Mixtape Review: Yes, It's a Game, and It's a Masterpiece
Three hosts born in three different decades played the same four-hour coming-of-age story and all walked away with goosebumps.
We've been talking about Mixtape on this show for about two years, so it's been fun watching the internet discover it. It launched to rave reviews and a big online argument: is it really a game, or just a movie pretending to be one? Is it only good if you grew up in the '80s or '90s?
We're the perfect panel to answer that. Josh grew up in the '80s, Ryan in the '90s, and Ace in the 2010s.
What is Mixtape?
It's the last night of high school in late-'90s Northern California for three best friends: Stacy, Slater and Cassandra. Stacy is moving away, and she's built the ultimate mixtape for their final night together. Each part of the plan has its own song, and she breaks the fourth wall to tell you why she picked it. Along the way, photos and objects pull you back into memories of how the three became friends, and some wrenches get thrown into the playlist.
It opens with the three of them skating down a hill yelling "CAR!", and if you did that as a kid, you're hooked. Josh played 30 minutes before work, texted us "guys, this might be really good," and beat the whole thing in one sitting that night.
"It's not a game"
Is Dispatch still a game even though all you're doing is making choices and playing that little console thing every now and then? Yes. This is still a game.
It's narrative-first, absolutely, like Firewatch or What Remains of Edith Finch. But it's packed with gameplay moments. The skating sequences are honestly fun; Ryan says some of them beat Skate. There's the gloriously awkward first-kiss minigame, where you control two tongues on two thumbsticks. It's gross and awkward in a way only a first kiss could be. There's a rock-skipping minigame that ate 30 minutes of Ace's life. And there's the video rental store, where you stagger your way through in a trippy sequence that's sure to make you laugh.
I'd say the 30 minutes I spent skipping stones says otherwise.
It nails being a teenager
What blew Josh away is how honestly it captures being a teen: the awkwardness, the plans that fall apart, the big emotions you don't know how to handle, the uncertainty about what comes after high school, and the ache of a friend group splitting up. It doesn't shy away from the realities of teen parties, either. The game doesn't sugar coat anything and it's true to life representation of those years is so spot on it's eerie.
Ryan noticed something else: no one's on a phone. You had to be together, and legends got passed around because nobody had pictures.
The music is the game
The soundtrack is the heart of Mixtape, so much so that the developers refused to add a streamer mode, because cutting the music would gut the game. The music IS the heart of this game and the soundtrack to Mixtape is one of the best ever compiled in a video game. Josh didn't know every band, and every track still fit perfectly to the moment.
The vibes are immaculate.
The stop-motion-style art, which stutters on purpose, ties it all together. Josh's wife and daughter both walked in and asked what this beautiful game was.
Do you need the nostalgia?
I think you connect with it better if you were born in those eras, but I don't think you need it. This is a strong enough story on its own.
Ace grew up sheltered and calls Mixtape cathartic, a way to live the experiences he never had. Plus you get a whole era of music you've never heard. His only nitpick is a couple of short story segments that could have been merged or skipped. ("I don't feel like I needed to move that couch.")
The VGP take
Three hosts, three decades, one verdict.
There hasn't been a game in a long time where I've recognized that I'm just sitting with a smile on my face.
Josh and Ryan gave it a 9.5, and Ace gave it a 9.4. Josh says it replaced Firewatch as the story game he recommends to everyone. Is $20 for four hours worth it? Josh's answer: you'll pay $16 for a two-hour movie, and Mixtape gives you twice that, plus moments you'll carry forever.
It's on Game Pass. Give it the first sequence. If that doesn't hook you, the rest probably won't. But we think it will.
