Griptape Backbone

I was very excited to play this game-- the graphical style and atmosphere, the skateboarding gameplay, the fact that it seemed to be one of those very rare games built completely around movement-- it seemed like the perfect thing to tie me over until Perfect Stride came out, a similar game which has been in development for a few years now.

I have really conflicted feelings about this product and giving it a thumbs up doesn't feel entirely right, but let me explain: On the one hand, as a fan of the whole vaporwave genre, I liked or even loved most of the soundtrack and "get" the idea.

The game is based off of the Vaporwave visual style, or as this game's developer likes to call it, "A E S T H E T I C." Again, on paper, a great thing to base the visuals off of, and at first, it's kinda great.

I really enjoyed this game, because despite all the glitches and the lack of a save feature, it was a rewarding experience to have to strategize for how to reach certain places to get certain cups of coffee, and I loved the ending.