The Indie Minute: Golf Story
This week on The Indie Minute, we take a look at Golf Story, the newest Nindie that’s turning heads. This golfing RPG is unlike anything I’ve ever played and is shaping to up to be one of my favorite games this year.
Golf Story is about an underdog; about a wannabe golfer out to prove himself to the players of the Wellworn Grove. Like any other golf game, Golf Story is primarily about playing the sport, but it has set itself apart with various RPG-like nuances. Quests come in the form of challenges, like hitting a ball out of a bunker or playing a hole only in the rough. There are even more traditional RPG-type quests like fetching lost idols or digging for treasure. Even the characters you meet and complete quests for take cues from traditional RPGs with their rich personalities, quirks and commentary.
Source: RPGSite.net
The game also uses a leveling system that allows the player to build their golfer how they want on top of the ability to buy new and better gear. As you might expect, every upgrade helps your golfer get better, however upgrading your power also has a negative effect. Just like in traditional golf, hitting a ball with more power helps the ball go farther, but it has an adverse affect on your strike, ability and spin. This consideration is a nice added touch of complexity to an otherwise simple game.
Source: IGN
This is the golf game for those that don’t like sports games and for those that love a surprise. I never expected to adore this game as much as I do. The charm, the progression and the simplicity make it a wonderful break from everything else. For this gamer, Golf Story is definitely a hole-in-one.
The Indie Minute is a short-form blog series about our favorite independent video games. Every few weeks, a member of our staff will write a 300 word-long blog post (a roughly minute-long read) about their current indie game obsession. Each post will highlight a different independent video game, its premise and what about it makes it so excellent. Our goal with this series is simple: to provide insight into the largely unexplored world of independent video games to you, our readers, and to grow as gamers in the process.
