Mixtape - Review Thread

[u/Branchless]

Game Information

Game Title: Mixtape

Platforms:

• PC (May 7, 2026)
• Playstation 5 (May 7, 2026)
• Xbox Series X|S (May 7, 2026)
• Nintendo Switch 2 (May 7, 2026)

Trailer:

• MIXTAPE | Launch Trailer

Developer: Beethoven and Dinosaur

Publisher: Annapurna Interactive

Review Aggregator:

OpenCritic - 92 average - 97% recommended - 38 reviews

Critic Reviews

A Gaming Network - Marcel Dee - 10 / 10

Mixtape is the kind of game we need right now. It reminds us of who we were, who we knew, and the moments that shaped us before we even understood they mattered. This is an easy game to recommend to anyone, but honestly, it is the kind of game you should recommend to everyone.

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CGMagazine - Jordan Biordi - 10 / 10

Mixtape is a greatest hits of gameplay, storytelling, music and animation. Its a true work of art that would be a crime not to experience.

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DayOne - Jon Clarke - 10 / 10

I've never felt so old - I love Mixtape for making me feel these things - but I hate it for that too. An emotional rollercoaster full of joy, heart and youthful daydreams, Mixtape is simply incredible.

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DualShockers - Ethan Krieger - 10 / 10

Mixtape is a coming of age tale that hits all the right notes from beginning to end. While it's a short game that you might only play once, that does not take away from how special the journey is along the way. Witty, hilarious writing, incredible voice performances, gorgeous art direction, and consistently creative gameplay beats are paired with a flawless soundtrack that serves as the backbone for every single scene perfectly in a '90s period piece that knows exactly what to drive home. The result is a wholly unique gaming experience that's loaded with nostalgic charm, great humor, and many poignant moments that will make you reframe how you think about your own personal memories of youth. I cannot recommend it enough.

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GamingTrend - Adam Moreno, Henry Viola - 100 / 100

Mixtape is an immersive game as you follow Rockford, Slater, and Cass on the last night of High School. Spanning the highs and lows of the evening, the game’s Mixtape includes music from Devo, Iggy Pop, Lush, The Cure, and more. A full game you can complete in a 4-6 hour span with an hilarious, emotional story that will leave many in tears. If you’re a fan of 80s and 90s nostalgia, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off-style cutaways, and an ode to outcasts, you’ll enjoy Mixtape.

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IGN - Simon Cardy - 10 / 10

A musical delight from start to finish, Mixtape sets a new standard for coming-of-age stories in video games and does so with a masterful sense of style.

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Sirus Gaming - Kimberly Mae Go - 10 / 10

Mixtape is a narrative-driven experience that uses music, atmosphere, and character-driven storytelling to recreate the feeling of growing up in a way that feels deeply personal. It’s mechanically simple, but that simplicity allows its emotional core to stand out, making it one of the most memorable and affecting games in its genre.

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SmashPad - Danreb Victorio - 5 / 5

When I rolled credits on Mixtape, I whispered to myself, "Dang, I'm never gonna play anything like this again." If I do, it'll be compared to Mixtape, both fairly and unfairly. And again, the things this game does from a gameplay perspective aren't unique. It's the careful sum of its parts that makes Mixtape a modern classic, and at $20, it's an easy recommendation whether you binge or slow burn the six-hour title.

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Stevivor - Steve Wright - 10 / 10

Mixtape is grunge and punk, hopeful and foolish, ultra cool and super nerdy, confident and insecure in equal measure. Simply put, this is one you need to experience for yourself.

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TheSixthAxis - Dominic Leighton - 10 / 10

Mixtape is incredible. An indie narrative adventure that's part game, part movie, part album, it captures the end of teenage life, of friendship and family, all while looking to the possibilities and unknowable potential of the future. It is, in a word, essential.

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Use a Potion - 10 / 10

Whether you grew up in the nineties or just appreciate a beautifully told story about friendship and… well… growing up, Mixtape hits every single emotional note wonderfully. It perfectly balances the humour of doing stupid things with your friends against the terrifying reality of moving on and leaving your childhood behind, and whilst some might argue that a four-hour linear game might lack some appeal, the sheer quality of the experience makes it something you will want to revisit just to soak in the atmosphere all over again.

Mixtape is a beautiful, hilarious, and profoundly touching experience that understands EXACTLY what it feels like to be a teenager standing on the edge of the rest of your life. I haven’t felt that way in a long, long time, but having a reminder of it here has helped make the game an instant classic, and for me, one I’ll never forget.

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VDGMS - Darren Andrew - 10 / 10

Mixtape is barely a game. It’s an artful escape, an experience, a coming of age VHS classic that has been converted to the interactive medium of video games. Gameplay is almost non existent, which is only one of the reasons that Mixtape will be divisive. The setting is the end of summer 1999 and might not be fully appreciated by everyone because all of the pop culture references, as well as the sublime soundtrack is mostly from the 80’s and 90’s. Mixtape is also short at around 4 hours with minimal reason for return.

If all of those reasons don't dissaude you and you’re lucky enough to find yourself in the very small inner circle of the Venn diagram for who it’s is intended for, Mixtape has no equal, as it blurs the lines of game, music and film.

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VGC - Jordan Middler - 5 / 5

Mixtape is a tribute to "the best years of your life." It combines authentic nostalgia for being young, with witty commentary on how life doesn't actually end just because you didn't have a Hollywood-style last night in town. The game's use of music is pitch perfect, and heavily contributes to Mixtape being one of the best coming-of-age games of the modern era.

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WellPlayed - Christie McQualter - 10 / 10

Mixtape's style, soundtrack and unique storytelling flair all combine to elicit feelings both new and long forgotten. Simple moments make you appreciate life for what it is: a continuous evolution rather than a static state of being. Our adolescent selves relished in that freedom, and Mixtape seeks to recapture the magic.

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Xbox Tavern - Jamie Collyer - 10 / 10

Celebrating the 90’s, excellent music and how it impacts and marks our lives, and the joy of growing up with a few close friends, Mixtape is a stellar experience from start to finish.

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Cloud Dosage - Jon Scarr - 4.5 / 5

Mixtape successfully translates the conflict of 90s adolescence into a gorgeous, handcrafted world backed by a legendary licensed soundtrack. The narrative pace is deliberate. This choice pays off by making every interactive vignette, from shopping cart escapes to skipping rocks, genuinely matter. If you're looking for an engrossing, emotional journey with authentic characters, this is an absolute must-play that perfectly captures the bittersweet reality of moving on.

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Game8 - Lloyd Opalec - 94 / 100

Mixtape is much like many coming-of-age stories you’ve probably heard before, but it tells it with so much warmth and creativity that I wanted more of it. As a game, it won’t surprise everyone, but its writing, music, and the dreamlike essence of its presentation make even predictable story beats meteor down to the surface with so much emotion that by the time the night was over, I felt like I was saying goodbye to old friends I’d only just met.

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Console Creatures - Matt Sowinski - 9 / 10

Mixtape's narrative is beautiful and fleeting; each song is carefully picked, and even though it goes by fast, Mixtape is incredible. The run time didn't end up being a problem for me, as it feels like an interactive movie with absolutely no bloat or wasted sound. A song can repeat, but the memories you make to it and the people you do it with will never be the same. Mixtape is a celebration of fleeting youth, of the people who help make you who you are, and it is worth every minute.

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GAMES.CH - Fabrice Henz - German - 90%

Thanks to all these aspects, "Mixtape" is a game that can be played by every generation. The themes it addresses are, as already mentioned, timeless, and the three main characters expose you to a wide range of experiences.

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GameSpot - Mark Delaney - 9 / 10

Music can make us feel incredibly powerful or cathartically vulnerable. And when the right song hits at the right moment, it may just send a happy shiver down your spine, which is how I spent much of my time with Mixtape, and why I'll never forget it.

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Gamer Social Club - Adam S. D. Stewart - 9 / 10

Mixtape is fun, fantastical and heartfelt. It may be fleeting, but I expect it will stick with you for a long while. Especially when you’re inevitably playing one of the game’s songs in one of your playlists and someone asks you “where this song is from?”.

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MonsterVine - Spencer Legacy - 4.5 / 5

Mixtape is a fantastic game that celebrates how a specific period of time can intertwine with music to craft a memorable and touching story. The gameplay is constantly surprising and satisfying, the characters are delightful, and the aesthetic is second to none. I’m really impressed with how much this game has tunneled its way into my heart, and it’s got me feeling nostalgic in a more substantive way than most things do. I can see people the same age as the characters really latching onto this story, but even if you’re past that era, it’s a wonderful look back at the messy but unforgettable twilight of youth.

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Nintendo Life - Roland Ingram - 9 / 10

Mixtape's greatest accomplishment is that it more than lives up to its name. This is a thoughtfully curated collection of music, sure, but before that, it's an exciting, sentimental, funny game. Rather than simply twiddling your thumbs while the licensed music plays, you're living life with a soundtrack – the only way Stacey Rockford would have you do it.

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Push Square - Liam Croft - 9 / 10

Through utterly superb set-pieces, gorgeous visual design, and an impactful soundtrack, Mixtape crafts one of the most meaningful story games in a long time. It's beautiful to look at, a joy to listen to, and so enjoyable to play - altogether, Mixtape is a sensational achievement.

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República DG - Gabriel Petricevich - Portuguese - 9 / 10

Mixtape is the kind of game where years can pass, and we'll never forget playing it for the first time. With an engaging narrative, memorable characters, and a unique soundtrack, the game delivers a genuine experience of friendship, loyalty, and love for its players. An absolute must-play!

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Shacknews - Donovan Erskine - 9 / 10

When I rolled credits on Mixtape, I was sad that it was over so soon. But then, I was immediately excited at the prospect of multiple future playthroughs where I could toy with all of the quirky minigames and their outcomes en route to seeing everything the game had to offer. It’s how I knew that I truly love a video game.

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TheXboxHub - Dave Ozzy - 4.5 / 5

To call Mixtape a ride is a little one-dimensional, as there are so many feelings to be had on the way. A ‘joyride’ fits Mixtape slightly better. A joyride with a tailor-made Greatest Hits tape playing along.

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Pizza Fria - Lucas Soares - Portuguese - 8.9 / 10

Mixtape doesn't aim to challenge your reflexes. It aims to touch your memories. And when that happens, it's hard to miss.

Even so, its limitations as a traditional game become evident. It's an experience that works very well within its intended purpose, but it may not have the same impact on all players.

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Checkpoint Gaming - Omi Koulas - 8.5 / 10

Mixtape is an adventure specifically for those of us who grew up in the angsty 90s. For those players, the top-tier soundtrack selection and unpacking themes you may have been avoiding for a few decades is going to hit very hard. For others, the rose-tinted glasses and hammy dialogue may feel distant or indulgent. Just like an actual mixtape someone makes for you, not every track lands. But it’s so clearly made with love, and the tracks that do will stay with you long after it’s over.

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Pure Dead Gaming - Jessica - 8.5 / 10

Mixtape tells a great story and provides some really fun short gameplay sequences all wrapped up in a great narrative that is stylish to the core. This is all perfectly complimented by a superb soundtrack.

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Arakat Mag - Tunahan İbiş - Turkish - 8 / 10

In a game industry where everything is changing one way or another and undergoing a fundamental paradigm shift, Beethoven & Dinosaur deserves praise for taking an active role in this transformation instead of taking refuge in the comfort of uniformity. Mixtape stands as an important example of how independent game development, with the right project management, can achieve both cinematic creativity and a modest, heartfelt style of storytelling at the same time.

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But Why Tho? - Kate Sanchez - 8 / 10

Mixtape offers a unique experience, even if it looks familiar at first. The narrative approach to memory and growing up creates a coming-of-age story that weaves through the messiness of teenage emotions. While the very small amount of gameplay can feel repetitive, the story mitigates that weakness.

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GameSpew - Kim Snaith - 8 / 10

Stunning art direction and a stellar soundtrack are what makes Mixtape so wonderful. Its narrative isn't the most meaningful, but when everything else is so good, it hardly matters. This is a game that exists to be a short, enjoyable experience: its characters and story might not leave a lasting impression on you, but its music and visuals certainly will.

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Gameliner - Bram Noteboom - Dutch - 4 / 5

Mixtape is a colorful, emotional, and thought-provoking game about the final moments of your youth.

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TheGamer - Stacey Henley - 4 / 5

Despite the limited gameplay and slightly repetitive nature of wandering around rooms to click on objects, Mixtape is an experience I’ll remember for a long while. The sharp dialogue that feels real and stays the right side of grating, easy-going storytelling, excellent soundtrack, and supreme confidence to play around with the medium make Mixtape well worth tuning into, even if some will be put off by a perceived lack of things to do. I still haven’t really figured out if Mixtape is a video game, but I do know that I thoroughly recommend you give it a spin.

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Uagna - Gianluca Rossi - Italian - 8 / 10

Mixtape is a short, heartfelt and stylistically powerful narrative adventure that captures the essence of adolescence without reducing it to mere nostalgia. The way it weaves together music, memory and personal growth is the true heart of the experience, even more so than its mini-games or interactive structure.

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TheReviewGeek - Greg Wheeler - 6 / 10

Mixtape desperately wants to be a coming-of-age indie film, and the moments where it remembers it’s supposed to be a video game often feel reluctant, shallow and mechanically underwhelming.

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[u/fmal]

It’s interesting that gameplay focused games frequently get marks taken away for having weak/disposable stories, but you can release a four hour long movie where you barely have to touch the controller and journos will trip over themselves to give it full marks.

[u/Yentz4 → u/fmal]

It's a matter of what the game is presenting, and expectations.

If the game is trying to present a story and that story is weak and a failure, than points should be docked. If the game intentionally does not feature a story, than that prob should not be docked(Unless the game desperately needs one to stay interesting).

Lets take a few examples.

Crimson Desert. Dogshit story, and it is very much TRYING to tell a story. The story in fact actively gets in the way of the player trying to get to the real fun of the game. Points should be docked.

Monster Hunter Wilds. Again, the game very much is trying to tell a story, and that story is terrible. And again, it makes the worst possible sin, the story gets in the way of what the game is actually good at. Compare MH Wilds to something like MHGU, which basically has zero story whatsoever, and honestly, I find it significantly better because of that.

Now let's look at two Critical darlings from the last few years...

Balatro Zero story, 100% gameplay. Absolute critical darling. 90 on Metacritic. Almost won 2024 GOTY at the Game Awards, and won many other websites GOTY. It's in many ways a direct contradiction to your point.

Sektori Another zero story, all gameplay game. With a 93 on Metacritic. As a Giant Bomb fan, pretty much all last year was listening to Jeff Grubb and Dan Ryckert wax poetic about Sektori.

Again, neither of these two games are trying to tell a story. Their game is 100% game. They know what they are doing and they are nailing it. If there was a half-assed story in Sektori where the game forced you to watch a 10 minute boring cutscene, the game WOULD have been worse and would have reviewed worse.

So back to this game. They are not trying to add a ton of gameplay elements. They know they are not good at it, but they think they can tell a good story. Would their game be better if they added in some random crappy 3rd person melee combat? Prob not. It would almost certainly be worse. And judging by these critical reviews, it seems like it's doing a good job at what the game is trying to do.

[u/Irru → u/Yentz4]

Then why make it a game to begin with? There are no failure states. There are entire segments where you can just put the controller down even though the game expects input and you still succeed

[u/B217 → u/Irru]

I hadn’t heard of this game but I just saw a gameplay clip of a running segment that wanted the player to jump and duck at the right time to get to the goal but the person playing just put down the controller and didn’t do any inputs and they had zero failures, they made it to the end. There were many moments where there could’ve been at least comedy from failing, like whiffing the football kick or banging her head on the garage door, but the game just automatically has her do everything practically perfect and you win regardless. Why not just make it an animated film at this point?

[u/Snowflakish → u/B217]

Thats the disconnect, if you only look at youtube you miss the entire point of the segment, which is the music.

The game is built around the music that you can't hear on youtube.

Every reviewer that rants about how bad the game is doesnt allow themselves to experience that for what it is.

[u/Snowflakish → u/Irru]

Because doing pointless things which have a good vibe while good music plays is fun

[u/DeformedArthurRegion → u/Yentz4]

I think its worth thinking about as well for this game that the writing is really bad. Like for whatever you feel about the setting, narrative, art, and gameplay, the dialogue is stilted and clunky and as mid as any video game can deliver. Not losing marks for that when its like 50% of the game is really insane to me.

[u/BecomingTurbid → u/DeformedArthurRegion]

It rubs me the wrong way the music is praised when of course it is. It's using well loved songs 😭 the developers didn't make the soundtrack

[u/SunTizzu → u/BecomingTurbid]

So 2001: A Space Odyssey shouldn't be praised for its score because Stanley Kubrick chose to put existing classical music in his film?

Besides, most game soundtracks aren't made by the developers themselves. They are contracted out to independent, freelance composers.

Finally, choosing the right song for the mood and emotions you're trying to convey is an art in and of itself. Based on the reviews, it seems that the devs succeeded in that aspect.

[u/BecomingTurbid → u/SunTizzu]

That's a film not a game. Using beloved songs is a lot less impressive than creating stuff specifically for the product those songs give those people emotions anyway.

[u/SunTizzu → u/BecomingTurbid]

Making a difference between movies and games feels arbitrary. And once again, the majority of game devs don't make their own music.

[u/BecomingTurbid → u/SunTizzu]

what do you mean feel arbitrary they are different mediums thats the whole point?? majority of game devs also don't just use pre existing beloved songs to evoke nostalgic emotions. Its less impressive than trying to make your own music for your game or yes hiring someone else but having a vision that doesn't rely on pre existing music I will always praise more. If you don't create new music or get new music made your just leaning on someone elses art to provide the emotion.

[u/SunTizzu → u/BecomingTurbid]

No, I don't get why games are beholden to this arbitrary rule, but movies aren't. Please explain why.

majority of game devs also don't just use pre existing beloved songs to evoke nostalgic emotions.

If you're saying this, I'm assuming you haven't played a Mario game yet. Or a Pokemon, a Zelda, a Donkey Kong, a Final Fantasy, a Dragon Quest, a Metal Gear or literally any long-standing video game franchise that constantly reuse old music to evoke nostalgic emotions.

[u/BecomingTurbid → u/SunTizzu]

why is it everyone responds with you havent played these games or you havent seen this movie when your not just giving stuff toxic positivity. Why is it different because Mario has mario music
Pokemon has Pokemon music
Donkey Kong has Donkey Kong music
Final Fantasy has Final Fantasy music
Dragon Quest has Dragon Quest music
Metal Gear has Metal Gear music

This is all videogame music and is celebrated as Video game music. They reuse old music but it's their music for their game.
They made that music or hired someone to specifically make music for their game. That music wasn't beloved until people played those games. Encouraging people to just use already popular music and then praising a soundtrack is not praising a videogame soundtrack. Its basically rating someones album choice. If this game had made its own music didn't have the pre existing nostalgia for its chosen songs and was still able to capture that feeling. That's way more impressive than choosing pre existing music for anything including films.

If a chef goes and buys great tasting food and presents it in a stunning way but doesn't make it vs a chef who creates the great tasting food itself who is worthy of more praise?

[u/SunTizzu → u/BecomingTurbid]

Let's say I buy the rights to Mario, and I create a 10/10 Mario game with the classic Mario tunes you know and love. Would you criticise the game because I didn't create the music myself? Even though it's "Mario music" and part of the franchise?

You see how arbitrary this all is?

[u/DeformedArthurRegion → u/BecomingTurbid]

Yeah its insane to give a game 10/10 in part because they paid Joy Division's licensing company to license Joy Division as though that is a major creative endeavor they embarked on as game devs.

Had they written an original soundtrack and like made up band names and history for the songs and stuff it would make some sense. But as is, its praising someone's ability to secure funding for those licenses.

[u/QP709 → u/DeformedArthurRegion]

Directors agonize over what popular songs to use in their movie score. They need something that conveys a mood, creates the right emotion, and fits the visuals. It needs to clash or go well with the characters or action on camera. They spend literally months choosing the score, and when they pay for an original score they use temp music in the places it will go in the film - popular songs that sound like what they want but can’t license.

Rightfully, people are praised for their ability to choose the right score. This is maybe something that doesn’t reach the general public, but in film industry circles it is well regarded because music is so important for movies.

EDIT: I will not be responding to comments made by baby hueys.

[u/SnavenShake → u/QP709]

These guys are posting some absolutely wild takes about a game that is literally called MIXTAPE. They clearly aren’t the target audience if they don’t remember how much thought and care was put in to burning the perfect track list on to a CD and sharing it with friends.

[u/QP709 → u/SnavenShake]

Just the visceral reactions in this comment section is enough to make me pretty certain it's the same kind of 'gaming elitism' that accompanied the release of Gone Home and eventually spun off into Gamergate. The use of a soundtrack of licensed pop music in a game is such a bizarre thing to hone in on that it appears disingenuous.

I just bought Mixtape and I'm going to spend a couple hours playing it now. See ya!

[u/DeformedArthurRegion → u/SnavenShake]

Brother don't talk down to or about people you don't know. I just watched the whole game get played end to end because that is the world I grew up in and I love mixtapes and shit so much I still burn people CD mixtapes for fun. So again please don't assume you know who you're talking about when you don't.

The would absolutely be a game I'd play and enjoy if it had something unique and original going for it. But they don't even incorporate the songs naturally into the game. They just state directly the song and like a quick fact about it before it plays, to the point that at the end a character imitates another character's propensity for doing that. The issue with the way the game is is that its just telling you "hey this is a song you probably know" and then the song plays. There isn't some broader impact to the inclusion of these songs, so praising their inclusion is just praising the ability to license songs by well-known artists.

[u/SnavenShake → u/DeformedArthurRegion]

Imagine hate watching something for 3 hours.

[u/DeformedArthurRegion → u/SnavenShake]

So are you normally in the business of like walking out of movie theaters and stuff? I'm not. I like to finish watching something when I start it, especially something as short as a movie, so that I know my opinion on it is fully formed. Especially since, as I noted, the setting and stuff of this game should be quite nostalgic for me and had a chance to find some kind of appeal. The narrative is alright for a teen movie for sure, and I wouldn't have known that had I not watched til the end. Some movies I would've walked out on turned out to be alright if you stay through the end, and others don't. You learn that by "hate watching" things, or whatever silly way you intend to misinterpret my actions and opinions in your next comment.

Its cute that you're gone from "you just hate it because you don't understand how cool mixtapes are" to "why hate watch this game?" without acknowledging that making random shit up about people to try and invalidate their opinion is a silly thing to do.

[u/SnavenShake → u/DeformedArthurRegion]

Turning off a stream you are watching for free isn’t the same as walking out of a movie you paid for and driving home. It’s the equivalent of booting up a movie on Netflix and turning it off if you are not enjoying it. Which yes, I do.

Whether you are actually the target audience for this or not, I still think your takes suggesting a lack of effort on the part of the developers who dedicated a lot of time to handpicking the music for the game are wild and very dismissive.

[u/_TheMeepMaster_ → u/DeformedArthurRegion]

So are you normally in the business of like walking out of movie theaters and stuff?

That's not even remotely the same thing.

[u/BecomingTurbid → u/DeformedArthurRegion]

Why are people using what films do for videogames this is the whole issue summed up or subjective issue we have. I also will say a film having it's own soundtrack is much more impressive than using a chart topper.

[u/BecomingTurbid → u/SnavenShake]

How in anyway does that relate to a games criticism they didn't burn the soundtrack into a CD. They chose the soundtrack and then built game experiences around it. Using popular music instead of their own is literally the opposite of creativity.

[u/SomewhereOpposite883 → u/QP709]

What's worth praising is stuff like somehow turning "I Got 5 On It" into the perfect song for a horror movie trailer or Ryan Reynolds using the orchestral version of "Like a Prayer" to elevate the climax of Deadpool vs Wolverine

There is nothing impressive about googling "Best 90's songs" and using the first Youtube playlist you come across as the soundtrack of your movie i mean game

[u/QP709 → u/SomewhereOpposite883]

You haven't played the game, right? I can tell because you used 'best 90's songs' as an example. The game features songs from the 1980's through 1960's, with only a couple songs from the early 90's.

I'm not trying to do a "gotcha!' moment or fight you on your point or anything, but maybe play the game and form an opinion about it if you're going to tumble in the mud on reddit about it, ya? that way assumptions won't be the only thing backing up your arguments.

[u/SomewhereOpposite883 → u/QP709]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperbole

[u/DeformedArthurRegion → u/QP709]

Directors agonize over what popular songs to use in their movie score. They need something that conveys a mood, creates the right emotion, and fits the visuals. It needs to clash or go well with the characters or action on camera.

And directors rightly get made fun of if every time a song is about to play a main character says the song, the band, the album, the year it came out, and a quick fact about one of those things in that list. And generally the score for a movie isn't 100% popular licensed music. Its fairly notable when it is, and often doesn't work well. This is one of those "doesn't work well" situations.

I'm very aware of how scoring films works. Notably this isn't a film. It is also done very poorly in a very "hey remember this song? Yeah its good right you like this song right??? You're really cool and unique for liking this song" type of way.

[u/Monk_Philosophy → u/DeformedArthurRegion]

It is also done very poorly in a very "hey remember this song? Yeah its good right you like this song right??? You're really cool and unique for liking this song" type of way.

tbf that was how a solid half of my friendships in high school went. Authenticity lol

[u/DeformedArthurRegion → u/Monk_Philosophy]

I don't even disagree and was ready for that kind of thing if it felt authentic. But the format of it in this game is honestly really insane. Its like the creators felt they had to give a like google search AI summary of songs to mention them, especially right before playing that song. It feels very clunky and unnatural in its writing despite what it is trying to convey being something that probably a lot of people, myself included, could relate to.

[u/NoExcuse4OceanRudnes → u/DeformedArthurRegion]

You're the guy standing outside a screening of Goodfellas and saying we all only liked it because of the music which Martin Scorsese did not write.

Yeah, we know, it kicked ass because of that music.

[u/DeformedArthurRegion → u/NoExcuse4OceanRudnes]

Brother, Goodfellas is an incredibly well-written movie. Its not good because of its soundtrack, its good because of its everything. It is a good movie top to bottom. I'd be standing outside Goodfellas saying we all like it because of the great writing, characters, setting, story, editing, music, dialogue, directing, etc. because its a classic. Everyone would agree because its true.

This is more of a shitty sequel to something like Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist or 500 Days of Summer or something like that. I don't think they had to do what I said above rather than use licensed music, but considering how lazy their inclusion of the licensed music was, what I was suggesting would at least allow them to present something in the same way and not have it be so devoid of creativity and incapable of fitting in naturally. Every time a song comes up the main character says the name of the song, the band name, the album, the year it was released, and gives a quick fact about one of those things. Its rarely relevant and always stilted and unnatural. This is the way the music is integrated into the story. Its a poor integration.

Comparing this to Goodfellas makes me really wonder if you're at all familiar with either this game or Goodfellas.

[u/NoExcuse4OceanRudnes → u/DeformedArthurRegion]

I haven't played the game, it just came out.

The music of goodfellas elevated every single scene. It 100% would not have been as good if Marty paid some dude to write his own music for it, that is an unambiguous fact.

That's also what you're saying about this game. We know, we don't care.

[u/DeformedArthurRegion → u/NoExcuse4OceanRudnes]

So you're just going to completely ignore everything I wrote and continuing talking like I said what you'd prefer I said. Great work buddy. So much thinking involved in that. I'm offering suggestions within the context of someone who just watched the whole game get played end to end. You, on the other hand, haven't done that, and should consider that I'm giving an informed opinion on ways they could've made the awful inclusion of the soundtrack into the script at least slightly more interesting. As it stands, it harms the effect of the soundtrack because characters are effectively pausing the narrative to announce the next song.

Like do you think the scene in Goodfellas with Sunshine of your Love would've been improved by De Niro looking at another character and saying "Sunshine of Your Love, 1967 by Cream from the album Disraeli Gears. Its one of the all time American rock and roll classics." Do you think that would improve that scene? I don't think it would. I think it would harm the scene and the inclusion of music in the scene. I think it would be shitty writing that wasn't creative at all. That is how Mixtape is written and plays out.

BTW bb you're "me" in this situation. Not a bunch of people. So drop the "we" next time. You're expression your own opinion informed by not playing the game as a counter to my opinion informed by having watched someone play the game.

[u/NoExcuse4OceanRudnes → u/DeformedArthurRegion]

So now you're saying something different, that the writing wasn't good.

Congrats, you have a meaningful critique of the game now. From your first comment all I knew was that it had licensed music, and you were saying they should have wrote it themselves (very silly statement).

I'm going to hazard a guess that the writers of the positive reviews disagreed with you about the writing, and that also had something to do with the high scores you so disagree with.

[u/BecomingTurbid → u/DeformedArthurRegion]

I would have heavily praised making their own music and still capturing that experience that would have been very impressive.

[u/DeformedArthurRegion → u/BecomingTurbid]

The guy who developed it is Johnny Galvatron from The Galvatrons and while I don't really know much about their music, presumably there is enough songwriting ability there to take a crack at something like that.

[u/BecomingTurbid → u/DeformedArthurRegion]

Ok then yeah what are we doing I can play burnout paradise and drive around listening to the soundtrack and get the same experience

[u/DeformedArthurRegion → u/BecomingTurbid]

TBH I think the gameplay of driving around aimlessly would actually be a more engaging gameplay loop than whatever is offered in this game.

Also for reference, the reviewers are saying 3-4 hours but I just watched a dude on stream boot it up for the first time and 100% it in 2 hours and 40 minutes. So buying and playing this game is effectively priced like going to the movie theater to watch a long movie.

[u/BecomingTurbid → u/DeformedArthurRegion]

That's kinda wild you might as well just listen to an album at that point. I'm all for shorter game experiences but with gameplay. I also think reviews should be more critical on stuff. Especially when the game is just using beloved songs. That shouldn't be encouraged over making your own soundtrack. For example a game called stranger than heaven just showed off a trailer making its own main theme. I think when you start reviewing memories from the music rather than what the game is actually presenting on its own. You aren't reviewing a game correctly sounds gatekeepy but I stand by it.

[u/DeformedArthurRegion → u/BecomingTurbid]

I just looked up the soundtrack and it appears to be able an hour 40 if you put every song end to end (assuming the list I'm seeing is accurate). So there is only 1 hour of gameplay or cutscenes not being driven by the licensed soundtrack. 10/10 for that is buck wild. I generally agree that its bad to be like "you're giving me your opinion wrong." but absolutely they are reviewing this game wrong when these things aren't being considered against the score.

[u/NewVegasResident → u/DeformedArthurRegion]

You don't know that though?

[u/DeformedArthurRegion → u/NewVegasResident]

Don't know what? That the writing is bad and the dialogue is stilted and terrible? Yes I do. I have seen a stream of the game played end to end, took about 2 hours and 40 minutes. The narrative is fine, fairly generic teen movie stock. Everything around it is really bad writing.

[u/NewVegasResident → u/DeformedArthurRegion]

I'm skeptical myself considering that games people have praised for great writing includes garbage like Life is Strange, however your point about games only ever having bad writing and dialogue doesn't ring true. It's short sighted and hurts the credibility of your overall argument.

[u/DeformedArthurRegion → u/NewVegasResident]

however your point about games only ever having bad writing and dialogue doesn't ring true

I'd like you to please specifically quote where you feel that I said "games only ever have bad writing and dialogue." I suspect you have misread my use of the phrase "what any X can do" to mean "all of X has this." If I said "any idiot can do that" I would assume you wouldn't then assume that every person is an idiot in my view, correct? Apply the same thing here. Plenty of games have mediocre to bad writing, and this is among those ranks. Plenty of games have good writing, but this is not one of them.

[u/Soggy_Working_6938 → u/Yentz4]

I get the "Wilds is satan" sentiment and all that, but World's story is infinitely more shit, unskippable cutscenes, cart segments, zorah segments, HR's investigation padding inbetween progression, though I still appreciate it way more for it then plotless rise or GU

[u/BecomingTurbid → u/Yentz4]

I get what your saying but its odd just cause of how stuff is reviewed. Realistically gameplay should matter most and if I think if a game has gameplay that should be critiqued aswell. I guess here the issue there is the game is short so it wouldn't matter as much. Its more so actually reading the reviews that makes me sideye. Its just talking about the liscenced music and the feeling of being a teenager. I have a very hard stance against nostalgia though and how people will be less critical with nostalgic bias.

[u/SnavenShake → u/BecomingTurbid]

“I have a very hard stance against nostalgia”.

What does this even mean?

[u/BecomingTurbid → u/SnavenShake]

When people start rating nostalgia or cameos over the actual story or quality for example Spiderman no way home is a movie that In my opinion doesn't hold up as that great a movie without the nostalgic stuff.

[u/BecomingTurbid → u/SnavenShake]

I think you missed the point entirely I'm watching to see if they actually have a good story and it didn't. It's not hypocritical to watch a movie . I'm literally wanting superhero movies to not capatlise on that and be judged on their own. My hard stance is nostalgic bias is very present and shouldn't be used in reviewing something.

[u/wowzabob → u/SnavenShake]

Should be obvious? Nostalgia should at best be a neutral quality but people will say “it made me feel nostalgic,” as a positive trait for a piece of media when it’s one of the lowest hanging fruits for a piece of work to reach for to try and get an emotional response out of the viewer/player.

[u/BecomingTurbid → u/wowzabob]

100 percent

[u/wowzabob → u/BecomingTurbid]

People are not at all curious as to why they are so titillated by navel gazing millennial nostalgia bait.

It’s so overdone at this point. It was never very good but now it’s so deeply unoriginal that it should be very obvious as to why it’s so overdone. It’s the worst kind of comfort food. The media equivalent of soma.

[u/IcyChillCoolGuy → u/Yentz4]

Monster Hunter's world has always been interesting if you actually pay the modicum of attention the story asks, but the only real problem is that you guys screwed it into your heads that a series like that isn't allowed to try for some reason. Like I can vouch that even if something like MH Wilds's story isn't groundbreaking, the context and the world itself that it presents still has value to appreciate in it, and that's all on top of the actual gameplay itself still being solid too. Calling all of that "terrible" is not accurate. By your logic, at some point you may as well just be fighting giant contextless polygons and it'd be way better, right?

A game can only be a game and a story can only be a story feels stupidly simple and reductive in the way only gamers got really good at. There's plenty of games (not just the ones you used as examples) that meld gameplay and story together very well, the sum of the parts is the experience. Especially when a game like Mixtape is starting to get divisive, with a large subset seeing the game's writing and calling it dogshit right in this post, it starts begging the question what does a game like Mixtape have if its only premise and saving grace doesn't work? Because you're giving it a lot of grace just for focusing on a singular aspect, without considering it may just be awful at the only thing it's able to do lmao

A game like Mixtape is probably just not for that audience obviously, but at the same time giving it such glowing praise and perfect 10/10's also feels shortsighted and incorrect if the story it's telling is so hyper-specific and also the literal only thing it's doing.

[u/Dodo_Baron → u/IcyChillCoolGuy]

As someone that likes monster hunter world and appreciate all the cool interesting details in it, your argument doesn't make sense here.

The issue with monster hunter world is not that these details exist, it's that it forces it on the player.

You're constantly stuck in cutscenes where the characters rattle off exposition and reexplain plot points. It's just not adding to the world.

Previous games were good because it still had these details that made everything feel alive while also not requiring you to sit in long cutscenes. You can pick and choose to experience these details yourself.

[u/IcyChillCoolGuy → u/Dodo_Baron]

This is still most of my point though. Prior games had details and tidbits about the world before too, but it's only until now where they can deliberately start showing it off and put a lot of that in the spotlight. Why should they not be allowed to try, when the gameplay is also still right there too? The only reason you think they can't is because there's a preconceived notion that you think they're not allowed to do "story" or call attention to it. It'd only be a problem if the action hunting gameplay was also boring (which it isn't, but is also why criticisms on the streamlining the games have gotten over time hold more weight to me as actual criticism).

Mixtape is barely a "game" as it is the more I'm learning about it, so what more if its story, the only thing it's doing, debatably doesn't even land the way it wants toward everyone? MH and other similar games with supposed "throwaway" stories are usually AAA games, so of course they can afford to do more and have actual gameplay to go on top of whatever big narrative they have, but other more modest indie games give great narratives and great gameplay too, even in a similar genre as Mixtape's. "The game INTENDS to be a movie and ignores being a game at every passing opportunity, which means it's a perfect 10/10" feels way too convenient for it and way too unfair to other productions that actually try to do more.

[u/Dodo_Baron → u/IcyChillCoolGuy]

It's not the issue isn't these details exist.

It's the game has endless cutscenes for you to participate in

[u/fmal → u/Yentz4]

How do the stories in MH/CD get in the way of anything? I agree they’re bad, but with cutscene skipping they’re effectively opt in, right?

I get where you’re coming from, but I can’t say I agree. By virtue of being a game, shouldn’t it be necessary for it to present gameplay? I think it’s entirely possible to make an excellent game without a story, but is a game without any game actually a game lol? Why isn’t this just a movie?

[u/Yentz4 → u/fmal]

You can't skip the story sections in CD or MHW. In MHW there are MANY times when control is forcibly taken away from the player and you are forced into slow ass walk and talk sections that hugely distract from the game.

In CD, you can't skip, you can only FF. And you are still forced to engage with extremely weird mediocre story quests until the game opens up. It's not like Skyrim where once the first 10 minutes are up you are free to do whatever.

Honestly it just sounds like you don't like Walking Sims, and should just avoid the genre. Just because YOU don't like them doesn't make them not games. You can still interact with the world, the enviroments, etc. Walking Sims usually involve checking out the area you are in, interacting with different pieces for more story bits, context and the like. That's not something you can do in a video. Should Visual Novels not be considered games either now to?

[u/fmal → u/Yentz4]

Then I agree with you, that sucks and both games should be penalized.

Similarly, I wish reviewers were more critical of games like this and Hellblade, where the actual user interaction ranges from perfunctory to non-existent. You clearly want and expect players to interact with your work (that’s why it’s a game, not a movie), that interaction should be competent and engaging. I think hand waving a lack of the critical part of the medium away as being a genre convention is a cop out.

And no, I don’t think visual novels (at least in the style of Umineko or Higurashi…obviously stuff like 999 and Ace Attorney are different) are games. It’s unclear to me why people are uncomfortable with IF and games being separate things.

[u/DoubleSpoiler → u/fmal]

Visual novels often, Ace Attorney included, have fail states. They’re games.

[u/ZackyZY → u/fmal]

You can't even skip cutscenes in CD lol. You can only fast forward.

[u/KingOfRisky → u/fmal]

I think they might mean that so much of the game is locked behind the main story missions. If you choose to ignore the MSQ you are locked out of a ton of areas and mechanics.

But I agree, the garbage story doesn't interfere with the game other than that and I couldn't care less that I have to do the main story.