NBA 2K21 Last Gen Impressions

[spinoff]

re: NBA 2K21 Last Gen Impressions

It's a little bit wrong to say that NBA2k21 is identical to NBA2k20. There are some new features (very few), the AI seems to be even smarter (very good), the new shooting system is not bad but it is very perfectible. I think that all the controller controls will be reviewed for next year. Why ? For give and go and skip pass it's always the same button... what 2k ?... several years so... shooting with the right stick is not possible anymore after a step back (hop gather mi range or 3PT). With post fade and post layup is not compatible with LT/L2 or RT/R2 to lock the aim. And other bugs...

2k20 is less than 10$. The question is: is 2k21 worth $50/$60? Personally I think that a NBA2k20 has less than 10$ is enough. 2k21 is not worth $60. I feel that NBA2k22 will be very diifferent, it's not very useful to practice on 2k21.

[vetmin]

NBA 2K21 Impressions

I feel it is, yes. More than that, I think it is broken. With aiming I didn’t make non-green shots with Klay in the gym. I am talking about 0/40 (with 4-5 green shots here and there)

Are you playing on HoF? Leaving the game on Pro like it was out of the box I was shooting just fine last night. Plenty of non greens going in, esp for Steph and Klay. Maybe HoF simply lives up to its name more?

Re the game in general: I have to say Im a little disappointed, mostly because I thought the gameplay in the demo felt way more polished. Something screwy happened to player movement / momentum going from the demo to full game. For instance, in the demo I could sprint from the left wing to the right wing, stop into a hard cross through the legs, then flow right into a 3pt jumper. Now when I do that, regardless of the player, my guy will inexplicably be falling backwards during the jumper, rather than going straight up. In the demo it felt really satisfying to string button / stick combinations together and consistently see the player execute the input in a way that looks smooth and natural; to me at least, that didnt translate to the full game, for whatever reason.

Hopefully the culprits of this (and obviously the bizarre ball physics on real player %) are just bugs and that one of the early patches will smooth everything out

EDIT: on a positive note, I think Shot Aiming was a great addition.

[Barata]

re: NBA 2K21 Last Gen Impressions

Starting to feel disappointed. Every game I play, in some quarter, either me or the CPU goes crazy shooting 80+ FG%. The game is fine until this happens, then either I win easily or the CPU does. I remember this happening on 2K19 and 2K20, which was the reason I dropped both games...and the problem is still on 2K21.

[stillfeelme]

re: NBA 2K21 Last Gen Impressions

This game is on another level from 2K20 and I am digging the challenge on All-star against the CPU. HOF last year in 2K20 can't be anything like HOF 2K21

• If you can't green release 8-10 times a game you have no business on anything over All-star that is my opinion.
• If you don't know your default series and playbook you have no business on anything higher than all-star.
• If you don't know your main shooters release timing or can't aim that well you have no business on anything higher than all-star.
• I can't comment on anything real player % yet
• You can't just jump on the higher settings and compete and dominate because the CPU game is providing a humble pie and I love that. This is coming from someone who usually plays on Superstar.
• The inside defense for both CPU and user is much better
• I recommend button shooters to turn off the meter to receive the bonus as Mike Wang has stated. You are playing with a visual aid. If you turn off the aid you get a boost. The difference this is this year if you turn off the aid you are timing the shots all on your own and the game rewards you for doing so.
• The CPU in my experience of playing on All-star is not shooting ridiculous high % either.
• Everything this year is a skill you can break your man off the iso and the CPU will rotate very realistically but if you can hit the shot

[loso_34]

re: NBA 2K21 Last Gen Impressions

seeing a lot of complaints about shooting everywhere.

people want a skills gap until they get it 😂. people want to pick off where they left off last year in park.

[TheFgGoatLikesHawks]

re: NBA 2K21 Last Gen Impressions

2K doesn't get enough credit.

I'm playing NBA play now games and this gameplay is FLUID AF

[TheFgGoatLikesHawks]

re: NBA 2K21 Last Gen Impressions

seeing a lot of complaints about shooting everywhere.

people want a skills gap until they get it ��. people want to pick off where they left off last year in park.

Same 'too lazy to learn the game but why am I not a 2k gawd' cryers every year. Although I haven't played park yet, but the NBA 5v5 gameplay is on point.

[Erithtotl]

re: NBA 2K21 Last Gen Impressions

seeing a lot of complaints about shooting everywhere.

people want a skills gap until they get it 😂. people want to pick off where they left off last year in park.

There's a difference between challenging fun and challenging not fun. Right now competitively the game is no fun because of shooting. In rec games the only points come on transition dunks, big man put backs and free throws. Occasionally ill see a shooting buil have a decent game but more often than not its teams combine to go 1 for 25 on 3s. The games devolve into guys driving into the crowded lane over and over. Even 13 footers are a low percentage so the opposing bigs never leave the paint.

If you aren't good at the new mechanic you should shoot a bit below your rating, like %30 for a 85 3 point shooter, and if you are really good then maybe you shoot %50. Right now its most players shooting %10 or lower and a very select few shooting %50. Thats not a skill gap, that's simply making the game unplayable for the bulk of online players.

In about a dozen rec games I haven't seen a single player shoot effectively with aiming. Not one. Everyone who has shot decently is using timing, and i can count that on one hand. Of those every one has been a shooting build. As for turning off the meter, I always do. Problem is this year they made greening much harder. Problem is, with the meter off slightly early and late releases have always gone in less by design. So now you have fewer greens overall and you miss those close shots too.

So basically the only people who can shoot are those that have high shooting builds and probably use a release they perfected on 2k20. Ive seen maybe 1 player shoot ok without the meter at all in all those games.

I know people keep saying 'you need to get badges'. How? If you can't shoot you cant get shooting badges.

[JimmyK]

re: NBA 2K21 Last Gen Impressions

There's a difference between challenging fun and challenging not fun. Right now competitively the game is no fun because of shooting. In rec games the only points come on transition dunks, big man put backs and free throws. Occasionally ill see a shooting buil have a decent game but more often than not its teams combine to go 1 for 25 on 3s. The games devolve into guys driving into the crowded lane over and over. Even 13 footers are a low percentage so the opposing bigs never leave the paint.

If you aren't good at the new mechanic you should shoot a bit below your rating, like %30 for a 85 3 point shooter, and if you are really good then maybe you shoot %50. Right now its most players shooting %10 or lower and a very select few shooting %50. Thats not a skill gap, that's simply making the game unplayable for the bulk of online players.

In about a dozen rec games I haven't seen a single player shoot effectively with aiming. Not one. Everyone who has shot decently is using timing, and i can count that on one hand. Of those every one has been a shooting build. As for turning off the meter, I always do. Problem is this year they made greening much harder. Problem is, with the meter off slightly early and late releases have always gone in less by design. So now you have fewer greens overall and you miss those close shots too.

So basically the only people who can shoot are those that have high shooting builds and probably use a release they perfected on 2k20. Ive seen maybe 1 player shoot ok without the meter at all in all those games.

I know people keep saying 'you need to get badges'. How? If you can't shoot you cant get shooting badges.

It's the first 2 days of people with their builds, why should anyone but shooting builds be able to shoot well? What sense does it make for lockdowns or paint beast to be hitting 3s with no badges right now on day one? And not everyone buys vc and maxes out shooting immediately, how do we know that isn't a factor? Or some people may be trying the shot stick out vs the button.

The rec isn't the place to go to level up badges anyway, it would take maybe 5 full length myplayer games to get some viable shooting badges. There shouldn't be any hot fixes or patches until a few more weeks have passed because as of now it's what I would expect. Everyone shouldn't be able to shoot well especially this early.

[JimmyK]

re: NBA 2K21 Last Gen Impressions

This game is on another level from 2K20 and I am digging the challenge on All-star against the CPU. HOF last year in 2K20 can't be anything like HOF 2K21

• If you can't green release 8-10 times a game you have no business on anything over All-star that is my opinion.
• If you don't know your default series and playbook you have no business on anything higher than all-star.
• If you don't know your main shooters release timing or can't aim that well you have no business on anything higher than all-star.
• I can't comment on anything real player % yet
• You can't just jump on the higher settings and compete and dominate because the CPU game is providing a humble pie and I love that. This is coming from someone who usually plays on Superstar.
• The inside defense for both CPU and user is much better
• I recommend button shooters to turn off the meter to receive the bonus as Mike Wang has stated. You are playing with a visual aid. If you turn off the aid you get a boost. The difference this is this year if you turn off the aid you are timing the shots all on your own and the game rewards you for doing so.
• The CPU in my experience of playing on All-star is not shooting ridiculous high % either.
• Everything this year is a skill you can break your man off the iso and the CPU will rotate very realistically but if you can hit the shot

I agree on turning the shot meter off for the boost, but it's also important to note you still get a bigger penalty for mistimed jumpers without the shot meter, than with it. Maybe Steady Shooter counteracts that? Never tried. But I do think it's a thing where you have to know your shot. I personally like the 2kw0 shot meter that fills up vs having to stop at 80% full on a tiny line that's hard to read. Not a fan of that which is why I'll eventually turn aiming and the meter off and just roll with the risk/reward.

[vetmin]

NBA 2K21 Impressions

2K doesn't get enough credit.



I'm playing NBA play now games and this gameplay is FLUID AF

Do you feel like the movement is the same as the demo? I swear Im in 2KU doing everything I was doing in the demo and not getting the same fluidity

Edit: i genuinely hope its just me, as i dont mind learning to adjust if the same fluidity is possible, but its just the controls that have been tweaked

[Erithtotl]

re: NBA 2K21 Last Gen Impressions

It's the first 2 days of people with their builds, why should anyone but shooting builds be able to shoot well? What sense does it make for lockdowns or paint beast to be hitting 3s with no badges right now on day one? And not everyone buys vc and maxes out shooting immediately, how do we know that isn't a factor? Or some people may be trying the shot stick out vs the button.

The rec isn't the place to go to level up badges anyway, it would take maybe 5 full length myplayer games to get some viable shooting badges. There shouldn't be any hot fixes or patches until a few more weeks have passed because as of now it's what I would expect. Everyone shouldn't be able to shoot well especially this early.

Again there is a differencw between not shooting well, and shooting %10 or lower every game. And I'm not taking about paint beasts and 2 way slashers, I'm talking about 2 way stretch bigs, playmakers and other builds that have mid 70s 3 pointers and low 80s mid range. I see guys who obviously know how to play going 0 for 8 from wide open corner 3s.

As for mycareer, no, maybe grinding in pro for 5 games will get a non dedicated shooter 1 badge. Not several. And if you are someone who uses shot timing then mycareer on pro will not help u improve your timing since its completely different than online.

I would argue that 2k has made shot aiming the only viable mechanic for builds with anything less than a high 80s 3. Problem is that the mechanic itself is totally flawed. The sticks aren't consistent enough on most ps4 controllers for something so delicate. Many have drift or other slight glitches that are not noticeable for regular gaming but are quite obvious in 2k21. 2k has given us the illusion of choice but in reality its not there because the other shooting methods have been so severely nerfed.

[LTonD56]

re: NBA 2K21 Last Gen Impressions

I just played a couple of games against the CPU on Hall of Fame. The shooting challenge is a welcome additon but not when the CPU is absolutely terrible too.....

I usually need to increase the CPU shootings sliders. However, this is easily the worst out of box I've ever seen. Anyone else running into this problem???

[gamingvader78]

re: NBA 2K21 Last Gen Impressions

I really want to enjoy myteam but the shooting is impossible. I get the difficulty for myplayer where you need to learn your one player but in an ever evolving roster it makes the game not fun at all.

I'm regretting my mamba purchase now... Maybe should have just waited for next gen.

[JimmyK]

re: NBA 2K21 Last Gen Impressions

Again there is a differencw between not shooting well, and shooting %10 or lower every game. And I'm not taking about paint beasts and 2 way slashers, I'm talking about 2 way stretch bigs, playmakers and other builds that have mid 70s 3 pointers and low 80s mid range. I see guys who obviously know how to play going 0 for 8 from wide open corner 3s.

As for mycareer, no, maybe grinding in pro for 5 games will get a non dedicated shooter 1 badge. Not several. And if you are someone who uses shot timing then mycareer on pro will not help u improve your timing since its completely different than online.

I would argue that 2k has made shot aiming the only viable mechanic for builds with anything less than a high 80s 3. Problem is that the mechanic itself is totally flawed. The sticks aren't consistent enough on most ps4 controllers for something so delicate. Many have drift or other slight glitches that are not noticeable for regular gaming but are quite obvious in 2k21. 2k has given us the illusion of choice but in reality its not there because the other shooting methods have been so severely nerfed.

Wheres this footage of everyone on the court shooting less than 10% each game? I have seen, and can link you to tons of games where guys are hitting open shots in the Park without badges without a problem. With video, there's at least some context as to what build are they shooting with, if they are learning to aim, if they are timing it wrong/aiming it wrong, if they are contested, etc.

It's not as bad as you claim, because there are way too many videos of day one footage of good shooting that's easy to find. Making the game easy for everyone to do everything amazing on day one isn't an answer.