2K continues to bring the best replication of a major sport with the NBA 2K series and that's no different with NBA 2K23. There are so many little things that developer Visual Concepts have implemented over the years that helps to separate this franchise from other sports franchies. With this year's NBA title, 2K and Visual Concepts have brought back the Jordan Challenges. If there's one thing that separates 2K Sports and Visual Concepts from the competition, it's their ability to bring in a documentary-style game mode much like Showcase on WWE. The historical factor of the NBA is at the top of the pyramid for this year's game and this should be an influence on how to do sports games going forward. NBA 2K23 is the game the community has been waiting for, but in doing so strays away from the casual crowd once again due to its learning curve.

The Jordan Challenge is the nostalgic drip that every basketball fan ever needs to experience. This was previously in the series, but hasn't been done like this. There are fifteen challenges with three goals to hit for every one. Visual Concepts has included picture filters for each era which is complete with different presentation elements matching those periods. There are interviews prior to each matchup from legendary people who are familiar with each moment. The way the AI plays the game and how the playbooks work will be different for each era, since the modern era is focused so much on perimeter shooting. This means posts and interior paint play will dominate these eras. Each team is complete with their players and this provides not only a unique playing experience, but also a unique learning experience. The Jordan Challenge is something done so well as the mode starts with the 1982 National Championship complete with the college atmosphere as UNC takes on Georgetown with Patrick Ewing.

Legendary playoff moments, TEAM USA and All-Star game moments encompass the fifteen challenges that culminates with the 1998 NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz. Mike Fratello, aka The Czar, also adds to the commentary with the goal of capturing the atmosphere and environment of each period. The crowd also goes along with this as the mode keeps the presentation elements high, although reduced to properly replicate how these games were witnessed on television. The Jordan Challenge is also a good way to get acclimated with the gameplay, which keeps the elements that Visual Concepts have been implementing in the series since the jump over to the current generation, albeit with many adjustments.

Visual Concepts did not stop there with implementing historical periods in the game. The Franchise Mode in NBA 2K23 known as MyNBA has now transitioned over to MyNBA Eras. Players do have the choice starting their league with this year's rosters and teams. Three different eras are now available to help create hypothetical "What If's" in what I can only deem as the greatest update to a Franchise Mode in any sports game,to date. Players have the choice to start in the 1980's on a quest to draft Michael Jordan, the 90's in a quest to draft Shaq and Kobe, or in the early 2000's to draft LeBron James. Each era is complete with the players from each team as each one is ran like the mode the fans have played.

On top of the NBA players from each era, players can expect the arenas and court floors, teams and jerseys and the classic presentation to properly replicate each. The amount of detail applied to the mode is 2K's love letter to basketball history. The only real drawback is why do any scouting if you know what the incoming players are going to do? Other than that, everything about each era adds so much to the single player experience. There are four different era of franchises you can do at once with all the depth the mode has had. The previous eras also allow for expansion and even discuss in the commentary about adding Toronto and Vancouver to the league. This includes relocation and rule changes as well. Visual Concepts may have actually bit off more than they can chew, because it's going to be difficult to follow this up.

MyTEAM has always been one of the better card-based modes as 2K is bringing back its Seasons to keep players engaged. The biggest drawback of this mode was the Contracts, which allowed for limited use of cards that were awarded or purchased. These have been eliminated so players can actually hold onto their cards and lineups for as long as they like. Specific cards can be upgraded and a new Prestige Tier allows players to start over with the cards and get more rewards. There are new Starter Cards that offer 90 OVR to begin along with duos to provide a boost to former teammates. A Triple Threat Co-Op allow three friends to team up against three others, but this only benefits three players for couch co-op. Clutch Time allows for quick games with a four-point line and this allows for a welcome quick turnaround. Cards can also be sent on Expeditions to get rewards. This is a lot more player-friendly this year and a needed improvement to the mode with good game mode additions.

The WNBA franchise mode, known as The W, also received boosts in the form of league expansion (once hitting level 10) along with the Commissioner's Cup and the ability to put a MyPLAYER in the All-Star game. Once league expansion is unlocked, players can create teams from the ground up complete with a logo design. Community goals also allow players to input play time to unlock rewards along with separate weekly goals to help engagement in the mode. I feel the same love that was shown with the MyNBA Eras needs to be introduced with The W going forward, but there are solid aspects here that have been added.

Visual Concepts has also trimmed the fat on The City for MyCAREER. The area is now 30% smaller for less useless traversing and now allows for fast travel to locations. The story for the career involves your player being drafted as a reach as a rivalry ensues with the player taken behind you. Unfortunately, the long term telling of this story tends to fade off as you lose engagement with the whole thing. There are missions and goals once again, and I found myself reaching a point in the NBA Career where the mission fails and I don't know what mission is failing. There are four different affiliations again, but each area has a dedicated environment that adds new life to the mode. The North Side Knights play in a castle, for one, and it's just a nice new and more organized area to traverse in. Most of the missions, again, are fetch missions where you run to one side of the area, talk to someone, and then back to the other.

The most important aspect of The City was resolving latency issues in the gameplay, which seems to be the case. While traversing the city, things can feel tanky and performance will drop. During gameplay, it's much more one-to-one in the experience I had playing online. The grind in the actual NBA career is brutal, even when upgrading your stats and badges. This is due to how difficult the game is to play this year and the amount of playing time you receive. You'll participate in post-game pressers and can choose a different journalist to ask questions as you seek out to be a team player or be all about yourself. Along with new challenges in the mode, it does feel more streamlined. Online games still take a bit to get into and the mode will still consume your time.

The gameplay for NBA 2K23 received many adjustments across the board. Not only does playing in different eras require a different strategy to each game, but the overall core gameplay requires a higher difficulty curve. The 2K community seems to be okay with this as it's once again rather challenging to shoot. Yes, the shot meter returns and can also be turned off in favor of real statistic shooting, but missing easy layups and perfect shooting are back to being things. Double Throws and Switchbacks have been introduced for the Pro Stick, which involves flicking the stick in one direction and coming back in another. There are a lot of animations that went into upping the gameplay mechanic, and unless there's a highly-rated player, the moves you try to pull off don't matter. The defensive AI is back to being stout on the perimeter. Screen plays are your friend, but there's normally a second defender right there to block the off player.

Big men seemed to have received a boost in the game as post play is a lot better and blocks are massive. When playing defense, the one-to-one interaction is improved over the past, but I wish the game would allow a better lock-in on the offensive player. I'd feel better about bouncing back if I don't track a player properly. Perimeter shooting is inconsistent and frustrating. There's just times where it doesn't make sense when a bucket is sank, and more times than not why you miss a bucket. Visual Concepts has introduced Adrenaline to the game, which allows up to three separate speed boosts. These are difficult to see on the fatigue meter but this also means you better make the most of your best players when they're fresh. Stealing also seems to always result in a foul, even though VC has mentioned it would be simpler and easier. This may depend on the player's stats, however. Lastly, the defensive awareness on the interior seems to be lacking as too many players don't seem to pay attention if someone comes through the lane. Overall, playing defense feels better and playing offense feels more difficult. VC introduces these more-detailed additions to gameplay every year to appease the community, but someone just wanting to play a basketball game isn't going to have a great time.

The visuals mostly remain top notch. Any player with a facial scan is nearly a one-to-one of their real life counterpart. There are some scenes where it's beautiful; coming out into the arena in MyCAREER with the lighting and the environment is fantastic. Anyone using a create-a-player template doesn't look great, though, and that also goes for legend players. A lot, like Patrick Ewing, almost look like a caricature of themselves. The arenas, floors and animation from the crowds are realistic in providing the best sports atmosphere out there. Some of the animation chains remain sluggish and strange, but when the visuals hit on all cylinders, there's nothing else out there like it.

The audio adds even more to the experience. With the separate commentary for the older games, there are technically three commentary teams. Kevin Harlan is the best commentator in the business and 2K retains him for games that is featured in one team with Grant Hill being featured in the other. It would be cool to see two different television broadcast presentations in the future, but having different commentating teams helps to shake things up. The crowd noise and reactions are fantastic and the voice overs across the board are excellent. The soundtrack platform that was seen last year will remain with artists coming in throughout the year.

Closing Comments:

NBA 2K23 is the game the community has been wanting, but that hardcore community is far more advanced than any casual player looking to just play a basketball game. It's the little things that help to make NBA 2K23 the best sports representation to date, and the legacy content now puts the series far ahead of any other sports series out there. It's not without its fault, beginning with the difficulty and learning curve of the game. Every bit of content in this year's game is fresh and useful and you'll find yourself playing every mode. If you purchased the version that offers 100K virtual currency, you have to choose if that's going to MyPLAYER or to MyTEAM. The modes remain a grind to keep the player on the game, but the Jordan Challenge is worth the price of admission to begin with. This is better than the 2K Showcases in the WWE series due to the presentation aspect. It'll be difficult for 2K to one-up NBA 2K23, one of the best video game sports adaptions of all time.

NBA 2K23

Reviewed on PlayStation 5

Franchise
NBA 2K
Platform(s)
PC , PS4 , PS5 , Switch , Xbox One , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S
Released
September 9, 2022
Developer(s)
Visual Concepts
Publisher(s)
2K Sports
Genre(s)
Sports
ESRB
E For Everyone due to In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items), Users Interact