Sports Story xci by Sidebar Games offers more than just sports action; with its combination of dungeon exploration, stealth infiltrations, and fishing expeditions – something unexpected is waiting around every corner.
Although Golf Story 2 provides an enjoyable golfing experience, tedious fetch quests and performance issues mar its overall experience. Still, fans of its predecessor should give it a shot;
Gameplay
Sports Story is the follow-up to Golf Story, one of the Switch’s most endearing and charming titles. Unfortunately, Sports Story fails to live up to expectations set by its predecessor; its unfocused gameplay, tedious fetch quests, and technical issues prevent it from reaching the same levels of success as its predecessor – though still providing an enjoyable gaming experience compared to the original Golf Story.
Sidebar Games has created and published Sports Story XCI as an independent adventure game combining sports with stories. Players will find something new around every corner, such as dungeon exploration, stealthy infiltrations, and fishing expeditions. In addition, you will encounter an entertaining cast of characters to interact with. Finally, Decasportathon allows you to show your coach some love!
Note that while NSTool is an exceptional tool, it should not be used as a replacement for NSP or XCI files; doing so would technically violate Nintendo’s terms of service and should, therefore, be avoided. Thus, for maximum reliability in extracting your XCI files, it is wise to employ a more straightforward method, such as using a batch file or downloading an application such as XCI NSP Extractor that does this work more intuitively. Note, however, that this tool may need some tweaking for optimal use; should any issues arise regarding its usage, please try updating or reaching out to its developer for support.
Story
Sports Story may be enjoyable enough to keep you engrossed for hours, but its predecessor failed to meet expectations. Frustrating glitches, tedious fetch quests, and unfocused gameplay make the experience less than optimal; golf remains its star, though: taking part across eight courses with distance, surface type, and wind direction to find that perfect shot never grows tiresome.
But it’s more than sports: non-sporting pursuits in the game add variety to your journey. Activities like dungeon exploration, stealthy infiltrations, and fishing expeditions ensure something unexpected will wait around every corner. Make friends and enemies along the way on your quest for sporting excellence: enrolling at a renowned tennis academy full-time to study, engaging in minigames to uncover buried treasure, and meeting Queen Aisha herself are just a few options available to you!
Characters
After showing his skills as a golfer in our previous game, our protagonist and his coach are back for an even more thrilling sporting adventure. Now under the control of PureStrike – an athletic megacorp selling sporting supplies for virtually all sports and recently starting to buy up golf courses – are they facing even more challenging obstacles when trying out for another tournament?
Sports Story from developer Sidebar Games provides an intriguing twist on the RPG genre with its pixelated aesthetic and focus on character development, but unfortunately, its reliance on fetch quests and technical issues rob it of much of its charm and joyous play experience found in Golf Story.
To relieve some of this monotony, the sequel attempts to diversify gameplay by offering new sports such as volleyball, tennis, bike riding, and fishing. Unfortunately, however, most of these activities don’t provide quite as much enjoyment as golfing, often feeling more like time-wasting activities than anything else when required to run around an environment and collect blue flags within a set period.
Even more engaging sports, such as volleyball and tennis, lack enough nimbleness or positioning to provide players with adequate rewards for their efforts. Golfing stands out, though; its easy learning curve yet fascinating three-click system lets players line up shots, adjust power settings, and plan an approach path accordingly.
Challenges
Golf Story II lacks the charm that was apparent in 2017’s Golf Story and feels overstuffed, which makes for an uncomfortable gaming experience. Scope creep and rush job issues lead to gameplay that feels disjointed, confusing, and unfocused despite sporting successes (though tennis could use some extra work regarding aiming), soccer, cricket, dirt biking, and some surprise stealth content from its predecessor – something deplorable but perhaps not unexpected.
