Everybody's Golf Hot Shots: Review of the Return to the Greens
The golf brand loved by "everyone" returns
Everybody's Golf – known in Japan as Minna no Golf and in the USA as Hot Shots Golf – is a brand with a significant history: the first installment debuted on the original PlayStation in 1998 by the Camelot team, only to then pass into the hands of Clap Hanz from the second incarnation up to the PS4 title in 2017, the seventh official if spin-offs are not counted, created in collaboration with Sony Japan Studios. After the developer and support division closed, the brand remained silent in a kind of limbo that lasted 8 years. The Hyde team, backed by Bandai Namco, attempts to revive it – again under Sony license – by creating this new installment which, to please everyone, is titled Everybody's Golf Hot Shots in all languages.
NB. We start from the assumption that you generally know what a game of golf consists of, but for any technical terms such as Spin, Caddy, Fairway, and others we might use, we refer you to specific channels.
Everybody's Golf for all tastes
Everybody's Golf Hot Shots adopts, as is customary in the series, the three-click system: this means that once you have set the direction you want to hit the ball, you will press the command once to start filling the power bar, a second time to set the desired force, and a third time, when the cursor returns, to determine the shot's precision. This new installment already presents itself in this element open to all tastes, allowing you to choose the interface from three options: the classic horizontal bar, a curved bar, or the "concentric circles" system used in the PS3 installment. Whatever your preference, the player's characteristics will not vary [unlike the PS3 installment where the traditional system could be restored but at the cost of a good deal of power].
There is also a choice regarding the application of Spin: the default settings allow you to prioritize which point of the ball to hit – much like in many billiards games – but those who prefer it can enable the original system, which consists of acting on the directional pad while executing the shot. Compared to previous installments, this new IP tends to make shots less controllable: if you don't hit the 0 of the bar precisely, you almost always (except in rare cases) end up in the red part, with often unpredictable deviations and changes in effect.
A novelty of this installment, however, is the possibility [or rather, "necessity"] to power up characters: when you obtain them, they will all tend to have mediocre to poor characteristics, but you can improve them by increasing your loyalty – i.e., using them more often – and by feeding them special delicacies, although there will be limits. Caddies will also have a loyalty score which, if increased, can occasionally lead to temporary bonuses.
Everybody's Golf and many ways to play
Beyond the technicalities, the game presents two modes in which the single player must engage to unlock all content, initially limited to two golfers, one caddy, and a single course. The first mode is Challenge and consists of playing a certain number of Tournaments, which can be 6, 9, or 18 holes, to accumulate points on a specific indicator; once filled, you can access the Hole Challenge against the level's "boss": defeating them will make the next level available, but to use it, you will need to use it at least once in the second mode, called World Tour.
This is a kind of "story mode" for each of the 30 golfers in the game, who, between skippable dialogues, must overcome various trials, not only standard Tournaments and Hole Challenges [see below], to proceed to subsequent chapters. Compared to the Challenge mode, the difficulty tends to increase faster, and it will probably be a good idea to power up the golfer a bit as you progress. With this mode, you can also unlock the various caddies and the stories of characters who do not appear as Challenge bosses.
We mentioned other game modes besides the standard ones: we are referring to the so-called Wacky Golf introduced in this installment, which consists of 4 modes that introduce special rules designed especially for a competitive context among friends. Colored Shots grants players bonuses and penalties depending on where their ball lands, some of which can be activated against opponents; Scramble is a two-player team mode where the ball is hit alternately by the two teammates; Club Steal reduces the club inventory of the player who performed the worst at each hole; finally, Explosive is played literally on a minefield (!!!) where sometimes the ball is launched in random directions by one or more explosions that also leave bunker-craters along the Fairway.
Everybody's Golf for all platforms
The technical realization of Everybody's Golf Hot Shots presents a series of commendable elements interspersed with less convincing ones. What is most important, namely the design of the various courses, is certainly remarkable: the team has skillfully reinterpreted historical EG settings, from the beaches of Aloha Beach to the parks of Eagle Town, recreating some of the already known holes but introducing a large number of new ones, while maintaining an excellent impact, richness of content, and overall pleasantness. Above all, the physics engine remains consistently solid and efficient, the true gem of the system.
However, the judgment drops a bit when considering the overall graphic rendering, which in some ways takes the calendar back at least to the PS3 version of the brand: although the resolution is high and HDR support is present, the detail of golfers, caddies, and environmental elements, as well as some graphic effects (water, for example) feel "old." This is probably a choice dictated by multi-platform support, which must keep the game enjoyable on a lower-end machine like the original Nintendo Switch, but for those who still have the PS4 installment in their eyes [and heart], the feeling is one of a step backward. Occasional frame-rate drops, for example when the wind is strong, confirm the idea that the PS5 version of the game was made a bit hastily. We admit, however, that some elements, such as the trees – for whose textures AI support was explicitly adopted – look truly excellent. The implementation of the day-night cycle and dynamic weather is also very pleasant.
From an audio perspective, we note a soundtrack that, as always, features simple but pleasant music, suitable for the various game menus or circuit environments, accompanied by excellent sound effects and occasional ambient sounds. Voice acting is only available in English, but all texts are also translated into Italian: the translation is generally good, with a few inaccuracies (in one menu, "Clubs" was not translated to "Mazze," as if referring to clubs) and some colloquialisms that were literally transposed in dialogues, but obviously nothing that affects gameplay.
[table_img_3]5|7|6[/table_img_3]
Everybody's Golf: Between Tradition and Innovation
The work done by the Hyde team shows a deep knowledge of the brand or at least the ability to fully exploit its characteristics: as mentioned, the course design is excellent, the physics system is great, and the "things to do" available to the single player are numerous and of increasing difficulty, further expanding if you decide to play the Challenge mode at increased difficulty. Unlocking all characters and completing their stories will take a lot of time, and even more will be needed to maximize all loyalties.
While it's true that the ability to power up characteristics leads to a certain "flattening," on the other hand, each character has specific bonuses or penalties that make them different and unique; moreover, the game has also introduced the possibility of performing "special" shots a limited number of times, thus making the experience even more varied. Together with the Wacky Golf modes, the game also has a lot to offer in a multiplayer context, whether local or in online rooms. All this by foregoing a whole series of frills – such as the fishing mini-game on PS4 – which were objectively neither necessary nor requested by fans. World events are also planned for the future, but more details will have to wait until the game's definitive release.
In conclusion, Everybody's Golf Hot Shot is a worthy return for Sony's beloved golf brand – here licensed – and will certainly satisfy long-time fans who have been without it for too long; at the same time, it is once again a product "for everyone" that can appeal to new fans, young and old alike.