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STAFF REVIEW of Session: Skate Sim (Xbox One)


Wednesday, October 19, 2022.
by Ayden Heilman

Session: Skate Sim Box art When you think of skateboarding games you most likely think of the Skate or The Tony Hawk Pro Skater series. What they all have in common is that they all lean towards having an arcade-styled gameplay, but Session: Skate Sim (simply referred to as Session here on) flips that formula completely and is an accurate simulator of the sport, very unique compared to all other skateboarding games.

While Skate and Tony Hawk games are good in their own rights, they never really showed skating in an accurate light. The Tony Hawk Pro Skater series was pure over the top arcade while the Skate series was more of an in-between, a blend of arcade and light simulation. Session is a full skate simulation, even down to the real world physics. Everything in Session was built to recreate the feeling of skating and going through the process of learning how to skate from scratch. Unlike other skating games, the joysticks control your left and right foot (or your front and back foot) and the triggers to turn and lean.



With how unique the control scheme is it's a harsh challenge to get used to the controls until it clicks. This may take an hour or two though, but it is really rewarding and satisfying when you finally get it down and no longer have to consciously figure out the controls. In Session, when you grind you don't snap to the rail like other skating games, it's more a matter of the speed, angle and precision to land that grind. For example, if you want to do a boardslide, you'll have to make sure to get the right speed or you will risk bailing. Then you'll have to make sure you pop your board high enough to be able to rotate your board manually into the position that you want. If that's all too hard for you to get used to there is an extensive options menu that allows you to change your stance whether you control the left and right feet or the back and front feet, you'll even be able to change the physics from how strong the gravity is or friction of your board should you want.

There are dozens of spots to skate across the three cities New York, San Francisco and Philadelphia. All these areas are well crafted, and the atmosphere of the trio of cities feels like a 90's VHS skating tape. You can even make your own skate clips with the video editor. This video editor gives you a range of filters, angles and camera types. The atmosphere shined for me when I was skating at night time, as the lit-up street lights and bright light illuminating from the chase camera ties it all together. Even though you can turn AI NPCs to populate the city, oddly there are no AI skaters to run into, which would've been a good addition. This causes the cities to feel static and empty for being some of the biggest cities in America.


I often found myself bailing when I hit lightweight cardboard boxes instead of them getting pushed out of the way. Along with that, there can be a pretty big amount of bugs like board clipping and weird on-foot navigation, especially your feet clipping harshly which is most prominent going down sets of stairs. That saids, there is a wealth of cool missable details, like how your board gets wear and tear after doing countless tricks, and the sound design is the best and most realistic I've heard in a skating game. The sound of the wheels on different surfaces, and the metal on metal clunk when grinding really helps immerse you in the sport. Everything you do in this game has either subtle or apparent acoustic cues which makes the overall audio excellent. The music choices also fit in with the classic 90's feeling that they are trying to replicate.


Unlike its counterpart Skater XL, Session has a rudimentary Story Mode from which you can get rewards like money, skateboard parts and clothing. With the money, you can go to several shops spread throughout the many areas and spend it on new boards, trucks and clothing. The missions will be tasks from Pro-Skaters, like gapping a staircase and other basic objectives. Although I did not find myself doing the story, I found the bulk of my time was doing a lot more with Session's Sandbox maps, making my own challenges and lines to complete instead of preset ones. The mission objectives aren't always well explained and instructions won't be repeated so if you miss a tip, which can be frustrating. The mission text log you get beyond the initial dialogue won't explain the tasks in any further detail other than the trick you have to do, and it seems sometimes even though I do the mission task, it doesn't always complete or go through and I'll have to do it multiple times for the credit. Even though it's struggling a bit with the Story mission objectives, I was still having fun and challenged.

Session is obviously built for the hardcore fans of skating games or skaters themselves. The seriously difficult but rewarding trick system, the aesthetics, and sometimes feel of the city itself all bring Session together well as a unique representation of the sport. Session is a true skateboarding simulator; a fun, challenging and rewarding game.

**Session: Skate Sim was provided by the publisher and reviewed on an Xbox Series S**




Overall: 9.0 / 10
Gameplay: 9.0 / 10
Visuals: 8.0 / 10
Sound: 9.0 / 10

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