Mixtape Review
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, meaning that everyone might not appreciate 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 dissuade you and you’re lucky enough to find yourself in the very small, inner circle of the Venn diagram for who Mixtape is intended for, then it has no equal, as it blurs the lines of game, music and film. I’ve never played anything like Mixtape and I’m confident I never will again.
10
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MIXTAPE REVIEW
In Mixtape, three delinquent teenagers spend their last day of summer and last day of their high school years together before everything changes. You play as the leader, music aficionado and biggest trouble maker of the group, Stacy Rockford. The other two thirds of the trio consist of Van Slater and Cassandra Morino.
Each of these kids have their own reason for feeling the need to rebel. Stacy has been living in her sisters shadow and likely feels unable to measure up. Van Slater is raised by a single parent and Cassandra feels caged by overly strict parents. Above all, they are just coming to terms with growing up, how scary that concept is at such a young age and realizing that there is a lot more to life.
The entire premise is that Stacy uses music as a way to compartmentalize life, which has deepened her connection with the medium. Her dream is to become a music supervisor, someone that essentially makes mixtapes and playlists professionally, so she’s leaving town to follow her dream after landing a big interview.
For the last day, before summer vacation ends in August 1999, Stacey has curated a mixtape of bonafide hits to capture the moments of their last day perfectly. The soundtrack features music from Iggy Pop, DEVO, Roxy Music, Smashing Pumpkins, The Cure, Jesus and The Mary Chain, Silverchair, Joy Division, Portishead and many others.
The intentions for the day revolves around being invited to Camille Coles 4th annual end of summer beach party, where the elites of this teenage wasteland will be. The game plan is simple: Start at Stacys house, then go to Cassandras, pre drink at their super secret abandoned cabin they found in the woods and dubbed the Ritz, and then arrive at the party fashionably late at 945pm. Of course being extremely under age, the first plan and highest priority is to figure out how to get illegal substances.
Mixtape is broken down into larger chapters with plenty of little chapters within. For instance, you begin Mixtape at Stacys house and you are allowed to walk around like a museum and interact with some items to get a better understanding of the world and these characters. There are white interactions, which are completely optional, but considering the length of the game and how well they give the world more depth, you should try to interact with everything you can. Then there are glowing yellow interactions, which are the core memories that you need to interact with to move the game forward.
These essential sections are dreamlike reenactments where the gameplay of Mixtape is housed. Using dreamlike scenarios and breaking the fourth wall greatly expanded what was possible within the confines of a small town. Gameplay is always extremely minimal. could be something as simple as pressing Y to kick push your skateboard, hitting the correct button prompt for a secret handshake, trying to make the most epic slushie at Heaven Eleven or even trying to hit a home run at the baseball field. The minimal gameplay offers just enough interaction to be called a game, but more importantly it keeps the focus on the characters and the story. Just like a Mixtape, you seamlessly move from one track to the next and it’s hard to put down and find a natural stopping point. If you have the option, Mixtape seems like it would be best played in one sitting.
If you’ve stayed this long, then the reason you’re here is for the narrative and the journey that Mixtape takes you on. The visuals are an astounding step up from their last game with a timeless look as the art style feels reminiscent of Into The Spider Verse with something that looks CGI, but also hand-drawn and with a very low, cinematic frame rate.
The direction and cinematography of Mixtape are incredible, but the writing and performances steal the show. Mixtape features some of the most authentic writing and most conversational performances to ever exist in a game. Everything just feels extremely natural and authentic. The whole experience is on par with some of the best coming of age tales including The Breakfast Club, Say Anything, Fast Times at Ridgemont, Stand By Me, Clueless, Dazed and Confused or any of your faves.
CRITICISMS
Criticisms for Mixtape come down to mere nitpicks, because what did Mixtape attempt and what did they fail at? Everything that Beethoven and Dinosaur attempted in Mixtape is unassailable.
The only real criticisms for Mixtape is that there was some very minor technical issues like clipping and texture pop in during some gameplay sections, but these were under a handful of times and they were negligent in affecting the immersion or overall experience.
The other one is that Van Slater felt under developed as a character. We got to know a lot more about the other two members of the group, Stacey and Cassandra, but we never got a deeper look into who Van Slater is and he was such a great character.
FINAL THOUGHTS AND VERDICT
Mixtape is a disjointed experience, but it’s supposed to be. This is exactly why Mixtape is special. It captures the mixtape ethos and turns it into an interactive experience. It combines many different gameplay vignettes that wouldn’t be able to carry a full game, but when part of a whole, they create something greater.
High Fidelity is replicating with extreme accuracy, while minimizing noise and distortion, which is the definition of Mixtape. The writing, performances, soundtrack, and art were all without reproach. It’s not going to be for everyone, but for those that will appreciate it for what it is, Mixtape is a high fidelity gaming experience that perfectly captures coming of age in the 90’s, while keeping the focus on the narrative without the noise and distraction of too many systems or mechanics.
