NBA 2K21

Pros

• The graphics are astonishing, taking realism of the way the players look to the next level.
• Player's movements look more realistic than ever.
• Tweaks to the game's various franchise modes make the game much more enjoyable.

Cons

• Early glitches have been found, particularly with the shooting systems. Thankfully, these will likely be patched out.
• Some game players - and NBA players - objected to the ratings given to certain players, noting that they seemed to be disconnected from the reality of the game today.
• Microtransactions remain, and they are obnoxious enough to distract from much of the core gameplay.

NBA 2K21 is the latest entry into one of the most popular and successful basketball franchises available today. It is the first game in the series to appear on the next-generation of consoles, and it takes full advantage of the impressive new capabilities that this generation of machines offers.

As always to games like this, NBA 2K21 takes a variety of its previous games and makes notable improvements. Among those are the graphics. This game will be available on next-generation systems, and it shows, with details about the way players look taking on whole new levels of sharpness and realism. The visuals are truly astonishing, and all reviewers note that this game makes incredible use of the next-generation capabilities on new console releases.

The next-generation features also show in the movement of players, which achieve a degree of smoothness and ease previously unheard of - and prior iterations of the game were pretty good, too! Again, it is clear that the developers of this game knew exactly what they had to do in order to take advantage of the new systems, and they did a great job at doing so.

This sharpness doesn't stop at the players. Fans, background stadium details, and more are created with a degree of love, detail and care that would have been unimaginable even a few years ago. This allows for a realistic experience that was once previous thought to be beyond the capabilities of most game developers.

Tweaks have been made to various game features, enabling slightly different versions of the game. These changes apply across the board so that you will get a slightly newer experience when you engage in any number of the game's league modes or franchise play. These changes are more minor and fall into the category of "tweaking" that we usually see when a game like NBA 2K21 develops, but they are notable in that they create a more positive experience. Furthermore, all of these options are more robust and customizable. You can mix and match virtually any player on any team to create an experience of your choosing.

There are tweaks to passing, dribbling, and shooting as well, with one of the more noticeable shooting changes being the "shot-stick" aiming system, one that requires you to alter the way you play and shoot. It's a nice new development, although some reviewers noted that the game needed additional tweaks to its gameplay in order to match the improvements to the game's graphics.

And yes, of course, there are microtransactions. These are most prevalent in the MyCareer and various GM modes, and they do get annoying: They enable a pay-to-win mentality that is all too prominent in games like this. This is a shame: The robust features of the various franchise modes would be much more powerful without these challenges.

Pros

• The graphics are astonishing, taking realism of the way the players look to the next level.
• Player's movements look more realistic than ever.
• Tweaks to the game's various franchise modes make the game much more enjoyable.

Cons

• Early glitches have been found, particularly with the shooting systems. Thankfully, these will likely be patched out.
• Some game players - and NBA players - objected to the ratings given to certain players, noting that they seemed to be disconnected from the reality of the game today.
• Microtransactions remain, and they are obnoxious enough to distract from much of the core gameplay.