Skate Story Review

Skate Story is a skateboarding game developed by… by Sam Eng (is it supposed to be spelt like this?) and published by the always-fun Devolver Digital.

You are a demon made of glass and pain.

I first found out about it a while ago when I had little hope of playing a skating game any time soon, intriguing me with its wild visuals yet grounded take on skateboarding, like in Session: Skate Sim or Skate. After going MIA for a while, it is now coming out on the 8th of December 2025. Skate Story was supposed to hold me over until skate. was out, but after playing its Early Access… I’m just ready to love a new skateboarding game.

You are a demon in the Underworld, sleepless and hungry, and the Moon hanging above you is looking mighty tasty. However, you aren't going anywhere unless you have a skateboard, and the Devil is more than happy to give you one… for a price. Now made of glass and pain, bound by a contract wrapped around your neck, you must skate through the depths of Hell to consume moons to earn back your soul.

The world is your skate spot.

I actually really liked the narrative, even when it seemed like nonsense. It doesn't take itself too seriously, despite how it may come off, and has some great moments outside of the skateboarding gameplay. I didn’t know exactly what was going on most of the time, and it’s probably a metaphor for something, but it is done well.

But I have to give major props to the graphics — Holy crap, the art direction is amazing. Every area is both a trippy sight to behold and a sweet little skate park to roll around in. It's dark yet vibrant, foreboding yet relaxing. It does a lot without going overboard with detail. Who knew the underworld could look so beautiful? Word of warning, though; things can get really intense. There’s a big seizure warning screen for a reason.

Maybe I should've turned down the motion blur...

And wow, I really loved the music. With a soundtrack made by New York artist Blood Cultures and additional tracks by John Fio, their music makes the adventure a whole lot more enjoyable. It's relaxing and peaceful when you're simply completing goals, and intense and energetic when you need to complete a challenge under a tight time limit. To put it in layman’s terms, it's perfect skateboarding music that I'd gladly listen to if I ever picked up a board in real life. Though, again, there are parts that can be a little intense, so headphone users, please lower your volume.

That’s enough about me gushing about the presentation. What about the gameplay? Well, you’ll be exploring the layers of the Underworld, completing tasks in order to earn the right to eat a moon. Perform tricks, get a high score, find items, battle demons, collect Souls, buy £90 energy drinks, whatever it takes to get a moon into your stomach. To do all that, you’ll need to skate without breaking your (literally) glass bones.

The fundamental skate trick.

The control scheme, I feel, is a cross between Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater’s snappy buttons and Skate’s grounded street skating. All tricks are based around one button/trick: The Ollie (the B button on controller). Just like in real life, by shifting your feet during the trick (or rather, use the bumpers and triggers), you modify the trick you're doing.

Sweet kickflip, bro.

From kickflips to Impossibles, there are tons of tricks to use throughout your journey. If you time hitting the Ollie button just right, you pop the board higher. It takes a little getting used to, but it felt good to pull off Treflips and heelflips in one line. You can also grind along rails, spin, and do manuals, but no grabs, unfortunately. However, I found Nollie tricks a little bit difficult to do because they were mapped to Up on the D-Pad. It isn't as natural as the rest of the control scheme.

Oh, I almost forgot one of the most important mechanics: the Stomp. Once you’ve racked up a sufficiently high combo, you can then stomp on the ground to cash in the points. This is a pretty important mechanic because, holy hell, there are boss fights in the game. Doing tricks and stomping in the vicinity of threats will damage them, with high combos potentially able to one-shot even the moons themselves. And it's not repetitive, as each “arena” is a skate park rife with opportunity to pull off some incredible tricks and lines, and rarely makes you do the same thing.

Be stylish. Be brutal.

All throughout, you’ll be earning Souls, which you can spend to customise your skateboard with new decks, trucks, wheels, and even stickers you can place wherever you want. Weirdly, though, trucks and wheels are rare to see in shops. In my playthrough, I only saw three different trucks and two wheels. There are plenty of artfully designed decks that you might want to change frequently, as the more you skate, the more damaged your board becomes, and it doesn't repair, nor can you buy a replacement. Plus, stickers cannot be removed once added to your board. It’s kind of annoying, to be honest, and I wish there was something to reset your board to a clean state. 

Customisation is great, but permenant.

And speaking of things being permanent, the game doesn’t let you choose what chapter to play after beating the story, which sort of blows. I want to go back to collect everything I missed, but, unfortunately, that is not an option. I won’t spoil things, but the epilogue will not let you skate, which is disappointing. After such a great game, I just want to goof off or grab the rest of the achievements, but unfortunately, you’re gonna need to erase your save file if you want to play more.

...The Moon isn't made of cheese.

That being said, I loved Skate Story. It’s a visual masterpiece with excellent controls and gameplay that’ll make you go out and try to do a kickflip (as you won’t shatter like glass). I just wish I could go back to play levels again and maybe add a few more options to board customisation. Overall, if you’re in need of a skateboarding game, this is for you. Don’t sleep on this.