Skate Story Review (PS5)
Summary: Here he comes, here comes demon skate racer!
4
Skateorcism!
Skate Story is a surreal skating adventure (it’s also bizarre as @$#% but in a good way) created by indie developer Sam Eng and published by Devolver Digital. It takes the familiar mechanics of skateboarding and transforms them into a mythic odyssey through the underworld where you ride as a demon made of glass who owes a debt to the Devil. The only way to break free from this contract is to skate to the Moon and swallow it, a journey that unfolds across a series of realms that steadily deepen the challenge and the sense of fragility.
Rather than offering a freeform playground, Skate Story moves forward as a structured pilgrimage through strange and distorted landscapes. Each chapter pushes you onward, layering new obstacles and dangers onto your fragile existence. The glass body of your skater is not simply a visual flourish but a constant reminder that every movement carries weight and that every mistake has consequences, since a fall does not just cost momentum but shatters you into fragments. Combat is part of this rhythm as well, with demons rising to block your path and forcing you to fight while maintaining balance on the board, so skating and battling become inseparable parts of a single dance of survival.
The art direction leans heavily into neon shimmer and dreamlike distortion, creating environments that feel both beautiful and unsettling, where streets glow like mirages and obstacles bend reality in ways that unsettle your sense of space. The soundtrack, composed by Blood Cultures with contributions from John Fio, amplifies this atmosphere with ethereal tones and pulsing rhythms that fuse seamlessly with the motion of skating, so every trick and every crash reverberates through the music and becomes part of the emotional fabric of the journey. It is not background noise but a living score that shapes how you experience each moment.
However at its core Skate Story is about momentum precision, and rhythm, with every push of the board demanding attention and every ollie or grind requiring careful timing rather than button‑mashing. The physics have weight and flow, so linking a clean line feels earned and dropping it feels like a sharp lesson, reinforcing the fragility of your crystalline body without ever feeling cheap. The game echoes the grounded philosophy of EA’s Skate series, where flow and control are everything, but it goes further by layering mythological storytelling and surreal landscapes onto its mechanics, making each trick feel like part of a larger journey rather than just a score chase.
Levels are not conventional skateparks but surreal realms filled with obstacles, routes and transformations that demand you adapt your style and rethink how you approach each environment. Progression is deliberate, moving you from one stage to the next, with each realm deepening the challenge and the sense of fragility that defines the experience. The difficulty curve is firm and punishing, yet the controls are fluid and intuitive enough that the game remains approachable, striking a balance that ensures persistence pays off and that players of different skill levels can find their rhythm without being locked out of progress.
On PlayStation 5 the DualSense controller adds texture and immediacy to the ride, with haptic feedback and adaptive triggers making tricks feel tactile and responsive in ways that heighten immersion without softening the challenge. The hardware support does not change the core difficulty but it does make the sensation of skating through a world that is constantly breaking and reforming beneath you feel more immediate and visceral.
Final thoughts?
Skate Story is not simply another skating game but a myth told through motion, a battle fought through balance, and a journey measured in realms that culminate in swallowing the Moon. With its bold visuals, haunting soundtrack, finely tuned physics, combat woven into skating, and a difficulty that balances punishment with accessibility, it transforms skateboarding into something cosmic and unforgettable, leaving a lasting impression as one of the most original and striking indie releases of 2025.
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