PGA TOUR 2K23 Impressions

[TheBrew101]

I caved and bought it after telling myself to wait for sale. After soaking up all the info I had my expectations low but I wanted to play it for myself.

After playing it (maybe 5-6 rounds), my impressions are that it is a I think it is a good game of golf. If you are expecting to have your socks blown off by visuals or extreme depth, you will be disappointed. If you want a good playing game of golf, I think this game does pretty well. I think you can get an enjoyable experience out of what is here.

If cross play and more competitive modes are added as mentioned then I think it gets a boost even further.

I am left wanting more. I feel it should run better on PS5/Xbox Series X (it is fine in performance but there is very noticeable lag in quality mode). I think the LPGA should be separate mode within game. I wish career mode had more life. I wish there was no consumable golf ball that changed green speed. I'm not a huge fan of some of the boosts. However, that said, the game is still good and I find myself enjoying playing it.

I think it is worth a buy (maybe best waiting for a Black Friday deal and maybe by then some more official courses and features that are announced as coming will be available).

[lowpaiddonkey10]

I have about 15 excellent ports from 21 by some of the best designers saved to favorites. No need to wait on the devs to pinch a few courses out for ya. You know quite a few of those "official" courses were made by the gaming community not HB.

[scagwi]

@TheBrew101

Thx for sharing your unvarnished thoughts

Anyone know -- is there a demo/trial you can do?

[Chairman7w]

Can you please share the course names so we can Search them?


Thanks!

Quote: Originally Posted by lowpaiddonkey10

I have about 15 excellent ports from 21 by some of the best designers saved to favorites. No need to wait on the devs to pinch a few courses out for ya. You know quite a few of those "official" courses were made by the gaming community not HB.

[golfnut67]

I just played my first few rounds as well.

Positives:

-I'm playing in Quality mode on PS5 and it is buttery smooth. No lag or stutter at all. Not sure why others have mentioned problems with this

-Graphics are definitely an improvement all around (within the Unity engine), as others have mentioned, especially the trees and just the color "tone" of the course as the ball is in flight and when you're taking your shot. A bit more defined, less cartoonishly bright

-I do like the pre shot animations with the caddie, it adds to the atmosphere, but I'm sure as time goes on I'll just click past those to keep playing

-I love the new shot meter. It allows you to focus more on your golfer/club, but still see your swing power in your peripheral vision. The whole swing from beginning to end seems a bit faster than 21, but you quickly get used to it. The actual gameplay is an improvement and more satisfying. Great ball striking sounds, more detailed and varied than before based on how well you square the ball

-I'm guessing that the swing and especially putting issues that the early users reported have been addressed in the 1.03 patch, because I'm not noticing any of those issues yet. Greens are definitely rolling out more than before (at least on the 4 courses I played), but I see no sign of the stabby, short backswing issues with the putting

Negatives

-MyPlayer options, as others have said, is a huge step back. I can't create a player that looks anything close to what I look like, and in 21, there were so many more options and I got pretty close, even with the blocky faces and scary looking eyes/teeth

-I know most people turn off the commentary, but I've always left it on, mainly because I like Luke Elvy and John, in spite of how repetitive it can be. Replacing John with Henni is already getting irritating. Her lines seem very much like she's reading from a script, and are often short and awkward sounding

-Replays and especially Rival cutaways instantly got on my nerves and were disabled.

-So many other anomalies from 21 are still here with shot views and camera angles. I played one Matchmaker round where my opponent hit his shot under a bridge, and his first 2 attempts to get out of it, all you could see was the bridge. His 3rd and 4th attempt, he was literally shooting from inside the path of the bridge, half of his body showing. Very clunky and pretty ridiculous looking.

I haven't got into any of the club fittings and all of that stuff, I just chose "rhythm" archetype and played.

Bottom line, it's about what I expected. If you loved 21, with all of it's flaws, the look and gameplay has been incrementally improved, and it's worth the purchase. This game still plays a fun and fairly realistic game on the course, and it has been improved a bit. But this series is going nowhere from here until they go to a new engine.

[lowpaiddonkey10]

Quote: Originally Posted by Chairman7w

Can you please share the course names so we can Search them? Thanks!

Go to TGC Tours Completed courses and you will see courses by Heisenberg and Matt F. Check out some of the other courses that have been ported over they are all on the first page at TGC Tours. Click on them play a hole see if that is for you or not.

[lowpaiddonkey10]

Quote: Originally Posted by Chairman7w

Can you please share the course names so we can Search them? Thanks!

https://tgctours.proboards.com/board...pleted-courses

[ODogg]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheBrew101

I caved and bought it after telling myself to wait for sale. After soaking up all the info I had my expectations low but I wanted to play it for myself. After playing it (maybe 5-6 rounds), my impressions are that it is a I think it is a good game of golf. If you are expecting to have your socks blown off by visuals or extreme depth, you will be disappointed. If you want a good playing game of golf, I think this game does pretty well. I think you can get an enjoyable experience out of what is here. If cross play and more competitive modes are added as mentioned then I think it gets a boost even further. I am left wanting more. I feel it should run better on PS5/Xbox Series X (it is fine in performance but there is very noticeable lag in quality mode). I think the LPGA should be separate mode within game. I wish career mode had more life. I wish there was no consumable golf ball that changed green speed. I'm not a huge fan of some of the boosts. However, that said, the game is still good and I find myself enjoying playing it. I think it is worth a buy (maybe best waiting for a Black Friday deal and maybe by then some more official courses and features that are announced as coming will be available).

I too was, and am critical of the game, mostly because I feel as if two years of development time should have yielded more significant improvements in many areas, starting with the visuals of course.

But with that being said, if you can just approach it as a game and not expectations of a 2 year high end game, it is actually a really enjoyable game.