NBA 2K25 (PS5)

NBA 2K25 verbessert sich an vielen Punkten im Gameplay und bietet eine Vielzahl an Modi, bei denen für jeden etwas dabei sein sollte. Es sieht grafisch toll aus und spielt sich gewohnt gut, hat aber immer noch einen unangenehmen Fokus auf Mikrotransaktionen, der einen immer wieder ins Gesicht springt und stagniert etwas bei den Neuerungen.

NBA 2K25 is both a great and a frustrating experience. Beneath the layers of VC and the slow grind is a very good basketball game. The presentation is top notch and MyGM is the best mode to play to get the full NBA experience. MyCareer can be fun and it is a shame it is so bogged down where players have to choose to grind very slowly to improve, or to spend quite a bit of additional money to improve their players.

NBA 2K is a peculiar game to critique for this perennial reason; like a social media label for a messy relationship, it's complicated. Suffice it to say the thoughts I've expressed in that companion piece weigh on my conclusion here, and you should consider this a two-part review, in a sense. 2K25's greatest flaw is obvious: Its economic designs make the game worse, and it's impossible for anyone without a Randian "greed is good" worldview to justify it. At the same time, everything else it does is so impressive, both as a basketball sim and when stacked next to any other sports game, that it's a delicate balance to find with words.

As an entire basketball package, there is no denying that NBA 2K25 is something to be savored by fans of the sport. With its great selection of game modes and the various improvements made in all areas, this makes it more of an obvious choice compared to last year's offering, and when Visual Concepts and 2K Games finally cut the cord with the previous generation, there will surely be even more amazing things to look forward to for a championship-caliber franchise.