Alright so, I've gotten a little bit of time to tweak my settings and get a feel for the game. Here are some impressions.
Technical aspects:
I'm actually pretty happy with what I'm getting. I've been running high detail on textures, medium detail for crowds, low shader detail (I think you can choose low or high), 1920x1080 full screen, anti-aliasing 2x. I'm fluctuating between 60 and 45 FPS during gameplay, most of the time right around 50 FPS. I only really see dips when the cheerleaders come out, there I'll dip to 30 sometimes 25 FPS, I blame the stupid real time physics for their hair
I was half planning on having to upgrade my video card but I think I can live with this, hopefully we get a little bit more optimized in a patch down the line. Bottom line is I can totally live with what I'm pushing. It's pretty much the same as I was running 2k14 after mods minus the slowdown during the breaks.
Gameplay
movement and playcalling
I think there are a lot of things that impress me right off the bat and there will be a lot of good things that will stand out as I get deeper into playing. First of all the standard player movement during freelance is a huge step up. I've been taking a few video clips which I might mash up into a breakdown, if I manage to get some time (and it seems like I never have time these days so we'll see).
Play calling itself has taken a few games just to get used to the new navigation, this seems like change for changes sake but no biggie, I'm getting used to it. I like the speed at which players move when running plays, it's more realistic because it's more dynamic, they go from a trot to a burst when making their cuts which can create space as a play should.
Rebounding
Personally I think rebounding is much improved, playing with Deandre Jordan feels nice, he skies for blocks and rebounds like he should. I also like how more rebounds are snatched out of the air. Last year I felt they just sort of floated into your hands. Overall in the few games I've played I haven't been shocked in a bad way at the rebounding.
Shooting
It does feel a bit different to me having not played next gen last year. Some of the shot releases are different but that seems to happen every year. It is throwing me off on free throws (for example Blake Griffin's is a lot different to me). I do like the new shot meter feedback, it seems more precise than the shot feedback last year and hopefully the shot system works as it was said because that seems much more lifelike. So far it seems to work as it should and I'm liking that aspect.
Defense
The weight shifting feels just about right to me off the bat, I may find my gripes down the line but damnit I'm enjoying it right now. If you lay off the turbo you have really tight control but if you get moving one way too fast you can't auto recover. That's SIM baby.
The steal animations I've seen, I've liked. I love that I don't see balls being poked away and flying out of bounds at a million miles per hour, instead I've seen balls get poked out of the hands of the offensive player and then control dribbled a few times by the defender before he gains full possession; I've seen similar yet different animations on a few different CP3 steals, I like!
I've seen a few blocks, Matt Barnes got a nice chase down block against the warriors and I've gotten a few nice blocks with DJ that, like I mentioned earlier felt like blocks he would make. I also got a block with CP3 that was more of on the way up strip/block (even though it counted as a block). I liked that CP3 didn't sky unrealistically, he just got it on the way up when it was exposed.
Graphics and Animation
Player faces
These are very hit and miss, some look fantastic, others look really bad, like way less like the player than last gen. This is where modded faces would be huge (unfortunately looks like we'll be waiting a long time for those).
Other stuff
Body models are ok, nothing that blows me out of the water but better than last year. Crowd looks way more reactive to what's going on, they're obviously much more detailed and varied than last year. I'm not a fan of the hazy look that next gen seems to have, I think that we'll end up looking back and being like "wow, we've come a long way since the beginning of this gen." At least that's what I'm hoping because honestly I'm really not
that blown away by anything next gen so far.
Animations
I guess the best way to put it, is that it feels like 2k but with a lot of refinement. There are a lot of beautiful authentic looking animations and there are some that override everything else. One example was an
almost really sweet Blake Griffin baseline reverse dunk, gorgeous, except that he happened to put the ball up through the bottom of the rim (like really bad clipping through the rim). I would love to see him get stuffed by the rim and fall if he happens to make contact with the bottom of the rim but nope, the animation overrides all so it went in and counted. That type of thing must be something deep in the foundation of the code that's really hard to get rid of without breaking a lot of things.
So suffice to say that animation still has all the positives and some of the same negatives that we've loved and hated for years. It doesn't bother me as much as it does some, I sort of try to suspend my disbelief but it can remind you, yeah you're still playing a game.
Game modes and online
I honestly haven't touched anything but quick game so far, hopefully I'll have some more free time tomorrow and I'll come back and give my 2 cents. I will say though, that just the fact that we can play with friends again is guaranteed to make me play way more online this year. So add me and we'll get some games in at some point!
Happy gaming guys!