WWE 2K

Looking and sounding more like I want, but I still suck at it.

Does that video play for anyone else? When I click the play button it loads for a bit then just pops up the "more videos" thing along the bottom. Clicking 'play' then does absolutely nothing.

Seems to be working fine for me.

Works for me too.

Strange. I looked through the classic NBA videos thread and all the YT embeds there seemed to work, so it's not an issue with my browser and YouTube.

Somehow for PC there's an Eddie Edwards CAW but no Davey Richards.

Since we've been using the NBA 2K18 topic to talk about a few games in the series, and WWE 2K19 is coming up, I thought I'd go ahead and combine some of our old topics with the latest one so that we could continue on with one central WWE 2K topic. Obviously a few of us are interested in it, but as it's not the main focus of the NLSC Forum, there's no real need to have new topics every year.

Anyway, it seems 2K Showcase is returning in WWE 2K19, with a focus on Daniel Bryan's career. It's nice to have a story mode back (though I do miss Road to Wrestlemania and the like), however I have recently given MyCAREER a look in WWE 2K18, and it's not bad. WWE Universe feels like a mode I should enjoy more, being a franchise/fantasy/sandbox mode of sorts, but sometimes it feels like too much to handle. I like that it's in the game as it definitely should be a feature, but I personally haven't been able to get into it as much as I thought I would.

I thought Road to Wrestlemania from the previous games were well-produced with the cutscenes, original storylines, and even voice-over from in-ring talent. They should bring that back, too.

Some of the stories weren't the best, but it was still fun to play through them and discover the twists and turns, especially if there were choices you could make that branched the story.

No tutorial level in MyPlayer? I have no idea how to play this game...I lost my first match by countout because I couldn't get back into the ring.

I borrowed this game from a friend and I agree. Not having a tutorial for this game sucks.

Shocking: https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1041778892942532610

Heh, looks like I'll be skipping out of these games until they change the engine or something.

Also, they already had a perfect Undertaker model last year. No need to change his hair or something. In that photo, he looks like his hair has been cut off again.

EDIT: Must have something to do with the trench coat's collar. Why is like that? I don't recall seeing him wearing a trench coat with that collar.

Shocking

But Roman Reigns' rating is higher than both of them AND of the cover star AJ Styles.

Subtle, isn't it?

I think part of the game's promotion now is to have YouTubers release footage from the game way earlier than release. Here's a video of all of the women's entrances:



Some stuff I noticed:
• Somehow JoJo still says "...making his way to the ring."
• I like how authentic the commentary sounds during the entrances BUT I wonder how many variations of this did they record so it won't get stale quickly.
• Championship title side plates!
• They finally updated Sasha's entrance to closely resemble her actual entrance.
• Dana's biceps bulge when she flexes.
• I still hate how bouncy they are with the walking animations, see Mandy Rose's entrance.
• Paige finally getting a proper headscan for a better-looking in-game model.
• Some of the legends still have the same attire they had from the previous games.
• Kairi Sane's model looks so spot-on.
• EDIT: Becky's got a new entrance animation here as well.
• EDIT: Looks like Alexa Bliss got a new headscan, too.

Most developers are doing that these days, working with YouTubers and allowing early release of footage for promotion.

In Universe, 8 titles/briefcases per show, and you can customize the default matches for the show. WTF I'm done. I had tried to do a Knockout-only/MMA Universe last year but got sick of customizing every match.

https://youtu.be/x2GST9Ai3Zw?t=780



That plus 5-man and 2v2v2 and 2v2v2v2 matches, 3v2's, the new HIAC features

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeVwBKaq8OI



Random superstar button for jobbers in CAW

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcDfmmzrfhc



nvm MyCAREER/Towers/Big Head fun (LOOK at Bianca's hair lol)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cdm7tov ... be&t=8m54s


to the WWE 2K team

Big Head Ronda just planted onto the table! Also props to that Bianca Belair hair physics. I hope her hair is usable in-game.

Dang it, I actually don't plan to get this game but it seems that there are big improvement on gameplay from last year.

Fingers crossed. Getting it for my birthday, hopefully the gameplay feels fresher and more improved than the last few releases.

As I said before, I just haven't been able to get into Universe mode like I thought I would. As such, I might start out with the Daniel Bryan Showcase, and go from there.

I've ran into the same issue with Universe that I did with MyLEAGUEs....at some point I just need to accept it and "do it wrong" so I actually play it rather than continually tweaking.


That said....here is my irrational plans for Universe...


One "Brawl 4 All" Universe

All matches in Cages, and if possible, First Blood/KO/Submission only to end matches.
All rostered superstars on the same show. Only 2 titles, male/female.



"Won't have enough freetime" Universe.... hopefully I can actually play this through the year.

6 shows a week.... all with 3 matches each (or whatever the minimum is)

"WWE" with the definitive current and historic wrestlers. WWE, Universal, UK, North America, US, and European titles.

"MYC" with all the female wrestlers. Raw, Smackdown, Divas, and a Custom Tag Title.

"ECW" with the 'indie-darlings'. And since we can customize match rules, the No DQ rulesets. Million $ Championship, Intercontinental, Hardcore, and ECW TV titles.

"Main Event" 100% tag teams. If possible, only tag team titles & tag team matches. WWF, WWE, WCW, ECW, & NXT titles.

"WCW" for Super-Heavies and Cruiserweights. Only two titles, Big Gold and Cruiserweight titles.

"Indies" Gotta use that parking lot "arena" for something. Just going to make 20 randomized CAWs like the above video and let them go nuts. If you can, maybe do 1 title with 7 MITB briefcases for it.





Universe mode did well for me last year with coming up with random matchups for me to play through with some kind of cohesive story-arc for everything, without me tracking rivarlies or champions. Hopefully the titles can be that customizeable for these shows and I can really get into it.

TBH, Showcase mode was never my cup of tea, but I'll play through it. Same with MyCAREER, but the story looks too damn interesting for me to not go through.

I should just give that a try: play through Universe and only intervene if I have a fun idea or I otherwise feel like intervening. As I said though, I do miss the story modes...which is funny, because I used to cringe at some of the stories. The grass is always greener, as they say.

Got the game as an early birthday present. For better or worse, it's very similar to last year. There's still some frustrating cheapness on the part of the AI where you have to really beat it down and hit multiple finishers and signature moves to get the pinfall or submission, but in the midst of doing that it can launch a quick comeback that changes the momentum on a dime and allows it to pick up an unlikely victory. It makes the difficulty feel very artificial, even on the normal setting. It feels quite unbalanced.

I do like that they've brought back the 2K Showcase, and the 2K Towers are a good idea as well. Kind of silly that the current Undertaker is an unlockable out of the box though, and the VC earnings are really grindy. There aren't any microtransactions to push you towards, but it does leave you eyeing the Accelerator and other Season Pass content just to be able to play with certain wrestlers before you get bored of the game, so there's the added financial incentive to that design choice.

It's alright, but they've failed to significantly improve the gameplay for several years now. People talk about basketball video games feeling like little more than a roster update, but both NBA Live and NBA 2K have put in far more of an effort to get better over the years when it comes to gameplay and game modes. The WWE games have really stagnated under the 2K banner. Right now, I'd only recommend if it you're a bit of a completionist or really have enjoyed the game in recent years, at least until it goes on sale. I've had some fun with it so far, but the lack of significant improvement to the gameplay experience is bewildering and frustrating.

I mainly play 2K games for the MyCareer modes, and I think skipping this year is a good idea. I'm just watching somebody else's playthrough of this year's MyCareer mode. Can't wait 'til you get to the point where you encounter Cena in that mode.

I've seen a video of that. I understand Cena's been spending a lot of time shooting in China this year, but you're telling me they couldn't get him to record some lines remotely? Or perhaps not have him featured as a voiced character if they couldn't record with him? On the other hand, like leaving in Jerry Lawler's gaffes on commentary, it is pretty funny.

I'd say they could've gone with the latter and not have Cena featured in the game. It's really funny because the guy they hired to voice Cena doesn't even sound like him that it's so cringeworthy and funny at the same time.

Playing through the Daniel Bryan Showcase has reminded me of just how much they had Michael Cole try to bury him back in the day. Honestly one of the stupidest things WWE has done in the past decade.