cosy gaming – Trekking with Dennis

inKonbini: One Store, Many Stories – Video Game Review

The first part of this review is free from story spoilers for inKonbini: One Store, Many Stories. The end of the spoiler-free section is clearly marked.

Have you ever played a game that you didn’t want to complete, not because you didn’t like it… but because you were enjoying it so much? That was my experience with inKonbini: One Store, Many Stories. The gameplay was so relaxing that it was almost soothing, the story was low-stakes but still relatable, there were some fun characters to meet and engage with, the setting and music were beautiful, and – to coin a phrase – the vibes were just immaculate.

This is, for me, a “Game of the Year” contender, without a doubt.

I was a huge fan of Shenmue and Shenmue II back in the Dreamcast days (click or tap here for more on that, if you’re interested!) and I find it really sweet that games like inKonbini are still drawing inspiration from that genre-redefining saga all these years later. Even the name of inKonbini’s development studio – Nagai Industries – is a reference to the similarly-named organisation in the first Shenmue, and Shenmue’s creator, Yu Suzuki, is thanked in the end credits.

Promo screenshot for inKonbini showing the checkout — Checking out a customer’s items.

However, there is a little bit of a controversy surrounding inKonbini – and it’s one I didn’t notice at first. Long story short, if you don’t speak/read Japanese, you probably didn’t notice that many of the in-game items and products use characters *inspired by* Japanese hiragana, katakana, and kanji… but which aren’t *real* Japanese text. As someone who doesn’t know Japanese, I didn’t notice this at first, but when it was pointed out by someone elsewhere online… I found that I couldn’t *not* notice it, if that makes sense.

And… well, I don’t know why this happened. Perhaps it’s simply the case that the developers – who seem to be based in Japan, but none of whom have Japanese names – may not be fluent Japanese speakers? Or maybe visual artists hired to work on the game (Nagai Industries seems to employ several remote workers) weren’t familiar with the Japanese language well enough to use it convincingly, so the decision was taken to use “fake Japanese characters” that look good enough to a casual western eye? The developers have sworn, on the record, that no generative A.I. was used in the making of inKonbini… which isn’t something I’m personally bothered about either way, but I know that matters a lot to some folks.

Promo screenshot for inKonbini showing a product — Much of the in-game text on items like this is “pseudo-Japanese,” not real Japanese.

However… it strikes me as odd, at the very least, that a game explicitly set in Japan, with Japanese people who have Japanese names, would have all of these art assets, products, in-game images, and more… that all use fake, nonsense characters that might look superficially “Japanese” to a non-speaker, but aren’t.

I don’t know if that kind of thing matters to you, but for me… I think there’s something to be said for authenticity. And as I said a moment ago, I don’t really know *why* a developer would choose to do something like this when the products in the shop are such a large part of the game. You can make the case for artists choosing a deliberate style, or that these designs evoke a kind of ’90s Japanese aesthetic without needing to be actual, intelligible Japanese. And that’s fine, it’s fair enough. But it is, if nothing else, strange to me that a game so heavily influenced by Japan, developed by at least some folks who live and work in Japan, wouldn’t use real Japanese text for its in-game images and models. Nagai Industries hasn’t explained this, as far as I can find out – all they’ve done is deny that they used A.I. tools to generate any of the imagery used in-game.

Alright, we’ll set that aside for now. I think it’s more of a mystery than anything outright negative, and unless you’re fluent in Japanese, chances are it isn’t something you’d notice on a standard playthrough. But I think it’s worth being aware of, at any rate.

Promo screenshot for inKonbini showing Makoto — Makoto, the game’s protagonist.

inKonbini is a slow-paced game without massive, earth-shattering stakes. There are no boss battles – actually, there’s no combat of any kind – and you’ll spend your time in-game performing a variety of small tasks around a Japanese convenience store and interacting with the customers. However, inKonbini is not open-ended; there’s a distinct story that you’ll follow over the course of five in-game shifts. The tasks are different on each shift, as are the customers you’ll encounter, and I found there was a really cozy, relaxed vibe to the game – or at least there was about 95% of the time!

My playthrough took about six hours, which I spread out over several sessions because I really didn’t want to rush it! For that length, I felt inKonbini was more than fair with its price point, and I certainly got plenty of enjoyment out of the game the whole way through. Some moments, as we’ll get into if you stick with me to the spoiler-filled section below, were genuinely emotional, and the game’s characters almost all have a philosophical side that’s designed to make you think.

Promo screenshot for inKonbini showing bottles of cola — Bottles in a refrigerator.

I can be quite forgiving when it comes to minor issues and bugs in indie games; I want to see them succeed! But I’m pleased to report that inKonbini ran well on my self-built PC, and didn’t have any noticeable graphical or gameplay issues at all. I even got the game running in native 4K – which my PC can struggle with, sometimes, in other titles – without any problems whatsoever. It’s a smaller game, sure, and it isn’t one that’s designed to punish high-end hardware with hyper-realistic graphics! But a game that runs well is not a guarantee in 2026, so I think it’s worth celebrating that inKonbini’s performance was great from the start.

Although I really adored my time with inKonbini, it’s a game I’m reluctant to recommend to a general audience; I think you have to be specifically interested in slower-paced, casual, narrative adventures that verge on “walking simulator” types of games. If you want to have a surprisingly philosophical chat with some of the store’s customers, and if arranging digital products on virtual shelves sounds like fun, or if you like atmospheric, cozy games? inKonbini is an easy recommendation. However, if you’re an online multiplayer gamer, a souls-like “git gud” type of player, or you just need something a bit faster-paced, perhaps it won’t be right for you.

A recommendation, then – but for a specific type of player! If you stick with me to the next part of the review, we’ll get into a couple of the characters and story beats in a bit more depth.

This is the end of the spoiler-free portion of the review. There are spoilers for inKonbini: One Store, Many Stories from here on out.

My first job – when I was younger than inKonbini’s protagonist, Makoto – was in a small shop. And I worked in several others after that, too. It surprised me just how familiar that side of inKonbini felt to me, even some twenty-plus years after I last set foot in a place like that as an employee! In those days, most things were still pen-and-paper, at least here in the UK, and I have vivid recollections of things like filling out inventory sheets, stamping and signing delivery invoices, and manually walking the aisles to check if a product was in stock, in the right place, and so on. I hadn’t thought about those jobs or those memories in *decades*, but inKonbini brought them back!

This is the second game I’ve played in the last few months with a ’90s setting… and it’s the second time I’ve been hit with that bittersweet wave of nostalgia. The first was Mixtape – another excellent title which, if you enjoyed inKonbini, you may also like – so I guess the second half of 2026 has been a bit of a nostalgia kick for this old gamer, eh? Between those memories of working those jobs and all of the imagery and subtle nods to Shenmue, inKonbini turned out to be a surprisingly emotional experience… and that’s before we even get into the characters and story.

Screenshot from inKonbini: One Store, Many Stories showing Matoko on the phone — Talking on the phone.

Those retail jobs I had… they were never much fun. I actually got harassed coming home on the train one evening, as a drunk man smashed a train window and then got in my face as I was just trying to make my way home from the station! What I’m saying is… working those kinds of jobs is rarely the fun, laid-back, cozy experience that inKonbini offers. But I think that’s part of why the game is so enjoyable – it’s almost cathartic, all these years later, to see a fictionalised take on that kind of role that feels real enough to be believable… but without any of the drawbacks, like boredom and rude customers!

Even inconveniences that Makoto experiences – like a leaky roof, a missing product, or a broken appliance – become fun little distractions or mini-games to take part in. And when a customer is looking for help, choosing the right product at the right moment for them turned out to be a lot of fun. I actually found myself getting a little bit anxious, a couple of times – like I used to do when I worked those jobs, only to a much lesser extent! – as Makoto raced to find a missing item, set up a display, or get the shop ready in time for the evening’s first arrival.

Screenshot from inKonbini: One Store, Many Stories showing Matoko holding a box — Makoto is hard at work!

The decision to set the game entirely on the night shift works in inKonbini’s favour, and goes a long way to making it feel cozy and atmospheric. There’s a peacefulness to those overnight hours; genuine quiet while much of the world sleeps. I’m a bit of a night owl myself, and I used to enjoy doing things like overnight shopping (back in the pre-Covid days when supermarkets would be open 24 hours) just for the peace and quiet! A sleeping town (or rural area) has a totally different feel than it does in the daytime hours, and inKonbini perfectly captures that.

Again, that’s part of the whole “cozy” vibe that the game has going for it; Makoto is part of a bigger world that exists just outside the shop’s door, but that world is sound asleep, save for a few people here and there. I’m sure most of us have pulled an all-nighter at some point – I’d challenge you to play inKonbini and not feel at least *some* of that reflected in the game’s world.

Screenshot from inKonbini: One Store, Many Stories showing Makoto wearing a hat — Working the night shift feels surprisingly cozy.

Lots of different games can be cozy or comforting – and what’s cozy to one player may not be to another. Speaking for myself, this kind of gameplay – which I guess you could describe as being kind of “job simulator-adjacent” in some respects – really nails that calming, cozy feel. Again, to use a Shenmue analogy: this is akin to the forklift-driving part of the game. Some people might find putting items on shelves or organising a shop display dull or repetitive, which are criticisms some players *definitely* had of those parts of Shenmue! But if it’s your kinda thing… I think you’ll enjoy this aspect of inKonbini just as much as I did.

On that note, gameplay and setting come together really well, each bringing a piece of that coziness to the table. The setting and the atmosphere it creates – both inside the store and, by implication and inference, the world outside its walls – form the perfect backdrop for this kind of slower-paced gameplay, moving items around, setting up little displays, running through a checklist, and so on. The gameplay and setting compliment one another really well, and it takes a combination of both to really get to that cozy feeling that inKonbini gave me.

Screenshot from inKonbini: One Store, Many Stories showing a croissant — Restocking a shelf.

Some folks might want to see an open-ended game like this; for inKonbini to be the kind of game you can just play for a long time, with shift after shift of stacking shelves and checking out customers. But for me, I think that would misunderstand the kind of story that inKonbini aims to tell – not to mention make the few shifts you get to experience feel less important and special. While, in pure gameplay terms, I could see why some folks might want to take inKonbini and open it up… I think I like the game the way it is.

Makoto’s story is one that I think a lot of folks can relate to. Coming back to one’s home town – while in the middle of that first great adventure younger people look for after moving out – can be a bit anticlimactic. But the game wants to point out the value in hometowns, small communities, and the connections made between people. The four characters Makoto meets on the night shift all embody different parts of this in different ways – and all of them manage to feel like fun, well-rounded characters in their own rights, too.

Screenshot from inKonbini: One Store, Many Stories showing Makoto — Makoto, the player character.

Parts of inKonbini could feel a little high-minded, a little philosophical. And that could come at the expense of the kind of gritty “realism” that audiences today might look for. Some characters come out with quite abstract philosophical takes on everything from writing and business to the literal meaning of life… and if you’re just not in the right headspace for that, or you prefer your in-game dialogue a bit less floaty and more grounded, I could see that being a point of criticism. But, again, speaking for myself… I enjoyed my time with these characters, and I liked how each of them had something to say that wasn’t just gossip or small talk.

Each character also feels completely distinct. Satoshi has his burgeoning delivery business, Naomi shows up from the city looking to write an article, Chief is a local institution who’s fallen out with Makoto’s aunt, and the “Mysterious Man” has his backstory unfold in a really fun, unexpected, and occasionally weird way! Makoto keeps it all together, feeling like the most realistic and grounded of the core characters, and her phone calls to her aunt (and to a few others) give her something to do even when there aren’t any customers to serve.

Screenshot from inKonbini: One Store, Many Stories showing the characters — Makoto with all of her customers.

Perhaps it’s the Shenmue fan in me, or perhaps inKonbini just plucked the right combination of nostalgic and philosophical chords… but I really, thoroughly enjoyed my time with the game. I genuinely did not want to see the credits roll… because that would mean it was over.

However, there’s some replayability in inKonbini, despite the game having an otherwise linear story. There are some achievements I didn’t unlock the first time around that I’ll definitely go back and try to get, a few optional little quests or stories off to the side that I missed or didn’t see through to the end, and plenty of capsule toys that I didn’t find. So my adventure at the Honki Ponki konbini isn’t over yet! And I find that thought to be quite comforting.

I hope my thoughts on the game have been interesting. And I hope I was able to properly convey just how enjoyable an experience this was. 2026 has been a pretty good year for video games, all things considered, and inKonbini is, without a doubt, one of my favourite experiences of the year.

Screenshot from inKonbini: One Store, Many Stories showing the store in the intro — The convenience store.

If you missed them earlier in the year, I’d like to direct you to my reviews of Forever Ago and Mixtape – two comparable titles that, if inKonbini was your thing, you might also enjoy. And given that we’ve talked so much about Shenmue, please consider taking a look at my twenty-fifth-anniversary celebration pieces for both Shenmue and Shenmue II.

And I have a couple of other games on my list for 2026 that I *hope* to get to before the end of the year, so stay tuned for those!

Thanks again for checking out my review of inKonbini. This was a game that had been on my radar for a little while, and I’m so glad that I finally had the chance to try it for myself. It’s one of those games that I just… got lost in, and I didn’t want to reach the end. I had a blast with Makoto and her new friends, and I’m sure it won’t be long before I head back to the konbini for another night shift.

inKonbini: One Store, Many Stories is out now for Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox One and Xbox Series consoles. inKonbini: One Store, Many Stories is the copyright of Nagai Industries and/or Beep Japan, Serenity Forge, and Smilegate. This review contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Let’s Play… Golf?

Fri 07.06.24Dennis

In 1997 or 1998, I had a lot of fun playing Actua Golf 2 on my PC. I didn’t have a lot of PC games at the time – my platform of choice in the second half of the ’90s was a Nintendo 64 – but Actua Golf 2 was a game that ran well on a fairly limited computer that was supposed to be used primarily for school work! It’s strange that I would’ve been interested in a game like that, but having played a demo version and with the game not being particularly expensive, I didn’t mind splashing out.

I found Actua Golf 2 to be a fun and surprisingly challenging title. It was more strategic than most sports games and less about hitting fast button combos, and I found that lining up my shots, choosing which club to use, and so on was a blast – certainly way more entertaining than I would’ve expected. There was a thrill to hitting the ball just right after making all of the right choices, and landing it within touching distance of the hole.

Screenshot of Actua Golf 2 (1997). — *Actua Golf 2* was released for PC and PlayStation in 1997.

When the Nintendo Wii came along in 2006, I was on a long waiting list for a console. Even in those days, manufacturers couldn’t keep up with demand! The Wii launched with Wii Sports bundled alongside, and one of the events included was golf. Tennis and bowling were fun too, don’t get me wrong – and maybe one day we’ll have to take a longer look at Wii Sports! But for now, suffice to say that I had a blast playing golf with my little Wiimote, and of the games included in the package, it was by far the most fun to play on my own. Tennis, bowling, and boxing were definitely games that benefited from having a second player!

Wii Sports was obviously a very different kind of experience from Actua Golf 2, with a much more arcadey, casual feel. Using the Wii’s motion controls felt gimmicky at first, I must admit, but even though due to my declining health I could only play while seated, I still had fun with it. Nintendo really nailed the whole “casual game” concept with the Wii, and the nature of golf makes it a great sport to use for a gentler, less intense experience. It still took full advantage of the Wii’s motion control system, but in a completely different way from the tennis or boxing games.

Promo screenshot of Wii Sports (2006). — *Wii Sports* was a ton of fun!

I’ve never been a particularly sporty person in real life. Even as a kid, when I wasn’t bedevilled by health issues and disability, playing sports wasn’t something that held a great deal of appeal. I played rugby at school – but only when forced to in PE lessons – and as a kid, football was regularly played at one of the clubs I attended. But the rest of the time, I’d have my nose in a book or I’d be doing other things. One kid I knew at school had a dad who played golf regularly, but I never went to the course with them. The closest I’ve ever gotten to playing a real round was when I went to the mini-golf course!

All of this is to say that I have a weird history with golf and golf games! It’s not a sport I care about in the slightest, and if you asked me to explain what the difference is between a wedge and an iron, or who the current champions are on the world tour, I wouldn’t have the faintest idea. But as a casual gamer, and as someone who enjoys slower-paced, “cosy” gaming experiences, I find golf games fit the bill. And that’s how I came to spend much of the first half of 2024 playing EA Sports PGA Tour on my PC.

Screenshot of EA Sports PGA Tour (2023) showing a close-up of the player character. — It’s true… I’m a golfer.

I’ve been a subscriber to Microsoft’s PC Game Pass service for a couple of years now, and having that subscription has felt like a pretty good deal most of the time. I got to play games I never would’ve purchased for myself – especially at full-price – thanks to Game Pass, and I’ve even tried out titles that wouldn’t have even been on my radar. Not all of them have been “my thing,” and there have been some disappointments with Game Pass along the way, too. But by and large, I’m someone who’ll speak positively about Game Pass. In my opinion, it’s a great way for players on a budget to get into current-gen gaming.

But I think we’re slightly off-topic!

Microsoft has a deal with Electronic Arts that has brought more than eighty EA games to Game Pass. I don’t think Game Pass gets the most up-to-date versions of all of EA’s sports games – the likes of EA Sports FC and the Madden American football titles don’t seem to join the service on release day. Don’t quote me on that, but I think that’s how it works. Anyway, one of the EA sports games that has recently joined the Game Pass lineup has been the aforementioned EA Sports PGA Tour. And although it had been a while since I last played much simulated golf, I thought I’d give it a whirl.

Microsoft and Electronic Arts have a deal that’s brought a number of EA Sports titles (and other EA games) to Game Pass.

I don’t play a lot of sports games or even really games published by Electronic Arts. And it’s definitely worth taking a detour to talk about just how over-monetised EA’s sports franchises have become. FIFA – or EA Sports FC as it’s now known – has become notorious for its random in-game gambling, and for selling expensive items and in-game “points,” but I confess that I was surprised to see how corrupt PGA Tour is in that regard, too. I’m not an online gamer, but even in PGA Tour’s offline mode, spending in-game currency is required to get all but the most basic golf clubs and outfits for the player character, and there are plenty of “XP boosters” and other single-use items to briefly improve your stats.

An article or essay on the shocking state of microtransactions is long overdue here on the website. But for now, suffice to say that I find these things offensive. A simple piece of clothing like a hat or a pair of shoes, or basic cosmetic equipment like different ball colours or club designs – none of which have any impact on gameplay – are not things that should be locked behind a paywall. In-game currency is “earned” at an impossibly slow rate when playing in single-player mode, and PGA Tour also employs a storefront that only carries a handful of items at a time – presumably to heighten the need for players to pay extra for in-game currency for fear of missing out. These psychological tricks are manipulative and obscene, yet they’ve become so common in modern titles that I doubt any player would even bat an eye at the state of a game like PGA Tour any more.

Screenshot of EA Sports PGA Tour (2023) showing the in-game storefront. — Part of the in-game microtransaction shop.

I enjoy a game with good customisation options, and a title like PGA Tour – where you see your character all the time from a third-person perspective – should be one where changing outfits and trying on different shirts, hats, and golf club designs simply adds to the fun. EA has chosen to monetise this as much as possible, providing a meagre selection of basic cosmetics at the start of the game and effectively locking the rest behind an expensive paywall. I get it: this isn’t The Sims or a role-playing game where outfits and costumes are a huge part of gameplay. But the fact that these basic items are unavailable except to players who are either willing to grind through a bunch of deliberately awkward challenges or pay up… it makes me angry, to be honest. And as we’re going to talk about, that’s not what I come to a golf game for!

When the Star Wars Battlefront II debacle exploded a few years ago, I really thought that the industry might be about to turn the page on microtransactions and randomised lootboxes. The backlash to that game was so intense that even governments started getting involved, and it seemed for a brief moment as if genuine change was a possibility. Slowly, though, the greedy corporations at the top of the industry have kept pushing, and microtransactions in games today are at least as bad – and in some cases, are much worse – than they ever were in Battlefront II. For me, PGA Tour is a disappointing example of this – but I’m sure you can think of a great many others.

Screenshot of EA Sports PGA Tour (2023) showing a golf ball making its way to the hole. — A golf ball in flight.

However, when I step away from the microtransaction marketplace… I gotta admit that I’m having a lot of fun playing EA Sports PGA Tour. There are some things about the game that I don’t like, sure, but by and large it’s recapturing that feeling that I used to get from Actua Golf 2 almost thirty years ago. It’s gentle, more often than not relaxing, but still a game that poses a challenge and that requires some thinking. Button-mashing won’t get you very far – and that’s something I appreciate!

I’ve mentioned this before here on the website, but I suffer from arthritis that affects my hands and fingers. My dominant hand has been made worse this past year after I suffered several broken bones in a fall, and I find that my ability to make frame-perfect button presses or complicated multi-button combos is greatly diminished. I was never the world’s best gamer by any stretch, but my abilities continue to decline thanks to health-related issues. Faster-paced titles like fighting games or first-person shooters are increasingly difficult!

Screenshot of EA Sports PGA Tour (2023) showing a golfer swinging their club. — Swinging the golf club.

One thing I’ve enjoyed about playing PGA Tour is how few buttons I need to press and how I don’t have to continuously grip the control pad. The default control scheme when using a control pad involves pulling back and flicking one of the analogue sticks to swing the club and strike the ball, and I actually really like this method. It feels interactive; like a half-step (or a quarter-step, I guess) between the simple button presses or mouse clicks of older golf games and the full motion controls of the Wii. And most importantly from a selfish point of view: it’s something I can do without pain!

That’s not to say I’m especially good at it; my timing can still absolutely suck! But controlling a golf game this way feels surprisingly intuitive. I know I’m probably a decade late (or more) with this compliment, but I really enjoy what this control scheme has done for what was already a fun experience. After lining up my shot, I like that I can set the controller down and really focus on getting my “swing” just right!

Screenshot of EA Sports PGA Tour (2023) showing a golfer putting. — Putting the ball.

There are a good number of golf courses in PGA Tour, and these range in terms of difficulty. I think there’s perhaps an overabundance of courses in the United States, and this comes at the expense of other parts of the world. There are no courses at all from Asia, Africa, or South/Central America, for instance, and only one each from France, Italy, New Zealand, Canada, and the Dominican Republic. If PGA Tour is still being supported and updated, adding a handful of new courses from different parts of the world would be a nice touch.

There is diversity of environments in the courses on offer, though, with courses built in desert locales, mountains, and on coastlines all being present. And all of them are rendered beautifully.

Screenshot of EA Sports PGA Tour (2023) showing a flyover of St. Andrews. — St. Andrews: the home of golf!

PGA Tour is nothing special when it comes to the way human characters look, and facial expressions in particular can be pretty lacklustre. Nothing about the way people look feels current-gen, and some of the crowds can actually feel quite outdated in terms of both appearance and their simplified, copy-and-pasted animations. Player characters look a bit better, but still unspectacular. Compared with what we know is possible on current-gen hardware, there’s a lot of work to do for the next iteration of this series!

But the courses themselves are something else. They look outstanding, with grass, trees, plants, and even water being beautifully recreated. Running on my PC, with an RTX 3070 Ti graphics card, these courses have all looked absolutely fantastic, and sometimes it’s been fun to just watch the flyover of each hole and take in the setting. I’m never gonna get invited to any of these fancy places, so seeing them digitally recreated is the closest I can hope to get! Thankfully, PGA Tour does a good job.

Screenshot of EA Sports PGA Tour (2023) showing a flyover of TCP Scottsdale. — There are some beautiful courses in *PGA Tour*.

I think the beautiful and realistic courses are another reason why playing PGA Tour has been so relaxing for me over these recent months. Getting lost in a digital setting isn’t always an easy feeling for any game to conjure up, so when a title can bring its environments to life like this… it really is a thing to see. I don’t think we’re at quite the same level of graphical beauty as a title like Kena: Bridge of Spirits or Red Dead Redemption II managed… but it’s not a million miles away.

As with many other sports games, PGA Tour features commentary from real commentators. I confess that I had no idea who any of them were before playing the game, but I daresay folks who regularly watch golf events on television will, and the inclusion of familiar voices in the commentary box will be another fun addition. One thing I’ve enjoyed about the commentary in PGA Tour is how the commentators will share their knowledge of not only each course, but most of the individual holes as well; rather than just commenting on events as they unfold, that little bit of extra information at the beginning is neat.

Screenshot of EA Sports PGA Tour (2023) showing a golfer teeing off. — It can be worth listening to what the commentators have to say at the beginning of each hole.

There are places where the commentary is limited, of course – as you’d expect from any sports game, really! I find that I hear a few lines repeated quite often, and in some situations the game only has a single line from the commentators, so there isn’t always a lot of variety. If, like me, you regularly miss your longer putts and end up having to take an extra shot, well… be prepared to hear the commentators take note of that. Over and over again!

Jokes aside, I’ve been having a fun time with PGA Tour. It reminds me of playing Actua Golf 2 way back when, and it’s been both an entertaining challenge and a surprisingly relaxing experience. I would never have chosen to go out and buy a golf game, but when I was browsing Game Pass it leapt out at me, and I’m glad I gave it a whirl. It’s not gonna be anyone’s “game of the year” or anything like that – not unless you’re a hardened golf fanatic! But I’ve sunk quite a few hours into the game by this point, and in spite of some limitations and a downright aggressive in-game storefront, I’ve had fun.

All titles discussed above are the copyright of their respective studio, developer, and/or publisher. Actua Golf 2 and Wii Sports are currently out of print, but second-hand copies are often available for purchase. EA Sports PGA Tour is out now for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series consoles. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.