Mixtape Review, Gameplay Impressions, Videos and Top Features

Mixtape from developer Beethoven & Dinosaur is the latest in a line of narrative-based experiences that explore specific themes. 

Cut from the same cloth as Life is Strange and others, Mixtape dives into an 80s-era story about teens at the exit ramp of those teenage years and going out with a bang. 

From the same developer that brought gamers The Artful Escape in 2021, Mixtape appears to have a fantastic mixture of nostalgia for the older crowds and life lessons for the younger that carves out an interesting niche. 

Graphics and Gameplay

Mixtape is a visual feast. 

Not that it should come as a surprise. The Artful Escape won the Artistic Achievement award at the 18th British Academy Games Awards and was nominated for plenty of other presentation-based awards across multiple organizations for good reason. 

Mixtape looks like it will follow suit, if not win even more. In layman's terms, it's a stunning mix of Life is Strange vibes with an Into the Spider-Verse stylization that is sometimes breathtaking in motion. 

It helps that the voice acting is once again a strong suit from this developer, as the heartfelt emotions poured into nearly every interaction have a way of keeping players invested. 

Gameplay-wise, Mixtape can feel like a collection of minigames. Whether it's simulating kissing or riding around on a shopping cart, the inputs don't exactly get complicated and the difficulty appears almost nonexistent. Pressing a button to make a character nod their head during a road trip is sometimes the extent of it, but the fact it's this enjoyable is a feat. 

Which isn't a knock. Those diving into Mixtape probably knew this was largely a game where players walk around with the cast and chat, moving the narrative ahead. 

This is more about the story and characters. And of course, the vibes. The medley of the latter, combined with the fantastic soundtrack, hits an uncanny marriage most games' packages never manage to reach. 

Still an acquired taste, of course. The pace, music and other things won't be for everyone. But most would be able to appreciate the highs of the vibes. 

Story and more

Rockford, Slater and Cassandra serve as the protagonists here and are an interesting blend of annoyingly teenager, but likable. And players of all ages won't have any trouble projecting themselves onto the characters a bit, either. 

Long, engaging story short, Rockford's is on the way out of town for reasons that would fit quite well in a Stephen King slice-of-American-dream-life setting (minus the supernatural horrors, of course). So, there's an assembled (wait for it…) mixtape that serves as the soundtrack for the trio's last night together. 

The characters are charming, in that sort of way teenagers at the center of their own universes can be. And it's a little breathtaking at times to experience just how this carefully curated soundtrack gets woven into the experience.

While this (thankfully) isn't a Triple-A powerhouse of a looker, it's still impressive that Mixtape runs so well, given what it's doing with Unreal Engine 5. In other quality-of-life features, there are plenty of tweakable options.

Conclusion

Beethoven & Dinosaur is a master of its niche, to say the least. 

Mixtape is a stunning time capsule of an experience that is a good example of what video games as a medium can accomplish with the right blend of ingredients. 

Fittingly, Mixtape is a, well, mixtape of ideas, sounds, experiences and gameplay elements that is likely to profoundly reach a broad audience of possible players. 

An impressive feat in many ways, Mixtape has a strong cast of characters and an unforgettable first-time experience.