Played golf games for 30 years. Started with Actua golf on the PlayStation lol.
I must firstly say, I have both EA pga, and 2k23. I have no preference for any company, but I do have a real urge to play the best golf game.
for me personally that will always come down to a few things. Bells and whistles are amazing, graphics are good, of course they are. And as far as that, ea golf looks superb! It really does. The presentation is nice etc. it could do with 60FPS, but it’s not the worst at 30FPS.
now, as I said… it will always come down to a few points….
I always want to feel like it’s possible for me to make mistakes. Like I can find myself in trouble, and I can be punished.
with 2k, I’m only playing on the pro swing, and if I don’t fully concentrate, and try, and even if I do, I can find rough, bunkers, water, even out of bounds.
with ea, that isn’t the case. I have it set to the hardest swing difficulty, and find big fairway after fairway and green after green is pretty much a given.
the game has literally become…. A quick power drive without thinking….. a wedge into every green pretty much and then it all boils down to… how close can I make sure my putt is. Then it’s either a birdie or par.
Now I appreciate there’s simulation players out there, and their response would be, well you haven’t tried simulation?
no I haven’t, but the swing difficulty will be the same.
another big big issue is the fact that there is barely any penalty for hazards.
hazards…. By name should be hazardous!
with 2k, the rough can be very penal. And because of the percentages it throws up, dailing a shot in from hazards can be very tricky.
the pick shot from bunkers is crazily overpowered. I have a bronze pick shot and have even seen me deliberately going for a bunker if I was in trouble, or even if I thought I couldn’t hold a green etc.
the flop is another one. Just a complete get out of jail card.
I have both games, and I really enjoy both games.
I have literally been living on ea pga now for two weeks. Sometimes 8 hours a day or more.
But now as OP alluded to…. It’s just to easy a game. and not in the sense that I’m amazing and can smash every daily tournament etc.
In the sense that even on the hardest swing difficulty…. Missing a fairway or a green is a complete shock.
going back on 2k this morning…. The sense of dread when driving was suddenly their again.
being a little off and pushing an approach wide was there.
m rough was very penal at times, and bunkers…. Although there’s a splash shot, it’s still nothing close to the pick shot.
I’ll go back to ea and I’ll enjoy it, but for me, 2k plays the better golf, and that’s simply because there’s no ease to it. Even if I got into a rhythm and made good swing after good swing, all it takes is a slight lapse and suddenly you’ve hooked it into the sea or the trees.
id love to see ea add another difficulty or 2, but I don’t see it happening.
I get this was long, my apologies,and I hope just one person with both games can see where I’m coming from.
you can have all the extras, graphics, etc…. But unless the gameplay grabs you, and challenges you…. Pretty soon you’ll be going through the motions and the novelty of the game being good and new will wear off.
@jambomakaveliEnjoyed your response and it pretty much mirrors mine.
I also have both games but really will only play one. I haven't decided which, but I am really hoping EA will get their game to where it needs to be.
I play masters or legend in 2K23, because like you I make my share of errant shots in real golf and want to do the same in a sim. To me the challenge is working your way through a round. Fairways and greens are as boring as it can get, if it is not earned the reward is low.
I want to feel nervous hitting into a green when there is water in play. I get this in 2K23, for whatever reason there is no fear in EA. I think it is because in 2K23 timing has so much impact on the shot. With EA I know my swing path is pretty straight and off line shots will seldom be an issue.
In 2K23 I can turn off just about everything, and it in my opinion makes the game more realistic and challenging.
The only thing I see on the screen in 2K23 is the hole number and scorecard. Everything else is disabled...
EA I feel has a way to go to satisfy the sim player, but it is not unattainable. I am just hoping that they choose to go this route opposed to servicing the casual gamer. Because the casual gamer is only in it for the short term.
But you are right about the novelty wearing off, it is not the lack of courses or challenges that causing the lack of luster. It is the lack of challenge in the gameplay, and to a point the unfair results for well executed shotmaking.
I regularly will hit a pefectly timed shot with a perfectly straight swing path that will pull left or block out to the right. Yet I can ram the stick to the top of my controller, have a large overswing, very fast timed shot with a crooked swing path and more often than not have it result in a perfect drive.
In 2K23 I know I have made a bad swing the minute I complete my swing, you can get attuned to it if you have played long enough.
With EA there are a lot of surprises... many of which feel unfair. The game shows a lot of promise... I was hoping for a lot more, I had high hopes for this project.
I think the ball physics of EA PGA Tour are far better than 2K . Have you ever played real golf ?
