Push. Push. Push, push, push, bounce —
All 4 wheels reconnect with the glowing pavement in a slap of crisp plastic and crunching wooden.
Push, push, push, push, bounce kickflip —
One other slam, a fast screech.
Push, push, push, ju —
A shattering crash. The world flips on its head in an explosion of glittering blacks and iridescent pinks. I set free a small chortle, regulate the controller in my fingers, and lean ahead. Reset.
Push.
In a hyper-chilled demo house at Summer time Sport Fest, Skate Story creator Sam Eng drew an image of a flaming skateboard on a enterprise card whereas I performed his sport, sometimes lifting his head to giggle at my crashes and reply my questions. He described Skate Story as an try and seize the sensation he typically has whereas skateboarding, invincible in a single second and completely weak the subsequent. Fragile, like glass.
Skate Story completely crystallizes this sense. You play because the glass skater, a demon product of translucent ache, and your aim is to skate to the moon, eat it, and escape this hell. The sport takes place in a collection of surreal playgrounds within the Underworld, providing lengthy catwalks for gaining velocity, winding pathways lined with deadly purple shards, and open areas dotted in concrete ramps, gaps and waxed ledges. The Satan and his minions are your enemies, and their solely weaknesses are your candy tips.
Skate Story is coming to PC and I performed the demo with an ordinary Xbox controller: Press Y to hop on the board, A to achieve velocity, X to powerslide and B to ollie. Holding A pushes the glass skater ahead in a gentle rhythm, holding B does the next ollie, and mixing the set off and bumper buttons with a bounce executes a trick. I leaned closely on ollies, kickflips (left set off + B) and grinds (close to a ledge + B), however I additionally landed a couple of strikes that included these inputs plus a nudge of the precise analog stick, swapping stances.
As I ollied my method by way of the Underworld, I encountered a wide range of floating stone heads — some pleasant, some vicious — and I collected objects to unlock new development areas, slamming my board into the bottom to resolve little puzzles. There was a store with customized decks and components on the market, and wide-open areas for training tips. The demo’s concluding boss combat, versus an enormous stone thinker’s head no much less, supplied a concrete area for me to carry out tips and deal harm with my rad skateboarding prowess.
I’m craving a couple of uninterrupted hours with the sport, ideally at house and after a couple of edibles, so I can good its mechanics, unlock upgrades and study new strikes. I crashed a dozen instances in my 45-minute demo, typically in the identical spot repeatedly and at all times with an impressive, shattering explosion — however resets had been swift and never too punishing. The crash at all times hit more durable after I’d discovered a movement state, holding down A to push and leaping easily over neon spikes embedded within the shimmering black asphalt, taking a threat and touchdown a kickflip, reaching peak velocity, feeling fully free. After which I’d clip a sliver of concrete and the experience can be over, sudden and harsh. In Skate Story, sidewalk-high edges are simply as harmful as glowing-red obstacles, and the sport requires a relentless buzz of situational consciousness. Quite a bit like skateboarding in actual life, I’d wager.
Skate Story induces a limbo-like haze by way of its mechanical rhythm, VHS-filtered visuals and the fixed, low whoosh of the glass skater’s wheels rolling throughout the Underworld’s concrete. Technique turns into inconceivable and the one choice is to really feel your method by way of the brutalist, pearlescent landscapes. The sport’s soundtrack is supplied by New York artist Blood Cultures and it is a soothing, lo-fi vibe fest, like OlliOlli’s movement music however with a distorted edge. It appears like an ideal match.
Skate Story encourages you to enter a peak state early on, solely so you possibly can chase that feeling the remainder of the sport. It’s an extremely compelling loop, with room for payoff or failure in each push.
The Underworld is a lot bigger than the slice I explored in Skate Story’s Summer time Sport Fest demo. The total sport has greater than 70 tips to study, recent gear to accumulate and a leveling system to unlock. Skate Story appears like a sport that may simply swallow hours upon hours of my time. As simply as consuming the moon, not less than.
Skate Story is due out this 12 months (not 2023, as advised by the highest trailer) on Steam, developed by Sam Eng and revealed by Devolver Digital.
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