Monday Tip-Off: Hopes & Expectations for NBA 2K25

We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Join me as I begin the week here at the NLSC with my opinions and commentary on basketball gaming topics, as well as tales of the fun I’ve been having on the virtual hardwood. This week, I’m tipping things off by sharing some of my hopes and expectations for NBA 2K25.

The NBA 2K25 preview season tipped off with some great news for our community, namely the reveal that the New Gen version is coming to PC. Given that my new PC should be able to handle it on relatively high settings at least, it’s something that I’m personally able to look forward to. Of course, since I do own a PlayStation 5, I’ve already been able to experience the ninth generation version of NBA 2K. To that point though, as I’ve previously discussed, I haven’t been particularly thrilled with what is now the flagship version of the game.

Of course, as I’ve also recently stated, it’s important to keep an open mind. I don’t go into new releases hoping to be disappointed, or looking to be negative. I’d rather enjoy the game every year, even if I am keeping some old favourites in the rotation. Recent releases have left me feeling cynical and less optimistic about the future of the series though, and that’s difficult to shake. Indeed, during the past two preview seasons, I discussed how NBA 2K23 and NBA 2K24 might win me over, and re-reading what I wrote, not a whole lot has changed. So, with that being said, what are my hopes and expectations for NBA 2K25 as we await more previews, and its September release?

My hope is that the game finally feels less sluggish on the sticks. From the input lag to players feeling like they’re running in mud – user-controlled players that is, CPU players remain a few steps quicker – I haven’t enjoyed the on-court experience on the ninth generation. Shooting, dribbling, staying with your man on defense, moving off-ball, player momentum…nothing has felt right to me since the game was “built from the ground up”. I’m still dubious about that claim as well, but the point is that the tech that’s in place has not yielded an enjoyable game. ProPLAY has arguably improved the quality of certain animations, but crucially, it hasn’t made the game control better.

Unfortunately, I’m not confident that much will change in that regard. I doubt that there’ll be a brand new motion system that brings back the responsiveness and the fluidity of older games that I do enjoy. It’s easier said than done to replace such tech in the space of a year, and 2K is clearly all-in on ProPLAY. At the same time, one of the main reasons that I couldn’t get into NBA 2K24 New Gen is because to this day, it crashes my PlayStation 5 after only a short time. I have no idea why, especially as I have no issues with any other PS5 (or for that matter, PS4) titles. If I’m not dealing with that, then maybe I’ll be able to warm up to the overall feel of the gameplay.

Mind you, another issue that I have with NBA 2K’s gameplay on this generation is that the developers continue to cater to the online/competitive crowd. The focus on developing mechanics based around the notion of a skill gap has hindered the quality of the traditional/offline experience, because concepts designed for head-to-head play lose their fairness with the reaction speed of an AI opponent. Honestly, the fun, sim-oriented gameplay that made NBA 2K so successful has been sacrificed to appease the “get good” crowd. And of course, when it comes to online team play modes, fun is still secondary to pushy recurrent revenue mechanics and a pay-to-enjoy philosophy.

Since I don’t see any Triple-A publisher easing up on microtransactions unless they’re forced to – and sadly, Take-Two is in a very comfortable position here – I don’t see the situation getting any better. Even with the NBA 2K League floundering and going on hiatus, I expect the gameplay team will still defer to the online crowd and their vision for the game. Obviously that is an important aspect of gaming in 2024, and I’m not suggesting that the competitive scene be ignored. I do want to see NBA 2K25 strive to satisfy both online and offline gamers though, without compromising the quality of either experience. However, I’m not getting my hopes up too much in that regard.

Still, if the controls are more responsive and the gameplay less sluggish, that’s a good start as far as enjoying offline gameplay. If I do get hooked on NBA 2K25, I expect that that’s what I’ll be partaking in the most. I’d love to spend more time with MyNBA Eras, and depending on the situation with modding and how many players are still missing this year, jumping into the 90s with the Jordan Era would certainly appeal to my nostalgia. The potential to tweak sliders to improve the gameplay experience also steers me towards a return to franchise play, since we’re stuck with the official tuning in MyTEAM and MyCAREER, as well as all the connected online team play modes.

To be blunt, I also expect the greed to be out of control in MyTEAM this year. The removal of the Auction House and adoption of the Player Market may have seemed controversial, but the backlash didn’t result in any lost revenue or a major boycott. To that end, 2K has no incentive to bring back the Auction House, make prices and pack odds any fairer, or lessen the pressure or grind for No Money Spent gamers. I expect there’ll be plenty of content as always, though history suggests that Legends cards will be riddled with inaccurate ratings and animations. I do appreciate MyTEAM and I’m sure it’ll be deep and engaging in NBA 2K25, but I doubt I’ll be able to get into it.

The same goes for MyCAREER. At this point, I just can’t get invested in grinding up another rookie MyPLAYER from scratch, only to lose access to them following the inevitable server shutdown. The grind and expense is only getting worse – something I confirmed when I reluctantly bought some VC in NBA 2K24 for content creation purposes – and I loathe the idea of having to keep grinding to maintain Badge levels. As much fun as I’ve had playing MyCAREER in previous games, and even jumping online to play with friends, the unpleasant slog combined with the online scene being utterly toxic means that those modes no longer hold the same appeal as they once did.

Even so, I hope there are some improvements for gamers who are still keen on the NBA career experience, and its connected online modes. I hope this is the year that we see some actual matchmaking, resulting in less toxicity and more enjoyment, but I remain sceptical. I guarantee that the long grind – which is only for profit, not for our benefit – won’t be any better and could very well be worse, though I hope I’m wrong. I hope that daily bonuses and other basics aren’t locked behind affiliations that have requirements to join, as in NBA 2K24. My hope is to see less gatekeeping in NBA 2K25, but sadly my expectations are that it will be more of the same as last year.

Going back to historical content, I hope that Take-Two has been able to strike more deals with players to appear on the classic teams and in MyNBA Eras rosters. I’m not expecting them to have listened to Charles Barkley, Reggie Miller, and Rasheed Wallace, but I really wish they would. I expect that the inaccuracies that we see in MyTEAM cards will be present in those other modes. It just doesn’t seem to be a priority to fix them, and I remain convinced that politics are also a major factor. Nevertheless, it’s far better to have that content in the game than not, and with NBA 2K25 New Gen coming to PC, it’s going to give roster modders a big head start.

And look, since my cynicism is already on display, I expect the preview season to include promises that have been made before, with a few truths about NBA 2K24 being revealed as it gets thrown under the bus. I’d rather be wrong and part of me still hopes for the best, but previous developer insights have demonstrably lied, so I’m very sceptical these days. I’ve heard all the buzzwords, seen the same claims made time and time again. You know, shills and apologists love to talk about “everyone” hating the latest game and then loving it later. One can just as easily point out that many people hype up every new game as the best, and then later pretend they didn’t!

If it’s not blatantly obvious at this point, my expectations for NBA 2K25 are rather low; honestly, much lower than I’d like. I want to be excited about it, because a new game should inspire excitement rather than cynical dread that we’re in for more of the same. Once again, the New Gen version coming to PC is a big deal, and something I should be able to look forward to. As such, while these may be my expectations for NBA 2K25 at this point, I hope that I’m wrong! I hope that some of the gripes that I and other long-time basketball gamers have had with the ninth generation NBA 2K titles are addressed. I hope that it’s a release that challenges my retro gaming habits.

Naïve as it may be, I hope that there is some semblance of fairness in MyTEAM and MyCAREER. I hope that fun is prioritised ahead of elitist concepts, and catering to the snobbiest contingent of the userbase. I hope that the community feels good about NBA 2K25, and enjoys it beyond the inevitable two week honeymoon period where everyone pretends the game is perfect, and all criticism is pushed back on. I especially hope that the New Gen version proves to be worth the wait for PC gamers. On the plus side, I’m confident that bringing New Gen to PC and the promotion that decision is receiving is a good sign that NBA 2K will be on the platform for years to come.

Above all, I hope that my cynical expectations for NBA 2K25 are disproven. The nature of gaming in 2024 means that some unfortunate practices are very unlikely to change, but NBA 2K25 can still be a great game that lives up to some of our most hopeful expectations. I guess in some respects, I’m setting my expectations for NBA 2K25 low in the hopes that the game will soar over that bar, delighting me in a way that its ninth generation predecessors have thus far failed to do. I’m not expecting perfection, and I anticipate some familiar issues, but keeping an open mind means holding onto hope. And so, I’ll do my best to reserve judgement until September 6th.

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