Skate Story
Accessible on PC, PS5, Swap 2
To paraphrase Fatboy Slim, the perfect time for skateboarding video games is proper right here, proper now. Between the Tony Hawk Professional 3 + 4 remasters, Skate kickflipping again to life, and some older video games like Session: Skate Sim, I’ve felt spoiled for selection with every little thing on supply. However amongst them, Skate Story emerged as a gem of originality, type, and authenticity.
Whereas the efficiency on console has been mixed–at the time of writing, I am presently grabbing a brand new patch for it on my PS5–there’s an underdog appeal to Skate Story that makes it an prompt basic. In spite of everything, you are a demon made out of glass and ache who’s trying to destroy the moons of hell with a well-timed pop shove-it, however Skate Story is greater than only a handsome sport with wildly imaginative artwork course.
Skating has a tangible really feel within the sport: a sensation of urethane wheels slowly being worn down as you ollie over demons and lean ahead to realize some further velocity, your contractually obligated fragility be damned. That feeling of fixed hazard, a close-up digicam angle with a fisheye lens that makes the sport appear like it was filmed with a Sony DCR-VX1000, and an irreverent humorousness solely add to Skate Story’s appeal. — Darryn Bonthuys
