I'm very excited for this game, Eurogamer already has a review up and they're very high on it - http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-09-28-golf-story-review

I'll probably still wait for a couple more impressions or reviews to bubble up before I pull the trigger, but for only $15 I don't want to miss this game.

I'm still so confused about the appeal of this XD but hope the people who are looking forward to it enjoy it!

Yet another extremely compelling reason for me to get a Switch. Man this looks like something I really really want to play.

I've played an hour.

Here are my early thoughts.

This game is incredibly charming & the characters have been pretty great so far. I've laughed, I've golfed, I've done some cruel things to children in order to get results. It's not a bad game of golf to boot.

@yesiamaduck: Thanks for your thoughts! Seems like the writing is good, which is one of the things I was kind of worried about initially.

I've enjoyed the writing, the personalities of the individual characters come across pretty well. They also use HD Rumble and speech bubble animation in a way that makes everything come across extra expressive, this is a nice little touch because there isn't much room for animation given the art style but even with that restriction their personality comes across with the little movements they make and it's just..... all very endearing.

Patrick Klepek published his early impressions of Golf Story: This Indie Switch Game Seems Like the Mario Golf Game We've Always Wanted

It seems to be a very charming spiritual successor to Mario Golf.

Looks great and I really want it but, can we expect a Quick Look from the duders? Wouldn't mind watching a little bit before deciding whether or not to purchase.

Just bought it. If it's half as good as Stardew Valley then I call it a success (not that they are in direct comparison...)

I bought it yesterday, a little 2 hours in. I really dig it. There's a variety of different shot challenges as well as regular golf courses, you can throw a golf ball whenever you want with X, which is a silly and funny thing, and you can tee up from anywhere with Y. The physics seem good, there have been a few times where it seems like once I trigger an event it blacks out the screen to load it or something, which is weird but doesn't detract from the experience at all.

So far, after 2-3 hours I've only unlocked two courses of the advertised 8, and haven't nearly completed all the challenges at the courses. It really seems like a special game and I would wholly recommend it for $15.

I've put about an hour into this game, and it's incredibly charming. The writing and the art are very nice, and the gameplay is surprisingly fun and intuitive. I would love to see the developers of this one make a sequel with online vs play, as well.

This game seems really interesting. Any idea on how lengthy it is? It's a shame that I just don't have the time for another long RPG in my life right now.

I'm guessing around 10-15 hours, but that's a rough estimate. I'm midway through the second course after playing a few hours and completing all the side stuff open in both courses I've been to.

Though if there's one complaint I have so far it's the RPG elements. When you level up you get 5 skill points, but every couple points you put into Power makes the rest of your undefined stats related to accuracy/hitting ability go down, so you pretty much just have to balance across the board to avoid hitting long shots that are incredibly inaccurate. I'm sure it's balanced to force you to do that, but it's kind of frustrating that the primary stat you care about makes the rest of your ill-defined stats go down. Also the equipment I've seen so far also has no stats beyond vague text saying it'll make you do something better, so it's hard to see the impact in spending money. Though they've hinted at skills or equipment that will do more.

But other than that I'm loving the game so far. The primary golf game is fun but they add in fun little mechanics to the courses I've seen. Plus there are sidequests (both centered around golf and completely off the wall) that break up standard play on the courses. You can also just toss out a ball or hit a ball over at anything in the environment, often causing something to happen, so it's fun just to explore around and see what is out there. And it's generally well-written and just the right amount of ridiculous.

That's a direct carry over from the story mode in the Camelot Mario Golf/Tennis games. I haven't played Golf Story, so I don't know how well they implemented it, but the idea in Camelot's games was clearly to prevent you from maxing out all skills and force you to specialize.

@chaser324: I've been keeping well rounded so far, but I don't know if that is a good idea

@matatat: Works a little like that in real life though I guess, e.g. Brandon Hagy stats on the PGA tour 2017:

Only beaten by Dustin Johnson and McIlroy for distance but basically terrible at getting it in the right direction (relatively speaking..)

I think the main problem I have with it is that all of your non-Power skills are already solid at the time you start the game. If you time correctly, aim correctly, and account for wind/terrain you're going to hit the ball precisely where you want to. From the start of the game you can hit perfect short and mid-distance shots right at or in the hole. Even driving is pretty spot on. That's likely to avoid frustration, but it means that the only way you feel like your character can improve is Power. So I just bump Power and then readjust the rest of the skills to keep them where they started. I haven't seen any reason to go for improved accuracy or spin beyond the starting position (though it doesn't help that those skills aren't really well-explained).

So I've already put way more hours into this game than I would have expected (I bought it for an upcoming trip but have probably burned through half of the game already), and it is a great $15 purchase. The golf mechanics are satisfying (if long putts can be a bit hit-or-miss to predict) and it has played around with its core mechanics in some fun ways.

As one goofy example, a certain course asks you to use vintage club sets and you may not immediately notice that while using them the names of the irons change from "3 Iron", "5 Iron", etc. in your swing HUD to "Mashie", "Spade", etc.

There are charming characters, bizarre narrative shifts (fight resurrected skeletons in one scene, complete a tournament while your ex-wife heckles you from the crowd in the next, and play some frisbee golf after that), and some enjoyable pixel art. It seems like the perfect Switch game, suitable for bite-sized chunks or longer play sessions.

Although this game was a great surprise, its small-town pixel-art charm has more than anything made me excited to pick up Stardew Valley for the Switch.

I just got this game this past Friday. Outside of Breath of the Wild this has been my favorite Switch game to play so far. I've completed 5 courses in the game so far so I think I'm a little more than halfway done. The golfing is so much fun and I really appreciate how they make everything feel interesting and fresh by mixing it up with all of the side quests, mini games, and puzzles. The story is hilarious and completely charming. I'll probably finish it this week and will move on to Stardew Valley.