Pangya Fantasy Golf is a free to play online game developed by Ntreev Soft in South Korea. It’s full of zany characters, amazing courses, and a community to make any MMO-Player weep with joy. The game has you customizing a character from a choice of four basic types and then hitting the course for some very fun and crazy golf. My first thoughts on this game was how cute the graphics were and how smoothly it ran. It looks like a classic JRPG or Kingdom Hearts with a Katamari backdrop. It oozes cute, and that’s a good thing!

The base characters you customize at the beginning will gain more items and clothing pieces as they are unlocked or bought. A lot of the items are unlocked, or earned through playing the courses, some of them can be bought at the in-game store, using mostly in-game money. In some cases, some of the costume pieces are bought by having a membership account (paid), that also opens up other courses and options, but not required to actually play the game. You can be anything from a cross-dressing boy with wings, to things of unknowable gender with paws and ears. You can tell the developers put a lot of work into making this game pretty, fun, and easy enough for everyone to play. And even if you are not that skilled at golf, like myself, you will be having too much fun to really care.

I ran went through the simple tutorial, which teaches you the basics of golf, but even after that I didn't quite understand the lingo or scoring, but those bits aren't really needed to enjoy the game. If you are someone new to the game of golf, brushing up on the terms and scorekeeping may enhance your experience but in Pangya, it's completely optional and will not hinder the fun you will have.

The graphics were rendered very nicely on my PC, everything looked beautiful with no noticeable lag. I actually tried it on my three year old laptop, and while I had to scale the graphics some to prevent, it still looked very crisp, not at all pixilated or laggy. The minimum requirements are very forgiving,  requiring only a minimum of a celeron 500MHz CPU to run.  Tt even states that it will run on Win98 and WinME. This is a game that will have no problems running on a netbook.  The graphics certainly enhances the hilarity of hitting a penguin in the head with a golf ball!  The music is also excellent. Simple, elegant, and not intrusive to gameplay while upbeat enough that I didn’t feel so bad when I missed a few shots. The soundtrack can be best described as a mix of sugary pop music, techno, and rock, which worked well for the style of the game.  Each course has its own “soundtrack” giving it that extra bit of variety.

The controls are a dream come true, simple, easy, and it involves mostly timing. Its Space Bar and mouse clicking, easy as pie, I almost let my four year old give it a go, and then realized I didn’t want my mouse to become sticky! Based on the familiar "three-click" golf control scheme, tt's a simple spacebar press to start the power meter, a click of the mouse when you're at the butter zone, which is indicated by a red line, and a second click of the mouse to hit the ball at the sweet spot.  If you've ever played any golf simulation game since Tiger Wood PGA Tour, this is no different. There are awards and achievements, such as getting a “Pangya”, which is two perfect shots which generally results in a hole in one. I never did manage to get one, but the opponent I played with was very good at getting them.

Pangya is billed as a fantasy golf MMO, but it’s unlike any other MMO I have run across.  You taunt players, have idiot caddies that always want more pay. One of the big good points about this MMO though, everyone was so nice and helpful, it’s an awesome community to play in. Everyone just wants to have fun and hang out. There is an offline mode called Family Play, where you and up to three players share the computer to play against each other. I do not recommend this version if you have bickering siblings or children who cant stand each other's company, as this will likely result in a broken computer! The more exciting way of playing is to simply join a random game.  It's very similar to the casual games on Yahoo Games, where there is a main chatroom and side chats where people are actually playing. The few people I played with were all very polite and helpful, and since this is a Korean game, it had mostly Korean servers, but there were a few English servers available.

All but a few courses are available to play on when you first start; the last few are the championship courses that are unlocked as you work through the game. Each course is very different, offering its own unique hazards. One of the courses is a lava-level where the lava is working like a water hazard or sand trap. And even if you don't unlock the last few courses, you'll never know the difference, each round is very unique because the players are all different.

Every player starts out the basic gear: a simple set of clubs, basic clothes, and no caddy.  After a few rounds, you will have earned enough money to hire a caddy, or buy better clubs.  Definitely invest in better clubs as that will help with your shot power and accuracy.  One of the guys I played against actually summoned his clubs from the depths of something while my clubs still had duct tape holding them together.  I also hired a caddy, and he... well, lets say he wasn't the brightest crayon the box while constantly demanding a raise. That's the typical humor of the AI in Pangya, the starter caddy is suppose to be an idiot, but it was just silly how bad of a caddy he was.  The caddy is there to help provide advice and suggest stragegies and as the game progresses,  but all my starter caddy did was pick his nose...

Where I’m Coming From

Pangya is a great little game for anyone who wants to casually play an MMO and have a good laugh. It's also great for all ages and skills levels.  Not being a die-hard fan of real life golf, I was very surprised at how much fun I had this title.  While I am an avid MMO player (Guild Wars, LOTRO and City of Heroes) I have to say this community is one of the best I have found.  Not being much for the super-cartoony games out there, the style is sometimes very distracting to me, but this game wouldn't have been nearly as fun if they had used a more realistic animation style.  The developers really knew what they were doing.

What I Compared it to

There really isn't anything to compare it to as it's a very unique game. The characters and course locations are very Kingdom Hearts-esque, being a mix of JRPG, Tiger Woods on acid, and a Halloween shop with hobos carrying the golf bags.  There's not much else on the golf-sim market today that can compare to Pangya, especially when one of the highlights is to summon your golf clubs from the depths of Hell while singing bizarre showtunes!

What I Liked

The simplicity and familiarity of the controls were the best thing the creators could have done.  Its simplicity meant the learning curve was low and anyone could have fun with the game.  I also found the community full of nice and helpful people, who honestly wanted to play a few rounds of golf and see if they can earn enough to unlock the Bunny Tail in the Shop. The random insanity is brilliant!  How are you supposed to react when your opponent drops their pants and moons you, proceeds to hit a hole in one, tells you it was a good game, and then offers to play another round? The only thing to do is play another round, and try to do what they did, while trying not to have soda come out your nose from laughing so hard!

What I Didn’t Like

There isn’t a single player mode and not being as social as I could be, I sometimes don't want to play with people.  Having a single player mode would serve to alievate the anti-social moments.  The only thing close to Solo Mode is Family Mode, but it doesn't unlock as much stuff, nor do you earn as much cash. I would probably have played more if there was a Solo Mode available.

Value

For a free to play MMO that has a pay service for extras, it’s an incredible bargain. I'll probably continue playing on my own account and see just how zany I can make my character. You can do 97% of the game without spending any money, and for all the hours it would take to actually hit a wall on something you would have to pay for, you'd get bored with the game first. Most of the costume pieces are unlocked or won during the game, and any in-game money you earn can be spent on other pieces. Ntreev is currently working on Pangya Season 4, but they are still supporting the first game.  So it's a safe bet that they will continue to support and add to the content for years to come.

Final Word

Surprisingly excellent and humorous enough that I nearly had soda come out my nose from laughing so hard at the antics of the other characters!  Pangya is a worthy game of a subscription but this is being offered for free!  It's just a great game for anyone of any skill.  The controls are simple enough to teach to a four year old (if you don't mind a sticky keyboard). And with almost limitless costume pieces, you can look like anything while you dance around trying to distract your opponent. With the basic system requirements, it's a good game for even broke college students who really wants to play some online golf!