NBA 2K25, the review of the 2K simulation

Another round, another victory for Visual Concept

One of the main difficulties of video game titles with annual releases is that of trying to reinvent themselves and constantly improve, captivating the public and convincing them that yes, even this year it is worth investing in a new iteration.

This is especially true for sports franchises, which are ready to be released right after the summer with updated rosters, new modes and some necessary technical tweaks.

NBA 2K25 is no exception and, right on time, also in 2024 it returns with a profoundly renewed guise compared to its predecessor, guilty of having imposed a series of limitations on users (first and foremost the cancellation of the Auction House in the MYTEAM mode, fortunately reintroduced here) who already after the first few months had complained on social media of excessive frustration.

This year the cover goes to Jason Tatum, the undisputed star of the Boston Celtics with whom he also won the 2023/2024 championship, A’Ja Wilson as a WNBA star and the legendary Vince Carterone of the masters of the orange ball who appears on the Hall Of Fame Edition with his iconic under-the-leg dunk, thanks to which he won the Slam Dunk Contest in 2000.

One of the fundamental pieces of the game is the much vaunted system ProPlayalready present in NBA 2K24, which in this latest version perhaps finds its perfect form: by memorizing the videos of the best basketball players in action, the system reproduces their movements without any smudge, guaranteeing unprecedented realism, just think that compared to last year, over 1000 new features have been added. 9,000 unreleased animationsincluding ball control, shot release, dribbling and celebrations, while the artificial intelligence takes care of the rest by optimising the responsiveness and precision of teammates.

In addition to this, NBA 2k25, which you can buy on shop online at GameStopintroduced a new shooting system which allows the use of the analog stick to set the ball release according to the needs of the person holding the pad; in addition, there is the possibility of performing relevant shot fakes to make the action even more immersive and full of tactical ideas during each match.

The City is the central HUB connected to the network, thanks to which you can experience a multitude of online modes

The game modes remain unchanged from the past, although partially modernized in this new edition.

We start from MyCareera key feature of the series that this year decides to return to its origins and tell a story free of useless Hollywood plots and more focused on pure basketball and the player’s rise in the glittering world of the NBA. After creating your character (also in this case it is possible to use the face scan and create a model with real features), you will be catapulted into a daydream that will help you become familiar with the controls and the function of theimpetusespecially useful in decisive moments. MP (this is the name of the protagonist) will wake up at the most beautiful moment and from there he will begin his journey, accompanied by the faithful Patrick Wells, an expert agent and precious advisor, with whom you will have interesting narrative exchanges, such as a series of flashbacks useful to explain your basketball origins.

Once unlocked, you will be able to access the Citya central HUB connected to the network, thanks to which you can try out a multitude of online modes, tournaments, improvised games and missions useful for earning some extra VC. As always, the points needed to evolve your player to make him competitive are the sore point of every 2K title and unfortunately the 2025 edition is no exception: in fact, a lot of VCs will be needed to increase the statistics of the protagonist athlete and often it will happen to clearly perceive an inadequacy due not so much to our real abilities, but to the scarcity of the set attributes.

Unfortunately, this year too, the WNBA athletes are relegated to the role of simple extras

This divergence increases dramatically if you compete online with other players who may have purchased VC via microtransactions (a possibility contemplated by the game) and, regardless of expense, have created an unmarkable player. It goes without saying that to have a minimum chance, you need to invest an immoderate amount of time in this mode and you will not always feel like you are adequately rewarded.

In MyNBAthe most genuinely strategic mode of NBA 2K25, you can start a real season, focusing on management skills to be combined with classic matches on the parquet. As in the previous iteration, the possibility of choosing between 6 diverse ere to try to compete and impose our dynasty. It starts from the 80s with Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, passing through the 90s with the hegemony of the best Bulls until arriving at the era of Steph Curry, LeBron James and co. For each period, graphics, scoreboards and even game rules will be automatically structured to be as faithful as possible to the era in question and in this aspect the developers have fully satisfied all our expectations. Through MyNBA LiteVisual Concepts allows newcomers to bypass a series of rules and settings (mainly related to trades with other players and the draft at the beginning of the year) that could make learning more difficult and less fluid, ultimately negatively impacting the overall gaming experience.

Technically the title has made tangible progress since the last version

We can only appreciate the excellent re-proposal of the eras, both for the technical quality and for the attention to detail that has always characterized the titles of the franchise. Excluding the personalized “moments” of champions like Michael Jordan in NBA 2K23 or Kobe Bryant in NBA 2K24 in favor of a more complete system, but no less in-depth is a good intuition, which in the coming years can be further enriched generating nothing but consensus.

MyTEAM is perhaps one of the most appreciated and followed sections of the game, but also one of the most subject to fierce criticism from the users. For those who are not aware, in this mode the player can build his own team from scratch, buying or winning card packs (with variable prestige) to complete a roster with which to compete online and offline. Furthermore, as previously mentioned, this year the Casa d’Aste which in NBA 2K24 had been replaced by the New Player Market, which instead of allowing players to sell and buy cards, with total autonomy for both prices and sales rules, imposed a predefined card pool at fixed prices that varied weekly. Obviously this change aroused the ire of the hard core of fans, so much so that 2K went back on its steps and reinstated the Auction House.

Historic matches, between franchises from times gone by, have a charm all their own.

This does not mean that microtransactions are now a distant memory: as already anticipated, even here every small purchase can be made with alternative currency, that is, by purchasing with hard cash “packs” of VC to collect a greater number of cards. The cost of each card, single or pack that it is, is very high and to reach the amount necessary for the purchase you have to sweat a lot.

Technically the title has made tangible progress since the last version, also thanks to the modern ProPlay verified technology that ensures even more fidelity of polygonal models compared to real counterparts. Many of the most famous faces of today’s basketball have been revised and updated according to the most modern standards, including shooting animations, penetrations and defense against the opponent.

The difference is especially noticeable on the models of professionals from past eras, where the immobility of the face and the smaller number of details suggests that the renovation was not carried out in all respects.

On the sidelines, the sound department is always top-notch, whether the background noises of the crowd, the friction of shoes on the parquet or the sound accompaniments of the arena’s control room, everything contributes to creating a deeply realistic atmosphere, worthy of an NBA basketball simulation worthy of the name.

Conclusions

The true strength of NBA 2K25 is having listened to the fans and to have retraced one’s steps when it was needed. The game is an inspiration for every basketball fan and manages to intrigue the new generation, as well as convince the long-time players partially disappointed by the senseless changes of the previous year.

The gameplay is solid and captivating and does justice to all the greatest NBA champions (thanks to a first-rate animation park), allowing the player to identify 100% with their favorite athletes, without making the strategic approach impossible or exacerbating the more technical aspects of the modes present. overall level of detail is very high and we’re not just talking about a visual excellence that we’re almost used to by now, but about an attention to small details and like never before the person holding the pad is put at the center of everything with video tutorials, suggestions and on-screen instructions that will make even the most complex of commands intuitive.

Microtransactions have always been a dark point of 2K productions, but the software house does not seem to worry about this at the moment and given the annual sales results and a completely absent sporting competition, it is not wrong.

As always, a convincing simulation that will delight newcomers and long-time fans alike.

Buy NBA 2K25 on GameStop’s online store!

• Good

  +Nicely revamped MyNBA mode

  +Many appreciable new features in the gameplay

  +The Auction House returns to MyTEAM

  +Technically superfine

• Bad

  -Microtransactions still invasive

  -WNBA marginal

• 8.8 Clutch