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Why the new NBA 2K23 is the most realistic experience to date
What sets NBA 2K23 apart from last year’s title? We look at the new additions to the number one basketball video game in the world and why you should upgrade.
Released on September 9th, 2022 for PS5, Xbox Series S/X, Windows PC, Nintendo Switch and most older generation consoles, this is the 24th instalment in the franchise by 2K Sports and Visual Concepts. What is it about the 2K series that keeps players returning to spend their time and money whenever a new title drops? Simply: the game lets them live out their fantasy of being a professional basketball player and they love it. Park is the most popular game mode in 2K23 and all the new updates have fans coming back to grind for badges and buckets.
Throwbacks and new additions
Devin Booker is the cover athlete for the standard and digital deluxe editions, with Michael Jordan, who famously wore the number 23, getting his own edition with an added 100K VC and a bunch of perks between MyCareer and MyTeam; to pay tribute to his legacy as the greatest player of all time. Something that will stand out as soon as you launch the game is the revamped Jordan Challenge that we haven't seen since 2K11.
These challenges honour MJ’s legacy with 15 of his greatest moments for you to relive in-game. They’ve been updated to be as true to the real experience as possible with astounding visuals and modified gameplay so you can play ball just like they did back in the 80s and 90s. When things were grittier and the refs didn't blow the whistle every time there was a little bit of contact. The prizes you get for completing these challenges will up your swag on the court and improve your MyTeam lineup.
2K23 Park
© 2K Sports
We’re back in the city (aka the park) but this time with themed courts to match the affiliations. These guild-like affiliations are separated into four groups: Beasts of the East, South City Vipers, Western Wildcats and Northside Knights. The affiliation you choose will determine what court you load into when you go to the city. Instead of plain courts, you will be surrounded by decorations that align with your chosen affiliation. So, for the Northside Knights, you’ll be in a medieval-themed court with castles, a draw bridge, suits of armour, stone lions, banners and many more archaic structures and decorations. You can take pride in your chosen affiliation by playing in weekend events to win games for your chosen guild and take home prizes, street cred and additional XP.
The MyPlayer builder is also a lot more complex this year allowing you to create many new types of builds. You can even make a replica build of a real player if you manage to figure out the exact specifications of some of basketball's greats. If you figure out exactly how to make your player like Giannis Antetokounmpo, your player build will be named The Greek Freak upon completion.
Updates to Gameplay and MyPlayer Development
This year’s 2K has seen slowed-down gameplay that is more realistic to actual basketball, which benefits defensive players and builds. Because of this, a lot of people are calling 2K23 ‘the year of the defender’. Previous 2K games had ridiculously fast and glitchy movement speed so there wasn't a lot you could do to avoid blowbys or having all your shots blocked and swatted away by crazy chase-down animations. With the slowed-down gameplay, it requires more effort to reach the rim. This may seem like a setback, but you’re rewarded for shaking the defender by being able to land your dunks and layups more easily without someone coming out of nowhere to stop you from finishing your shot.
The introduction of core badges has added a new strategic element to developing your MyPlayer. When you choose a badge to core and you complete all the challenge requirements for that badge, you will get all of your badge points back to use elsewhere. Each build gets one core badge per category (Finishing, Shooting, Playmarking and Defense/Rebounding). This way you can maximize your badge points by coring the most expensive ones so you will get back the maximum amount of badges per category. So if you're planning on running a tier 3 Hall of Fame badge for your build this will cost a total of 8 badge points, which is the most expensive badge in the game so you will get the most return out of eventually making this a core badge.
The new tier system, which goes hand in hand with coring, forces you to make some more tough decisions when choosing your badge loadout. In previous years, no matter how much better one badge was over the other, it would always cost the same. This year, badges are separated into three tiers. A tier 1 Hall of Fame badge costs 4 points, tier 2 would be 6 and tier 3 costs a whopping 8 points. Badge tiers will change depending on how important it is to a specific build. For example, Rebound Chaser is a tier 1 badge on a small point guard build as it won’t have that much importance in-game, whereas it would be a tier 3 badge on a tall centre since it would become extremely important to how effective you can play that position.
The Verdict
2K23’s updates, especially the ones to gameplay and the MyPlayer builder, are a welcome sight to basketball fans looking to be entertained and occupied with realistic gameplay going into the winter months, but there are some setbacks. The new badge system, which makes the game more balanced, does have the tendency to make things less fun due to the sacrifices you make with not being able to use every badge you want.
Inflation also hit 2K hard this year, with builds costing more VC to max out than any previous game. But if the offensive heavy and super fast gameplay of previous years were not to your liking. The new slower and more defensive style of gameplay might make up for expensive builds and limited badge selection.
