We've played many great skateboarding games, but none have ever looked or felt like Skate Story.

This isn't about chasing massive scores or finding crazy lines; it's a single-player journey through the underworld, playing as a crystalline demon on a mission to save himself.

The Devil says he'll return the demon's soul if he can swallow the moons of Hell's many realms, armed with a skateboard and aided by a mysterious rabbit.

It's a silly setup, especially paired with a skateboarding game, but it's so artfully done that it's easy to be swept along.

While it tells a linear narrative, many of the game's stages are open-ended spaces in which you can skate freely.

The skating here is tough; almost entirely based on street/flatland tricks, this is in some ways a fairly realistic interpretation.

Controls feel fiddly at first, with shoulder buttons combined with Circle to pull off tricks. Feeling relatively competent at the game takes time, but that seems intentional; with patience and practice, you'll get better, just like the real sport.

Doing a kickflip into a grind, then doing a pop shuvit out — that's the level of skating we're talking about, and pulling off your intended moves feels very satisfying. Completing the game's many tasks — helping out a character, progressing the main quest, tackling an optional challenge — is great fun, and new techniques are nicely metered out.

The game's ending feels more like five endings, so it loses some of its steam, but broadly, Skate Story is nicely paced. Whether it's speedy corridor sequences that test your reflexes, those open areas, or the many imaginative boss encounters, the game is always introducing new ideas and reminding you how damn cool it is.

The presentation is a huge part of that; the combination of the trippy visuals, the great music, and the writing — sometimes poetic, sometimes ridiculous — contributes massively to a wholly singular experience. The vibe is downtrodden, moody, and rebellious, and it conveys its unique energy with effortless confidence.

One thing that dragged the whole thing down for us is that, after you roll credits, there's no way to return to the hub and explore those open levels; you have to start a new game, which restarts your progress. This feels like an oversight, and we hope the game is updated to change that.

There's a fairly obvious point of no return, though, so right now it seems the optimal way to play is to never touch the finale, and just exist in this stylish, challenging skateboarding title, unlocking new decks and exploring every corner of its oppressive underworld.

While it lasts, this is quite easily the most strikingly unique and visually interesting skating game you can play, and we can't help but respect its relentless effort to go against the grain.