Analysis of NBA 2K23 – As always, but with Michael Jordan

Years ago the NBA 2K saga was considered the best sports video game, and that was an undeniable claim. But this was destroyed from within the studio itself, not because the quality of the game has dropped, which isn’t the case, but because of the excessive microtransactions that accompany its online modes. This makes us look suspicious every time a new installment arrives; It’s a bit sad that this prevails, but it makes sense because during several campaigns they have been very insulting about it. And if it is true that they have taken their foot off the accelerator a bit, in NBA 2K23 they are still very present, hindering the maximum enjoyment of a work that would not need those additives to fill the company’s coffers. At least not like that.

Modes like MyTeam or My Career, for example, are full of micropayments. I will not reveal anything to you by saying this and, in reality, it is hardly worth going into it; When I started my game on MyTeam – which, in case you didn’t know, is the counterpart to Ultimate Team in FIFA – I felt quite uncomfortable after several minutes of opening packs and rewards that you get after spinning a species of Wheel of Fortune. It is the drift to which the users of fantasy sport in video games are led and, unfortunately, with the billions it generates, it seems difficult at this point to stop it.

This suspicion that I speak of, and which unites all basketball lovers who refuse to fall into the trap, makes other sensational aspects of NBA 2K23 go unnoticed. Taking advantage of the numerical factor, 2K wanted to pay homage to what many consider the best athlete in history: Michael Jordan. A specific game mode is dedicated to him, which is one of the greatest interactive tributes that the sector has given life, and if you liked “The Last Dance”, that Netflix documentary made with so much love and that we remember for the memes that MJ was worth anything to bite someone and sink their career, you can get an idea of ​​what is represented here.

We already had a Jordan Challenge in NBA 2K11, but what they’ve implemented now is much deeper and more exciting. Basically, it’s about reliving Jordan’s entire career, starting with the college finals with North Carolina in his rookie year against Pat Ewing, through games with the USA Dream Team, unforgettable moments like “The Shot” or, of course, that basket in which God disguised himself as a basketball player again, giving the sixth ring to those glorious and unrepeatable Bulls, who froze all of Salk Lake City with only an orange ball entering the basket.

It is a mode made with bestial care, in which everything is taken care of in the smallest details. The games also have visual filters so we play them as if we were watching the game on television, filmed with a camera of the time, with low resolution and granules that would now make our retinas explode. The goal of this mode is to tackle a series of challenges that usually limit themselves to replicating the stats that Jordan has achieved in real life, which is not easy when, for example, it is time to imitate the 63 points he has collected. in Boston Garden. I’m sure if such a game were released independently it would be a real hit and would appeal to any fan of the sport, but it’s an add-on that appears to be hidden in the game’s menu and will be stoned by micropayment mentions every time you talks about NBA 2K23.

But that’s not the only love letter to basketball included in NBA 2K23. We also have My NBA Eras, which on the one hand is where the Franchise mode has somehow been transferred, but now we don’t necessarily have to limit ourselves to the current NBA season, but we can choose between four different eras, from the 80s to relaunch the clash between Lakers and Celtics led by Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, the 90s to try to impose itself on Jordan’s supremacy, 2000 with Kobe Bryant as the greatest exponent and the emergence of Lebron James or a more modern era. We can lead any team of those eras, with their updated models, highlighting a huge work of documentation and representation, and we can also see the evolution that basketball has had in all those years, such as the absence of a triple line to the different name or position changes that some NBA franchises have had. In this way, from our stay, we can change the history of the sport in any way we can think of, from taking Pau Gasol’s Memphis Grizzlies and joining a dynasty or making the Pistons “Bad Boys” who were able to beat Jordan and his bulls multiple times, burying the story of the greatest.

Yes, we have a lot of text at the moment and we haven’t talked about the gameplay. But here we can say that we are with “the same game 23” … and it must not sound derogatory, because the formula has been close to perfection for several years, and various tweaks since feedback that the community gives away every season. An important point is that a new difficulty level has been added, designed so that novice players don’t have such a dense entry point, as it takes several games to assimilate the entire operation of a game into any NBA. For the rest, there are several visual tweaks, such as changes to the shot indicator, or a new gauge focused on the player’s physical wear which is now segmented into three bars that will empty faster depending on how demanding the player is. action. Graphically NBA 2K23 is once again a real barbarism, and if someone walks into your room and sees you playing, they will most likely ask you which game you are watching, because it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish the video game from reality.

NBA 2K23 is a tough nut to crack when it comes to budgeting. In terms of content, it offers many possibilities that are very well curated and worked on, with the Jordan Challenge being the best icing we can think of to enjoy this sport in a virtual format. But all of these virtues are somehow buried due to the microtransactions that cloud some of the game modes destined to be the most important of the product. It may be that over time we have stopped giving it importance, especially after years of playing MyTeam, but it is clear that it is a very critical aspect and that should never be overlooked.

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