14 DAY TRIAL // 
I pick up the ball in defense, after a solid sliding tackle that makes my adversary dizzy for a few seconds. I launch it up the pitch, aiming for my second fast player, who uses a burst of speed to move past his defender, before launching a thunderous strike toward the other team’s goal.
Their goalkeeper does very well to push it away and the ninja’s defender is faster than me to the rebound. So I take my avatar, move back, track their player, and slide again. Unfortunately, he lets off a pass and puts one of their strikers in a good position. Thankfully, my own keeper is up to the challenge.
He not only parries the strike but also gathers up the ball. Quick distribution gets it to one of my defenders, who plays a quick pass up the field. The burst of speed again serves me well and a quick one-two puts me in a good position. I finesse my shot this time to make sure it's a goal.
Soccer Story is developed by PanicBarn, with publishing from No More Robots. I played using Steam on the PC and players can also pick it up on the Nintendo Switch, the Xbox One, and the PlayStation 4. The title offers a pretty classic adventure role-playing experience, with a focus on ball use and matches.
The narrative starts with an event known as The Calamity, which allows Soccer Inc. (check out the name of their leader) to put harsh restrictions on the sport. The player avatar comes into the possession of a magic football and sets out on a quest to recruit others to his cause and save his beloved sport from the domination of commercial interests.
Soccer Story extracts plenty of fun from its premise and has a pretty big cast of characters, most of them defined by the quests they offer. The writing is mostly good, at its best when it emphasizes how much the Beautiful Game can mean to normal pixelated people. It also insists on highlighting the weirdness of “football” versus “soccer”, again in a funny way.
To actually save soccer, players will have to explore a sports-based world and actually play five-a-side matches. It all starts easy enough: assemble a team, find a spirit animal for a goalkeeper, then trash a team of toddlers. The game then adds complexity, both when it comes to the actual soccer matches and the quests that the protagonist has to engage with.
It takes a little while before an actual game that place. Exploration is important in Soccer Story and the world is filled with small activities that involve kicking a ball. There are targets spread around each area, with a character willing to reward the player for hitting them all. Locations also feature ghost targets, harder to detect and destroy.
Side activities also include targeting drones with the football, as well as nets to finish in, performing increasingly complex moves, and other area-specific quests that involve a ball or a tackle. Gamers should also be on the lookout for opportunities to get extra coins. These, alongside the rewards from the quests, can be converted into medals, which in turn boost a team’s capabilities by upgrading each player in four categories.
Once an opposing team shows up, it’s time for on-the-pitch action. There are four outfield players and one keeper playing for each side and their effectiveness is driven by stats. The stadiums are pretty small and there are no outs or corner kicks. This makes the title’s version of soccer fast and favors attacking moves more than the defensive.
The matches in Soccer Story are pretty hard on standard difficulty. Every pass matters, especially if it bypasses at least two players. Slide tackles are great because they cause dizziness, making it easier to turn defense into attack. Boost speed at the right time and an entire defensive line will collapse.
Sprinting past one player before launching a one-two is a little overpowered. Goalkeepers can make impressive saves but are also often tricked by low shots to the corner. They also completely dominate the semicircle in front of goal, making it hard to get to rebounds. The computer is good at launching counterattacks. There’s no shame in dropping the difficulty down to Easy.
For people who want to practice their soccer skills, the game offers a Quick Match option. You can choose from a range of stadiums and teams before getting into the action. The CPU can be ruthless but there’s also an option for up to four players to engage in local multiplayer.
Soccer Story creates a good mix of adventure-role playing and football. Some of the side activities are more inspired than others, and the rewards sometimes aren’t worth the time investment. But the core loop, of finding new teams to test your improving skills against, is solid. Just make sure that you’re not expecting a deep and realistic simulation of the sport.
Soccer Story’s entire set of ideas works well with a retro and pixel-driven look. Characters have just enough detail to be easy to recognize, on and off the pitch. The world is filled with color and small graphical details that reveal secrets and allow players to get more coins and more upgrades. The game could use a little more detail in the team and character screen. There’s no voice work featured but the soundtrack is decent, although it needs a few tracks and at least one high-tempo one for the matches.
The Good
- Adventure-filled world
- Quick, challenging matches
- Attention to detail
The Bad
- Characters lack personality
- Too many side activities
- Not an actual simulation
Conclusion
This football-powered universe might not make a ton of sense but it is interesting to explore. It would work better with a smaller number of side activities. Soccer Story offers an exotic approach to the sport and builds a ton of fun mechanics around the simple act of kicking a ball at a target.
A review code was provided by the publisher.
