![]() What's most important, though, is that the gameplay rarely feels stale. ![]() Interaction with the community at large is handled using the in-game messenger, which also meshes well with the Windows feel. Starting a game, entering the store or accessing your mail is possible with only one or two clicks. The entire thing is set up to resemble a Windows-based OS and features a desktop with icons and movable menu boxes. Navigating menus, whether in the store or someplace else entirely, is a breeze thanks to one of the more intuitive menu systems I've seen in quite some time. Whether you actually care about cosmetic value or not is up to you. There are numerous reasons to spend your money besides just upgrading your clubs or character. Still, the game makes sure to provide plenty of activities to occupy your time besides just the golf. Many of the items are used to dress up your character or to populate his or her room-trinkets that don't really have a whole lot to do with your golf game-and will most likely be ignored by more casual players. This is a completely refreshing change compared to other games cut from a similar MMO cloth that reward loyal players with a credit card bill if they want to obtain better items. Even better is the fact that most of the best items are actually only available using the in-game points, which rewards people who play the game loyally instead of punishing them for not spending cash. This is the perfect formula for games that derive their income from micro-transactions. Some items are only available using one or the other, but the majority of items can be purchased with either currency. The other currency is known as "Cookies." You can purchase a set amount of them for a small sum of real-world dollars. It's a reward for doing things such as making a difficult trick shot or finishing well under par. The first, Pang, is earned entirely by playing the game. ![]() There are two separate types of in-game currency available. Pangya approaches this model precisely the way it should, however. ![]() This game focuses on fun more than it does on accurately recreating the super-exciting world of golf.Īs I've mentioned, I loathe the idea of paying real money for in-game items. If you're in the market for a golf sim you should probably just go grab Tiger Woods PGA Tour and buy a bunch of polo shirts. The best example of its sensibilities that I can give you is this: you can spend as much time upgrading your chosen character's golf game as you can saving points to buy a happy bear that carries your clubs for you. A quirky, eccentric, anime-injected golf game. Yes, better than Maple Story, better than the sad fantasy wish fulfillment present in Second Life and certainly better than that marketing department's wet dream that is Free Realms. Some even take things a step further by making the game all but unplayable unless you open your wallet and buy some credits to purchase the best items, on top of requiring expenditures if you want to design your cabin and buy those fairy wings you just have to have for your character.Īfter that diatribe, you'd probably expect a scathing review for any MMO I touch, one where I eviscerate the game in question and hold its digital entrails high above my head as a tribute to my video game gods while drinking the game's blood and absorbing its power, right? I must apologize in advance for the bait and switch, then, because Pangya is probably the best “free” MMO game available. Most games of this type just feel like they took The Sims 3 and added leveling mechanics. I abhor this even more when MMOs are concerned. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that I'm one step away from a political barnstorming tour, one where I give speeches in high school gyms and propose in town hall debates that we invade Electronic Arts and force them to stop holding our content hostage. My senior thesis even explored the reasons that I don't like the idea of micro-transactions. I've made that fact quite evident in many articles and reviews. The rising proliferation of free games that make you pay real money for in-game items is just not something that I can easily accept. I should point something out here before I begin: I don't like games like this. If you're in the market for a golf sim you should probably just go grab Tiger Woods PGA Tour and buy a bunch of polo shirts." ![]() ![]()
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