Reviews

Session: Skate Sim review for PC, Xbox, PlayStation

Platform: PC
Also on: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X
Publisher: crea-ture Studios
Developer: Nacon
Medium: Digital/Disc
Players: 1
Online: No
ESRB: T

Even though Session: Skate Sim proudly trumpets that it was “(m)ade by and for skaters right in the first line of its Steam page and I?m most definitely not a skater I was still interested in giving it a try. After all, I enjoyed the Tony Hawk remakes, and I figured that would be enough to get me into this game, too.

I was wrong. So, so wrong.

See, the very first thing you need to know about Session: Skate Sim is that it?s tough. Probably not as tough as real skateboarding, but it?s still a game where more traditional controls don?t apply. Its controls are built around each thumbstick controlling one of your feet, and using shoulder buttons for turning. (You also use face buttons to push off from the ground, to add to the challenge.) Consequently, it?s not all that intuitive, and you?ll spend a lot of time flailing and crashing and restarting before you get the hang of it ? and that?s even if you set the difficulty at its easiest level, and play through the tutorial.

And once you?re into the game and free to explore the world, it doesn?t get any easier from there. You go around the city looking for missions to complete (which are mostly just tricks to pull off), and you have pretty much no margin for error. You either do the tricks as the game wants you to, or you?ll fail and have to start over ? or, more likely, you?ll bump into a wall or a curb and wipe out, and have to start over.

However, the problem with Session: Skate Sim isn?t how tough it is (though I don?t want to minimize how steep the learning curve is). Rather, it?s how empty the city feels. Even though the world is full of buildings and cars, other people are pretty much non-existent. While I get that the lack of people makes skating easier, it also makes the game?s world feel a little lifeless.

But if you?re really into skateboarding ? like, really into skateboarding ? I have a feeling that won?t matter to you all that much. Session: Skate Sim is true to its name: it?s a true-to-life skateboarding simulator, so if that?s all you want to do, it?ll more than deliver.

Nacon provided us with a Session: Skate Sim PC code for review purposes.

Grade: B
Matthew Pollesel

Recent Posts

PS Plus Game Catalog for April 2025: Hogwarts Legacy, Blue Prince, EA Sports PGA Tour

Check out the latest titles to be included in the Extra/Premium library for PlayStation Plus…

2 hours ago

Gladiator heads will roll in VR when GORN 2 hits headsets beginning next week

Prepare your body for more weapons, more enemies, more over-the-top gladiator combat and more GORN.

3 hours ago

Star Overdrive review for Nintendo Switch, PC

Breath of the Wild, but in space and not nearly as good.

3 hours ago

Hokutomaru lands the final base roster slot in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves!

Sorry Freeman and Kim Jae Hoon, maybe season 2?

3 hours ago

Nintendo eShop Update: Star Overdrive, Promise Mascot Agency

Switch owners get a pair of fun new open-world games this week (and plenty more…

5 hours ago

Hands-on with innovative horror/puzzle title Out of Sight

A fresh, unique puzzle horror experience you need to check out.

22 hours ago

This website uses cookies.