This past week, I had the chance to attend an NBA 2K25 Community Day event at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame!, where I got to hang out with many of the 2K community and, most importantly, play NBA 2K25 early. I played around eight full games, all of superstar difficulty, and I’m here to share my thoughts on the game so far.
NBA 2K25 Gameplay First Impressions
As a kid, I’ve always dreamed of a world where sports video games could get to a point where they could truly capture the essence of individual players 1 to 1, and it feels like we’re getting closer to that reality with NBA 2K25. Jumping from team to team and messing around with the newly added Pro Play animations gave me the sense that I was controlling these NBA players. Blending different moves from real NBA footage is seamless, almost tricking you into thinking you’re watching live basketball instead of playing a video game with how smooth it looks.
My very first game I had to check out Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever. Naturally, I matched her up against Angel Reese and let these ladies go at it. Playing with Caitlin was a blast, her ability to create off the dribble was such a blast to control and she’s truly a female Steph Curry with her ability to launch from anywhere. I felt compelled to drop at least 30 with her (and I did)
GAMEPLAY
Now, probably the first thing I noticed was the floor spacing. It was more pronounced playing with smaller WNBA players, but even in an NBA game, you can tell the court dimensions relative to the players have been changed. I’ve long since wanted this, as it opens the offense to do many more things.
The shot meters you must play with will take some getting used to. Despite my early struggles, the new Pro Stick Rhythm Shooting took me about three games to get used to, and while I might not use it as my primary shooting method, I appreciate having the option. Ball handling is more fluid than ever, with the aforementioned pro-play animations built into nearly every player. Luckily, Ball handlers can lose the ball in traffic or when trying to force their way through defenders, which I appreciated. Driving into the paint feels varied even when performing the same move, as the bodies try to match up the best they can to the positioning of each other at that moment in time.
As for presentation, I’m a sucker for new scoreboards, so anytime they change it, I am all about it! and I absolutely love the updated halftime show cinematics, my favorite being the contestants trying to nail a half-court shot.
DEFENSE
Now, let’s talk about defense. There were things I loved and things I didn’t. One of my biggest gripes was the blow-by animation that would constantly pop up when the ball handler had already beaten their defender—it made it impossible to recover because that animation would trigger consistently it was frustrating.
On the flip side, I was interested in testing out NBA 2K25’s new defensive cutoff system. I will need more time with this to find out its best uses, but I’ve found it to be excellent when working around pick-and-rolls and cutting the ball handler. In the open court, your opponent would have to be extremely predictable to rely on this mechanic, as it’s pretty unforgiving if you guess wrong.
AI
Now the computer made their presence known in my time with the game. Trying to defend a computer-controlled team’s offense on higher difficulty is a challenge of the highest order. They use the newfound extra space to their advantage. Testing your off-ball defense to the max and taking advantage of even the inch of space you currently give them. The computer’s contesting at the rim is exceptional. Quick scoop layups got blocked more often when aimed into the defender’s body, which was nice to see, as they were exploitable before. Computer defenders are also more reactive to pump fakes around the perimeter, opening up driving lanes for the ball handler. Defenders also get called for shooting fouls more frequently, especially when the ball handler manages to get into their body moving to the paint.
A few other quick observations: Being able to hang on to the rim with one hand is a natural progression and something that just looks way cooler than the two-hand rim hang of last year. The pick-and-roll interface has changed, which caught me off guard at first, but it’s nothing too distracting, especially for those of us who run it often.
Like I mentioned, I played about eight play-now games against the computer. The strides Pro Play has made in such a short time are breathtaking, and the seamlessness in gameplay just makes it a joy to play. There’s enough here that I can’t wait to get my hands on NBA 2K25 for the full experience.
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