Skate Story - Review
Skate Story has been developed by Sam Eng over the past six years, creating a surreal underworld for us to grind, ollie and kickflip through; destroying demon eyeballs and helping quirky friends along the way. Skate Story has you tasked as a demon made of glass with a contract from the devil to swallow the moon and gain your freedom. With wood, metal and plastic in hand, you take your skateboard into the depths of the underworld to fulfil this task.
Skate Story’s hellish landscape wouldn’t be complete without some sick beats to accompany you as you’re ripping up the concrete of the underworld, Blood Cultures soundtrack of devilish synth beats really highlight the mood of Skate Story. This isn’t the only collaboration that is setting Skate story up for success either, Devolver Digital is the publisher of Skate Story, making me even more excited to play.
Right from loading into the game, I loved the art style and the old school skate video vibes that Sam Eng has filled the world of Skate Story with, this helps with doing a great job of setting you in a world that somehow both feels like a regular city and an oppressive ethereal landscape.
I didn’t go into Skate Story thinking I’d be having so much fun checking every nook and cranny of an area, just so I didn’t miss a sticker to add to my overflowing collection. The designs of the skateboard decks, and all the different trucks and wheels had me making a new custom build for each area, making me sell out every shop I find.
My favourite part of Skate Story isn’t the depth of the tricks or skating (even though it’s a very well-made system), it’s the interactable characters you get to meet and talk to. In the underworld, I didn’t expect to meet a bee running a flower shop or be talking to giant stone heads about philosophy, yet these interactions and side missions are my most unexpected part of Skate Story that made me fall more in love with it.
In my time playing Skate Story I had to remind myself to not just hit the buttons as fast as I could, to pump out tricks like I do in most other skating games, but correct button input sequences and timing is the soul of Skate Story’s trick system. I really enjoy just how complex and thought out this system is, and taking your time to master it does make it feel like you’ve become a true skater. Skate Story also has a fun and creative way of introducing you to classic skate mini game from combo chains to the game of S.K.A.T.E (however I won’t spoil them for you here).
There are two things I miss from other skate games that I desperately want in Skate Story, one is to actually be able to use the half and quarter pipe ramps in the game and drop in on them without my character freaking out or flying off the board and killing me (I hope this is just a glitch). And secondly, I would like it if when you grind in the game you don’t just see “grind” pop up in the combo, but for it to let you know if you managed a tail slide or a 50-50 grind and get more points based on the difficulty of said grind (hopefully this is planned for a future update).
What has me feeling a bit let down about Skate Story is what I’m putting down to level design, maybe it’s just me or what it’s going for, but I’ll be in the middle of a combo with some sick ramp gaps and long grinds, when right after I land, there is either a wall or another obstacle that kills either me or the combo. Or also, I’ll see a huge ramp off in the distance thinking it will lead to some cool gap but it has no space before it to get enough of a run up. I will say that later levels do have more of a cohesive flow to most areas, but some obstacles still feel either out of place or just feel placed at random to fill space.
Skate Story is an almost perfect game for me, from the mix of futuristic, otherworldly and demonic aesthetics, it was right up my ally from the get-go. Both the skateboard customisation and exploration of Skate Story are top notch, and with each new quirky character that you meet along the way to swallow the moon for the devil, you’ll fall more in love with this underworld. The trick and combo system is very well made, but trying to master the advance tricks from the double Kickflip to a Lazerflip, and getting the timing just right to stomp out a huge combo is where the real fun of Skate Story lies. But the flow of the levels and the areas that you skate feel off, in the sense that obstacles that should aloe you to combo from one to another sometimes don’t and just lead into a wall, taking away a little of the fun from this beautiful skating game.
The Score
8.0
Review code provided by Devolver Digital
The Pros
In-depth trick system
Art style
Sound track
Story and characters
The Cons
Level design has some issues
Can’t drop in from a half pipe
