Golf Story Review

Genre: Golf RPG
Players: 1-2
Playtime: 20 hours (Includes beating the game at Level 35, completing most every side mission and finding most every secret.  Also tried a bit of multiplayer)


Golf Story is a surprise hit to the Nintendo Switch indie scene, as the first game to debut from new developers Sidebar Games, a surprisingly only 2-person development team.  Inspired by the likes of other classics like Mario Golf for the Game Boy Color, this game sets out to capture the simple joys of golf combined with rich and delightfully silly storytelling.  So how does this game fare on the green?  Get ready to tee up as we assess the positive and negative clubs in our arsenal, and hope we don't hook our swing.

Humor / Writing

It's been quite some time since a game has made me so genuinely laugh out loud and smile through the greater majority of my play experience.  And having played this game for roughly 20 hours, that is no small feat of accomplishment.  From sudden golf rap battles to the pleasantly crudely constructed manuals of GALF, there is no end of hilarity and charm to be found in this game.  This sense of humor is carried even further as it is often the very being of your objectives that is so absurd, such as hunting down suspect werewolves or figuring out how to obtain a simple scoring pencil through complex trades of flippers and ice cream.

There is so much charming dialog to be found in this game, it's near impossible not to crack a smile.

The writing in this game is strong, witty, and has a distinct flavor all its own.  It has an aura of confidence and sincerity that I'd compare to other notably written games such as Earthbound or Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga.  Part of what gives the writing in this game have that much more personality is through the clever use of animation in the text and speech bubbles.  Be it through timid small font, deliberate punctuation, or the tilted disappointment of a speech bubble, every bit of text conveys exuberant amounts of life and emotion thanks to these little touches.

Solid Mechanics

Of course great writing means little to a game if there isn't a solid foundation to enjoy playing.  Fortunately, Golf Story is able to largely deliver in that department.  With a variety of different club types, swing meters, wind, slopes, and other miscellaneous course obstacles (like mischievous moles to cheeky birds), there are a great many mechanics at play here which offer a nice degree of depth and room for growth / mastery.  And these mechanics are put to use in every bit of the game, from standard golf matches to uncovering hidden switches and many other secrets scattered about.  Simply put, it captures the pure and simple joys of a good golf game, sprinkled with a sense of purpose with the addition of often asinine and silly RPG quests.

As you can see by the many meters and indicators, there's a lot to take in and consider with any given shot.

HD Rumble

When you nail a perfect shot, that satisfying feeling is most definitely exemplified through that extraordinary sound effect and terrific use of HD Rumble.  Feeling the power and precision of the rumble as the ball is hit and bounces along the fairway it such a gripping and immersive feeling.  And HD Rumble is put to use in other clever ways too, such as adding emphasis to the speech bubbles in bits of quiet or exclamatory dialog.  It's a simple touch, but one that helps bind the gameplay into a more cohesive overall experience.

Music

The soundtrack of Golf Story is wonderfully varied from chill, funky jazz to stirring strings and choir.  The result is a gameplay experience that is incredibly relaxed, allowing players to carefully plan and consider every shot you tee up.  Give it a listen below:

Glitches / Frustrating Oversights

As may be expected from a game developed by just two people, there are many a bug and glitch to find its way into the game.  At one point in a golf tournament against a rival, the game glitched and skipped every other hole, automatically awarding me a win.  A glitch in my favor, sure, but it took out a deal of satisfaction for earning the victory myself.  Other times in golf challenges, if the ball went off screen, your ball would get stuck on the other side, failing to ever come back on screen until you quit or fail the challenge.

These old timers claim to like a clean game, but such isn't always the case here.

There are also numerous frustrations in the how some of the game is structured that could have been easily avoided had the designers paid closer attention.  For instance, with the custom golf course challenges, you have a bad hole and you know you're unlikely to finish the overall challenge in the needed strokes; there's unfortunately no way to cancel or restart the challenge.  You are forced to finish (and likely fail) the challenge to restart.  Eventually, I found it faster to just close the game, reboot from the title screen and try again, which is a bit absurd that such should be the quicker option.  Sadly with such a small team, this game will likely not get patched any time soon (or at all), so you'll just have to make do with the game as is.

Perspective / Slopes

While the game does a fair job incorporating many engaging mechanics with a fetching art style, the visual aesthetics do present a bit of a challenge when it comes to representing perspective.  It can be difficult to gauge the height of trees and hills without lining up your shot first and seeing how the shot tracker should react.  And it is even more difficult to gauge slopes as such isn't indicated unless your shot tracker lines up on the indicated slope.  Even then, it is only measured in 3 vague strength levels, of which can still be unlikely to correctly assess upon initial shots if of medium or higher degrees.

Leveling System

I enjoy the system of earning experience and leveling up different golfing attributes, but this game does a poor job of explaining these attributes and how the leveling system works.  Every time you level, you get 5 points to spend, but it seems every 2 points you put into Power decreases every other stat.  And yet Power seems like one of the most important stats needed to clear certain long drive missions in the game.  Even after clearing most every mission in the game, my stats weren't anywhere close to being filled, so it seems you could potentially put yourself in a bind if you didn't spend wisely, causing you to have to grind for experience in golf tourneys.  So yes, leveling is a fun concept, but its implementation in this game is a confusing mess.

What to do?  Your guess is as good as mine.

Multiplayer

I appreciate the inclusion of multiplayer in what is a mostly single player focused experience.  Being able to golf on all the courses you journey through with a friend is a fun addition.  However, there is no option to select characters (despite the huge cast that could be used).  Rather, each player is assigned a default character with different stats and swing styles.  It seems like a very odd way to handle such so unevenly, that makes you think multiplayer was more of an afterthought rather than a more realized feature it could have been.

Despite a few rough bumps here and there, Golf Story excels in delivering its intended experience in every way and then some.  It's a game bursting with charm and simple fun that will put a consistent smile on your face across its surprisingly lengthy adventure (at a reasonably fair value at that).  With its excellent execution and dynamic presentation of writing / text, this game is to be applauded and fondly remembered for raising the bar in creative techniques in storytelling for games.  For those looking for a relaxed and sensible dosage of frequent chuckles, I heartily recommend picking this club up and giving it a swing!

If you have any questions or thoughts about this game, please feel free to comment and discuss below.  Thanks.  And happy gaming!