Skate Story

I picked up Skate Story half-expecting a quirky indie side-piece to fill the gap before a proper skate sim landed. What I got instead was one of the most distinct games I've played this year, and one that has zero interest in being compared to Tony Hawk or Session. You play as a demon made of glass, bound by a four-page contract with the Devil, skating through nine layers of Hell with one absurd goal: eat the moon. That premise sounds like a shitpost. It is not a shitpost. The controls land in a sweet spot between arcade snap and street-skating weight. One button handles the ollie, and shoulder buttons modify that into kickflips, heelflips, varials, pop shuvits, treflips, and more, over 70 tricks in total across the run time. There is a timing sweet-spot bar at the bottom of the screen that rewards clean pop with extra points, which becomes second-nature fast. The big combat wrinkle is the Stomp: chain enough tricks in sequence and you can cash in that combo as a damage hit against demons and boss-level moons, turning the skatepark arenas into something genuinely tense and stylish at the same time. It is not a simulation and does not want to be. The depth comes from reading each space creatively, not from memorising button sequences. Casual players will be comfortable within twenty minutes; even the score-based achievements are set at an accessible threshold. The structure alternates between two modes. Tight, linear high-speed corridors demand sharp ollies, grinds, and obstacle reads across checkpoints, often under a timer. Those open up into wider hub layers populated with bizarre NPCs, a pigeon finishing a manuscript, a frog serving milk, a philosopher made of stone, each hiding side tasks that reward Souls currency for buying new decks, trucks, wheels, and stickers. The board degrades cosmetically as you skate, which nudges you back to the shops without ever punishing you mechanically. One minor gripe: truck and wheel variety is thin across the whole run, with reviewers consistently noting only a handful of each ever appearing for sale. The hubs are also compact enough that, by the back half, there is less reason to free-roam than to push forward. Neither issue derails anything, but they are real. Visually, this is one of the most coherent art directions in recent memory, all kaleidoscopic grain, fractured neon, and your crystalline protagonist refracting light off hell's curbs. The soundtrack by Blood Cultures and John Fio shifts from lo-fi haze to pounding synthetic menace depending on what is happening on screen, and it earns that comparison to Hotline Miami in the best way. One word of caution: the intensity of the visual effects is real. There is a seizure warning on launch for a reason, and sensitive players should check the settings for motion blur before diving in. The whole campaign runs roughly seven hours, with side collectibles extending that for completionists. This is a singleplayer-only experience. No split-screen, no co-op, no online mode. Bring that context to Saturday night accordingly. But if you want the one game to throw on the big screen solo, headphones in, controller in hand, Skate Story delivers something that sticks with you days after the credits.

Riley · Scout Team

Sports & racing

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