If you grew up in the late ’90s or early 2000s, chances are you had a phase where you were obsessed with the act of skateboarding. People like Tony Hawk defined an entire generation, and even to this day, I still see people skating around the city because of his influence. Undeniably, a significant portion of that influence stems from the numerous games centered on skating and performing tricks. The Tony Hawk and Skate games, along with Jet Set Radio and Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, further attracted interest due to their great soundtracks and thrilling gameplay.
Even though I never really had an obsession with skateboarding, I was drawn into Skate Story from the moment I saw the first trailer. Specifically, I was attracted to the beautiful visuals, the premise of playing as a demon made of glass, and the great soundtrack. I waited with bated breath for the game to finally release, which ended up being an over three-year wait. Finally, it was released in December 2025. Its release raised multiple questions, though: Did it deliver on its promise? Was the wait worth it?
After playing the game for myself, I’m thrilled to say that Skate Story fulfilled and surpassed all of my high expectations, and delivered one of the most memorable experiences I’ve had with a game this year.
A Demon of Glass and Pain
The premise of Skate Story is delightfully simple. You play as a demon who has one simple goal in life, not to escape the Underworld or to gain power, but to satiate his hunger by eating the moon. As such, he makes a deal with the Devil to accomplish his quest, and to help him along the way, the Devil grants him a body of “glass and pain” and a skateboard.
On the journey, the demon encounters numerous allies who help him in small ways. For instance, there’s the Philosopher, a giant stone statue that gives the demon a small refuge before he returns to his mission. There are also some stranger allies, like Frotue, who gives the demon some warm milk to re-energize him. There’s a great sense of absurdity to the narrative and the overall tone.
While there aren’t any major “character arcs” for the game’s NPCs, Skate Story instead has plenty of charm to spare. This doesn’t just come from the characters and their designs, but the sheer absurdity of the premise. When you think of stories that take place in the Underworld, you think of fire and brimstone, not a skateboarding demon made of glass who wants to eat the moon.
That insanity only continues with the mini quests you must do in between satiating your hunger. Some of my favorites involve asking you to find the wash the Devil’s laundry (and then having to chase it because it ran away). There’s also one where you speak to a pigeon who is struggling to find inspiration and asks you to collect words to give to him. It sounds like a setup that shouldn’t work, yet somehow, I couldn’t help but be consistently charmed as I played more of Skate Story.
Easily, the best thing about Skate Story is its immaculate presentation. I happened to play this game on the Nintendo Switch 2, and despite the seemingly “lesser hardware” compared to PC and PlayStation 5, it still ended up being one of the most beautiful games I’ve ever played. The reflections of the light on the demon’s surface, the way each building shines, and even the appearance of the scenery and the moon in the distance all had me in awe.
It would’ve been so easy for the sole developer, Sam Eng, to further lean into the grim and dark aesthetic you’d expect from the setting, but instead, each area you visit is bright and complete with its own ecosystem. There are cities, massive skyscrapers, subways, and small stores, and all of it is beautifully rendered and further adds to how endearing this world is. Towards the end of the game, the visuals actually begin to grow a bit more insane and do things I’ve never seen in the medium before.
One of the other key aspects of the game’s presentation is the soundtrack. Much like other games in the genre, the soundtrack of Skate Story is fantastically done by Blood Cultures. Their music fits neatly into the experimental indie scene and adds to the surreal nature of each of the game’s many set pieces. I’ve been listening to many tracks on the OST since it came out, with my personal favorite being “Where The City Can’t See.”
In general, it’s hard not to be enamored by the overall premise, soundtrack, and visuals of Skate Story. From beginning to end, I was in love, regardless of whether I was skating through small alleyways or navigating on foot around some of the many hub areas scattered throughout the Underworld. If anything, my biggest issue with Skate Story as a whole is that there isn’t more. This applies to the gameplay as well, but once you reach the credits, there sadly isn’t any extra content for players to sink their teeth into.
There is no post-game, no arcade mode, and not even the ability to free roam between areas. While a six-hour playtime isn’t too bad, Skate Story feels like a game that demands more content beyond the ending. It’s such a shame, because I could absolutely see myself putting thousands of hours into the game as I aimlessly skate around the Underworld while listening to the dulcet tones of Blood Cultures. I can only hope that Eng and Devolver Digital add more content in a future update.
A lot of the reason why I wanted more from Skate Story once the credits rolled was because of just how satisfying the gameplay felt. Even as someone who’s never played that many skating games, I was able to pick it up, play it, and have a blast with no issues whatsoever.
Skate Till You Drop (Or Eat The Moon)
If you’ve played any game that features skateboarding as a mechanic, then you already know what to expect from Skate Story. Expect to learn how to kickflip, grind on rails, do a pop shuvit, an ollie, and countless more classic skating tricks. From a distance, you may wonder how this game is any different from others in the genre, like Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater or Skate. As someone whose tried to get into the genre for years, the unique elements of Skate Story‘s gameplay formula were enough to keep me addicted throughout its six-hour runtime.
For starters, there’s the more linear nature of the exploration. Rather than asking you to do a series of tricks for a grade, here, you will frequently be going from point A to point B on your quest to eat another moon. The tricks you unlock are mainly a way to build speed and perform special tasks in the world. In between each moon, there will be a small hub you encounter that has its own cast of characters, unique scenery, and of course, its very own lunar object.
In each of these hubs, you can find a gift shop that allows you to customize your skateboard. You can buy different boards, wheels, and even stickers to place along the bottom of its surface. It’s a great touch, plus some of the board options were an absolute treat to see. The board I used the most actually had an excerpt from the book, “Frankenstein.”
Due to the lack of any trick-based missions, you might think that Skate Story removes one of the most important pieces of any skating game. This couldn’t be further from the truth, however, as it instead asks you to use tricks in the game’s boss fights. Towards the end of each hub, you are forced into an encounter with the moon you’re about to devour.
Each trick you perform in quick measure deals more damage to the moon. In some cases, you’ll need to perform tricks, powerslides, and grinds in quick measure. There’s a surprising amount of challenge in each encounter, since you need to beat them as quickly as possible. The sheer scale of each fight is staggering as well, which is helped even more by the visuals.
As a whole, even if I was never interested in games like Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater or Skate, Skate Story struck a chord with me that I never really expected. The gameplay was pure and simple fun, and I ended up being so enthralled that I finished the entire adventure in one sitting. That goes back to my main issue, which applies to both the story and gameplay: the lack of extra content.
This really feels like a title that would benefit from giving you the ability to go back to a previous hub to do the side quests and extra content that you missed. Instead, if you want to revisit each area, you will have to start a new game. The short runtime makes this particularly infuriating, as all I wanted to do after I beat Skate Story was to play more, but there was nothing more to do. I suppose that is both the game’s greatest weakness and its greatest strength.
In the end, despite my small issues, I had a fantastic time with Skate Story. If anything, the fact that my biggest takeaway was that I wanted more, then that is arguably the best possible compliment I can give it.
Style and Substance In Equal Measure
Where previous games that highlighted skating as a mechanic shone was in their mix of style and substance. The presentation and use of obscure “underground” music, plus a fantastic gameplay premise, were enough to make an entire generation of people into skateboarders. Nowadays, a lot of games aren’t able to strike that balance between style and substance. Thankfully, I can confidently say that Skate Story isn’t one such example.
The underlying concept of being a demon made of glass who wants to eat the moon is so brilliant that it drew me into the world. I was further compelled by the great visuals, an amazing soundtrack from Blood Cultures, and the narrative filled with both charm and sheer absurdity in equal measure. Plus, the gameplay itself constantly had me hooked, especially with just how fun it is to gather speed, perform tricks, and use them in boss fights.
My biggest issue with the game is that, once it ends, there isn’t much else to do. If you want to experience more of what Skate Story has to offer, you’ll have to start a new game. Hopefully, this will be remedied in a future update. Despite that, I still adored this game. I’ve had a lot of different experiences in gaming this year, but the short amount of time I spent in Skate Story is easily one of my favorites.
While I never had that phase where I was obsessed with skateboarding and Tony Hawk as a kid, Skate Story managed to trigger an element of nostalgia with its carefully crafted use of both style and substance. I can only hope that Sam Eng has more content to add to the experience at a later time, but for now, I’ll just settle for listening to the Blood Cultures soundtrack on loop.
Disclaimer: Skate Story was reviewed on a Nintendo Switch 2.
