Skate Story is one of those games perpetually in my periphery but I’ve never gotten to check out. Until now. At Tokyo Game Show 2024 I got hands-on with a seemingly very powerful genre- the skate game with strong visual presence- and finally got to see what all the hullabaloo is about.
In no small terms- Skate Story feels like the perfect game. This bizarre fantasy title is about a quest to eat the moon, a quest accomplished through accomplishing skate tricks. It handles brilliantly, as tricks serve practical uses like avoiding spikes with ollies while also letting you flourish your traversal.
Each of these tricks also come with perfect input versions too- it’s the ultimate flow experience, as you’ll want to hit buttons right on cue if you’re going to nail those big tricks.
Make a mistake though, and shatter into a million pieces. The way your skater brakes apart is both beautiful and shocking, since they mimic my own fragility since turning 30 as every small mistake explodes you a beautiful display of particle effects.
Skate Story Has The Strength Of A Good Setting
And yet, the skating isn’t even the best part of Skate Story. It’s this weird storybook setting about a quest to eat the moon. It’s the kind of thing The Ultracheese was written for, as you pursue a foolish quest that works out.
After completing the game’s tutorial I suddenly found myself at the mercy of a giant statue head- one that locked me in a room and spouted off intellectual nonsense saying I wouldn’t get to resume my quest until I’d completed his.
It’s very hard to find games with powerful visuals, but Skate Story absolutely has it. There’s nothing that looks quite like it, the closest I can come up with is if Sayonara Wild Hearts massively turned down the lights, and even that doesn’t fully grasp just how beautiful this game is.
Skate Story is set to release some time in 2024, and I can’t wait. It’s beautiful, technical and weird- all great qualities for a game to just steal my attention.
