I have never been one for sports games. The latest FIFA, Madden or NBA2K? None of them have caught my interest. And even though I live in a country that celebrates a vast array of different activities that showcase a person’s physical prowess, I have never much enjoyed the matches I was forced to attend or watched on the big screen. In fact, I found reading a huge Sherlock omnibus much more riveting than watching Australia qualify for the World Cup. Yes. I know. It may seem strange but I did bring a book into a stadium and spent most of my time poring over Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s prose. 

Enter Golf Story. Created by a small Australian indie developer, I had heard many good things about the game. In particular, its focus on role playing mechanics. So, when it was on sale for the Nintendo Switch I didn’t hesitate to pick it up.

The narrative of Golf Story is simple one. Yet it proved incredibly effective at teaching the game mechanics and for spurring the player on into the quirky world of golf. Having suffered a traumatic experience that involved a gaggle of geese, the player character is inspired to return to what they had loved as a child and fulfil their dreams. Abandoning the life they had built up to to this point, the protagonist throws themselves into becoming a pro. Their swing might be a disaster, at least according to Coach, but their tenacity and determination prove to be the one thing that shines through it all. Of course, being an Australian game, the story also came with a number of quirks. Golf Story does not take itself very seriously and it served to be a confusing experience when I was facing down a horde of skeletons to fighting off an old wizard. Yet when the credits rolled, I felt proud of my achievements in nabbing the tournament cup. 

That is not to say, though, that I did not suffer a few setbacks with the controls of the game. While the golfing took only a little while to wrap my head around (particularly in regards to wind), I found a few of the side missions much more frustrating. This was particularly true for disc golf and later on, the remote controlled car. Instead of using the analog stick to control the very motion of the frisbee disc golf, I could only push left or right for it to turn. After numerous failed attempts, I finally managed to figure out how to control the damn frisbee disc and direct it to where I wanted it to go. The remote controlled car also proved a frustrating exercise in this regard as the controls were never explained before we were expected to race down a track and do it again in reverse. Somehow or another, I persevered and managed to clinch the win. It was a near miss, though, as I had been tempted to abandon all hope and quiet my completionist heart.

What I also loved were the unique themes to each biome that was introduced in Golf Story. Every place felt unique. From Wellworn Grove to Bermuda Isles and Blue Moon Dunes. It was clear from the first moment that I stepped into Lurker Valley, however, that Golf Story was very much an Australian game. The didgeridoos were employed with great effect and I had my fingers tapping even as I was digging my golf ball out of the bunker it had landed in. 

Golf Story proved to be a surprise gem for me. In fact, I almost forgot that I was playing a sport due to all the calculations I had to make in order to hope for a hole-in-one. From the putting to driving the ball – the impact of each club felt just right. I also had fun trying to calculate the best way to ensure that I kept to the fairways (mostly) and onto the green. In the later courses, I would often curse my ineptitude when the ball would fall into the water and I would suffer a penalty in my attempts to remain at par and (fingers crossed) dropping a few birdies. And when the credits finished and the map panned out, I could not stop the smile that spread across my face when I realised that the world of Golf Story was Australia.

Now, I wish I could have shown my own screenshots on this blog, but Nintendo, in their infinite wisdom has encountered an error with uploading things to Facebook. And because I’m old, I don’t actually have a Twitter account. As such, I will be resorting to a few images taken from Google Images to showcase the lovely Golf Story.