NBA 2K24 is NOT GOOD - Review 

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adding a battle pass to a fully priced game is just next levels of insanity

It's telling that the best sports game from ANY sport is over a decade old. EA and 2k have RUINED this genre. Such a shame

Remember when we could just play a game for hours on end, unlocking content and not having to spend money to upgrade your player? Good times good times.

Feel bad for the younger generation. I’m glad I got to experience peak nba2k

Well it's official. The NBA 2K series has officially hit rock bottom.

They left out Kobe's 81 point game. 2k don't care no more

"Sports games just suck ass right now." Can't agree more.

Yo my heart dropped when you said that we live in a time where every sports game sucks. It’s so true 😭

Glad I grew up in the era of sports games without micro transactions sad what has happened to 2k. I have so many great memories playing 2k11

I found the mycareer is best when you just create a player in the franchise mode and do the player lock. It's all free that way and you get to skip the terrible story. Then buy the game once every 5 years or so

It’s not ONLY the monetization & micro transactions, the GAMEPLAY has also regressed heavily starting with 2k18 with the new motion system. I can’t be the only one who notices the horrible sliding , skating , suction, horrible rim & shooting mechanics that has been present since 2k18. It’s like the devs don’t put passion into the gameplay of basketball but obviously care more about getting us to spend 💰. Shoutout to 2k1-17 that gameplay is very much missed.

We as a sports gamers need to come together and boycott these yearly releases until something is done about it. I realize this will never happen but its infuriating what these companies get away with.

Adding a season pass where you can buy level 40 every season for $80 is diabolical

It’s getting to the point that nothing is good anymore, we are living in a horrible timeline for gaming (yo everyone who’s debating wether it’s gaming in general or just sports games that’s in a horrible timeline, *CHOOSE ONE.)*

The shot meter is the worst thing ever.

I think this is why I’m so drawn to sports games from the mid-late 90’s through the mid-00’s. The stiffer competition meant that companies needed to put more effort into their games. And, while the games lacked the fancy graphics and sounds that we take for granted now, they had a lot more personality and character IMO.

To help ease the pain, maybe a 2K14 and 15 retrospective could help… Also there probably should have been a few more Kobe challenges.

Whats worse to me? 2k23 was abandoned by month 7 by 2K.

The upside is that they also have realistic presentation and a good franchise mode that is years ahead of madden

this man is truly dedicated to his craft i was trying to find other videos about old sports game and i see mr soft drink leaving a comment telling others to keep up the fight against E.A

I couldn't wait for your 2k24 review bro. The sports video game genre is on life support smh

Since its release, I swear the only thing I've been thinking about the game is "Where is SoftdrinkTV's review? Maybe he boycotted this year's release?" As always, this is the most unbiased, comprehensive, and fair review!

I quit playing NBA My Career when I grinded a whole season on My GM mode and when I went back to spend the VC on my player, his overall went up by a whole 2 points. That was when I realized that they made the mode so grindy that you can play an entire season on a different mode and barely get a boost. And on top of that, I also realized that I was having way, way more fun playing My GM than I was on my career to begin with. Which is a shame, because back on 2k14, my career was amazing. Now it's just garbage.

I really love the background music you put in these videos, in most of them there is a melancholic feel to them which I find matches the same feeling we have towards these games P.S. I’d really love the names of the songs used in this video!

the only way the problem gets fixed is if everyone stops buying games. no not just sports games, EVERY game that does this. the only way this gets fixed is with a year long protest from each and every community that has this issue. people can say that's unrealistic, however, the D&D Community(Doungens and Dragons) had this same protest due to Wizards of the coast earlier this year and they were forced to change due to the community buying other products.

As this is my first time with new gen 2k. I was impressed with the gameplay and myNBA offerings. But I share the common opinion that whole offline may be the best 2k has done, it’s online, mycareer and myteam are the most predatory systems for a sports game. I miss the days when we had options on what game to buy and when devs had to make a good product to earn our money

A lot of gaming these days, especially sportswise has fallen off due to a lot of these franchises focusing on the online aspect and not caring. No more about the single player aspect. That's what older titles was. We always reference and love always exceeding because back in those days and era there was no internet. So a lot of the time, effort and energy went into making the single player aspect the most fun you can enjoy. Or you can just enjoy and have fun on your own free time. But now with everything requiring internet like you can't even play the full game unless you have internet to download the full game It's a shame.

As a studio exec would say, " it's not predatory, we're giving players options" 😂

A bit of a conspiracy theory, but I'm pretty sure 2K's developers were directed to make the AI worse, as having dumber teammates makes it harder to get your teammate grade up and win games.

Here are my problems 1. The AI in my opinion seems to have gotten worse. In mycareer, when they get the ball, they immediately shoot it, they shoot awful shots, when you go to pick and roll, they don't go to the basket. 2. The mycareer is lacking. It seems like since 2k21, the journey to the nba is getting shorter. When I get to the nba, i want my character to be at least competent, but now in 2k24, you just start in the nba, there's no college, no highschool, no streetball, no g league, nothing. We just jump into the first game. That's dumb. Then the game incentivizes you to beat lebron and michaels first game. It puts the idea into peoples heads that they need to put money into the game. 3. I don't know why they made it where we can't change our body type. It's so dumb, we have to work out to do it. It COULD'VE been a cool idea, but the workouts are WEEKLY, not daily, weekly. I don't want my 7'3 center to be so god damn skinny, i want him to have some muscle. 4. Badge progression is the worst thing they added. It seems like every year, they think of the most brain dead idea for badges. Your badges will DECREASE if you don't use it. There are glitches that make it where it doesn't count if you do use it.

License exclusivity is a massive problem with sports games. Competition made sports games amazing. Back then, we were spoiled with the amount of sports games available.

Have you considered doing a video on Super Mega Baseball 4? I'm not even a baseball fan, but I absolutely LOVE that series! It's a great blend of arcade and sim with a unique franchise mode and great customization features

They never get Shaq's player model right in these games.

I bought 2K24, played it for 2 days and started playing 2K14 PS4 instead and found it way more fun.

Graphics got worse too. It started looking “Clayish” in 2K23 & 2K24. It’s slowing looking more & more like Current Gen. The Graphics & Lighting hasn’t looked the same since 2K21 Next Gen 😔

The worst part about the microtransactions is that you cant keep your players forever. Every 2 years they shut the servers down so for example this New Years , Nba 2k22 will be shut down and all of your saved players will not be able to be accessed anymore. For someone like me that strives to make different builds every year , its really heartbreaking and is the main reason I decided to not buy 2k24.

I was taking to my friend about this the other day. Growing up I used to play nba live and Madden for arcady fun, and 2k sports for the simulation aspect. Nba 2k used to be amazing because they had a smaller simulation audience. Now that live is no more, 2k has to pander to both simultion and casual players, which is what brought out the gimmicky animations and micro transaction greed. There is no passion in making great sports games anymore and as an athlete who grew up with these games, it's sad to see.

I am sooooo Happy I did not get NBA 2k24 this year... Seriously, 2k is destroying that series.

Couldn’t have made a better video my friend. Thank you for spreading awareness about the issues with modern sports games

It's not just NBA 2K, really. We are in an era where sports games should just really be cosmetic upgrades. In NBA 2K24's case, the difference is with the animations and a little on the graphics. I feel like they should really not charge full price for sports games especially with in-game microtransactions being rampant.

Yeah I'm a franchise player and I'm just getting sick of it as well. I did get a little excited about last year's era.... But not enough to buy a new game every year. I'll buy a game that's a couple years old although that's going to become increasingly difficult when the storefronts become digital only.

All sports games today are trash 🗑️ tell me I’m wrong

My player is god awful

I just wish they’d drop the yearly releases. Give us roster updates and substantial improvements for the next title

I am 34 and grew up playing and loving real basketball and LOVING 2K. I had a Dreamcast at launch and the first game I bought was the first NBA 2k. Me and my older brothers played the first 5 or so 2K's religiously. Then I hit a lull with it and found other games. As an adult now I WANT to love it and get back into it. I love competitive online 1v1 games and was #1 in the world on multiple games including 2K4. But for the reasons you mentioned it makes me not even want to try. I bought NBA 2K23 and i haven't played it more than 15 minutes. And I'm not sure why but that's just where I'm at. I def won't be buying 2k24 and instead will do the Jordan challenge on 2k23 and play it sporadically and see how 25 is. Thanks for your reviews

Consequences of gamers not boycotting these companies

I stopped playing MyCareer years ago I stick to franchise and create me a player… The biggest problem is there is a lack of competition for these sports games.. bring back NBA Live

Badge regression???! These guys are brilliant at coming up with new ways to gouge the players for money

The community ruins the game. It's not the development or the company(maybe) it's the gamers and "pro" and "2K League" players and 2KTubers bitching and complaining about the gameplay. But hypocrisy is at a high when they do exploits or cheese, they enjoy it but when they do it to them, they complain like babies.

To all the people who want NFL 2K to come back, this is what awaits you.

NBA 2K players all need to be very vocal, both through words and actions, about how bad NBA 2K has gotten. After the backlash against WWE 2K20, 2K skipped WWE 2K21 and created an even better game. It's not perfect and it's not better than 2K19 (the best one in the series), but it was a huge improvement. And after WWE 2K23, every release seems like it is taking steps forward into making the best wrestling game. The same thing can happen to NBA 2K. The players just need to collectively force 2K to change.

The point that you just mentioned towards the end of your video is something everybody has been wanting developers to do for years. Make sports games a one-year thing, give out roster and uniform updates as free DLC. And have tournaments that give out free VC (or whatever MLB the show calls their VC) instead of having people pay for them I think that would make every game release fresh and interesting

I’m glad I haven’t brought a 2K game since like 14 on the Xbox 360. I am glad I stuck to that one, ESPN college hoops 2k8 and even NBA 2k8. Like the games of the past are so much better and worth the time to play! Want to see how a player you recruited does in the NBA? Import the draft class and find out!

I'm sick of it, too! And I'm someone who sticks with the MyEras/myNBA mode. The mycareer modes have ruined 2Ks gameplay. They cater too much to that audience. The shooting is made way too difficult. Because you have to learn everyone's jump shot and you're never rewarded for taking good shots or even wide open shots. And yeah, they are extremely money hungry for the mycareer modes. It's ridiculous. The second year, I've skipped buying NBA 2k. The first one I skipped was 2k18. We also have to take into consideration that we are all experiencing franchise fatigue. Lack of competition has killed sports games.

I’ve played every NBA 2K ever, starting w Dreamcast. I don’t understand why no reviewers ever mention that the base passing system is almost unchanged from 20 years ago. You will throw a pass directly to the opponent a LOT unless you pass who they want you to pass it to. Players make no attempt to pass at a realistic angle. Entry passes still look like they did on PS3. No touch, no entry lobs to the free hand. There are so many trash aspects to the game. The step out of bounds problem is another legacy issue amongst many. I still enjoy the game, overall, and but it every year. But I never pay for microtransactions and stick to franchise mode, where I can tune and play to my liking. But the lack of innovation means I would never give it any score above a 7. Just like Madden, there needs to be competition.

But would you recommend it for a first time player? Like I wouldn't be playing online or anything,or buying any passes, mainly to play vs friends on the couch, or should I go to an older title?

The way he said “don’t neglect your balls” 💀

if only we could have competition so companies could care more

I think sports games would be under more fire if people really saw kids betting with their parents money to get a 93 overall player. Kids that are used to getting micro transactions will likely start sports betting and then will possibly head to casinos. It’s the new gateway for betting.

"Get ready for tipoff by not cutting your tip off with Manscaped" Great review. These are feelings I've had about 2K for multiple years now. Feels like we've reached a breaking point with this franchise.

I'm not surprised that most of the mainline sports releases these days (madden, nhl, nba 2k etc) are just generally terrible. It's definitely been a trend for these games lately for sure.

Thank you for doing these reviews. As a fellow disappointed sports gamer I love watching these to make sure I'm not missing out on anything.

Thannk you for making this video. Was on the fence about buying the game. Will wait for your review on 2k25.

This is the reason why I quit playing NBA 2K. I used to play because it's way better than Madden but I'm feeling exhausted from playing it. As I comment on this today, I can't wait until EA Sports College Football 25 finally hit the stores in July.

I love your channel , Your video about the Fall of NBA Live whic halso describes the evolution of NBA 2K is easily my favorite Basketball game documentary and I've enjoyed a ton of your sports game content , with all that said your opinion on a sports title means a lot to me . I was already turned off of this NBA 2K but this video in particular seals the deal that 2K24 is NOT made for a fan like me , I appreciate the video no matter how late and now maybe i'll make this year about replaying the bastball games I've nejoyed from the past and hope 2K gets their hsit together for NBA 2K25 ... ( though I doubt it)

Your video sums up exactly how I feel about the game, I’m so sick of 2k. MyCareer is basically unplayable and bogged down by micro transactions. I’m mostly an offline player but even MyNBA is so stale these days. Eras was a great idea but has so many immersion breaking things it can be tough to enjoy. Offline AI and User shooting feels broken and makes every game feel repetitive. It’s just so hard to find any enjoyment in this game anymore

Man the Comments are juat saying that we are living in a time where Games just arent good anymore. Bruh yall not making me want to live anymore bruh. 😭

This actually help me decide. I've been an avid fan of 2k before on my younger days and now I wanted to get back at it. I was gunning to buy 2k23 first and this video solidified my decision. I'll wait for the sale of 2k23. I mostly play myplayer or is it mycareer nowadays. No micros for me then.

I stopped buying it out of principle year agp, but I do realize I'm in the minority. I got tired of the pay-for-win mechanics and with every passing year it's been getting worse in that aspect. I'm even friends wtih one of the writers at 2K, so naturally I felt conflcted. Thank you for your review, I think you've done a great job of putting forth your review in a geat way. Susbscribed after your Madden video, and videos like this mean I will keep coming back!

The long awaited video has come at last

It went on sale today and it's not even a Holiday, so clearly sales are down and I still don't want to pay for it. The days of buying VC to not be trash need to STOP.

Yo man, I'm waiting on the NBA ShootOut video. That's my childhood series as a kid.

I like how you said right now is the worst time for sports games because it’s depressingly true. The most fun I’ve had on a sports game (besides playing MyNBA last year for 40 seasons. Didn’t touch Mycareer) has been 2kPGA and that’s not saying much. I really do enjoy golf games but they were NEVER my number one choice. They have a good sense of giving people what they want because they make a new game every couple years (2k19, 2k21, 2k23) I really think other sports video games should follow suit. It’s the same game every year. It would make me excited to wait an extra year for something actually different and worth while.

I took 2yrs off of buying 2k and I bought this one cus I thought they made adequate changes. I shoulda known better. First the predatory practices of 2k when it comes to VC is disgusting. They purposely make ur player a low overall and dont provide enough VC per game so u will forget the grind and buy ur way. And the fact that your player or VC doesnt carry over is disgusting. Thats why 2k players are stuck in this cycle. I bought the mamba edition thinkin 100k was gon be enough to max it to a 85 but I see they upped it to 190k-200k. That's RIDICULOUS. And then the fact they made the park/city HOF (Green or Miss) was the icing on the cake for me. Mike Wang went on twitter and said they made the green window small to be more accurate to NBA percentages. THIS IS A VIDEO GAME. And park use to be a casual mode. If I wanted to play based off nba % I would play the play now or my team mode. This game has forgot about their casual consumer and is now only catering to no lives/streamers/2k league players. The game doesn't care bout being fun anymore (like most games these days). Im officially breaking from the shackles of 2k. Hopefully another company makes a bball game if not it is wat it is.

11:49 completely agree with your point, if games did what ufc games have been doing with not releasing annually and instead just updating the game over a few years before releasing something new. i’m glad to see this video and i’ll be sticking with 2k23

The thing i am realizing now is making games more realistic is not great. There has to be an arcade type of feel.

I disagree with a lot of points in this review, in regards to gameplay I think 2K is by far the best sports game on the market, and they make significant changes on an annual basis. I think they’ve been good for so long that most criticize the game from a harsher point of view. Sometimes I think 2K can be too ambitious for an annual title though, the game development cycle is still the same as it’s always been, but the game itself has gotten significantly larger leaving some parts of game feeling untouched. The game went from PlayNow, Blacktop, and whatever season mode (the association, later named MyLeague), and now in MyCareer alone there’s the rec, pro-am, the park, the stage, starting 5, event center, the city, and etc. and that’s only about a quarter of the game. There’s a ton of focus that has to be put across all these games modes and I think it’s too much for a yearly game. I do agree that the micro transactions has gotten out of hand and that makes it hard to enjoy everything this game has to offer. Something as simple as earning a sneaker deal and then getting free custom sneakers in MyCareer isn’t even available anymore and they leave certain sneakers and colorways out of the stores on purpose so you have to pay 10,000 VC for them. That’s just tip of the iceberg with its greediness. I used to be able to buy this game and play MyCareer without spending a dime. All in all, I think on the court 2K is a good sports game, they do a good job replicating basketball, I think the developers really have a passion for the game and the sport, but the suits are greedy people who don’t play video games and overshadow all of the devs work with these micro transactions. Take-two seen how much they’ve made off GTA 5 and cranked up the monetization in 2K.

Badge regression is the thing that killed it for me. Like I literally can’t keep waiting for NCAA Football 25 this upcoming summer.

I bought the '23 versions of the big 3 but it's just to play friends on my PS5. It was a big enough jump from the 4 or 5 yr old last gen versions I had but I'll be in no hurry to buy more until a major step forward happens.

I really miss the comp in sports gaming. NBA live vs ESPN/2k. Crazy how times have changed with the micro transactions. Great vid regardless

You know the world is a messed up place when even NBA 2K is bad now.

2k is just another EA at this point. Cares more than money than making a good product.

Fixing NBA2k 1. No more yearly releases 2. Free purchase, in game micro transactions only cosmetic 3. More physics-based, less animation-based 4. Competition with another basketball video game

i miss when the my player modes were an offline experience.

The sad thing this is just what happens when companies basically have a monopoly. I'm sure they know how they could fix things, but actually doing anything like stopping yearly releases or cutting microtransactions would be a bad business decision, at least in the short-term. Like you said, the lack of competition is the main thing that's screwing people over here. Hopefully if things stay bad enough the leagues will step in at some point. The exclusivity deals probably aren't going away, but they could at least threaten to do something if the product they're endorsing doesn't improve.

This is why we as gamers need to see more competition within these leagues. 2k knows that its the only basketball game on the market and will stick with the same approach until folks stop buying the game.

I’ve always set the settings to real player % that way it feels more authentic then just learning a players shot and knowing when to let it go on green. You get more authenticity because that’s what the players are really capable of

Thanks for the honest review. Subbed!

It's sad that the PGA Tour games from both EA and 2K are the only sports games with some form of competition.

This isn't just a horrible time for sports gaming. You could say that about ALL gaming. And all these bullshit microtransactions are the biggest reason why.

The big problem is that each sport only has one option of its kind. Enough said. You have one option for any of the sports, simulation wise that is. And all with microtransactions. It's a sad state with monopolies, and we have EA to thank for the start of all of this bs. Imagine 989, 2k, EA, and companies no longer around like Acclaim, making games to give us options again. There is no going back, unfortunately. 😐

See, a Review I know I can trust!!!! And I'm still on PS4!!! Salute SOFTDRINK!

As someone who just plays franchise mode, I honestly love 2K24. The gameplay improvements and immersion changes really did make a difference for me over 2K23. Shooting felt way too strict last year, and having to manually update player models for Jordan, Kobe, etc was kinda annoying. I can see why some may feel this year was a bit of a let down, but literally the only things I want is Reggie Miller and Barkley, everything else I want is here.

Good thing I'm able to emulate nba 2k6 (ps2) on my phone. Arguably the the best 2k of the 6th gen 💪🏽💯. Would be cool to have updated rosters for it.

My last video game was 2K17, which I barely played. So thankful I grew up playing Live 07/2K7 - 2K16. The upgrades year over year were massive and going from PS2 -> PS4 was so exciting. Nothing will ever compare to that.

I tried to tell you for years, about using 2K as a positive reference compared to Madden, due to 2K being insidious. But I'm glad you are calling them on it. The way 2K treats it's community, is an insult to all gamers.

The gameplay this year is better than last year and rewards doing things differently. The main problem people are going to have is learning and adjusting to the new mechanics this year. Online will not be everyone's cup of tea and should be part of a online service rather than gamemode. Yes, there is a paywall even after buying the game (unless you are willing to do mind numbing tasks equivalent to a 30 hr minimum wage job) which people should rightfully be angry with, however when you have a group of friends playing together on a squad going through rec or pro am no sports game on the market beats it. This game can elicit a multitude of different reactions in 30 min increments and you get that fulfillment of Teamwork and competition that most sport fans are trying to get when playing their favorite Sports game. Of the modern 2ks this is the best of the past 10 years and although it doesnt look too different than last year it is because last year was the last great innovation for what im going to consider old gen 2k. Like in previous generations once you hit the threshold of the technology you can only refine so much. It is time for 2k to work on a newer platform/engine that can use the proplay technology they have now to make more fluid and realistic movements with greatly improved graphics

Its crazy that these are the sports games i play and dont even focus on the new ones: NHL 14 NBA 2k12 Madden 10 NCAA 14 UFC UD3

I bought it for the league pass subscription for the year. But i've barely touched it and have a tough time wanting to pick it up. They haven't touched the create team feature in a while either and this year it's somehow worse. Uploaded some logo's over a week ago and still can't see them. Last gen, they would be there instantly... I don't understand how things are going backward, makes zero sense.