Skate will finally be coming to gamer's screens soon after years of anxious waiting. Many wondered if EA even intended to make the game, and now their questions have been answered. With the new installment of the Skate series finally a reality, players are trying to get an idea of the features that will grace Skate. Another popular skating title, Session: Skate Sim, was released in September 2022, and despite gamer expectations it fell well short of the anticipated impact and has received conflicting reviews among fans. A divide has formed between those who love the game and those who detest it. Skate will do well to pay attention to both of these groups if it aims to be a commercial success.
The developer of Session: Skate Sim, Crea-ture Studios, warned that the game would not be easy for the average gamer. Still, many did not anticipate the level of difficulty waiting for them when they loaded up the game for the first time. Crea-ture Studios did not try to ease the difficulty of the players' experience, handing gamers full autonomy over their avatar's movements. The player handles every single motion of the character in the game, making it easy to fail. The tricks and objectives in the game are well-thought-out, but are also demanding on a level bordering on obscene.
Session: Skate Sim and its Perfection Problem
Session: Skate Sim is essentially asking its players to develop a muscle memory based on every working - or failing - experience in the game to stand any chance of sustained success. Some customizable gameplay options are available to make for a slightly better experience, but the default gameplay is sure to scare some gamers away before they discover that option. Now, such perfection may be a great feature to skating fanatics, who would be glad that an accurate representation of how hard skating can be is finally being shown on the world stage. However, to casuals and newbies, the experience is a laborious one and presents a learning curve that is too steep. Most gamers play games to have fun. They appreciate when a game isn't so easy they can walk all over it within a few hours, but if a game presents itself as too hard, a high percentage of gamers would not bother continuing their journey with it.
The game isn't without its positives. Session: Skate Sim's story mode is brilliantly written, providing engaging backstories on the player character through text-based dialogue. The setting is perfectly detailed, from the characters to the skate park itself. The job done by the visual team is magnificent, containing tiny details like wear and tear on a skateboard. The sound design is superb, enriched with different audio cues for every situation. The unique sound of the wheels when gliding across various terrain is heavenly, and the steel sounds are very well-pronounced. It also features retro-style interfaces and the legendary fisheye lens presentation in photo mode.
But even these great positives are not without their drawbacks. The animation can suddenly cause the legs of the player's character to wobble inexplicably. The open-world surroundings of Session: Skate Sim also do not feel authentic, as there is no traffic in the game. There is an experimental option for NPC pedestrians to be enabled, but there are no other NPC skaters featured. Other characters stand in place, waiting to give the player tasks to complete. This omission is a disappointment, considering the level of attention to detail the finer things are given.
For EA's Skate, a solid foundation has been laid in Session: Skate Sim. All it has to do is to eliminate the trial and error learning curve and fix the frustrating, unbending perfection Session: Skate Sim requires to play, and it already has a chance to make for a great gaming experience. The positives, such as attention to fine details, story mode writing, and dialogue also have to be considered for a successful release.
Skate is currently in development.