There is no doubt about it NBA 2K23 It is the most inspiring work in the series, or any other work in all of the sports video games. The real question is how much amazing depth most players will see.
It only took about 20 minutes – none in the game – to amaze me. All I did was switch over to MyNBA Eras, the new franchise simulator/history mode/hybrid that allows players to rewrite history in ways I didn’t expect. All I wanted to do was see what happened when I kept the Kings in Kansas City (they left for Sacramento in 1985). I obviously knew you could stop franchisees from moving in; 2K Sports made sure to mention the fact that fans are satisfied in series of previews earlier this summer.
What I didn’t expect was everything else that happened in the league’s off-season meetings – mostly because I haven’t played MyNBA much since the situation was fixed a couple of years ago. I’ve bypassed the proprietary veto of a 45-second shot-down clock and a seven-team course to determine draft order (neither of those rights were actually suggested) and I’ve seen them every year since. Rewriting history can be as deep as taking MVP 1984 from Larry Bird and giving it to Moses Malone.
That’s on top of all the standard stuff I could have done as the Kings general manager, but I simply chose to automate in order to see what the Sacramento Kings looked like in 1986. Somehow I ended up with NBA Hall-of-names John Stockton and Patrick Ewing – That’s what the Draft Championship can do for you! – Face Ralph Sampson and Michael Jordan From the Houston Rockets on opening day.
until Childhood idol in Jordan – NC State legend David Thompson – Was still in the league, with Golden State rating, 83. MyNBA Eras lets you start a franchise from present day (season 2022-23) or three-point history (2002-03, 1991-92 , or 1983-84). Thompson missed most of the 1983-84 season because he was recovering from an addiction, and he dropped out of professional basketball at age 29. In MyNBA Eras, That tragedy never happens.
This is a level of historical review I would expect to find in a PC management simulation, not in a console game, and certainly not one of the packages in Masterpiece Jordan Challenge Museum and WNBA’s full career mode, now in its third year, for both players and clubs. Since the Jordan Challenge last appeared in 2010, it has been NBA 2K The series was what I call a “desert island” game – as with the console (and powerhouse), you can get away with a year’s worth of solitude. NBA 2K23 It is a mission game to Mars. And return.
However, all that value – which you get in the base game – feels threatened by the massive fans of MyCareer and MyTeam, and the game’s constant calls to spend extra money in both modes. Don’t get me wrong; I play with them along with millions of others, and especially enjoy the immersive lifestyle elements of MyCareer. I’ve spent too shameful Amount of money to advance the characters you created and their costumes. Both MyCareer and MyTeam offer quick highs, given the tighter gameplay experiences and instant rewards, compared to the old-school slow burn of career modes. And while I’ve so far been able to resist the siren song to increase the value of my virtual currency, the review version 2K Sports gave me is the $99.99 Michael Jordan version, which players start with 100,000 working capital.
The city, the pivotal world where your MyCareer player lives and plays street hoops, seems to be a sign that visual concepts realize just how incapable its residents can see the rest of the game without some hand-holding. There’s a huge milestone where players are told about the Jordan Challenge (and they can even launch it directly from MyCareer), for example, and there are bountiful rewards in the world if you can complete 40 of the mode’s 45 objectives.
For those who may want to sample an immersion within the MyNBA Eras, the Jordan Challenge is a perfect fit. The offer we already have Viewed in great detail, is a perfect presentation of a 15-game period in his career, complete with the look and feel of a telecast that includes old-school chyrons, CRT and scan line filters, and even commentary from one of the actual broadcasters who’ve followed Jordan for most of Jordan’s career, NBC’s Mike Fratelo. You will get all these features for your games in MyNBA Eras as well. What you won’t get are the amazing — I mean, talented — cinematic versions of Jordan’s biggest highlights when it’s a three-star game.
But you’ll feel fine-tuning the gameplay that visual concepts have applied to each of the four eras, as if the studio were building four separate games. Case in point: Playing the 1989 Bad Boys Detroit Pistons with Jordan, I made a step to baseline against my defender in a campaign I could end in my sleep with a MyCareer player, not to mention someone like Jordan. But 6-10 Rick Mahorn came up and completely dressed me in a tangle of arms and legs I had never seen before. The NBA was a more physical league in those days, and NBA 2K23 It really made me feel the bitterness that Jordan had on his back – which made me appreciate all of his feats, despite his physique, even more.
In the main game (and nowadays) there are tweaks to the shooting behaviors, defense and off-ball players with which I can see the developers come close to the endless pursuit of authenticity. However, I don’t feel like I really “got it” yet, so judging its effectiveness is difficult. From what I’ve heard on social media, and read from others, there’s a broad consensus that shooting is more difficult this year, even as the game gives players new menu options to give themselves a greater window into their shooting point.
It’s hard to explain, but shot-gauge shooting in previous versions (as opposed to just using player ratings and back-roll dice) seemed either vaguely difficult or overwhelming (particularly in the hands of skilled online users). It appears that 2K Sports wants people to focus more on watching their player’s animation, rather than a meter, and fire either the shot stick or the X/Square button when they see it at the top of the bird. There are four new options, ranging from the very early to the very late release.
I still haven’t figured out which one really suits me, though. Some days I think I’m an early guy and then my shot meter bounces into the late zone, so I switch to that. Then, reading shot notes that I have an early or slightly early firing on the mid-range cross should easily attach it. Sometimes I can’t tell if my ratings are taking over (the MyCareer player, where I have the biggest problem, is 76 overall) or if I’m not focusing on my style correctly. In the absence of a more enlightened tutorial than those presented thus far, I might go back to the pedigree of shooting and skip the counter.
On the flip side, there’s an off-ball player behavior that made the quarterback I created provide three assists in his first game with the Charlotte Hornets – for reference, I went half a season before I got that many in one game. NBA 2K22. It was a breath of fresh air to stand 15 feet near the baseline, my back to the basket, and when the shot clock hit 5 watched a fellow AI teammate flash behind me for an easy pass from behind and two points. Unless I called for a Pick-and-Roll game last year, my teammates either followed through on the determined play, or just stood there waiting for me to do something.
There is a new pass to ‘open up’ which I need to spend more time in practice mode in the game to learn how to get off. It is similar to “leading to a basket pass”, introduced in NBA 2K21, But who forgot to use it. All the passes I completed above were fired by AI – which is cool – but “Unlocking Player” requires holding down B/Circle, waiting for the AI player to recognize the call (indicated by the basketball icon below), then hitting the A/X in the right moment. I had some situations where my teammates didn’t seem to catch the get-open command. This is probably because it would be counterintuitive to tap the left stick on the person you want to unlock for a moment before holding down the button.
Finally, the defense is greatly helped by a new shading mechanism used to defend the ball, although it can be difficult to understand at first. By pressing the left stick button, the defender will be set to the area where he has the best coverage against the ball player. If the opponent moves in that direction (and the defender follows him), they will be less effective, either getting to the basket or taking their shot. There’s a lot to understand at the moment, and it’s hard to understand how I can use shading to force shifts, rather than just reacting to someone’s movement and trying to steal the ball. It feels more like a visual callout to last year’s system, as correctly guessing a ball handler’s move would put them at greater risk of stealing or catching a dodge. But with reduced power on straight blocks and squats, NBA 2K23 More appropriately to emphasize basic defense on the ball than dramatic actions aimed at stopping the result.
There is a lot to evaluate NBA 2K23, And a lot of that assessment has yet to come from his turbulent community, various influencers, and people like me. But NBA 2K23Its appeal and value, for once for a very long time, far outweighs its initial and persistent calls to spend money, and the guilt and lousy feelings it brings. Like I said in August, if nothing else, no one can complain that Visual Concepts did nothing to position its franchise. So if microtransactions bothers you too much, you can always go to MyNBA Eras and rewrite 40 years of history at no additional cost.
NBA 2K23 It was launched on September 9th in PlayStation 5 And the Xbox Xbox X; Versions lacking many features were released in this review as well Nintendo SwitchAnd the Playstation 4And the windows PC and Xbox One. The game was reviewed on Xbox Series X using a pre-release download code provided by 2K Sports. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not affect editorial content, although Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links. you can find Additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy is here.
“Writer. Friendly troublemaker. Lifelong food junkie. Professional beer evangelist.”