Soccer Story Reviews
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.
Despite some good ideas, Soccer Story fails to deliver in some of its design choices, feeling like a first but deeply improvable step.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Soccer Story is an unusual football-based RPG. With zany characters and colourful backdrops, this is a strange game to play. However, its reliance on simple quests and too much back and forth undermine its potential.
While Soccer Story is a tale about the beautiful game, the soccer matches take a backseat to story and exploration. The adventure and role-playing aspect is a lot of fun, especially with soccer so integrated into the world, but the weak soccer matches keep it from truly being a great sports role-playing game. Buoyed by its charming and humorous premise, Soccer Story provides a satisfying adventure and a different type of soccer game, but one that doesn’t quite score a hat-trick.
When the soccer (I’ll begrudgingly use the word for this analogy) is the worst part of a game called Soccer Story you’d be forgiven for thinking it would be a miss. Not so. A interesting cast of characters, plenty of fun tasks, a beautiful art style and more come together to make this a blast to play.
With a little more care, Soccer Story could fight among the big teams and stand out among the other games; however, it is just a supporting player among the rest.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
I give the developers a ton of credit for creating an RPG with unique mechanics and story that is every bit cliche as it is great.
Soccer Story joins the roster of sports-themed RPGs, and this one will put players on a quest to save football from a tyrant corporation, which may or may not be based on a real world organization. With that said, the game's puzzles are fun and the open world is nicely presented, but the game's biggest flaw concerns its main point of focus: playing football, which feels too simplistic and features opponents that are too erratic. Soccer Story could be a much more unique game in its kind but the lack of attention dedicated to the sport that inspired it leads to an experience that won't captivate fans.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Some of the puzzles and challenges are good fun and satisfying to complete, but there are also many that are made more frustrating than they need to be. With a flawed match system that becomes trivial once its workings have been figured out and technical issues that stack up as the game progresses, it’s incredibly tough to recommend.
There are too many technical and gameplay hurdles for such a simple game.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Soccer Story has an idea worth fleshing out but is let down by appalling stability. The gameplay loop has fun moments, but unintuitive buttons fight against that, keeping it from excelling. The football notion has me smitten, and I felt nostalgic for my childhood due to a specific quest with goal lines constructed by adjacent objects. The caveat here is that it desperately needs tweaks and reworked controls.
Soccer Story delivers a colourful, charming take on the 'sports adventure', bursting at the seams with earnest effort and care from the development team. It's a fun experience, though it doesn't reach the heights of the genre's most famous release. Bugs and hitches pop up occasionally too, but if you're seeking some light entertainment and happen to love football, its cute visuals and charming world make it worth consideration.
Who knew that sports RPGs could consistently be so engaging, approachable, and charming?!?
But ultimately, this game misses the target. If you’re itching for some footie amid the World Cup, and you absolutely can’t stand sims like FIFA 23, we suppose you might eke some mileage out of it. Otherwise, leave this one on the bench where it belongs.
The idea of Soccer Story is good on paper, but as the saying goes, the best teams don't play on paper. A cutesy, goofy facade can't mask the messy, frustrating game underneath.
Soccer Story is an adventure capable of entertaining those who love football thanks to many fun challenges, a light atmosphere and the constant promise of new things to come. Some technical problems, easily circumvented AI and an RPG soul only hinted are its limits, but it remains a love letter to football for football lovers.
Review in Italian | Read full review
A bold, brave and interesting attempt to translate the football mechanics in an old school action JRPG. The result is a fascinating, colourful and bizarre mix between Soccer Kid and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past which works in a sweet way until you have to play actual 5-a-side football: on the pitch Soccer Story fails to bring in actual drama and challenge, lowering the fun, the scope and the ambitions of the game.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Soccer Story is rather simple in terms of gameplay, but it does carry an interesting novelty thanks to its soccer gimmick. It also features a cute plot with quirky characters that harken back to the classic top-down RPGs of the SNES era. Fans of these old titles and retro sports games alike could get some enjoyment out of Soccer Story’s genre-blending premise, and it isn’t too difficult for younger players to pick up.
Soccer Story has some fun and varied gameplay to keep you occupied between binge-watching the World Cup. This title does follow along with Golf Story’s DNA, albeit it does just enough to keep the festivities distinct and fresh as the football-themed campaign progresses. Even though it can get annoying having to constantly scavenger hunt and backtrack for things in large areas, hence the lack of a fast-travel option is severely frustrating.
Soccer is banned and it’s up to you to bring it back in this cute quest-driven soccer RPG.