NBA 2K19 Community Impressions & Reviews

Feel free to post your impressions and reviews of the full version of NBA 2K19 here!

These new blacktop-only animations are simply perfect. When Kyrie nutmeged Rozier in blacktop, i was about to scream. And then more and more streetball moves. I like it.

How about gameplay...defense,skating etc?

I don't know if I'm that unlucky but both Booker and Knight got injured one quarter apart.



I've only been trying it out for about an hour and a couple of minutes (haven't touched MyCareer yet) but here are few of the things I can say while going through the game:

• The addition of the meter really helps with the layup releases although the speed of the release will vary depending on some factors.
• Blow-bys were rare for me although I managed to torch the defense sometimes with a Nowitzki pick and fade.
• Everyone feels slow somehow, I'm not sure though.
• I landed more contested layups in this single game than the entirety of my playtime in 2K19.
• I'm not sure if this was a bug but there was a point where the CPU coach subbed Dirk as the PG which was bizarre.
• I didn't encounter any psychic steals and hivemind help defense which was good.
• Also the addition where teammates would tell you to switch, go over, and etc. were great! A welcome addition! Its just like how a team should communicate.
• Blocking is much less effective in contesting shots (this was a habit I developed from last game).
• I haven't touched MyLeague much but I like the mentor system.
• The abundance of sliders for MyLeague are also great. Makes the experience more customized.
• I spent the bulk of my time just skipping through the MASSIVE ENDLESS WALL OF TEXTS for MYGM LIKE WILL YOU PLEASE JUST LET ME PLAY THE GAME PLEASE STOP IT WITH THE EXPOSITION!
• As expected, historical draft classes lack players. They actually go further down until the 1960 draft which only has 5 real players.
• The generated rookies are once again terrible. I've highlighted their still-present issues in my 2K18 Fictional Draft Class thread.
• Create-a-player is an obvious upgrade with minor face sculpting and hair editing. I made Rami Malek with my first try.
• Might add more later if I can since its 2:30 am here and I'm tired.

Lol that massive wall of texts reminds me of the PDA from Live 2005/06

Yeah meter on layups was weird. I was not ready for that in the prelude. Luckily I didn't miss any but it felt like I was playing NBA Playgrounds

Lol that massive wall of texts reminds me of the PDA from Live 2005/06

Yeah meter on layups was weird. I was not ready for that in the prelude. Luckily I didn't miss any but it felt like I was playing NBA Playgrounds

Ah yes NBA Live 2005 PDA with that beeping noise that will just not stop coming in...ah the memories

Playing with my Nets on Hall of Fame difficulty is extremely hard for me as of now. Our offense relies on blow by drive and dish 3 pointers and I'm really having trouble lol. Also the layup timing is tough but I'm getting it.

Tendencies for generated rookies still have a few issues:
Too many Centers and Power Forwards are being generated with 0 Shot Under Basket tendency
Too many Centers and Power Forwards are being generated with Elite dribbling size up moves
Too many Point Guards are being generated with high Standing Dunk tendency (even those with a 25 rated standing dunk)

The generated rookies are once again terrible. I've highlighted their still-present issues in my 2K18 Fictional Draft Class thread.

Hey where is your thread on this?

I haven't seen anything else about the game that I don't like. In fact I find this year's iteration quite amazing out of the box.

Hey where is your thread on this?

viewtopic.php?f=236&t=104174

It wasn't a exactly about the generated rookies (it was more against some of the draft classes made in 2K Share) but most of my points still stand. 2K needs a better randomisation system.

Hey where is your thread on this?

viewtopic.php?f=236&t=104174

It wasn't a exactly about the generated rookies (it was more against some of the draft classes made in 2K Share) but most of my points still stand. 2K needs a better randomisation system.

I didn't realize anybody else noticed the EXACT same issues that I did.

So yea tendencies and signature styles still do not match ratings, size, and position

Some of the historic teams have been worsened; no more Monta Ellis on the '07 Warriors, leaving them with only six players. Random players added like Michael Doleac to the '06 Heat; personally excited that Drew Gooden was added to the '07 Cavs. Disappointed it appears they didn't add any more historic teams.

The first thing I did was start MyTEAM so I could redeem the free code currently out (got 10K MT with it), but the first thing I actually did for fun was take Brandon Roy into shootaround; disappointed Agent 0 isn't on the All-Time Wizards yet, as he's been confirmed for MyTEAM. Don't like how most of the historic players like Roy have generic 2K shoes; in a perfect world, Roy wouldn't be a 'historic' player. Feels wrong saying that. His face is pretty much perfect; I don't know why they didn't include it in the MyTEAM trailer.

Random gripe is that triangle/Y is still inconvenient to choose uniforms, as you have to go all the way around again if you pass up the one you want.

They added the Rondo tipoff "mucking around" ritual for more players than just him (every PG might do it).

Really, really cool stuff that Jackson Ellis and ATM are on the opposing G-League team in MyCAREER, and the commentators referenced he worked his way up from street-ball events. And it took a minute for me to process that there are different commentators for the G-League games; people might accuse 2K of being greedy, but little stuff like that makes me fall in love with them.

I went to do the MyCAREER MyTEAM card thing and the guy handed my guy my card which was invisible and my guy was like "Wow, this is dope"... I have no idea what happened.

Overall, I had a really good first day with the game. I spent more time on the park than anything and got off to a really good start (8-2) using a player I had doubts about (rebounding defender). The day/night cycle is super charming, especially when it's dark out but the sun is rising so half the court is blinding (not being sarcastic).

One of the more lame things is only one person can use the Ante-Up daily spin wheel at a time, kind of calling back to Andrew's article of 2K replicating real-life hassles that could be avoided in-game. Everything from 2K18 has been repurposed: the apartment is exactly the same, but most everything is done through the menus and better (like the closet is still there, but it has no purpose since you change clothes via the menu). A tiny chunk of the subway is used to visit friend's parks. I didn't try the Under Armour cages, and I have no clue where or how dodgeball will be played.

The only truly broken thing so far is exporting your MyPlayer to MyTEAM, which to be fair, I should've tried my player in MyTEAM's freestyle to see if it was actually him. I uploaded him at a 75, and he was an 80 MyTEAM, proving that MyCAREER players are worse than NBA. The card art is just some generic player in a pose I didn't choose, with the name just being my build; again, should've really tried in freestyle to see if it actually worked.

The Neighborhood is now a concise "storefront wrapping around park" type thing (something I recommended on OS [they always take my recommendations, though I doubt someone at 2K actually read that]), but there's a lot of alleys and stuff behind stores that has no purpose; like I guess it's fine, but I wanted to explore every inch of the Neighborhood when I got there, and it was just a waste of time. Like it's just pallets, picnic tables, dumpsters and umbrellas.

Everyone who owns this game needs to do the Cages at least once. This is NBA Street Homecourt 2018. You can pass off the walls, goaltend... it could be a standalone game. I wish it counted toward your record, but you do get VC, badge upgrades and all that good stuff.

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Was Jao the genius that invented this?

And the soundtrack is a lot better than I expected as well.

I buy 2K every year but didn't like last year's game. As someone who almost only plays myLeague, is it worth spending money I don't have to buy this?

I buy 2K every year but didn't like last year's game. As someone who almost only plays myLeague, is it worth spending money I don't have to buy this?

MyLeague is absolutely better. All of the tuning sliders alone are worth their weight in gold. The player mentorship is a tremendous wrinkle as well. CAPs for incoming rookies are more customizable and look closer to cyberfaces.

My quick review :

Gameplay : not bad, not good too. At this point, not really fun because the game is too slow, like a permanent input lag.
- All players look slow with no acceleration
- 2K fixes the blow by, but first step dont count ; you cant pass a slow center with a fast PG after a switch on PnR.
- a lot of missing easy bucket in RFG%
- too many CPU alley-oops
- still too many jumpball after a double team (legacy)
+ editing sliders seems to work again (at least for what i tried)
+ difficulty is back on higher levels
+ screens are so much better, you can really use a screen to take a clear shoot behind
+ Rebounds are more diversified, long rebound after a missed 3pt looks good.

Graphics :
+ slightly better than 2K18 but not as good as 2K14 / 16 / 17. I'm pretty happy after my experiments with Reshade.
- Lot of clipping on court, but specially outside the court (take a loot at that https://youtu.be/mZ0MWonQAUQ?t=24m52s )
= Some faces have been fixed (L.Bird), some are the same (I.Thomas, J.Dumars) or even worse (J.Paxon )

Optimization :
= game runs fine, like 2K18 (1440p 60~80fps) no stuttering but i use gsync. Cant play in 5K, only ~40fps (possible with 2k15 and 2k16).

Sounds :
+ better than better 2K18, but not as good as on old gen.

Menus :
- a poor 3D effect on main page - sad for a 20th anniversary edition -, options and myleague are redesigned but in a worse way ; it looks old with useless and outdated effects (2K ? flat / material design ?)

I don't know if it's because I'm an 85 overall, but haircuts are free now in MyCareer.

I buy 2K every year but didn't like last year's game. As someone who almost only plays myLeague, is it worth spending money I don't have to buy this?

I played around with it yesterday but I was really tired and my brain wasn't working properly; it's 2K18 with new menus, in that it's exceptional. If you're looking for that experience, buy it, but not if it's gonna put you in a financial crisis. I even considered doing a MyGM. I spent just a shave over $100 on the game so far and it was worth every penny.

What is with Golden State? The shot 8 for 8 from 3 pt land, double and triple teamed, scored 44 1st quarter points with 11 minute quarters. They are way overpowered in this game.

I don't know if it's because I'm an 85 overall, but haircuts are free now in MyCareer.

That's for everyone this year, from the start. A good change after last year's debacle.

I don't know if it's because I'm an 85 overall, but haircuts are free now in MyCareer.

That's for everyone this year, from the start. A good change after last year's debacle.

i'm glad that the haircut is free now, i hope the tattoos has a preview before you buy.

I assume so. Those you could preview and cancel out of last year, so hopefully nothing's changed in that regard.

(Still a few hours before my Standard Edition unlocks, at which point I'll be able to answer questions more definitively.)

Alright, so I spent weekend on this and might as well write something up...

Right off the bat... Money!
Looks like 2K learned their lesson with micro-transaction gouging fair bit. There are now many opportunities to actually earn extra VC.
For context, my character is now roughly in 1/4 of his first season (game 20/21/22 not sure which exactly).
I earn (as per contract) 1000 VC per game no matter what minutes I play or what stats I put up.

Onto endorsements:
I also earn 40 VC if I score 20+ points or 50 VC if I score 30+ points - important note: the incentives of same category from same company do not stack up, I thought I'd get 90 VC but no.
If I hit a buzzer beater that's extra 150 VC.
Once in a while I get to attend events which pay me 2700 VC for foot locker event and 850 VC for Gatorade event (not sure yet if I'll get the Gatorade boosts or if that was one time sign-up bonus until I negotiate new contract). These events reportedly happen once in roughly 10 games.
Now I'm not 100% sure how this compares to 2K18, but at least this year it works and I'm not stuck negotiating for 2 seasons with company never getting back to me.
Nice touch is that beside event payouts and per game incentives (which you can choose from a pool) they also added bonus - for Foot Locker you can negotiate shop discount and for Gatorade you can get some of their energy boosts.

Then there is the daily spin where I didn't win VC, but I did get some nice amount of Gatorade boosts (very helpful in the beginning) and new shoes usable both in streets and in the NBA. Why not.

Cosmetics seem to have went up in price, tattoos are expensive, like 8000 VC expensive apparently. The skateboard runs for 60000 VC. Yup. Clothing ranges in 600 VC for plain shorts to who knows what. 2500-3500 VC for team branded clothing.
Some stuff is free like grey basketball shorts that you can "buy" to get out of the ugly sweatpants.
On-court accessories run for 150 VC per item with exception of headband which is 1000 as far as I saw which should be same as last year. Bought one shooting sleeve and was satisfied.

And finally daily goal. Got around 2000-2500 for each during the first two days and were really easy (win games), third was to post 5 double-doubles and awarded 15000 MyPoints (the cap breaker thing).

So overall my impression is that there are now proper ways of getting VC to level up, but you'll need to grind (or get lucky) for cosmetic items.

Some very questionable design choices
Now to keep it fair and balanced, something negative, but fair (IMO).

Some of the design choices are just beyond me.
So look up and you'll see that I get bunch of VC from attending events for companies I signed up with. 2700 per event for Foot Locker. Not bad eh?
You can trigger it from menu, immediately after a game which is great. But this is the only thing you need to collect from the agent's office in the neighbourhood. Everything else, including per game incentives you get immediately.
I have no clue why they did this, maybe immersion that is immediately gone anyway when you see a white dude with huge white afro and silver beard standing in front of the office (yes, somebody was very "stylish").

Another example is the daily spin. They have the wheel in Ante-Up building (fitting given it's Wheel of Fortune in a gambling place) and it's governed by one Got Next spot. Yes you have one instance per server. Yup, you have to stand there and mash A until you get lucky enough to take the spot.
Not to mention I couldn't see the power scale over other people (c'mon).

Visuals and presentation
I see the "clay-like" body comments lately a lot and they aren't necessarily true. You can see during various segments (interviews, cutscenes, etc) that the bodies are toned nicely. The issue comes when you step on the court. It's something with lighting that makes them look flat-ish.

Overall as we are still within one console generation there is not much to be expected in terms of graphics themselves. It's apparent that things like court colours and lighting are creative direction, not necessarily better or worse.

The improved CAP is very good, the haircut designer is absolutely and positively great.

The commentators are still high as fuck at times reporting on things that didn't happen ("the screen really freed him up" - uh no, the only screen happened between two players that haven't touched the ball at all).

GAMEPLAY
First things first, switching on defence is absolutely shagged in MyCareer. I'm being penalized on teammate grade for not doing absolutely retarded things like switching my 6'3" guard to Rudy Gobert when I actually got around the screen and stayed glued to my man. I'm not kidding, I lost whole grade on the fact that I didn't actually leave my assignment.

Speaking of which teammate grading is absolutely ridiculous this year. I'm gonna say it's another thing that balancing for online gameplay made much worse in single player mode.
You get penalized ridiculously high for bad stuff - leaving assignment (combined with broken switching described above it's lethal), allowing baskets (sometimes even with hand in their face you don't get good defence bonus, but get penalized), turnovers (which apparently counts even if you dive for a loose ball - you get steal and turnover at once, combined into negative net points) and allowing offensive rebounds.
At the same time the only way to fill it up well are assists. I get little to nothing from taking good open shots, rebounding, boxing out, staying with my man...
And I get absolutely nothing from being a good teammate and following damn set plays.
This year I'm lucky if I get A- rating. Just because as a scorer I didn't actually have enough actions to even get higher grade in 6 min quarters.

As far as other gameplay goes, right stick defence is a must this year. If you relied on auto contest GG, you dun goofed.
Overall feels like more physical, but they could scale down the animations on contact a bit because of course I'm getting bounced off the defenders with my relatively low strength at the moment.

The AI teammates are once again super trigger happy, pulling up for momentum jumpers on the fast breaks. Not really happy about that, been happening for couple of years now.

Other than that in player lock mode with plays enabled you get some nice movement and opportunities. Guess what happens when you leave a guy with 70+ 3pt rating with corner specialist badge to help on LeBron's drive? Spoiler alert: Exactly what Miami did times and times again.

Badges in MyCareer
Now this is where they got good. They are now really easy to train. I already have 3 silver badges - difficult shots, pick dodger and free throw ace.

Free throws are still a questionable choice as you need the badges to improve, but hey, the training is real nice this year and seems to be timing based and not timing + rating + fuck your near perfect release based like last year. I was regularly getting green releases (that are automatically swishes) even with no badge in training (not in games). The training definitely doesn't get easier with better badges, which leads me to think they're really just timing based.

I also already have bunch of bronze badges ranging from deep range deadeye to tear dropper to lockdown defender to putback king. Yep, the Shot Creator/Defender combo is very interesting build.

Every single gameplay badge (not personality) has a single training now and awards only up to 700 points this year (last year it was 1200). However they seem to be easier and actually made well in most cases - for putback king you start at free throw line, have to run around a cone in direction indicated by arrows and do a putback on a miss thrown by assistant coach. I really, really liked that one.

Occassionally you also get team drills that improve your team chemistry and every action counts in these. For example in partner threes (two guys, you shoot, rebound, pass to the other guy who does the same and alternate) I just camped the corners and got metric shit ton of points for corner specialist.

I have to say they did improved this a lot.

Mentality badges that matter are earned via in-game only.
Microwave causes your player to fill takeover meter faster, which is pretty powerful bonus. So you need to get 60000 points to unlock it. Now it takes a while, because you get 200 points per Takeover activation on Pro. Yup, you need to activate takeover 300 times to get this badge. Honestly sounds fair.

Exception is Gym Rat - you get that for rach IIRC 92 OVR and causes you to have the 20% turbo boost permanently.

Speaking of which - the gym. The boost now works in the way that you get it (do 3 gym sets like the lifting or whatever) and it lasts a few games to it's full extent and then you need to do it again. Honestly this is a good design too.
Once you get stamina to 90+ you can manage if you play smart anyway.

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is it possible to play a MyLeague with a completely rebranded teams with the vanilla game? For example have a 15 team league with fantasy team names including logos, jerseys and courts?

Unless they've removed that feature from last year, it should be.

is it possible to play a MyLeague with a completely rebranded teams with the vanilla game? For example have a 15 team league with fantasy team names including logos, jerseys and courts?

Unless they've removed that feature from last year, it should be.

You're forced to have 30-36 teams in the league, but you can rebrand all of them.

My mistake; when I read that, for some reason that registered in my brain as a 15 game season, not 15 teams. Sorry for the confusion there! But yeah, you can rebrand the entire league, as JaoSming said.