NBA 2K22 Current Generation Review: Another Year of Stitching and Patching

In the past two years or so when the next generation has just arrived, it has not been easy to evaluate sports games. Because manufacturers usually differentiate between the current generation version and the next generation version at this stage and develop them in different ways, there are also many differences in the player experience between the two versions.

Due to personal device limitations, the NBA 2K22 I played this year is a PC version, so I am bringing you a review of the current generation version.

Current and Next Generations

Firstly, it needs to be clarified that there is a clear difference between the current generation and the next generation version of NBA 2K22. Since NBA 2K20, the current generation version of this series has gradually stopped changing and innovating in terms of mode, and such new content is mainly concentrated in the next generation version. To avoid confusion, a brief explanation should be made before the start of the main text. The current generation version refers to the PS4/X1/PC (the NS version is also a current generation version in principle, but there are differences in performance compared to the other two hosts, which will not be discussed here), while the next generation version refers to the PS5 and XSX | S.

For example, last year's next-generation version of NBA 2K21 updated the character creation mechanism of the brilliant career mode, replacing neighborhoods with Basketball City. This year's NBA 2K22 also brought new changes to the legendary manager mode, which to some extent represent the future development direction of the NBA 2K series.

The brilliant career and legendary manager modes of the current generation version of NBA 2K22 are basically the same as those of NBA 2K20 in terms of mode mechanism, and the UI has not been changed much. All aspects will bring players a very familiar atmosphere, and I think it is not an exaggeration to say that it is an upgraded version.

The legendary manager mode of doesn't seem to have changed

The biggest changes in this generation version over the past two years may still be in the shooting bar and the storyline of a brilliant career.

Shooting returns to traditional storyline and still plays

The modification of the shooting bar in NBA 2K21 can be said to be the biggest fundamental mechanism change in the series in recent years, after all, shooting is indispensable in every game. After a series of modifications and player feedback collection, the shooting bar of NBA 2K22 has returned to its previous form, continuously pushing the right joystick or pressing the shooting button, waiting for the pointer to reach the perfect shooting line before releasing.

In NBA 2K21, factors such as the time, force, and direction of the player's push of the shooting joystick will ultimately affect the speed, curvature, and accuracy of the shot. Perhaps the cost of suddenly changing the player's operating habits was too high, so Visual Concepts ultimately decided to go back and modify the display format of the shooting bar. The two shooting methods vary from person to person, but the most familiar one is definitely not wrong.

When it comes to the plot of a brilliant career, NBA 2K22 has reduced the capacity of the storyline before entering the league, allowing players to quickly enter the NBA stage through college games. This to some extent solves the problem that in some of the past works, the plot was mainly focused on before entering the league, and after truly becoming an NBA player, there was not much plot and the focus was on top and bottom.

New Year, New Plot

Starting from NBA 2K21, the game has provided players with some choices in plot actions. NBA 2K22 has further expanded on this basis by using a dialogue selection system. Now, players can decide how to deal with some conflicts on and off the field, which also makes their career more immersive.

However, when combined with the actual team situation of the player's character, this system may generate some plot that is far from reality, which weakens the sense of immersion.

Taking my own gaming experience as an example, the player I created is a point guard who was selected by the Warriors as the seventh pick in the first round. After entering the league, there was an immediate plot of not being able to get a starting opportunity due to conflicts with the coach. Friends familiar with the NBA know that the Warriors have a backcourt combination of Stephen Curry and Clay Thompson, which is also one of the most successful backcourt combinations in the NBA in the past few years. As a rookie, it's strange to squeeze out any one of them. Not to mention a rookie who immediately requests a starting qualification upon joining the team, the game even offers the option to publicly expose conflicts online, making it difficult not to make people think that the player is having some mental problems.

Although friends who have played the prequels of the series know that in the brilliant career mode, starting from being a substitute, gradually showing oneself, and obtaining starting opportunities, this is a fixed game process. But when it is combined with a new plot, there is a possibility of scenes like the one I encountered that are both funny and sad. If future works want to further expand the storyline after entering the NBA, I hope they can still put more effort into logic.

In addition, I think a regrettable aspect of this plot is still during draft night. The players created by the players are still like NBA 2K21, and they stay in their own residence on draft night waiting for the results to be announced. Even though it is a lottery show, they did not go to the greenhouse. They will have to wait until the animation is finished to know which team they are in.

Some areas for improvement

Although it is difficult to see any further changes in the mode of this generation of games, the optimization of the gaming experience can still be seen. In NBA 2K22, the neighborhood of a glorious career has been transformed into a cruise ship. Although playing basketball on the cruise ship may seem strange, Visual Concepts uses elevators to achieve teleportation between different areas, eliminating the time spent repeatedly running in the neighborhood in previous works, and the experience is better than before.

No need to run a lot

In addition, seasons and missions have also been added to the glorious career. In each season, there are daily, weekly, and seasonal tasks, and seasons also have season levels. Completing various activities can earn experience points, improve season levels, and complete tasks and improve season levels can also earn rewards. In this way, the efficiency of players obtaining virtual currency and virtual items has also been improved. In addition, during competitions in a glorious career, the badge progress points obtained after the competition have also increased compared to previous works.

Overall, the cultivation of character's liver power in NBA 2K22's Glory Mode has decreased, reducing the burden on players.

Various Tasks

There are still some improvements reflected in the competition process. I personally feel that there has been a reduction in the situation of casual breakthroughs and dunks like in the current generation version of NBA 2K21, at least Letter Brother is not as arrogant anymore. Friends who have played the previous game should still remember that last year, the letter brother of the AI opponent rushed into our inner line as if he was in an unknown situation, and the partition buckle was easy to come by, causing a strong sense of frustration when the inner line was shattered. In NBA 2K22, the attacking ability of AI opponents is relatively more balanced, at least they won't suddenly use a move to stab you through.

On the contrary, the defensive ability of AI opponents has also slightly improved compared to the past, and players have not scored as easily. After scoring, their sense of achievement has also slightly improved.

Still the only choice for basketball games

There is a saying that may be mentioned in every review of the NBA 2K series, and this time it may not be uncommon. That is, among the basketball games I can currently play, the new NBA 2K series has always been the best. To achieve the most complete basketball simulation gaming experience, the NBA 2K series is almost my only choice.

Despite this, there are always moments during the game that make people less happy. The current generation version of NBA 2K22 has not changed much compared to the previous two games, but there are still some new bugs that affect the experience. For example, when being substituted in the brilliant career mode, clicking to jump to the next appearance takes a long time to appear, and before that, one can only watch the game on the sidelines. It's hard not to get restless when a game comes so many times.

even clicked to jump, but still watched the ball from the sidelines

It can be seen that at this point where the main production energy has shifted to the next generation version, Visual Concepts has put some effort into improving the experience of the current generation version. Whether players can still accept new games with little change in mode is another question.

From my personal perspective, last year's PC version of NBA 2K21 was consistent with the current generation version of the console, which is understandable to some extent. After all, creating new content takes time, and PC players cannot wait for the next generation console to be released before playing the game. But in NBA 2K22, the PC version is still the same as the console version of this generation, which is difficult to accept. Although the configuration levels of PC players vary greatly, those who are willing to spend a lot of money on hardware are not here to play the PS4/Xbox One version.

Looking ahead to the future, there may be several more NBA 2K series releases for this generation, and our evaluation criteria will gradually shift to the next generation version. After all, with the increasing popularity of new consoles, the next-generation console will eventually become the current generation console. It is estimated that by next year's NBA 2K23, the next-generation version will also become the benchmark version of the game. I personally look forward to Visual Concepts bringing more creativity to the future NBA 2K series, while also hoping to cater to players who are still playing PC and this generation version.