Helskate answers a question that I don’t think anyone asked: “What if you could kill demons in between long trick combos in Tony Hawk Pro Skater?” The answer, it turns out, is: “It would be pretty rad.” Its energetic art and soundtrack call back to those 2000’s-era skate games triumphantly, and really nails the simple inputs and focus on big moves versus minute technicalities. That said, things get hellacious, and sometimes unwieldy, when you attempt to meaningfully combine the combat and the rogue-lite elements with all the grinds and grabs.
You embody the partially feathered frame of Anton Falcon, notorious troublemaker and talented skater, who just wants to tear up some half pipes in peace. And by “in peace,” he means traveling...