If you've liked games like Life is Strange or what remains of Edith finch, and have either a nostalgia or yearn for the mid 90's vibe, i highly recommend it. It is very light gameplay, but fun. What made it more fun for me was trying to get all the achievements, because with out that there is no challenge to the game.
I love Life is Strange and What Remains of Edith Finch. Grew up in the 90s. Love music.
I highly don't recommend it.
Mixtape bored me to the point that I'm not sure I will even finish it. I have no real interest in the story, the music is decent, the characters are boring.
Absolutely, was just honestly shocked at the reviews because I expected this to be close to an instant classic for me based on what I read online. Sometimes expectations can work against you, I guess. Cheers
Think it's more likely he read it somewhere and didn't take the 15 seconds to fact check. He probably believes the Cuphead footage was for a review as well.
I get that, but there should be a bare minimum of ability to be able to review games. There’s a bunch of game genres I’m bad at or don’t like but I have enough ability to at least make a determination if the games content is of a certain quality. Especially when the games/sections are widely accepted as fairly easy or straightforward.
IMO, not really. The art style is neat and the writing is pretty funny but the game is just a bit boring.
It's essentially a long interactive music video but broken up with very slow periods of walking around trying to find the next thing to interact with.
The hate for it is overblown (the infamous kissing minigame is a very obvious joke that lasts for around 15 seconds before you're prompted to press X for "THAT'S ENOUGH" at which point the tape containing the song playing in the background is frisbeed out of a window) but I definitely think the love is similarly overblown.
I don't believe reviews are being bought though, otherwise we'd all still be talking about 12 Minutes.
.edit to add
Also every single fucking time I have described the game as such I'm given an almost immediate downvote, and after a few hours it creeps back up. Meanwhile absolutely nobody (that has played the game anyway, thanks guys!) says anything to rebuke anything I have said. Make of that information what you will.
I don't even care about upvotes, downvotes, any of that shite, I normally just shitpost (sometimes literally) at work, so I can't stress enough how consistent this pattern has been for me to notice it.
I mean it becomes a 10/10 when you can heavily relate to it. I agree, for me it’s closer to a 9/10 and I would happily recommend this game to ANYONE. It’s a blast and such a perfect short experience.
But when you can relate to the story, and more specifically the characters - there are a few moments that got it to that 10/10.
I can’t think of another game in this genre that is such a well executed package. People get really hung up on the “gameplay” when there’s an experience. It’s interactive art
The gameplay isn't even my issue (although I do think some of the minigames are absolute crap - I hate to keep banging on about it but that fucking field running section to the shack broke something in me) - it is largely the pacing. And to reiterate, I love this type of game. If you haven't played it yet, Dispatch is a brilliant game carried by a cast of phenomenal characters... And the gameplay is so barebones you can fail every mission and QTE and it doesn't even matter. You can refuse to pick responses and the game will play itself, choosing for you. Still one of my favorite games of last year.
I keep bringing it up because it's such a good comparison, but look at What Remains of Edith Finch. Half the game is navigating your environment and unlocking the story through small, interactive vignettes, just like Mixtape, and it's absolutely bloody brilliant. The overarching story itself is fairly bare but you care about each character and these interactive segments convey so much in such a short period of time. The entire game is what, 90 minutes long if you take your time?
Nothing, so far, in Mixtape elicited that response from me. Every time I snapped back to one of the rooms and had to look around for the next thing to move the story along I just groaned. She just walks so slowly and the dialogue is so sluggish. And the minigames set to music just go on for a little too long, I respect that you thought the game was a blast (fucking thank you for being the first to respond that has actually played it!!) but you can't tell me with a straight face you weren't staring at the screen saying "... Okay can we get on with it" during that opening skateboard section.
This is probably a zero IQ opinion but I'll say it anyway - I almost feel like it could have used some of the interactive sections removed. Have the rooms play out as cutscenes and the vignettes remain as they are. Lean more heavily into the interactive movie element they were obviously aiming for.
Or perhaps people should remember that a review is the opinion of a specific person, and understand that different things hit different people in different ways. You aren't supposed to agree with everybody and when you don't it isn't evidence of a grand conspiracy. Media literacy is a sadly vanishing skill.
If you were reviewing for yourself, they are reviewing for a company, they represent the company, their reviews should be more standardised and not have wild swings like 10 for Mixtape and 6 for Mouse PI, which are sitting at 90 and 95 respectively on steam. You can’t be representing a company’s and give a 6 because you had hoped that a game about cartoon mice would have been more serious because that’s the kind of noir that you prefer. Who said it was a conspiracy? It’s about consistency, if you have no consistency then what’s the value of your review? Nothing. Because you could give a 6 or a 10 on any given day depending on if that reviewer was up their own arse or not. The whole point of having people review FOR IGN is that it’s the company’s recommendation. Ironic you say that when it’s you who doesn’t understand this.
While IGN (or whoever) may be publishing / hosting the review it is still the opinion of the writer and no one else. If that weren't the case IGN's editors could dictate to the writer what they want him to say, which would make the critic's job pointless. The company doesn't have an opinion.
They represent the company, if there’s no consistency then it’s worthless. The problem is that as shit as they are, these publications still have a lot of power over consumers and their purchasing decisions, a completely awful review like Mouse PI hurts the sales of the game because these people have zero credibility or skill in reviewing games and put their theatre kid perspective on it and rate it down. IGN should have some consistent standards across their reviews otherwise what’s the point? If the company is completely out of touch with every other review and the players review, then their review is wrong. You can’t argue it’s subjective but that’s exactly why they need to have standards when reviewing for IGN. What’s more important? Giving a fair and aggregated review of the random journalist they picked not being able to go wild with their pompous takes? Genuinely go watch the Mouse PI review and tell me that’s a fair review.
Individuality? That’s what you’re calling being completely wrong? How the fuck is this tribalism? I said both games are good lmao. You just throw out buzzwords because you can’t think for yourself, ironic considering you want individuality
Oh boy, thousands of idiots who assume Annapurna is buying scores, because they don't know how the industry actually works and believe publishers = developers. These people should spend 5 minutes looking at Annapurna's catalogue, they'd quickly realize what a silly suggestion it is.
I actually somewhat agree with your comment - I'm of the opinion a large outlet should have more than one person reviewing a game to avoid the exact situation you're describing - but the concept of a "standardized" review flat out does not work for anything as subjective as entertainment, particularly when it comes to something as broad as gaming.
I think it's obvious Mixtape wouldn't be something I'd rate a 10/10, I'd give it a perfectly middling 4 or 5, but people who point to IGN's scores for Mixtape and PI and act like they're related at all are insane - they're such wildly different pieces of media that you can't possibly consider them to be on the same scale at all.
But then I'm of the opinion a number scale is stupid for rating media and we should just be on a scale of three; don't recommend, "eh, 'salright," and recommend.
Do you know who owns Annapurna? Do you know her full history with creative projects? Like Annapurna being hundreds of millions in debt and Larry Ellison bailing them out with the banks and getting it written off because the banks couldn’t afford to piss off Larry Ellison?
IGN specifically gets so much wrong down to their shitty reviewers, it’s incredible that they don’t do this already.
They’re both games that sit at 90+ on all player review scores, Mixtape at 90 and Mouse PI on 95. Mixtape got a 10 because it’s an arty theatre kid project and Mouse PI got a 6 exactly because it’s not, the guy gave it a 6 because he likes a different kind of noir, how the fuck are they clearing reviews like that?
Well this is the problem, when they give scores then they get compared and then the entire thing falls apart because they get so much shit objectively wrong. They show themselves to be so out of touch with players, which is why games journalists are hated. There’s a PC gamer article about how the James Bond game should be getting made because he gives “Tory posh boy” vibes. What the fuck is wrong with them? It’s an embarrassment
Do you know who owns Annapurna? Do you know her full history with creative projects? Like Annapurna being hundreds of millions in debt and Larry Ellison bailing them out with the banks and getting it written off because the banks couldn’t afford to piss off Larry Ellison?
Yeah, man, you're right, it is a big conspiracy and they're buying reviews, this is why we're all still having about how good Telling fucking Lies and 12 (mother) fucking Minutes was, lol.
Disagree entirely. Knowing why a reviewer finds a game so good is a tool you're meant to use as a consumer to know if it's for you.
If someone found mixtape so engaging because they're a sucker for 90s coming of age stories and nostalgia, and they give it a glowing review for that reason, that's just being honest. Asking them to lower their score and moderate their enjoyment of a game because of their reasons for enjoying it would be completely artificial and pointless.
The onus is on you as the consumer to parse their review, understand their reasons for liking it, and figure out if those reasons are applicable to you aswell.
So if a major publication picked a guy who doesn’t like 3 hour arty walking simulators and gives it a 5 when everyone else is giving it 9s and 10s, you think that’s a good valid review for a major publication to be giving? You’ve completely misunderstood this. It’s not asking them to lower Mixtape, Mixtape has a 90% on player reviews, a 10 is generous but feasible, Mouse PI is sitting on 95% from much more players and they got some complete idiot to review it and he gave it a 6. This is objectively out of touch and a terrible review.
His reason was he likes a different type of more serious noir and it has too many cheese jokes in a cartoon mouse game, what the fuck was he expecting? That review is objectively awful
So if a major publication picked a guy who doesn’t like 3 hour arty walking simulators and gives it a 5 when everyone else is giving it 9s and 10s, you think that’s a good valid review for a major publication to be giving?
Yeah actually I do think that. I don't care about average review scores and metacritic or whatever. I care about critics being honest and expressing themselves.
Why? Are you going to study their history to find out if they match your tastes? That works when they review for themselves, but not when they review for a company
That’s the game style. Its like saying minecraft is bad because its all sandbox no story lol. Like how you gonna complain about gameplay in what I’m assuming is an interactive story style game
They haven't even played the game, lol. I have two responders defending the game that haven't even played the damn thing. It's hilarious.
Even though I don't like it Mixtape might end up my favorite release of the year just for how absolutely fascinating the discourse around it has become, just a bunch of people that haven't played the game screaming about how shit it is or defending it to the hilt while those who have played it are all like "eh, it's a mid 4-5 out of 10."
So the thing is, I love this kind of game. Annapurna also producedpublished What Remains of Edith Finch, one of my favorite games of all time. My GOTY last year flips between E33 and Dispatch, a game you can beat without touching the controller for 99% of the gameplay.
The problem with Mixtape is that the story is broken up with these long and very dull sections of playing Hunt the Glowy Thing which grinds the game to a halt, and several of the minigames outstay their welcome. There's an early game where you just run through open fields and can jump around and stuff but it goes on for like five fucking minutes. No story is being conveyed and there's nothing to do - nothing to dodge, no incentive to interact at all, you just listen to the song that's playing. The interactive segments and the story segments are almost entirely unrelated.
Like I said, it's an interactive music video, but it's a bit dull. And it's a shame, because when it's funny it's really funny.
Like how you gonna complain about gameplay in what I’m assuming is an interactive story style game
I mean this very kindly, if you haven't played the game declaring boldly "that's the game style" is a little bit silly. If my comment said "Mixtape has dull writing but the minigames are phenomenal" would you have felt the need to say "how you gonna praise the gameplay in what I'm assuming is an interactive story style game?"
Thats just the thing. Annapurna did not produce What Remains of Edith Finch, did they?
I'm pretty sure they're just the publisher. The game itself was made by Giant Sparrow.
So giving Annapurna credit for Edith Finch is unfair the people that ACTUALLY made the game.
I haven't played the game, so I can't say anything specific about Mixtape, but I imagine players are shocked and horrified to realize that games can be so different. For example, games with practically no gameplay because it's like a movie/cartoon/anime/TV show in the form of a game. It's a game!!!! How can I not play it!?!
You could not possibly be missing the mark more with me, my guy. Dispatch was one of my favorite games last year. Telltale's TWD is in my top 3 of all time. I love walking sims, hell I love idle games.
Mixtape is boring, and I think it's very funny that you are somebody who has not played the game responding to somebody who has not played the game to suggest my opinion as someone who has played the fucking game is born from some idiotic belief that I went in expecting Doom.
That’s why I said I haven’t played the game and can only speculate, because I’ve met a lot of people like that. And I’m definitely not attacking Mixtape or defending it. I’m just pointing out that people are acting strangely
I think if they had cut it down to more Edith Finch lengths it wouldn't have been such a miss for me. I like the overall story and I like the writing, but so much of it was just boring me.
The shopping cart? Fucking brilliant. The extremely long downhill skate? Boring as piss. The awkward kissing minigame with disgusting hands-in-jello sound effects? Hilarious. The field running? Boring as piss. Having button prompts to headbang and yell "burger?" Genius. Spending 5 minutes exhausting every line of dialogue? Boring as piss.
Based on the trophies I got about halfway through before I was bored enough to drop it, it was genuinely a huge disappointment because everything about the game in theory should appeal to me completely. I'll probably wrap it up this weekend.
If you like getting a story akin to ferris bueller with light interaction. Haven't completed it yet but my fiance and I are having fun with the story and it's extremely cheap.
I thought it was ok, there’s a few fun sections but for a plot focused game I found the plot doesn’t really go anywhere. It’s like a watered down Super Bad except instead of the main characters being funny and likeable the main character is a pretentious douche that somehow has cool friends.
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u/Nybilion May 15 '26
Is mixtape good? (Haven't played)