Soccer Story

Sports Story is a great idea that struggles to reach its full potential. While the soccer-focused tasks use the theme in fun and innovative ways, too many missions include menial tasks. On the pitch, the gameplay is basic and due to this, it doesn’t manage to string enough elements together to deliver a clinical finish.

Once the performance issues are addressed and some tweaks are made to the actual soccer during matches, Soccer Story will be an easy recommendation on Nintendo Switch. If you’d rather not wait, you are better off playing it on Steam Deck right now. Having tested it on Switch, Steam Deck, and Xbox Series X over the last few weeks, the Switch version definitely needs more optimization. Right now, I enjoy the open world and exploration aspects of the game a lot more than the actual soccer. There is a lot of potential here, but Soccer Story is a few updates away from being a great experience.

I really wanted to like Soccer Story more than I did by the end. Its quirky, soccer-filled dialogue and setting is really charming, and I had a blast kicking my soccer ball everywhere to uncover secrets. However, in trying to craft a puzzle-RPG and soccer game hybrid, Soccer Story doesn’t really succeed in either side of that equation. Zelda fans will probably be turned off by the reliance on fetch quests and simplistic puzzles. Soccer Story’s lack of intricate team management or diverse match types probably won’t appeal much to soccer game aficionados either. Soccer Story is a decent enough experience, however it is held back by the lack of a strong gameplay foundation and annoying technical issues, which may at least be ironed out in the future.

What you’re left with is a sports RPG in which neither the sport half of the equation nor the RPG are all that enjoyable. Soccer Story could’ve been a lot of fun, as other games like Golf Story and Sports Story (both from an entirely different developer, I’ll note) have demonstrated. Instead, it just leaves a lot to be desired.

Soccer Story puts the player on an RPG with the purpose of bringing football back. Yet and despite its open world and some engaging puzzles, the least fun part of this game is the sport itself, as the sections where the player will take part in actual football are the least appealing, mostly due to its excessively simplistic gameplay and poor AI. This is a pity, as some elements in Soccer Story are worth looking at, even though its missions are rather mundane and the plot is too simplistic.

Soccer Story is by no means a perfect game, especially where there are bugs and glitches that require a hard reset and cause a loss of progression, but it does manage to deliver an entertaining time on occasion, even if it doesn’t necessarily have to do with the ball on the pitch. It might not be a great recommendation for those that are looking for more soccer action, but as a narrative-driven roleplaying title that just so happens to involve soccer, Soccer Story remains something worth checking out if you temper your expectations.

Soccer Story is a valiant attempt at a Sports RPG, but it falls victim to a repetitive story and quest structure. Its light narrative quickly falls to the side, with annoying bugs taking its place. Perhaps a player can find value in the endless amount of running and collectible items to be found but, for the most part, its lively world and polished soccer ball physics aren’t enough to make this an enjoyable experience.