’s library are more artsy cinematic types, so while yes, they’ve handled The Pathless, Solar Ash, and are publishing Silent Hill: Townfall, it’s clear their main audience are walking sim enthusiasts or those that don’t want action, but rather a compelling story that will leave a lasting impact.
To some degree, I think Mixtape delivers on just that -- a coming of age narrative of finding yourself, making the last of your limited time with your best friends before flying to a totally new state, potentially never seeing them again. The other side of me, though, feels like saying the phrase “this could’ve been an email” but… for films and games.
“This could’ve been a movie.”
The struggle with the game itself is it conducts the grave sin of bland gameplay. It feels like an artsy filmmaker was given the chance to make a Mario Party project without the board. The gameplay got in the way of the narrative just as much as the narrative got in the way of the gameplay. I called it an “auteur's wet dream” and I think this is the best way to describe it.
https://x.com/gabe_reisinger/status/2054839399956009243
The gameplay is stale; it’s just minigames set to a narrative. You have two types -- walking around a small area and clicking on things to see how the characters interact or have a bit of variety with things like skipping stones and skating down a hill. Admittedly, I did have fun with the skating segment, as well as the slingshot segment, but those are few and far between. Most of the time, it’s just moving forward and we’re supposed to just take in the scenery, even as someone who generally likes walking simulators, Mixtape feels too bland.
Mixtape is extremely divided and I can see why. Its soundtrack is fantastic, its art direction is phenomenal, and it’s overall a well-paced and heartfelt story that definitely feels “from the heart.” Throw in a fantastic voice cast and a healthy dose of ‘90s music nerd nostalgia and you have a game that clearly seeks to break the shackles between movie and video game. But, that very present lack of engaging gameplay, Stacey treating her friends like sidekicks, that awkward and gross kissing minigame that lasted way too long, and the “this could’ve been a movie” line ringing in my head stops it from feeling like the best game of 2026.
The Verdict
Mixtape Score: 8/10
Developer: Beethoven & Dinosaur
Publisher: Annapurna Interactive
Reviewed on: PC
Available on: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2.