HB Studios is back again after another two year hiatus with their next iteration, PGA Tour 2K25, and I have to say, I like these year long breaks in-between. It allows the developers more time to implement bigger and better things, and as a player it doesn’t burn me out. Unlike PGA Tour 2K23, there is a positive jump in this one to where it’s finally feeling like a 2K sports games, and not just a strict Sim with some forced in upgrade stuff. Now, there is some good about that, and some unfortunate things like the VC Shop and such, but let’s get into it.

Good news is, just about everything this time around has been reworked and for what I believe is for the better. Even the new additions like the personality system, while not a game changer, at least adds something to the experience. Additional Pro golfers and more licensed courses are here. However, the biggest tweaks are to the swing styles and the MyCareer player upgrade system which is a huge improvement. There is a lot to enjoy about this new iteration even if there is some more work needed in areas.

Let’s start with the adjusted and new swing systems. While the older swing systems still are present like the three click system, the EvoSwing is what I enjoyed most. It is the traditional setup with pulling the right stick back, and pressing forward when it’s at the desired power. But the physics upgrade and ball travel rework make this much more engaging. Swinging is broken down into four components: contact, rhythm, transition and swing path, which are measured and rewarded (or penalized) accordingly. I didn’t realize how much the new system really makes these four components so important until I took off the training wheels in the settings.

I truly feel like the EvoSwing mechanics, with the updated physics, are the best HB Studios has done. It’s  fantastic how it gives you real time feedback on your swing whether you left the club face open on your Contact or your Transition was too fast or slow, and if your pushed or pulled the Swing Path. It’s still you’re “pull back and press forward” swing style, but the system is so much more involved and the feedback on hits is really nice.

Of course, like the previous games you can customize just how aggressively sim you want to do or if you want something more arcade fun. There is a new swing system called the Perfect Swing, which will adjust all the difficulty systems to make any player a Pro, and a Pro player a god. I didn’t realize this was on by default and my first couple of tournaments I played I was blowing the competition out of the water with no effort. I figured something was wrong so I dove into the settings and I was able to feel how brutal all the new physics actually are.

Let’s get into the MyCareer mode now since this is where the big meat and potato changes are as well. Like last time you can start at Q-School and the Korn Ferry tour to work your way up, or jump straight into the PGA Tour as a Pro. However, depending on the skill level you set the game to I’d suggest still starting from the bottom to get some much needed skill upgrades before hitting the Pro’s. Earning VC and Skill Points will be key to success and those are earned through completing rounds, quests, and sponsorship tasks similar to the previous version with some minor tweaks.

I believe the upgrade and skill system has made changes for the better in PGA Tour 2K25 that feel like actual progression is being made. Unfortunately, standard stat upgrades are tied to VC which of course means they will push VC packs for quick advancement. However, the skill tree and the club upgrades is what I really enjoyed. Skills are sectioned out into Tee, Approach, Recovery, Bunker, Green, and CHP, and each tree will have attributes to increase stats in those categories. As you level up your base stats you then will be able to unlock Advanced Shot Type Skills that will allow you to hit the ball in different ways.

The Skills to unlock do make a different and I ended up using them quite often. Skills like being able to put off the green with minimal drawbacks. That way if you’re just on the fringe you can just put instead of chipping. Another great skill is for Tee called Power Drive that increases distance but makes it harder to hit straight. Approach has a shot called Off The Deck that allows you to hit your Driver off the fairway. These are just a small example, but hitting these milestones can really change how you play certain holes.

There is also club progression and how that works is a combination of using that club often to earn XP to unlock multiple upgrade slots. You can then use Equipment Upgrade Gems to increase club sets and their stats. These can range from increasing power, control, swing path, as well as the other attributes. Once you max out the clubs upgrade slots you can evolve your club using a special key item which will increase the Equipment Upgrades that are equipped. The first upgrade gives a +2, then +3, and so on.

Unfortunately, there are a couple of drawbacks to this system. First, you get a very limited amount of evolution keys which I feel was done on purpose to push the store bundle that includes them. Second, while the base club doesn’t change stats based off of brand or style, if you do want to change to a different club you will lose the upgrades from the current club. This means, you may want to wait until you get the clubs from the brand you want before spending those precious Evolution Keys. Overall, I do enjoy the new upgrade system even if tweaks need to happen with the balance of upgrade materials earned.

The other new aspects of MyCareer is what you do off the field before and after matches. There is a new system in place that tracks your Personality and Popularity by putting you in press conferences and various conversations with some “dilemmas”. Press conferences have you sit down and answer some basic questions about how you’ll approach the upcoming match. You can choose to be bold or modest in your responses and honestly I’m not sure what that even does. There is a bonus to your follower count depending on how you answer, but again, I noticed no differences in anything important based on it.

Responding to questions about how you’re preparing for the match is only thing that actually changes anything. These responses will boost your stats a little for that one match. If you respond talking about how you’re hitting the weights hard this week, you’ll boost your overall power. If you choose to focus on mobility you can increase your swing rhythm. They are decent boosts, but these actions and dialogues are all repeated so it gets old fast going through them all. Other than that there are conversations with your agent and rivals, but overall it just feels like padding with stiff presentation that doesn’t feel natural. It’s a step in the right direction, it just needs more love.

There are some odd choices in the game modes that I found out while playing with my brother. Modes like Stroke Play, Stableford, Skins, and Four Ball, Alternate Shot, Scramble, and Divot Derby are all here. However, a handful of these modes do no allow you to use computer AI players. For example, in Skins we had myself, my brother, and then you can choose to pick from a pool of random player-created characters to play against as an AI player. This was a neat feature that we liked. Unfortunately, it’s not offered in all of the modes for some reason. It’s an off decision that I don’t understand, which meant that we didn’t end up playing some of the modes because we didn’t have four real players.

Other modes like Top Golf return, and it’s honestly not worth your time at all, just like last game. There is only one game mode, and it’s their standard Top Golf mode and it’s just not fun to play as a video game. They don’t have any of the other fun modes that real Top Golf has, which just makes this feel tacked on and pointless. The course creator is back and that remains great with plenty of options and tools to make fun and or silly courses. Of course if you aren’t the course making type, you can browse the published courses for some added fun.

Visually there has been a nice step up in overall fidelity across the board. Courses look absolutely fantastic and I’m happy to say that trees actually sway with strong wind now. The lighting system looks great even if there might be a bit too much bright reflections off the grass. That being said, everything looks really nice. While there are two hundred pros that are featured in the game, only eleven of them are actually modeled in the game to play against. The models look fine, if not a bit stiff when they move, but it would be nice to see that number go up a lot in the next game.

While the overall visuals have received a nice upgrade the presentation still lacks quite a bit of flair. This was an issue for me in the last game, and it unfortunately remains an issue here. Replay transitions are clunky, and crowds don’t go as crazy as they should with a crazy shot, and replay cameras sometimes don’t even track the ball. There is just a lack of fun flair with the game. In the trailer for the game they show these fun camera angles tracking the ball up close as it flies through the fairway, or as its traveling to the cup for a long put. They show some cool slow motion shots indicating a strong or a good hit. None of that is in game.

Sound design is a tough one for Golf and sports games in general because there isn’t much to do here, especially with golf. The sound design and soundtrack is what I would expect with your country club softer mellow vibes music, and that is fine and works well here. However, the bid drawback is are the announcers. They weren’t great last game and still remain very hit or miss here whether they report a shot the right way. Too many times do I get a mellow reaction from the announcers for hitting a fantastic shot, like they are critiquing a messy follow up shot. Or they will read the greens saying it’s going a bit left to right, when it’s going all right. There is still a lot of work left to do in this department.

Overall I think that PGA Tour 2k25 is a really good golf game that is close to being a great golf game. There just needs to be a bit more put into the overall presentation from the MyCareer interviews to the overall mid match flair of replay’s and fun camera angles. If they can add that bit of fun while fixing the announcer issues and get some more Pro’s to be scanned in, the next iteration should be great.

 

Graphics: 8.5 There has been a nice upgrade to the overall graphical fidelity of the courses and golfers.	Gameplay: 9.0 The golf sim and physics have never been better, and the upgrade system is solid. Some aspects still need a bit of work.
Sound: 6.0 There has been no discernable change from last time. Soundtrack is typical country club music, with less than stellar voice acting from the commentators.	Fun Factor: 7.5 Golf sim aspects seem just about perfected here and the tweaks to the MyCareer upgrade system are great. However, there is still a lack of “fun flair”, and the predatory VC/Upgrade microtransactions bring it down.
Final Verdict: 8.0

PGA Tour 2K25 is available now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

Reviewed on Xbox Series X.

A copy of PGA Tour 2K25 was provided by the publisher.