Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots Review — Putt Putt

Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots is Bandai Namco’s take on the sport of golfing, providing a fairly faithful digital adaptation of the sport with a fun anime flavor. If you don’t get caught up in the thrill of landing a hole-in-one, you’ll find yourself enthralled by the personality of your golfers in this surprisingly engaging take on the sport. While I don’t think it’ll win over non-golf fans, it may serve as a great entry point for beginning fans of the sport and will certainly entertain golf fans looking for a relaxing digital approach to the game.

I’m not usually a big sports-game fan. I’m typically of the mind that sports are better played in person. Not to throw shade on any sports gamers out there, they just generally don’t appeal to me the same way as games where you can throw fireballs or drive high-speed vehicles. Of the sports I would play games for, golf has probably always been the one I’m the least interested in. Again, no offense to golf fans, but I’ve just never been excited for the sport.

That being said, I would be flat-out lying if I told you that Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots didn’t get me a little hyped for the green while I was playing.

If you aren’t familiar, Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots allows players to participate in a number of different golf-based tournaments and game modes, using mechanics that attempt to realistically portray the sport. Winning games rewards you with coins, which can be used to buy new gear and unlockables. You have a series of playable characters that you can gradually increase your relationship with, adding a bit of personal connection to a cast that could otherwise have been nameless stand-ins for a player in a lesser game.

While I can’t claim to be an expert on the sport of golf (like I said before, I hardly even enjoy mini-golf), I found that the game’s mechanics seemed to be pretty realistic. They are certainly expansive. A player at the putt can choose from a number of different clubs to use, the direction you hit the ball, the force at which you hit the ball, and even which part of the ball you hit. The latter is done to apply specific spin to the ball itself, to either increase or decrease the drag on the grass or counter side-winds. As far as I’m aware, this is a pretty good accounting of the tricks and strategies in a professional golf player’s arsenal.

Something I particularly appreciated was the ability to get a top-down view of the field, estimating the maximum distance you can send your ball.

The part of the gameplay I appreciated the most was the way Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots actually handles hitting the ball. Rather than just putting in a “Hit” command, striking the ball is a timing-based mini-game where you have to hit the input key at the right distance and direction to get the perfect putt. Because it’s reaction-based, this allows the game to actually mark the spots on the bar you have to hit to get the ball in the hole, giving you a direct goal to try and hit rather than forcing you to play with vague estimates and numbers. After hitting the right distance, you must then try and strike the ball in the center, with hitting too far on either side changing the direction the ball will fly.

The cherry on top of all of this is that you can directly navigate to and start a match from the main menu. There is no overworld or hub that you have to navigate in order to actually get into the game, something that apparently was a problem in previous PlayStation-exclusive entries in the franchise.

Steam reviews of the game report that Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots has performance issues, with players especially struggling on the Steam Deck version of the game. I can’t personally speak to the validity of these problems, as I personally experienced stable and high FPS throughout the game and solid performance. However, I will say that Steam Deck players should probably be wary of purchasing Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots until these problems are addressed by the developers.

That being said, it surprises me that the game would have performance issues, considering how simple it is graphically. Don’t get me wrong, the characters look great, but certainly aren’t anything you’d need an advanced computer setup to render well. The textures on the golf courses themselves are also pretty low, so I’d venture a guess that it is something in how the game renders lighting that is giving players issues.

I enjoyed the game’s varied characters, but Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots doesn’t do a whole lot to present them as unique people and personalities. Outside of animations and a few repeating lines, the only way to really get to know your character is through the game’s version of a campaign. Outside of that, the amount of personality they portray is limited, and again, the repeated voice lines can get a little grating pretty fast.

While I did find myself getting a little sucked into Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots, it’s not a game I would play outside of this review, and it certainly didn’t get me more excited for golf. While I now have more of an appreciation of the sport, and I did enjoy my time with it, I doubt it will make fans of those who have already made up their mind on the sport. Rather, Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots is a great game for golf fans looking for a relaxing digital way to play the game or for new fans who are just getting into the sport to develop more of an appreciation.

Try Hard Guides was provided a Steam code for this PC review of Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles on our Game Reviews page! Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots is available on Steam, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch.