Mixtape is out now, and Beethoven & Dinosaur’s new narrative adventure has opened with one of the strongest early critical receptions of the year.
The game launched to an extremely high reception: 85 on Metacritic based on 21 reviews and an incredible 94 on OpenCritic based on 27 reviews.
The game follows three friends on their last night of high school as they head toward one final party together, with a playlist pulling them into dreamlike memories of their teenage years. Mixtape is the second game from Australian studio Beethoven & Dinosaur, following The Artful Escape. The studio has stayed close to music as a central part of its identity, but this game uses that idea in a different way.
Instead of turning music into a cosmic stage performance, Mixtape uses songs as emotional triggers, moving the characters through memories of first kisses, parties, rebellion, friendship, and the mess of growing up.
The difference is that The Artful Escape was about self-mythology and performance, while Mixtape is about memory, friendship, and the strange sadness of realizing one part of your life is ending.
It’s closer to an interactive coming-of-age album rather than a traditional adventure game, but this is far from a flaw. This way, Beethoven & Dinosaur managed to land every single beat, and portray a very nostalgic story even for those who never had those memories.
With all that in mind, Mixtape is a very specific kind of game. It is not aimed at players looking for deep combat, difficult puzzles, or rewarding exploration. Rather, it’s for players who like narrative games, coming-of-age stories, strong soundtracks, and short, authored experiences. The game is only three to four hours long, but those hours are packed with so much heart.
Fans of games like Life is Strange, Oxenfree, Night in the Woods, or Lost Records: Bloom and Rage will feel right at home here.
All this also explains why the game’s early reviews are so strong. It’s not meandering, it has a clear purpose, a message, and delivers it extremely well. Its ts style, emotional focus, soundtrack, and variety of smaller gameplay moments are pure joy.
Mixtape is available now on Steam, Epic Games Store, PS5, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox Game Pass.
