NBA 2K25: Another Year, Another Basketball to Buy

You know, I like 2K Games… When they make video games. What 2K Games seems to forget is that they are a video game company, not a walking microtransaction simulator. NBA 2K25 continues the problems that I’ve had with 2K games in general at the moment, such as NBA 2K24 and WWE 2K24, where the focus is on how much you spend rather than how much you can play.

Name: NBA 2K25
Platform(s): PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4/5 (reviewed), Xbox One, Series X|S
Developer: Visual Concepts
Publisher: 2K
Game Type: Sports
Mode(s): Single-player, multiplayer
Release Date: September 6, 2024

Microtransaction Micro Modes

Let’s get this out of the way. AVOID MyCAREER AND MyTEAM!

If there is one thing that I’m getting sick and tired of complaining about with 2K sports games are the main modes where it’s about how much you can spend more than spending time playing. This is very evident in two modes: MyCAREER and MyTEAM.

MyCAREER

Unlike WWE 2K24, the MyCAREER mode will see you taking your custom player through the ranks from a College draftee to an NBA great… At least that is what you dream about in the opening of the game. Yes, we have the “dream sequence” opening where you play a game where you are 99 overall and have a lot of fun dominating the boards and then wake up from that dream facing the reality that you are nothing more than a 60 overall scrub that can barely handle the ball let alone actually make a shot. From here begins the grind… Unless you can pay.

From the get-go, you will quickly see that this mode is badly balanced. You get the chance to play some games from your player’s past to get some VC (Virtual Currency) and stats, but the objectives you are required to do are so insane that you are going to have no chance of passing them in the way the game demands you have to pass them. In one game, you have to outscore the top scorer by 15 points and make sure your team wins the game. As a 60 overall, you have ZERO chance of doing this as the AI will bucket 3-point shots quickly and easily every time. This isn’t a skill issue, it’s a push to make you buy more VC to get your stats up to a decent level to have a chance at making this challenge.

Outside of playing the games, you have access to THE CITY, the hub in which you will be playing online against other players to grind out the most VC you can. The problem with this is the “Developer Requirements vs Community Demands” issue that a lot of online games have today. While the developers have their requirements to allow players to go against each other in random pick-up games in THE CITY, the community will not bother with anyone who either doesn’t have the right overall rating, or the right “drip” to show their commitment to NBA 2K25.

How do you get the drip needed for people to pay attention to you? Well, it is simple my friend, you go into THE CITY and drop VC on clothing to make yourself look the part… A majority of the time this means having to spend more of your real cash to get this virtual cash to buy virtual clothes. NBA 2K25 will make sure that you are always spending, with what is considered on-trend changes all the time, with premium items rotating out over time, so you’ll have to buy more.

2K sent me the All-Star version where I got 100,000 VC, which I blew through within minutes due to the cost of everything being so high and VC being a very slow grind. Sure, there is a training center (Sponsered by Gatorade) that you can access once per week to gain some stats through gameplay, but who would want to do that when you can just buy your way into a 90+ overall status?

Oh, you can also do some Go-Kart racing to grind up some VC too… Because that’s what I want to do when I spend 100+ Australian Dollars on a BASKETBALL GAME!

NBA 2K could take a page from the book of the WWE 2K developers and just leave the career mode as a single story to play through to unlock things for the MyPLAYER creation suite, but I guess when there is money to be made, it doesn’t matter what would be beneficial to the player.

MyTEAM

If you’re sick of spending money in MyCAREER, then you can always spend money in MyTEAM. Much like WWE 2K’s MyFACTION mode, or any of EA’s Ultimate Teams mode, you will be creating a team of players based around cards that you pull from packs that you… You guessed it… Pay real money for it! Yes, you can earn VC to buy packs, but the grind is so slow that you’ll be reaching for your credit card before you know you’ve already spent an extra $150 for this game.

NBA 2K25 does this in the same fashion that pissed me off so much with MyFACTION. You’ll get given some mid-tier cards, between 70 and 78 overall, from your free opening box along with some limited-use “Free Agents” that are rated in the 95+ overall range. But remember, once their uses are gone (Usually 2 games) then the player disappears from your roster unless you score the cards again randomly through opening packs.

MyTEAM allows you to play online against other players, most of whom will have bought their way to the top of the pile by the time this review goes out, and also complete challenges to unlock other players, items for your team, and other things to help level your players… However, a lot of these challenges will require you to have a specific card to do the challenge, let alone complete it, so get ready to spend that VC to open more packs… Spend lots, spend often.

You do get a free base tier Pro Pass each season so you don’t completely think this mode is pay-to-win, but you’ll be bombarded with pop-up notifications urging you to buy the Premium Pro Pass or the Hall of Fame Pass each season so you don’t miss out on the extra VC and stat perks that are exclusive to those passes.

NBA 2K25: Real Life in the Game!

If there is anything that can’t be disputed with the NBA 2K franchise, it’s that the graphics are well beyond what people want. As I will say again in this review, the crew at Visual Concepts worked with a new system that allowed them to use NBA footage to create some of the motions and moves that happen on the court, bringing the realism up to a level that no other sports game seems to be able to replicate.

The presentation of NBA 2K25 is something of a legend, recreating TV-style games with an accuracy that will make you think that you are watching a game rather than playing it. The commentary team for each game has thousands of voice lines available to work with, making sure that repartition isn’t something that will happen often.

Outside of looking great, there isn’t much else to say about the presentation of this game.

This Game has Gameplay in it… I’m Shocked Too!

We’re finally going to talk about the game that is NBA 2K25 at its core.

This year Visual Concepts added the ProPLAY engine to NBA 2K25, giving them the ability to add over 9,000 new animations to the game without needing to use the traditional style of motion capture, instead using footage taken directly from NBA games to create the most authentic gameplay experience to date.

What they didn’t add was easy controls. For the last decade, NBA 2K games have been getting more and more complex, with things like shooting becoming more convoluted than ever. I have no idea what was wrong with the “Pass, Shoot, Run” buttons of the past, but we now have a weird stick motion shooting system, where you have to pull the right stick backward, then forward while timing an arrow on the screen to make a shot… With the results tell you how early/late you are with the wind-up and the shot, making you feel like you have no clue as to what you are doing. Yes, you can adjust this in the options to be kinder to you if you are not making shots, but it is very demoralizing to have to adjust the options when you’re already playing on the lowest game difficulty.

For those people who are new to NBA 2K25, then you do have the option of “LEARN 2K”, a mode that will walk you through what has changed in the game and give you a chance to reskill yourself to play the game.

To be honest, I’m not a fan of having to reskill myself to play a video game every year. By this stage, controls for a sports game should be standardized every year, allowing for new players to come along and ACTUALLY PLAY THE FUCKING GAME! I’m sorry, but this isn’t a job. This isn’t something that should be a thing anymore. Visual Concepts needs to lock in one way to play the game, something simple, and stick to it. Hell, NBA JAM from 1993 has better controls than the NBA 2K series does.

If there is one thing that makes me wonder where all the money made from MyCAREER and MyTEAM goes since 2K cannot get enough server space to keep things running properly 24/7. Much like WWE 2K24, going online requires a ritual sacrifice just to see if the server is going to be up and working correctly, then another one if you dare attempt to get an online game going. As someone who has been playing online since the dial-up days, it boggles my mind to see a yearly game series constantly have servers that barely work half the time, with the other half not working either 90% of the time.

When you do get a game going online, you’re going to see things like frame drop very often, with some games not even connecting at all even if both players have good connections. Also, don’t bother trying to play a game if you aren’t in the United States, since international ping is considered one of those things that is considered forbidden by the player base. The number of times I had people leave games based on my ping alone set me off into a rage that The Hulk would be proud of.

Lots to do… For free! (Kind of)

Believe it or not, there are some things in NBA 2K25 that you can do for free other than play basketball through the quick-play option. You can do things like play any of the modes below without having to get your wallet out and pay to gain stats or other bullshit that would cost you money.

MyPLAYER Builder

The first thing you can do is build yourself into NBA 2K25, complete with a 99 overall rating. The catch is that while you fill out those stats, you’ll get badges attached to your player that will give an idea of how your build is progressing and what type of player you will be when you are finished. These badges can be leveled up through gameplay… I think, but to be honest, this was a bit too confusing for me as I hate stat management.

However, for those people, like me, who hate stat management, you do have the option to pick a “Pro Build” that is based on one of 74 professional NBA players. Unfortunately, these Pro Builds are based around more current-era NBA players, so if you wanted to play like Shaq or Michael Jordan, you’re out of luck.

MyNBA

If there is one part of NBA 2K25 that I will actually recommend, and is the saving grace of the game, is the MyNBA mode. This mode is the same as last year but updated with a Steph Curry era alongside all the other ones on offer. You’ll either take control of the main player in their era and replicate their success or with some others, you can play against them and try to rewrite history.

Personally, I love the Jordan era since I’m more of a 90s-era basketball guy. It’s great to play through moments and games as the legendary Chicago Bulls when they had the best roster on the planet. The presentation when you pick this era is pretty cool too, as you get to see a more mute color pallet, giving the games that “recorded on VHS” look to them.

MyGM

As I said before, I hate stat management, so MyGM is something that I cannot recommend personally, but there is a part of the community that would love this mode, which is why it has been around for so long.

MyGM gives you two paths to go down. One is a more RPG-style version of the mode where you take your manager through an RPG-style system where you talk to people and make decisions that way. This mode gives the game a bit more of a personal touch as you get to know some of the people involved in your team both on the court and in the board room. The acting here is a bit stiff at times, but the more human feel gives the mode something to do instead of looking at spreadsheets all day…

That being said, if you like stats and spreadsheets, then MyGM has you covered too. This mode lacks the human touch that the other mode does, as it is easier to fire players, coaches, trainers, etc when you don’t know them from one another. This version reminded me of the WWE version, something that I hate in modern games as it just makes things go from exciting action-packed gameplay to something that feels like your everyday 9 to 5 job.

The W

If you enjoy playing quick matches, some smaller moments, and next to not much else, then the WNBA mode will be for you.

I’m all for adding the WNBA into things, but there is not enough care put into the modes available in NBA 2K25 for them. Where is the option to play MyCAREER with a female player? Or a MyPLAYER creation suite? There isn’t anything much for those who want to play as WNBA players to do outside of the bare basics.

It’s 2024 2K Games, come join us in equality!

NBA 2K25: High Price for Small Improvements

My whole experience with NBA 2K25 can be summed up in the opening moments of the game. After agreeing to the very unbalanced Terms of Service for the game, entering my email address to update their account service, declining the option for 2K to send me spam emails about what’s going on with their service (I get news from the PR company anyway), and opting out of sending my data to the NBA so they can spam me with emails; I finally got a chance to play the final moments of a game using a template character that I was forced to select (It looked nothing like me by the way), and had some fun playing the game… All before finding out, I was playing the opening chapter of MyCAREER!

After backing out of the forced entry into one of the two cash-cow modes, I was greeted with the main… Nope, I was shown a pop-up asking if I had purchased the Pro Pass for Season 1 yet, followed by another pop-up showing me “What’s New in NBA 2K25” aka another screen asking if I had purchased the Pro Pass for Season 1 yet… TWO FUCKING POP-UP SCREENS ABOUT THE PRO PASS IN UNDER 5 SECONDS!!

NBA 2K25 is a fucking joke. Instead of focusing on making a great basketball game that everyone can play, 2K has once again mircotransactioned the living shit out of a once great franchise in the pursuit of profits for a management group that sees players as nothing more than walking wallets… And I blame everyone who buys this shit year after year.

2K needs to do to NBA 2K like they did with WWE 2K in 2021: Take a year off from trying to drain everyone’s wallets and go make something that focuses on fun and accessibility. NBA 2K25 is nothing more than a roster update with a slightly modified control scheme to make it look like the developers did something over the last 12 months. Hell, they should just make the base game free-to-play and turn the NBA games into a live service game so at least they would be justified and transparent about how money-hungry the company has become.

Review Disclosure Statement: NBA 2K25 was provided to us by 2K for review purposes. For more information on how we review video games and other media/technology, please go review our Review Guideline/Scoring Policy for more info.