NBA 2K25 is the latest in the long, storied franchise, NBA 2K, developed by Visual Concepts. The basketball franchise is known for being the best basketball game on the market, regardless of the competition present. It brings together elements of the NBA world, real world, and video game world experiences and putting together to put together an experience that is genuinely hard to match. So, did 2K land a hit this year, or did this year’s entry prove to be a misstep? They hit a full-court shot with this year’s release.
Before I begin the review, it would be wrong of me to state that NBA 2K is the game I play the most and a game that has influenced me a lot in life. I love the game of basketball; I played basketball in high school and community college and am currently a Team Manager for an NCAA D-II school basketball team. I have also played 2K for nearly 300-400 hours a year since NBA 2K10 (My Wii U said I played 999 hours of NBA 2K13). So I would say that I am a veteran to the series and its gameplay.
Beginning with the game’s tutorial mode, Learn 2K, we can see what the game is bringing that is new to the gameplay section of the game for the most part. This mode, in my opinion, has been one of its best features due to how the mode tries to introduce players to the game while also immersing the player in a more advanced way of playing the game from the jump, giving the newer player a slight edge over existing players off of skill alone, therefore, a fighting chance out of the gate once they complete all of the tutorials, or at least the ones they feel is needed to up their game. The mode overall is the same mode players are used to seeing, but this year a” “Mini-Game”” section has been added which gives players mini-games of varying difficulty degrees that will put their newfound knowledge to the test before hitting the real courts.
When I boot up the game, though, I usually jump straight into Play Now like I am. This mode is the mode of modes with NBA2K because, at its core, it is where you can ideally see the game’s presentation shine and where you want to go if you want to get a quick game in. The mode is also a great place to practice controlling many players to get the hang of them while practicing the game’s new dribbling and shooting controls. Under Play Now, you can also find NBA 2K25‘s Blacktop mode, which is essentially streetball-style basketball that you can play with NBA Players. All in all, I have to say that while it is an underwhelming tab on the 2K25 home menu, it is the most consistent tab in the franchise’s history and continues to be one of the strongest.
I mentioned earlier that I am on an NCAA D-2 Basketball team as a Team Manager, but I did not say that it is for a women’s team. This takes me to the next mode I played, the WNBA. I am always happy to see anything about the WNBA in a basketball video, and with 2K announcing that they were bringing back the WNBA and The W in 2K25, I was ecstatic.
Female basketball players deserve all of the spotlight and shine that male players do. But did 2K and Visual Concepts do any justice to this year’s mode, or is it just a wash of a mode? The game mode feels identical and flat to a slightly painful degree, but I will not deny that this year is a step up for the WNBA mode and The W together, contrasting to what we see in real life with the WNBA community and The W itself.
The WNBA experience in NBA 2K25 is lackluster compared to the NBA experience; the presentation of the game types is entirely different; in some areas, I can understand because that’s how it is in real life, but in others, I was left scratching my head at the lack of parity. The mode lacks features for reasons that don’t currently make sense. Sure, when watching an NBA game, you can see everything is hyped up, glitzy in a way, with players running around, etc.
In NBA 2K25, that same hyped presentation exists for the NBA games. When watching WNBA games on ESPN and YouTube TV, the presentation is a bit different, but some of that glitz and glamor is still there, especially so since it’s the ladies out there. None of that has translated over to NBA 2K25. It feels like a soulless experience with how it goes straight from a hype movie to just a silent arena with some commentary from the broadcasters, and then the game starts. When playing NBA games, lights and music are on all around the arena, fans cheering, etc. But none of that happens here.
With the “The W” game mode, the WNBA’s MyCareer feels and looks the same as last year, but with some minor changes here and there. It even reminds me of NBA2K on the Wii with 2K12 and 2K13. Both of those games” MyCareer modes shipped essentially the same, which disappointed me as a kid (I even understood why it happened; I just don’t support shipping copy-paste games). Having paid $135 as an adult, I expected a different, more upgraded W-MyCareer. During the NBA 2K25 Courtside Report streams where the W was covered, I audibly said, “That’s it?” When I finally started to play it, I audibly said, “Yep, that’s it.” Having to be what feels like a similar experience, yet also feels like a downgrade, is a big disappointment.
Moving next to MyNBA Eras, also known as MyNBA/MyGM. These are the two modes per year that I will admit that I spend the least amount of time on. Even admittedly, I did not touch the tab on 2K24, so I was very excited to go in and play the mode, especially with the addition of FIBA teams and tournaments, as well as the NBA Cup. The MyNBA mode is exceptionally customizable, and it felt so good to go through the setup menus and tick my settings on and off.
It felt like my own personal NBA, and I had fun playing it. I played around 83 hours of this mode in NBA 2K19 and loved it; I almost got sucked in again playing the game, having to manage my roster, arena, staff, and overall league. The addition of farewell tours is very touching, giving players the digital respect that we see them often get in real life. Unfortunately, I had no time to dive deep and experiment with MyGm mode.
Gambling is not my thing and never has been. I always try my best to stick to F2P or play what I buy, and that’s it. This leads to direct conflict in playing modes like MyTeam for me, but yet I find myself playing it year after year because the mode remains the most consumer-friendly and fun card-building mode where you collect your favorite players and manage them. But, thankfully, NBA 2K25‘s MyTeam mode feels less like gambling and more like managing a deck of cards and playing those that you see fit. I did not get even a small hint of gambling or like I was contributing to a machine that felt wrong, too. The mode feels fun because it gives you eight ways to play the game: train your cards, gain credits easily, get free packs, etc.
While I won’t be able to go into all the modes, the mode that I played the most would be Breakout, and I utilized the Exhibitions feature from time to time when I could to build up my cards and gain items. Breakout is the mode where you are in a board game, and you must play basketball games and complete certain objectives to win. If you lose three times, you’re done.
Beyond that, the mode is similar to what players saw in 2K24 except for the Auction House. That’s right, the auction house is back! I personally feel that in a lot of games where you’re building a team or roster from cards to have fun those games should have an auction house; it gives players a way to get cards that are hard to obtain or obtain a card they want in their collection. My only natural negative behind the mode is that the auction house is locked behind Gold Rep, which, in some ways, I understand, but with it being such a highly requested feature, I wish it was fully unlocked for its return.
I always had a dream growing up to be an NBA player, and like many athletes, I quickly realized that might not be happening. So I turned to the next best thing, NBA2K MyCareer, which thankfully is back better than ever in 2K25. This year 2K seemed to really take players complaints to heart and improve upon nearly as many negatives as possible, leading to what has to be the best online experience in 2K since they introduced the city/neighborhood in 2K18. With 2K18, we left behind our normal ways of playing to embrace a new way of playing while beginning to focus more on the online aspect, which understandably alienated a lot of players while bringing in new audiences.
Here in 2K25, MyCourt in MyCareer is back, and while it is lackluster compared to NBA 2K19, it is still MyCourt, and I love it. Something that is back and better with the mode is the backstage experience to the NBA games. Last year, things felt bare, as if they were just starting off as a team making that experience, and it made me excited for 2K25 immediately because it could’ve been better. This year, we get the “better” with what feels like single-player MyCareer, mostly all in one place, allowing players to check off multiple things in 1 area. What kind of things? This is part of the review I was waiting to get to say that NBA 2K25 MyCareer feels more like I’m playing a small-scale MMORPG than a live-service basketball game.
It feels like since NBA 2K18, 2K and VC have been trying to dip their toes deeper and deeper into the MMORPG waters, and with 2K25, I feel they might have found the game’s sweet spot in the genre to build up and do more, which 2K has done in the past and current 2Ks (just please don’t do another 2K verse B-Fresh.) Here we have daily, weekly, and seasonal missions, kind of like last year (and when playing NBA games, you can receive position/roles specific quests), except the rewards are better and you gain more exp for doing more activities in which you did not use to get exp for, as well as providing players multiple ways of not only playing basketball. The key is being a single player in NBA games this year. 2K more recently introduced Seasons with passes, and my biggest and main gripe is that the activities that counted towards it were primarily park and online activities. I’m a single-player type of guy, so seeing them put single players at the forefront makes me happy.
When looking at NBA 2K25 as a package, I have to think about the game’s overall presentation and gameplay. Which, if I can be honest, is the best in a very long while from VC and 2K Sports. While playing the game with my headphones on with 3D Spatial Audio enabled, the in-game arena sounds like I’m in the arena I work in a lot of times. The commentary that happens as customary mid-game is nearly top-notch per usual, with the commentators speaking about relevant basketball topics and bringing in special guests from the NBA community to commentate, like Shams Charania.
The music this year also fits the game better, in my opinion, the soundtrack for NBA 2K24. Apart from the sound, the gameplay is also in its most solid form this year with the new dribbling and shooting system. Dribbling is simple yet highly complex this year, and with how fluid it looks and feels, it is like looking at a dream. I’ve always dreamt of playing like Kyrie Irving and how smoothly he slices and dices his way down the court and then does a masterful flashy pass or pulls up 3.
Now, that is possible, and it feels just as good as it looks. The new shooting system, however, is both a blessing and a curse. I thought my days of no bar were over after NBA 2K13, but they are back with me again in NBA 2K25. This is because, unlike past years where the bar and window were clear to see, this year, it is confined to a small window at the peak of an arrow.
When players first see the new bar, they might think it works like NBA Live 18 or 19, but they don’t. Mike Wang, Gameplay Director for the 2K series, has said multiple times how to use the meter correctly, though when trying to apply said practices to the bar, it didn’t necessarily work, leading me to play the game with no shooting bar overall. While that may be the curse of the new shooting and a familiar story I’ve heard playing with others online, the blessing part of it is that not only am I learning players’ shots and movements on a deeper level, but I’m also getting slight bonuses to my gameplay for doing so.
So, the curse of the new shooting feels more negated because of the sense of accomplishment and bonus I get from making a shot. There is also one big blessing of the new shot. Players can, for the most part, say goodbye to the nightmare latency issues that have plagued past 2K online gameplay, as the new shot bar, in a weird way, negates shot latency, and with 2K improving their online experience this online experience with 2K is quite literally the smoothest yet.
NBA 2K25 stands on the side of 2K history that will be remembered fondly. With its abundance of improvements and changes that slightly change 2K on a fundamental level, this release feels like it’s supposed to be a new launching point for the 2K series, like how NBA 2K14 was. While the game has its issues, none are too big to take the spotlight away, nor can the studio fix or build up from them. From Play Now to MyCareer, players will surely find a home in 2K25 and grow their love of basketball.
