NBA 2K26 Impressions Thread

[EccentricMeat]

I read the comments, so much negativity, is everything really that bad((( I wonder if there was just as much negativity when 2K25 came out, I wanted to look at the thread on the forum, but I couldn't find it.

It was actually mostly positive around here at release of 2K25. The addition of shot timing profiles was a major W for the offline crowd as we had been asking for a return to the older shooting systems for nearly a decade at that point. I honestly cannot believe that they removed the system entirely, just one year later. They could have easily added a Green or Miss profile and locked online play to that, while letting the rest of us customize the game to our preference. The fact they didn’t do that and instead ripped out such a highly celebrated addition just proves that the decision makers at 2K don’t even take the offline crowd into consideration.

Green or Miss is a fatal flaw to the offline experience. The rest of the game is actually pretty damn great, so don’t think it’s all bad. And if you’re a Real Player % user, you have nothing to worry about.

[Impetuous65]

Didn't read before posting.

[ctas78]

ok, we'll see when the release comes out... I only used real% for lay up, medium and 3pt shot with timing.

But I've seen people on YouTube playing HOF with timings. Or even when you play real%, the timing indicator is on?

[topwater]

Idk why the reply button has suddenly disappeared but:
topwater, Real Player% is still there, they haven't removed it. You just turn off shot timing and it says on the description that you're using Real Player% instead based on ratings.
rudyjuly2, I'm afraid you have to continue playing 2k25. There's no way the shooting profiles can be patched back in 2k26. It's green or nothing everywhere. Next year they'll remove Real Player% also. It's absolutely bonkers what they're doing.

You can't make it entirely real player %. If you pull down on the right stick to perform a layup or dunk you end up with a shot meter. Unfortunately for me I often use down. It's not the end of the world, but old habits, as they say...

[Fake Empire]

You can't make it entirely real player %. If you pull down on the right stick to perform a layup or dunk you end up with a shot meter. Unfortunately for me I often use down. It's not the end of the world, but old habits, as they say...

This is not true. You can turn off shot meter for everything and use real player%. I'm using the RS for shooting since the first iteration it was implemented. I'm using RS right now as we speak for layups on real player% setting so your claim isn't valid.
Also, even if you use shot timing for layups it's not as bad as the shot timing for jump shots. At least you have a better window and chance to draw fouls.
The mixed reviews on Steam so far really tell the story even if the game is still in early access. The only negative reviews are about technical issues, the rest of online obsessed gamers love it and this year's release will probably be the first one in 13 years or so with positive reviews on Steam. 2K gave everything to their online minions and they're all happy. It was simply a case of green or nothing.

[H2UKNOW]

This is not true. You can turn off shot meter for everything and use real player%. I'm using the RS for shooting since the first iteration it was implemented. I'm using RS right now as we speak for layups on real player% setting so your claim isn't valid.
Also, even if you use shot timing for layups it's not as bad as the shot timing for jump shots. At least you have a better window and chance to draw fouls.
The mixed reviews on Steam so far really tell the story even if the game is still in early access. The only negative reviews are about technical issues, the rest of online obsessed gamers love it and this year's release will probably be the first one in 13 years or so with positive reviews on Steam. 2K gave everything to their online minions and they're all happy. It was simply a case of green or nothing.

Nah he’s right. Even with shot timing off(real player %) the shot meter still pops up for skill dunks(RS down) and you have to play the alley-oop mini game. Hoping both can be patched.

[topwater]

This is not true. You can turn off shot meter for everything and use real player%. I'm using the RS for shooting since the first iteration it was implemented. I'm using RS right now as we speak for layups on real player% setting so your claim isn't valid.
Also, even if you use shot timing for layups it's not as bad as the shot timing for jump shots. At least you have a better window and chance to draw fouls.
The mixed reviews on Steam so far really tell the story even if the game is still in early access. The only negative reviews are about technical issues, the rest of online obsessed gamers love it and this year's release will probably be the first one in 13 years or so with positive reviews on Steam. 2K gave everything to their online minions and they're all happy. It was simply a case of green or nothing.

I'm not sure what to say. If I use down I'll often get a shot meter and have to time a dunk and occasionally a layup.

I'm not saying that your statement isn't valid or that you're lying, but I am absolutely, definitely experiencing it.

[spinoff]

While the dribbling system has improved, I also feel it has regressed significantly. Instead of a normal breakdown now we get an in and out dribble by pressing up. That really seems pretty terrible. Last year's system of selecting a motion with the ball style based on speed with ball, a signature dribble style based on ball handling, and a normal breakdown based on ball handling and an aggressive breakdown based on ball handling was infinitely better. Having to spam up on the controller or left and right for a different sig breakdown feels bad, performs terribly and also looks bad because half the time you end up doing a portion of an in and out into some odd canned animation that's in a very different speed. We've also lost the ease of holding in L2 and just performing a simple left to right, or vice versa, and it play out a variant of the signature dribble style. You now have to do several inputs and it's not fluid.

I’m glad to read this because it shows I’m not the only one who thinks the dribble controls are broken. Even the size-up has issues : it’s really hard to do a size-up without triggering that in-and-out animation. Worse, they claimed we could control the rhythm of our dribbles, but that’s not really the case. I reinstalled NBA 2K21 current gen to compare, and it was handled way better back then.

I’ve tested a lot of things, and the controller inputs are still a mess—it honestly feels like the game isn’t finished. I also keep running into a bunch of bugs and things that don’t make sense.

[knicks2k]

Jacked the shooting sliders up (3pt) in practice just to see what the results would be. Hit a few none green shots at 75. Moved it up to 100 and hit them at a better rate, obviously. I didn’t see drastic changes in the size of the green zone either, makes me think there may be some wiggle room. Idk how this would play out in an actual game, just stating some findings.

[Fake Empire]

Jacked the shooting sliders up (3pt) in practice just to see what the results would be. Hit a few none green shots at 75. Moved it up to 100 and hit them at a better rate, obviously. I didn’t see drastic changes in the size of the green zone either, makes me think there may be some wiggle room. Idk how this would play out in an actual game, just stating some findings.

This sounds promising for the offline crowd using shot timing. It will need extensive testing though with many full games to compare results and stats. You're obviously bypassing to a degree the green window by increasing the success rate of shooting globally for your team. It's like making a custom low risk shot profile like the default one in 2k25.
I believe with the combination of the timing slider you might be able to find the sweet spot based on your skill but you'll need to spend a lot of time testing it.

[Fake Empire]

I'm not sure what to say. If I use down I'll often get a shot meter and have to time a dunk and occasionally a layup.

I'm not saying that your statement isn't valid or that you're lying, but I am absolutely, definitely experiencing it.

Do you have all timing settings off? I've never had the meter appear in layups so far. I had it just once for a dunk but I guess this was because I triggered a signature one?
If Mike Wang or anyone else from 2K is still around reading the forums it would be nice to give us some explanation what's happening and why the shot profiles were removed without any prior information. A lot of us here buy this game for 25 years in a row now. Some of us since 2k9 even buy the game TWICE a year (console and PC). If they don't want us anymore they can put an age restriction for the product like 3-39yrs old when buying the game.