Nintendo Switch Review Code Provided by Playtonic Friends
Creating a golf game that is more interesting than just simply hitting a golf ball around an aesthetic course is something that can be interesting or overzealous in concept. Luckily, it is the former with Okidokico and Playtonic Friends latest game, A Little Golf Journey. Mixing virtual putt-putt with a big hitter style and throwing in an actual overworld to move between levels within, they definitely aimed for a hole-in-one. While they were close to hitting that goal, this game has some slight issues that make it a “Birdie” type of score.
Story
There is a light story to the game that is told in the form of notes left behind at certain key points on the adventure. Essentially it is like following a mysterious lover that awaits for you to have the skill to reach them in the end. Overall, the story element felt rather dull, but an interesting way to drop little hints to the secrets in the current course and for what lies ahead.
Gameplay
If you have played any golfing game, then you already know what to expect. You can either hit the ball with a regular hit that lets you adjust how hard and far it will go or you can do a power hit that will send the ball a specific amount of distance. If you are on the putting green, the club option will change to let you hit the ball with a putter. You can’t change clubs manually though, but at least you get a visual line of sight that shows where the ball is headed.
If you simply hold the button to hit the ball, regardless if it is a power shot or a regular one, you will see the aim target sway. To help you aim best, you can hold down a button that acts like a sniper holding their breath and it will let you get a direct hit where you want. However, if you need that little bit more distance to make the shot where you want it to go, you can get just a little bit farther by timing your shot right with the sway.
While you are aiming for the hold at the end of each level, many of these levels hold secrets in them as well. You can guestimate which levels have the secrets in them when you look at the overworld and see what levels aren’t reachable when taking the standard path that unlocks as you complete levels. To find these secrets, you will need to examine the course with the free camera and look for invisible boxes, a moving object (like a tree), or perhaps a portal-looking doorway. Once you find the hidden object that will unlock the secret pathway, it will either go straight to the overworld or you will have to land a specific shot.
In order to progress through the game, you will need to earn a certain amount of stars to proceed. This can be done with great skill on all regular levels, but it is a lot easier when you go through and find a bunch of the secret levels. Plus, when you complete secret levels you also get a second collectible that is used to unlock the challenge levels.
Unlike the short levels throughout the game, challenge levels will really put your skills to the test. There will be multiple courses to complete in a single level and the pathway for these levels is nothing like what you would expect. I found these levels to be the most entertaining part of the game as it really makes you focus and aim as best you can.
Visuals and Audio
Each course has its own aesthetic to it and brought its own life to the game. It is definitely pleasing to go through various levels in so many different zones that range from the standard grass plains to zen gardens to winter wonderlands to deserts and more.
When it comes to the music and sound effects, they are all pretty standard. The music is subtle and fitting to each zone you are in but made to be more of a background music that keeps the game from just being silent.
Replayability
With there being stars earned for skill shots, secret levels to unlock, challenge areas to complete, and collectibles to find, there is plenty of reason to play this game more than once. Even in a standard playthrough, you should expect to play quite a few levels more than once if you hope to unlock any of the secret areas at all.
What Could Be Better
Sometimes the out-of-bounds detector didn’t make much sense. For instance, if there was a rock that was clearly out-of-bounds but I wanted to try and skip my golf ball on it to get it to the other side, the game should allow the ball to finish traveling before calling it out-of-bounds. Instead, the moment the ball touches the rock that is out-of-bounds it stops the ball and calls it out-of-bounds. If the game would just let the ball finish traveling, it likely wouldn’t have been out-of-bounds and would instead have been a trick shot.
The levels themselves all felt really short. While I get that most of them would be short like they are, I would have enjoyed a few longer levels to mix it up a bit. The most entertaining levels were the challenge ones because of how long it took to complete them and how difficult they made them to beat. Just like any other game that features a boss at the end of a chapter, a golf game like this should feature a long level at the end of the course.
Conclusion
A Little Golf Journey is a fun way to experience a unique round of golf! No two courses felt similar and each level even brought its own style into the mix. It’s amazing how creative they managed to make each course feel as they were played through. While there were a couple of bumps in the overall experience, this was definitely an entertaining game that I’m sure to revisit from time to time on my Switch. If you are a fan of putt-putt games and are looking for a new golf-based game to check out, this is the one I would suggest you look into.
