Skate Story

Дьявольский вайбовый скейтер чилит со стеклянным Ларри, рабби, лягушонком, гномом из литл найтмерс, пилло, пижоном, пингвином в очках и би стеклянный визуал и шикарная музыка

The perfect example of a passion project that could only come from one person with an absolute and unwavering vision. Do I completely understand everything that happened to meon my journey? No. Were the vibes immaculate the entire time? Yes. If you have even a passing interest in skating, art and music, you owe it to yourself to play it.

5 hours in: really good, really liking it. Why aren't there more games like this?

Sometimes, someone makes a piece of art with such immaculate vibes that even if you don't really understand it, it's still an amazing experience. This is one of those pieces of art. I don't entirely get it. I see glimpses of something here and there. Metaphors and meanings, scattered about. Something seen, something certainly heard, something felt, but nothing quite comprehended in full. Perhaps that is the intent? Maybe this isn't some grand allegory that can tie itself together in a tight little bow. Maybe the journey taken in this game is simply its own journey. A journey with meaning, certainly. A story with a story to tell. Vibes that are, as the massive floating skull put it, "IMMACULATE." But that's it. Perhaps this is a story that stands only by itself, with a meaning that can be gleaned without visceral investigation, despite how it is presented.

What an amazing game. I'll try to keep it short since there's an urge to gush and write a wall of text but the long and short of it is - the story is beautiful, the music is just as beautiful to match, the characters I met along the way hold a place in my heart and they are all fantastic in their own way. I giggled a lot throughout the whole game because the writing is great all the way through, a nice mix of weird, sombre, poignant, silly, and incredibly cute with a lot of dry humour along the way. The 'feel' of the skating is fantastic, the flow of each section/level is incredibly well done, and the speed wobbles are just as scary as they are in real life ;3 Thank you to all involved for this beautiful experience <3 Oops I ended up gushing, mb.

If I have one critique mechanically, I think the challenges Skate Story lays out don't quite live up to the depth of the skating mechanics. There's a crazy high skill ceiling here with challenges that don't demand you rise up to it (at least where I've reached at the time of writing). But that feels like such a petty complaint in the face of such a thoughtful, well-crafted, singular game. One of the best looking games I've ever played, actually doing cool, one of a kind stuff with 3D rendering without demanding much of a system. And those skating mechanics are so good, nothing stopping you from just going in and noodling and trying for the highest-scoring tricks you can. Started getting 40ish fps in the second chapter, so switched to desktop from Steam Deck. Such a special-looking game that it's worth experiencing on the best screen you have available, but not bad on the go by any means.