Game EXP: Golf Story (NS)

After watching the trailer for Golf Story on the Nintendo Switch, sometime shortly after getting the Switch back in 2017, I knew that I wanted to play this game.  I have talked a little bit before about how I can be picky about the golf video games that I do like, usually being those that do not take the game too seriously or realistically.  Games like Golf on the NES, Golf on the Game Boy, Mario Golf on the Nintendo 64, and even PGA Golf on the Intellivision are what I am after when it comes to golf, as opposed to the PGA Tour Series by EA Games.  I did play a little bit with the golf game in Wii Sports, but that was never on my own time (it was while I was working at assisted living facilities and helping/playing with the residents).

In short, I did very much enjoy Golf Story and ended up spending just over 21 hours playing, which is about what I was expecting considering HowLongToBeat has the average being about 19.5 hours.  I was at level 33 for those keeping score, and I had gathered all of the power-up items which I did not figure out how to use until the match play against Lara, which happens during the final act, before the pro's championship tournament at Blue Moon Dunes, the final match at the end of the game; but I will get to the special powers a bit later.  I barely played the in-game game of Galf, partly because there did not seem to be a reason to play it other than to play it; and I did find the Galf: Seasons game but never took it to the little Galf hut to play it.  I am a bad completionist. 

I bring all of this up because I am now going to talk about what I did not like with Golf Story, because the game has been praised for the last three years, with Metacritic listing it as the #56 best Switch game of 2017 and the 14th most discussed Switch game of 2017.  So we all know that it was and still is a well-received game.  So let us just jump into the negative.

The number of times I attempted this putting challenge was way too
 many.  I started taking screenshots before each putt and kept the
 picture if it went in so I could remember the best way to putt the ball in.

First, the game seemed to have an inconsistent approach to ending games.  During match games of golf, when you were playing against an AI when not playing a tournament, your game would end when there was no longer a chance for the opponent to possibly win.  For example, each match of golf was only 9 holes (which never bothered me that you could not play a full 18 holes), and if you scored lower on the first five holes, then you win.  The match is over and you do not play the last four holes.  Some times this would not bother me, but on the whole, I would have liked to have finished the entire course.  On the match against Junior on the Blue Moon Dunes course, I beat Junior after the sixth hole, meaning we had tied on two holes, and I won four.  So with three holes remaining, the match was ended and the final three holes would be a mystery when I started the Blue Moon Dunes tournament (as tournaments require you to always play all nine holes).  However, during mini-games or challenges that NPCs would give you as a way of earning money and experience points if you reached a point where you could not pass the challenge, you were still required to finish the challenge in agonizing shame.

One thing that annoyed me was the way that NPCs would talk to you if you failed their challenge.  Granted this is not so much a negative aspect of the game as far as mechanics go, just file this under the category of Duck Hunt Dog level of player shaming.

I do not know if the decision to essentially have a game over screen ever came up, but having the game take you back to the title screen if you lose a match-play game also seemed like an inconvenient decision.  I can understand this somewhat, as it is similar to older NES games that when you lose, you would get a Game Over screen and are taken back to the title screen.  But here, when you lose a match, the game tells you "Too Bad" you are taken to the title screen, but the game retains the score from the match.  What I feel should have happened, was that when you lose a match, you are just taken back to the dialogue option to play the person again, maybe with your opponent giving you a demeaning snarky comeback?  But inserting an extra step to replay a match that you just lost, or maybe play a couple of solo rounds to gain experience points to level up before playing, again, is just inconvenient.  Harumph.

The keyword here to remember is "Match"

Lastly (for now?), is that before you are able to compete in the final Blue Moon Dunes Championship, you are told that you have to have completed match cards from all of the other courses.  At this point, I thought I had to return to each course and play them all over again, which I was somewhat okay with since the actual playing of golf in Golf Story, being the primary mechanic, is a lot of fun.  What I did not realize, which seems silly now after the fact, was that I had already completed six of the needed eight match-plays to continue.  Which then seems like an odd choice as a game requirement.  Granted it was not hard to finish the final two matches as both of your opponents are located within Blue Moon Dunes.  But just the idea that there was something that I had to complete that was not made clear that I had already completed 75% was both confusing and made me feel like an idiot.

Once I figured out about power-up shots, I would predominantly
use the Focus Shot, since the other two didn't give as much of a
difference in the outcome of the shot as ignoring wind conditions.

And final lastly (see, told you), was the power-ups mechanic which again, the game did not do a good job of either explaining that the power-ups existed or having a tutorial on how to use them.  It was during my first match-play against Junior at Blue Moon Dunes that I found out you could change the type of shots you make at any time you are playing on the course.  Yes, I do remember finding the Ghost Tee and being told that you could now play a shot from a tee (and ignore any terrain effects) anywhere on the course, but apparently, I am an idiot (am I though) not realizing that this meant during a game.  The same could be said for the Power Glove, and the Focus Shot.  Once I figured out that I had these abilities in my tool chest, along with the already frequently used Precision Shots, HP Shots, and Approach Shots.  Having the game force you to actively select and use these abilities would have been something to consider.  One skill that the game tried to get the player to do on a number of occasions was the toss-the-ball-in-the-air-and-hit-it-with-your-club that was a requirement to progress the game on a couple of occasions that I feel like I only could do by accident.

Still the 3rd Greatest Feeling in the World.

But you know what, despite all these quality-of-life changes that could be implemented to make a cleaner and streamlined experience, I did really enjoy the game and do recommend it if you already like NES era style golf games that have a number of RPG elements and unconventional golf game elements (disc golf*, RC Pro-Am, boss battles).  This was a fun game and I am looking forward to the Sports Story sequel slated to be released (maybe) later this year (2020).

~JWfW/JDub/Cooking Crack/Jaconian

Instrumental

P.S.

* And what was up with Disc Golf?  You were forced to learn it early on in the game, had to beat some discers (?) at another course after the initial encounter, and then that was it?  I did notice other disc golf courses scattered in some of the other golf courses, but there was not an obvious way to play them or even a reason to unless it was to earn more money and experience points.

I also thought that there should have been more things to buy (consumables maybe, to replenish your power-ups meter?) after having bought all of the upgradable clubs?  Just a thought.

P.P.S. I probably would have some more interesting or action shots for this article, but the game did not allow for videos to be taken, being my preferred way to get screenshots, rather than trying to hit the screenshot button on the Switch controller at just the right moment and potentially honking up an otherwise great tee shot.

I recognize that continent!  Now.