Golf Story is exactly what its name implies. It is a golf game, with an emphasis on a crazy, wacky, hilarious story. It’s a good thing it is so wacky and funny too, because that’s what makes the story worthwhile.
Plot
Let’s be real here, Golf Story is not a game you are going to be playing for its plot. This is the story of a up and coming golfer who wants to join the pro tour. In order to do so, you’ll need to hone your golfing skills while figuring out a way to enter to the tour…However no one starts at the top. You’ll first have to find a coach for yourself at a rundown course called Wellworn Grove. Only after impressing the coach will he agree to train you.
There’s not much to the plot, but you expect that going in. It’s mostly just a lot of padding that’ there to break up the few tournaments in the game. None of it feels necessary. You’ll be required to do things for nonsensical reasons – like doing the bidding of a stone tablet - but it’s mostly forgivable just because of how goofy the game is. It can get a bit grating when the same plot points are used multiple times though. This beach is overrun with crabs that you have to get rid of, this course is overrun with moles that you have to get rid of, you get the picture. Each course has its own mini subplot that you’ll have to complete - my favorite was when you play detective and solve a murder. There not all as interesting as that, but there are a few that I enjoyed. But, once again, the main plot is still pretty nonexistent.
Writing
Have you ever heard the saying, it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey? Golf Story takes that lesson to heart. Sure, maybe the plot to become a pro golfer is paper thin but you’re going to laugh all the way through it. Golf Story is absolutely one of the funniest games I’ve played. In what other game can you see an old guy and a young girl have a freestyle rap battle about golf? I would compare the humor in this game to that of games like Earthbound or the Mario and Luigi RPG franchise. It’s supremely silly, but that’s what makes it great. It’s hard for a game to keep it fresh with only humor for a 14 hour game, but Golf Story does make that accomplishment.
Of course, the humor mostly comes from Golf Story’s wide variety of eccentric characters. Like a group of freebee golfers who think freebee - I mean disk golf - is the superior sport. Now, the large number of characters is important because it ensures none of the characters overstay their welcome. Their personalities are funny, but the jokes would easily wear thin if they stuck around for longer than they do. Golf Story also balances the main characters, like your coach, quite well. They’re given a little extra depth to make sure that they don’t get stale throughout the game – it’s not much depth, but just enough to make it through the story.
What really bolsters the humor of the writing is how creative golf story is with it’s textboxes. Textboxes are not stationary boring boxes – they move. They blast off like rockets. All of which adds once again to the silly vibe of the game.
Voice Acting
Golf Story Does not feature voice acting
Immersion
Golf story looks to recreate the feel of classic old-school RPGs but Again silliness is at the core of it’s world. You’ll visit several different courses throughout the story, complete with an old-school RPG overworld map to connect them. The different courses feel like worlds from an old school game in the sense that they are all so drastically different from one another. Sure, you have the old staples like a beach and a snowy course, but you also get really creative courses. My favorite being a posh, rich course where you must learn proper golfing etiquette before you can play – you know like not hitting people with the golf balls.
And yeah, in this world golf does solve every problem. Routinely you’ll have to use your golf skills to help people out in wonderfully wacky ways. Even the courses have, let’s call them unconventional, hazards. Because Golf Story constantly commits to it’s worlds with it’s silly golf motif, your more willing to accept the bizarreness of the world.
I have to touch on the retro art style as well. It really works – maybe it’s not the prettiest 2d game in the world but that isn’t what golf story is after. It’s after recreating the feel of an old-school RPG, and it’s art direction does accomplish that.
It is a shame that I occasionally ran into a few bugs that did briefly pull me out of the world. None of them were game breaking – mostly minor inconveniences, but still enough for me to notice. Golf Story’s developer (Sidebar Games) says they are working to fix those bugs though.
Conclusion
If I haven’t been direct enough, let me fix that now. Golf Story is a very funny game. It might not have a story that you’ll remember forever - but if you enjoy the wacky humor of games like Earthbound then Golf Story is absolutely worth the $15 price of admission.