Skate Story Reviews

From beginning to end, Skate Story is a fantastic experience. The great narrative premise, a charming list of characters, beautiful visuals, a brilliant soundtrack, and addictive gameplay strike the right balance between style and substance. While I wish there was more content to experience once the credits roll, I will never forget the time I spent with Sam Eng's near-masterpiece.

You wouldn't think a glass being on a quest to eat the moon and finally sleep could be so relatable, but you'd be wrong. Topped off by some fantastic skateboarding and an incredible soundtrack, Skate Story shouldn't be missed.

Fusing a solid foundation of satisfyingly grounded skate tricks with a bizarre, abstract world, Skate Story wobbles a little under its weirdness but there’s no doubt it’s one of the most distinctive skateboarding games of the decade.

A skateboarding sim which transcends the genre through its dazzling psychedelic presentation, smart design, and comedic lightness of touch.

Skate Story is a brilliant skateboarding game unlike any other. Tight skateboarding, heady narratives, gorgeous graphics, and a banger soundtrack make it one of this year's best experiences.

Can't sleep? Moon too bright? Want to eat it? It's a simple goal for a demon in the underworld, as you'll find in this gorgeous, extraordinary narrative adventure that just so happens to require skateboarding.

We've played many great skateboarding games, but none have ever looked or felt like Skate Story.

From its striking wash of chromatic aberration against the glow of the crystaline skater against the forboding hellscape of the skate park, Skate Story is a feast for the eyes and a must-play for skateboarding fans looking for a short but unforgettable indie hit.

When scoring requirements do appear, it’s usually in the guise of the game’s Moon bosses, which require you to chain tricks and build up a score combo, then stomp a finisher onto a target zone. Alternatively, downhill portal-hopping sessions feature objectives that unlock the way out, such as collecting symbols or catching air. Some of these sections and bosses are time-limited, presenting the game’s only occasional friction, but you’re free to spill and retry to your heart’s content endlessly.

Skate Story is a fantastic entry into the skating genre, not only by virtue of being unlike anything else we’ve seen before, but also because mechanically it’s just a very good skateboarding game.

A stylish lunicidal skater with peerless vibes and devilishly sleek flip tricks.

Skate Story is a beautiful and unique skateboarding game with great, stylized visuals and interesting characters. The movement might make you queasy and the skateboarding element could have been developed further, but it does a lot with its premise and refuses to pander to convention, which is refreshing. A wonderful creation, but not always a great game.

You might wonder how a demon making a pact with the Devil to eat the Moon translates into a game about skateboarding. I’ve played Skate Story and I still can’t entirely answer that. What I can tell you is that Skate Story is a beautiful, surreal, poetic journey through the underworld, emblazoned with neon, crystal, and hellfire. It is unlike anything else you’ve played this year, and about as far from Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater as it’s possible to be, while sharing the same basic mechanics. Somehow, it works. Perhaps developer Sam Eng might also have made a pact of their own.

Even though Skate Story may look like a game from another world entirely, its surprisingly fluid skateboarding gameplay is very much rooted in the real world sport it tries so ardently to emulate. It's a wonderful experience bursting with color, flavor, and character, and is arguably one of the most authentic-feeling skateboarding games yet.

Skate Story takes the familiar and flips it, elevating itself beyond a skateboarding game. Its ethereal, thumping soundtrack propels when it wants to, with each new chapter surprising with its visual inventiveness and off-the-wall, abstract ideas. It's like peeling off a bit of wallpaper and finding a whole new world behind it.

With its ridiculous story, unique visuals and brilliant soundtrack, there's a lot to like about Skate Story. Its gameplay is the weakest link here, though, with fiddly controls and other issues introducing a level of frustration that might push some players away.

Though Skate Story may be a barebones skateboarding game, the rest of the game is a stunning visual and audibly experience. The game's soundtrack is incredible and perfectly fits the abstract, psychedelic visual style.

You are a demon made of glass and pain. Literally. Looking to escape from Hell, you sign a contract with the Devil to devour the moons illuminating the realm’s many layers. Your steed is a skateboard, a forbidden object you’ll use to kick and push through the Underworld, acting as the Silver Surfer to your own Galactus. Skate Story’s strange premise and surreal art direction are equal parts alluring and head-scratching. While the gameplay is a mixed bag, I enjoyed this fascinating blend...

Skate Story is a memorable, fun, and engaging game that, even with its odd details, offers an incredibly refreshing experience not seen in the genre.

If you approach it with an open mind, ready to embrace its surreal presentation and atmospheric pacing, you’ll find something profoundly satisfying here. It’s a testament to how video games can transcend genre conventions and deliver something that’s both technically impressive and emotionally moving. For fans of skating games, artful indie titles, or simply those who appreciate when music and gameplay merge into a harmonious whole, Skate Story is an experience worth savoring.

Don’t sleep on Skate Story. It's a weird and wonderful journey through the Underworld on a skateboard, with great gameplay, visuals, and music. Highly recommended.

Skate Story is a striking game at first glance, but players will see that its true beauty lies deep beneath its protagonist’s glassy veneer. The game masterfully celebrates skater culture, offers a tip of the fedora to counterculture life in metropolises like Manhattan, and puts together a fresh gameplay experience in a time littered with unoriginal annual sports title releases and remakes that fail to innovate.

Skate Story is an allegorical love letter to skateboarding that expertly captures the essence of skating’s humbling mechanical vocabulary like few other games do. Thoughtful and inventive in unexpected ways, Sam Eng’s boundlessly creative dive into an absurdist underworld is as nourishing as it is refreshing.