Skate Story is currently my most anticipated indie game. Having played around 45-minutes of it at Summer Game Fest 2024, in a small dark room installed in sunny California, it matched every expectation I had for it. Scratch that, it surpassed them, leaping over my initial hopes for the title with a little kickflip, leaving me genuinely astounded. Skating fan or not, it’s a game you absolutely have to have on your radar.
It has been on my own radar ever since its reveal during Devolver’s digital showcase in 2022. Its striking visuals and otherworldly soundtrack captivated me. It looked to be a game attempting to capture the spirit of skate videos in a mythical, post-modern box. But how that game actually played, whether that trailer magic transferred well to a tangible play experience, was a mystery. Devolver Digital, after all, is a master of presentation, of nurturing a particular style of cool subversive game and presenting it in a funny, earnest package. Tempting to video game lovers like MSG is to the tongue.
My discovery that Skate Story is astounding was like building a dream PC and booting it for the first time, cheers escaping your mouth as all the lights turn on like they should. Whoever signed the game at Devolver must have felt like they found buried treasure. And they may have actually done so.
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