‘Mixtape’ Review (PC): A Surprisingly Flat Note

InnovationGaming‘Mixtape’ Review (PC): A Surprisingly Flat NoteByPaul Tassi,Senior Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. News and opinion about video games, television, movies and the internet.Follow AuthorMay 12, 2026, 09:55am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.MixtapeAnnapurnaMixtape, the new game from Annapurna Interactive, is squarely aimed in my direction, a flashback to high school in 1999. While I was mostly playing Super Smash Bros. 64 in junior high that exact year, it’s close enough, and I thought Mixtape would hit harder, since anyone my age is going to feel a healthy dose of nostalgia at that time.Mixtape, unfortunately, doesn’t stick the landing, unlike lead character Stacey and her never-ending string of can’t-miss skateboard tricks. I do not believe a game needs to be X long or feature Y fail states, and there are plenty of titles that make this kind of story-driven game work, from Telltale chapters to Gone Home, the last time a “walking sim” like this was so controversial.But it doesn’t work especially well as either a game or a story. Much of the blame is due to Stacey herself, a strangely unlikable character who is a music snob of the highest order, playing mostly obscure tracks from the ’70s and ‘80s and calling classmates who listen to Pearl Jam and Green Day “jocks.” I’m not offended by that classification, but she doesn’t even feel like a real character, and has few redeeming qualities. She expresses a weird degree of “ownership” among her friends, including hating a girl her friend Cassandra is friendly with, and comes off as intensely selfish through the whole story.MixtapeAnnapurnaThere are some good moments here. I think the hints of pre-trio romance between Stacey and Slater are just enough to make that an interesting relationship. Cassandra’s rejection of being a jock to slack off with this crew is more intere...