Golf is a game of patience and precision, and becoming the best in PGA Tour 2K23 will take more than just having power off the tee or a solid touch with the putter. It will take a well-rounded game regardless of the player's strength, and HB Studios has started to highlight those strengths more in PGA Tour 2K23 with the addition of player archetypes that help define each individual golfer.
PGA Tour 2K23 features simulation golf and unforgiving gameplay in either a single-player Career mode or in online competition where players can see who is the best in the world. The scores that go way under par, commonplace in the EA Sports Tiger Woods PGA Tour series, are much more rare in HB Studios' game, so players must focus on refining their skills as they take on the more than 20 licensed courses included in PGA Tour 2K23.
Archetypes in PGA Tour 2K23
Archetypes, one of the improvements in PGA Tour 2K23, define the identity of a player in the game. In essence, seeing the archetype should tell fans exactly which type of player he or she is. There are five archetypes in the game and each has specific strengths that will play into the style of certain players, but each archetype comes with a weakness that gamers will want to be aware of as they decide where to apply skill points later in their progression.
Many players will likely opt for the Powerhouse archetype, which boasts the best power attributes and allow players to hit the ball the farthest off of the tee, but they should be wary of automatically jumping to that choice. While the Power rating of 81 is attractive, the weakness of the Powerhouse archetype is swing difficulty, meaning that a game that is already unforgiving of mistakes will punish players even more. Players will have to decide if the glory is worth the risk, but hitting the ball a long way won't do much good if they're just hitting it farther into a lake. For players who want power, however, it is important to note that equipment has no bearing on attributes in PGA Tour 2K23, so all gear in the game is cosmetic only.
There are other archetypes in PGA Tour 2K23, with some being more balanced and others being very slanted toward taking advantage of one specific skill set. The Greensman and Rhythm archetypes offer the most balance to players who want to establish themselves as a pro who is good at every aspect of the game, although not dominant at any. Rhythm golfers have the advantage of being punished less for slight errors in the swing path or tempo, though they sacrifice some distance on each shot and still have competitive putting attributes. Rhythm is good for players who prefer accuracy to distance, while the Greensman archetype is best for those players who feel comfortable with their tempo off the tee in PGA Tour 2K23 but want every advantage they can get on the putting green.
Players who love getting creative on the golf course will likely love the Sculptor archetype, especially if they're using one of the Legendary Ball sleeves in PGA Tour 2K23 that give a bonus to attributes like distance, bounce, or shot shaping. Sculptor boosts shot shaping ability at the expense of distance and distance control, so players will be taking more control in east-west movement in exchange for less control north to south. The Woodsman archetype boosts a player's ability to make good recovery shots, which is a nice bonus for players who have a tough time mastering tempo. However, the Woodsman archetype comes with the lowest putting attributes available. Ultimately, players will have to decide which archetype, skills, and golf balls give them the most benefit and help them navigate the competition in PGA Tour 2K23 the most.
PGA Tour 2K23 is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.