Everybody’s golf hot shots

Brave

DrDamn

Not ClapHanz apparently? But actually looks the part. Back to a more standard approach? Excited!

DrDamn

Interesting that it’s still a Sony Interactive Entertainment game, but developed by Bandai Namco. Coming to PS5, Switch and Steam. No Xbox.

Gordon

DrDamn I think the same thing is happening with the Patapon 1 & 2 remaster.

r0wie

I just hope it lasts longer than the last game. I still play it from time to time and enjoy it. They dropped a couple of DLC courses then felt like they dropped both the flat and VR games like hot potatoes…… 😡

DrDamn

r0wie the last one had too much RNG applied to the shot which could really screw you over randomly on the trickier courses. Otherwise I quite liked it. The two PS3 titles (one of which was a port of the PSV version) were peak though. None of the odd club upgrade nonsense.

DrDamn

Reviews are trickling in.

- Switch performance is not great
- Graphics a little bland?
- Sound design could do with some work
+ Content looks good (10 regions so at least 10 course and lots of characters)
+ Game mechanics are great
+ Decent single player options (Challenge and World Tour modes)
+ Looks to be back to a more sensibly designed progression system
+ I think the UI from selection of modes/character to main game UI looks really clean and well designed

Already pre-ordered on PS5.

Gordon

DrDamn Sounds good, I’m in on PS5 as well.

DrDamn

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/review/everybodys-golf-hot-shots/

This new entry ditches the character creation in favour of doing things the old way, offering a healthy selection of playable characters from across the history of the series. At first you only have a couple to choose from, but as you play through the game’s single-player modes you can unlock dozens more.

The same goes with other unlockables – there’s an in-game shop where you can unlock then buy new clubs, balls, outfits, clothing eyes, stickers and food boosts, but the game’s sole currency can only be earned through normal play, with no microtransactions to be found anywhere.

DrDamn

Have to get up early but still had to give it a try. ☺️
First round was a bit of a rude awakening. Quite tough to get the timing down. Second round better. I then worked out how to switch to Advanced Shot and that is much easier in training, will see how it works out in a round tomorrow.

Will probably want to turn down the speech audio but the core gameplay is nice and has some good news additions - like more precise control over spin. There are decent options for lots of things, controller mapping, original spin controls and starting camera defaults etc, but no way to make it yards, feet and inches. I think I’m missing something or it based that on region.

Gordon

DrDamn I had a quick go last night as well. Plays well, shot timing is a little trickier than I remember but that may just be a skills issue. The voices definitely need to go, I don’t need to hear some guy chuntering on about his demon arm before each shot FFS. It looks nice enough if a little muted. Overall I’m pretty happy and looking forward to hopefully unlocking some less obnoxious characters later.

DrDamn

Try the Advanced shot option but switch your default view to a side view of the character when taking the shot. Shot option is set when you choose your golfer (triangle to go into settings - there are three options for shot type). More like EG on PS3. You judge strength by backswing (hence switching to side view give you a better guide) with pings for 50% and 100%. Then you get a circle decreasing into the ball for the impact gauge. I was hitting balls much more consistently with this. Seemed a lot smoother.

One of the clever things EG used to do was freeze the background, and pause animations and effects when you were taking your shot. Aside from helping reduce distractions it also meant the framerate for the shot was very consistent and on the PS4 version went up from 30fps to 60fps.

DrDamn

DrDamn also looks like there are 10 courses included in the game (which was really hard info to find!). Which is decent for an EG game where 5 or 6 is the norm.

Gordon

DrDamn Nice one, will give all that a try

DrDamn

Played some more at lunch and have unlocked the first vs. character match. Trying to find my happy place with the controls and not quite there yet. Noticed the new manual spin pre-shot also relies on you adjusting your aim to compensate. Older EG games you could aim for the pin with a tree in the way, add left spin to go around during the shot and it would banana round and end up landing by the pin. Here you need to aim to compensate for the spin you are putting on the shot. More realistic and needs more judgement based on the amount of spin you add.

My scores were creeping down, with being able to hit it far enough more of a factor in getting birdie/par than anything else.

Also food you get to boost stats is not a temporary thing, it’s permanent and you can use any you buy or win on any character.

Gordon

DrDamn I thought there was something odd going on with the spin, that explains it. I’ve been doing best with type 2 (I think, the one where the meter is like a ski-slope)

Gordon

Played a bit more and settled on the default meter, I’m getting used to it now. I don’t like any of the button layouts though. The one with decent camera controls wants O as the swing button which is just wrong.

It’s so weird. The game itself is fine but there’s bad decisions and unforced errors in just about every part of it. HDR is broken as well, it doesn’t do anything. The whole game looks very desaturated and grey.

DrDamn

Gordon you can switch the classic controls to use X for swing but they also managed to break it because power adjustment on impact (reduction) doesn’t work anymore. You’d normally do that with O but it just doesn’t register as a press for impact.

Switching classic control to use X is also slightly convoluted. Use one of the custom setups on the second row, press to re-assign and then select reset. It allows you to then pick what you want it to reset it to from the 3 normal options. Pick classic and then remap take shot to X instead of O. This then feels just like old EG bar the breaking of power adjustment on impact.

Gordon

DrDamn I actually had it set up like that but I don’t like the classic swing controls. I want the standard swing gauge but the control scheme with the camera controls I want requires you to use the pre-shot spin system as well rather than setting spin during the swing. Why are spin and camera controls linked like this? It makes no sense. I’ve got a setup that works for me now but the whole thing is needlessly complex.

Gordon

Tried a quick round on my Portal and the washed out visuals are gone, it looks great. Must have left auto-HDR turned on my console settings or something. I managed to get used to using O as the shot button, so with type 3 controls, classic swing meter and shot camera 2 it finally feels good to play. Took a while to get there but I might actually be able to just play the game now instead of fannying about in the settings.