29. Mixtape [PS5] -
Finished May 26th, 2026.jpg)
Mixtape
CONTROVERSY BEGINS HERESo before playing this game I was lured in by of course the display of it on digital stores abroad. It tickles my rom com/90s alt pickle that I grew up in. So I bought it long before hearing about it's many controversies. And didn't both to learn of those until recently. And i'd say....
The world needs shock therapy.
On the one hand critics will argue that "ign" giving this game a 10 is simply poor journalism and subjective heavily biased critic work. They always undercut artistic standards and praise odd anomalies and it can feel like a slight against the culture of gaming. Which do I agree with? 1... hundred... fucking percent. This game is not a 10. IGNs scores have lost all meaning at this point.
However those same critics will say things like "its only 3 hours long, it doesnt have complex mechanics, it isn't some shitty 50 hour Dessert game that I love that requires you to bring democracy to Cuba to beat it's levels. It isn't some void of emotion pit of guts and guns. So it shouldn't be ranked as a game. Its not even a game" And is that equally as insane as the 10? No it's more so. Its worse. At least the 10 is IGNs very isolated subjective opinion. This? This is gatekeeping garbage and its tired. Because it argues that a "walking simulator" or a game that almost entirely depends on interactive story telling and plot in bite sized immediate form factors shouldn't be allowed to be perfect score. Under what metric? Puzzle games, linear on rails shooters and even collectathons with no challenge at all don't get held to this same standard. Do we reward monotonous hardship more than simple enjoyment? Do we prefer a 50 hour climb vs a 2 minute stroll? Thats subjective but I certainly do not. A game is a game if it requires user input to influence an action on screen. The rest is history. These are story telling masterpiece. Same way short form content is still art in any other medium. A sweet poem. A little painting. Brevity is sexy folks. The game is 20 dollars.
Then they claim its political posturing because God forbid 90s teens be rebellious, have varying sexualaties and anti establishment concepts and do things like party and say buzz words to trigger adults. Gee so shocking. They should have represented 90s teens as do gooders who never touched a smashing pumpkins CD in their life. Yeahhh totally.
This world is borderline cultist and it drives me up a damn wall that video game journalism and the people who consume it has been hijacked in such a way.
REVIEW BEGINS HERE
But anyway. Annapurna has struck nostalgic oil again. The development team seems to chip at the rock of yearning often. Knowing what human elements evoke fond memories of either existential crisises of the past or the pain and burden of now. I as a more wave than rock energy love this about them. The game feels instantly relatable and it clearly is trying to be the "last blockbuster" of gaming. Id say what it succeeds most in is the underlying dynamics rather than the overall motife.
[The music]
The game prides itself on the title, a mixtape window into 90s expression. But here is the funnest bit of it. As the games story commences the main protagonist Stacey Rockford takes the emotional mood set by the current story and uses it to break the 4th wall and display to the player her Playlist that defined these moments for her. Including licensed tracks from radiohead, roxy music, sonic youth and smashing pumpkins. It is a absolute genius way to take a borderline untamable soundtrack and make it feel not only fresh, consistent, locked down, relevant but also bond forming. It helps you introspectively feel what the protagonist is feeling through music. It's simple yet so unique. I've never seen this done. It should have been done more. For example. Stacey will pan to the camera and say "this is Love by smashing pumpkins a track off their 4th studio album. It covers feelings that cabt be explained or blah blah blah" I'm paraphrasing. Its semi educational for a music nerd and 90s buff like me who loves this stuff. And it actually introduced me to a new band. Roxy Music whom I find I enjoy. These moods blend seamlessly with the plot. That is absolute intense genius on profound levels. I love the idea.
The game is essentially mini games that have no challenge outside of that. For example you gotta move joysticks to have teens make out. Pour slushies for a skater kid named Slater, and raid your sisters drawer for booze by pressing X. Id say the flaws of the game dont come from its simplicity. It comes more so from it's all over the place story telling and often times repetitive nature of the bedroom sequences. Dialogue evolves but some of the items it calls on you to interact with dont add much depth to the story.
The story ends abruptly, sadly and with not much reward or major plot twisting bang. Just bloop. And I feel the ending... without spoiling it. Left me longing for more.
Then there is the fact
YOU CANT SKIP CUTSCENES WHEN TROPHY HUNTING
Oh my lord how? This has been a standard feature since like 1992. Speedrunners be agast.
But overall its a delightful little treat, not a flawless game by the means of what I said alone but a sweet coming of age film on par with the movie stand by me by Stephen King with fun abd cute sequences of rebellion. A 7.5 by all intents and purposes if not for the music element and how that is done. How blissfully the main protagonist tells her life through another art. For that... its a 9 to me.
Rating - 90/100.
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