I have played my fair share of skating games, but never would I have thought that skating could be a weapon against Hell and the Devil himself. But that’s weirdly what Skate Story is about, and despite having one of the weirdest premises a game can have, it somehow manages to deliver a skating experience like no other.
Sam Eng poured his heart and soul into this game, and it shows. But, does it truly stand out as a good skating game?
A Striking Art Style
The first thing that grabs your attention in Skate Story is its striking art style. Skate Story’s art style is a surreal, minimalist blend of low-poly geometry and glowing textures that makes the underworld feel abstract, dreamlike, and unsettling. It almost feels like an imaginative, psychedelic trip through the Underworld.
The game has a retro vibe, with its VHS filter and static noise during dialogues. Somehow, the game still manages to deliver the emptiness of the Underworld, despite looking unlike any recreation of it that I have seen. And, amidst this chaotic yet suspiciously peaceful world, you are a demon made of glass whose only desire is to skate and eat moons.
At many points in my run of Skate Story, I’d find myself just mesmerized by the art style of the game. And, it’s definitely one of the selling points of the game.
What About The Skating?
The skating in Skate Story isn’t anything groundbreaking. The game didn’t need to reinvent the wheel; the focus of the game wasn’t to make the skating as realistic as possible. If I were to make a comparison, the skating in this game is quite similar to how it works in THPS. You have different buttons/combinations of buttons for different tricks.
The game also doesn’t have a lot of tricks, and it doesn’t need to. But where this game shines is in the animations and how grounded the skating feels. Every ollie, kickflip, or heelflip you do has power behind it. The camera shake, visual effects, and sound design put an oomph behind every trick. Landing from a trick will shake your camera, unsettle your skater, which emphasizes every trick.
I have played EA Skate games and THPS, but never have I seen a kickflip look that good.
There Is A Story
It feels weird to describe the plot of this game because it doesn’t sound real. Essentially, you are a demon in the Underworld, and you want to escape (obviously). So, you make a deal with the Devil, and if you can skate your way through the different layers of the Underworld, you are free.
But, to go from one layer to the other, you have to eat the moons, yeah, you heard it right. The goal of Skate Story is to eat moons and skate.
You play through Seven Chapters, each having a philosophical name, and even weirder plot lines. At one point, you are washing the Devil’s dirty laundry, and on the other, you’re helping a pigeon find words to help it write. Every chapter and objective is bound to get a chuckle out of you because of how weird it is.
There is no voice acting; all the dialogue is text. There are a lot of little philosophical quotes spread through the game that you can either ponder over or skip, just like I did.
The Gameplay Is Phenomenal
I have talked about the setting, the visuals, and how the skating feels, but the best part of this game is the gameplay and how you progress. The game is split between fast momentum-based skating, completing weird objectives, and boss fights.
Every Chapter has a pattern to it. The first phase of every Chapter is slow, and you are stuck doing the objective. Things like score certain points, collect this, find this, basic surface-level stuff.
Then, you move towards the fast-momentum skating. Where you wheeze past levels filled with obstacles that you can skate over, all while music is banging in your ears. It’s hands down the best part of the game, and there should be more.
Doing tricks will start a score meter, and the more tricks you do, the more it increases. The standard scoring systems we have seen in skating games. But, in this game, that score helps deal damage in boss fights. The game also forces you to use a variety of tricks, as using the same trick gives you less score.
The game keeps you on your toes throughout its entirety. It’s not a big game, and you can finish it in about 4-5 hours if you take your time.
Sound Design And Music Is Where Skate Story Becomes A 10/10
Skate Story has no dialogue, and it needs good sound design to stand out. And, Sam Eng and the Blood Cultures have done a fantastic job at that.
From the sound effects of the skateboard during a trick, subtle lo-fi background music to Blood Culture’s indie-pop soundtracks during levels, the music in this game is top-notch.
You start to get excited as soon as the music starts playing, because that’s where the fun part of the game begins. Boss fights and momentum-based levels all feel thrilling and exciting to play with indie-pop in the background.
The Verdict
Skate Story manages to deliver a skating game experience like no other. It’s a breath of fresh air for the skating genre. It hooks you in the first few minutes with its surreal art style, phenomenal music, and great skating. While it does feel monotonous at some points, it quickly covers that up with fast-paced gameplay and thrilling boss fights. Overall, you will have a blast on the journey, skating through the Underworld and eating moons.
If you are still on the fence about this game, then try out the demo, it’s available on Steam.
