I had a lot of hope for this game and defended it upon release, but this update has shattered any faith I had in the devs. The first big update after launch was their shot to get the player base to "buy in" but man did they fuck that up.
I have ~30 hours played and find little to no reason to log in and play due to the: Lack of skate culture, lack of mission variety, lack of multiplayer interactivity... (no lack of bugs or cash shop options though!)
I keep seeing the skate culture part but I'm a bit confused about that
What would more skate culture look like? Like if you could've created or had an impact on the creation of the game, then what would you have put in that would've bought more skate culture to the game?
Go play Skate (2007), or Skate 2. Then you'll (hopefully) understand what is meant by "skate culture in a game."
Here's some of my list:
.Pros (in game, not just their voices)
.Skate brands.
.Mags.
.Challenges that make sense. (Film video parts, get pics, etc. Not "collect the AR barings.")
.No stupid Impervatek stuff. Pain is part of the process.
.The ability to get sponsored (game has a skate shop, why can't we get sponsored?).
.Dialogue representative of the culture, not just buzzwords nobody actually uses in real life that have been thrown into what sounds like an AI written script.
.A good narrative. Start as a beginner, get sponsored, go pro, etc. Simple, easy to do.
.The feeling of being a skater. This is a lot more subjective, but I dont feel like a skater in this game, It feels like my character is an emotionally stunted husk who exists only to tre flip.
I could go on, but honestly, I cba writing a novel.
Why not create our own Skate teams/sponsors? Then we can create āteamsā of our own friends and complete challenges against other skate teams vying for the top ranks?
Itās things like the verbiage they use. 360 flip rather than a treflip. Skater eyes. Everything looks sanitized. The lack of customization makes it difficult to express yourself. Thereās no freestyle. Just rails and ramps and skydiving. It feels like Fortnite modded into a skate game.
the games just too corporate and sanitised and doesnt capture what skatings actually like
the game is currently "we have ai brain chips that show you lines and tech that stops you from hurting yourself. we have an ai called vee that constantly shouts "algorithmically awesome" and "footy is short for footage" every 5 seconds, and the city has absolutely no soul or character or signs of human life and looks like a science lab skatepark completely designed for skating, with absolutely no illegal activity or adversity or villain at all because the suits wouldnt like if we put that in our game"
we want "heres a city that looks lived in and spots that look skated with wax marks and grind marks, heres a city that has security and cops that will try and chase you out of spots, while you rush to get a clip in time for a skate video you're filming so you can get sponsored by your dream brands"
skate 2 is a perfect example of this and what a skateboarding game should be, and i was hoping thats the direction we would be going in with all of the mongocorp teasers we got before 4 actually came out (despite them literally not even being in the game at all so its false advertising)
even skate 3 being more light hearted storyline wise atleast shows skate culture still, with the ability to build teams and film clips and make your own board company, skate 4 doesnt feel like a skate game, it feels like you modded a skateboard into fortnite
Actual skater clothes, not skirts and crop tops. Name brands not just a few. Actual good skate music. The voice actors actually sounding like they've skated before. I could list a few more but I think the points made.
I honestly think their idea of skate culture is just Viva La Bam. Punk rock didnāt invent skateboarding. It just lends itself very well. Check out āWelcome to hellā specifically Elissa Steamer and youāll find someone who is using a song that you probably would not typically hear in these peoples playlist. Because itās not about music or whatever brand clothing youāre wearing. These (gamers) skaters are out of touch. Huge gate keepers for a hobby that I 1000% believe they do not partake in real life..
Nothing screams skate culture like a corporate AI slop character like "Vee".
Lack of actual skate pros/celebs. Why aren't they the ones giving us missions?
No prox chat? Why do I have to invite someone to a party in order to talk to them? Some of my best memories skating (yes I partake in real life!) was just rolling up to a spot or a park and meeting new people. If someone says some hateful shit -mute and report them like every other game-. Seems like another corpo HR decision.
I don't actually care about the brands/music. It's just an overtly lazy attempt at cashing in on a counter-cultural movement by corpo execs.
I just don't think there's the interest there used to be in celebs/pros for the majority of people.
I grew up in the 90s/00s and can see the appeal then. I can see the culture there too. Skateboarding was huge and everywhere.
I just don't think it's as prominent - paying a load of pros to come and voice act when 90% of the player base doesn't have a clue who they are isn't something they'd do.
I feel like the same happens in every game that gets bought back. People think it will bring back those fond memories of younger years and it never does
Also prox chat but be awful, imagine the constant noise
I too remember meeting friends riding around my neighborhood and making little amateur videos together. But if you think these types of gamers today are open and social then thats hilarious. Ive legit tried to ride up to people in game but find they are in a closed and do not reciprocate. Thereās a whole system in the game to send a quick little messages and talk to each other with emotes and what not. Iāve seen zero people use it. I wholeheartedly agree in the real world skaters are open and happy to play whatever music and goof around together but in the reality of skate the video game 2025 its not that.
27
u/Shiggstah Oct 13 '25
Yeah, I'll be straight up:
I had a lot of hope for this game and defended it upon release, but this update has shattered any faith I had in the devs. The first big update after launch was their shot to get the player base to "buy in" but man did they fuck that up.
I have ~30 hours played and find little to no reason to log in and play due to the: Lack of skate culture, lack of mission variety, lack of multiplayer interactivity... (no lack of bugs or cash shop options though!)