Gameplay Upgrades Detailed for NBA 2K23
The annual drip feed of information that leads up to the release of a new NBA 2K game is well underway right now as 2K does its best to get ballers hyped for the latest entry. In the last info drop the developers have gone into great detail as to what has changed or been improved on the gameplay side of things and frankly it reads as an impressive list.
This year there seems to be a huge focus on refinement instead of jamming a bunch of new features in, which, as a long-time player, is nice to hear. For mine the gameplay last year was pretty darn good (it was other things I had issues with) and the desire to improve on a solid foundation is more appealing to me than loading up on new systems. The full list of gameplay improvements sent to me by 2K is huge, 6 full pages of information so I am not going to drown you in words here but I thought I would point out some of the things that have the longtime NBA fan inside me excited.
- Improved pro stick movements. Using the right stick has always felt a little clunky to me so knowing they are going to try and fix that makes me smile.
- Jump shot improvements. The style of shot your player takes is going to make a difference now. For example, someone with a strong, two-handed style will do better in traffic but may not be as effective in the open. This should make players feel more unique and more accurately represent the differences that different positions bring to the court.
- Shot meters have become customisable and returned to a style from earlier 2K games.
- Steals and Ball strips. One of my biggest gripes with 2K has always been that when you attempt to go for a steal it is a lottery as to if you make the steal or crash tackle the defender. Knowing they are improving both the AI and the effectiveness in this area is welcome news.
- AI improvements based around scramble, passing and ball handling should fix common issues in the last few entries.
There are tonnes more so if you want to find out everything make sure you watch the two developer interviews in the post. I am holding off judgement on the whole game but hopefully, this is a sign that the team is focusing more on the basketball and less on the sponsor-pleasing, time-wasting, VC-grabbing components that have crept into the franchise over the last few years. I guess we will all find out when the game launches in a little over a month on September 9.
