In this week's Friday Five, Andrew lists five reasons why NBA 2K17 is his pick for the best game in the NBA 2K series.

The post The Friday Five: 5 Reasons NBA 2K17 Was The Best NBA 2K appeared first on NLSC.

Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five is a list of five reasons why NBA 2K17 has been the best game in the NBA 2K series so far.

Since I’ve already declared my pick for the best game in the NBA Live series – NBA Live 06 PC, incidentally – I figured that I should do the same for the NBA 2K series. As you can see, I’m giving the nod to NBA 2K17. As with my nomination of NBA Live 06 PC as the best NBA Live we’ve ever seen, my choice of NBA 2K17 isn’t exactly objective. I have plenty of affection for the game, as it’s one of my all-time favourite basketball titles, irrespective of series. Of course, there’s really no such thing as unbiased opinion, though there are well-reasoned and poorly-reasoned ones.

I believe I can present a fair and hopefully compelling case for NBA 2K17 being the best NBA 2K. You can definitely make valid arguments for other games in the series, and indeed, NBA 2K14 for PlayStation 4 has risen up my personal rankings over the past three years. As was the case with the best of the NBA Live series, it’s a close race between the top NBA 2K releases, and personal preference does come into play. With that being said, while my first four points could also apply to some of NBA 2K17’s predecessors, the fifth point is what puts it above all of its successors, at least in my view. And so, without further ado, here’s why I say NBA 2K17 was the best NBA 2K!

1. Gameplay

Let’s begin with the most divisive argument in favour of NBA 2K17 being the best game in the series: the gameplay. There’s yet to be a universally-loved NBA 2K title, because different releases have tried different things with their gameplay that have delighted some gamers, and frustrated others. However, NBA 2K17’s was among the strongest across the board, with the fewest issues. No game is perfect of course, and NBA 2K17 had its quirks. As you may recall, two of the biggest were cheap charging calls, and the guarded shot animation making contested shots far too low percentage. Apart from that though, I don’t have many complaints about the on-court experience.

The motion system the game was using at the time was wonderful. Player movement looks and feels great, with extremely responsive controls and solid foot planting. The series had finally landed on a consistent control scheme that worked extremely well. Its take on shot aiming with the right stick was much better than the clumsy approach in NBA 2K21, which only gatekeeping elitists seemed to enjoy. From animations to player performance and team strategy, the gameplay was authentic. Badges aided in boosting specific skills without being an overpowering factor. This isn’t just nostalgia talking; NBA 2K17’s gameplay is truly among the most superb in the entire series.

2. Approach to MyCAREER & Its Connected Modes

Spike Lee’s joint “Livin’ Da Dream” took the cinematic aspect of MyCAREER stories to the next level in NBA 2K16. It was also a learning experience though, as it had a few drawbacks. Namely, it cut out too much NBA gameplay during our rookie year, it didn’t gel with the idea of putting your own face in the game if you weren’t a good casting choice for Frequency Vibrations, and it was a bit melodramatic and heavy-handed. NBA 2K17 corrected course by making the story of Pres and Justice Young significantly less intrusive to gameplay, while also adding the interesting wrinkle of dual player controls when you heated up as a duo. It was a much better approach.

MyCAREER’s connected modes were also in their heyday. Park had the traditional affiliations, and you didn’t have to navigate an open world to get there. 2K Pro-Am added stats tracking and shooting around on your squad’s court rather than having to meet up in someone’s MyCOURT, and still featured the three user minimum, which was ideal for those of us outside North America. The build and Badge system was balanced, so there wasn’t much risk of creating a player that wasn’t fun and viable both offline and online. To this day, NBA 2K17 still boasts the best version of NBA MyCAREER – which can still be played offline – and its staple connected modes.

3. Fairness to Gamers

To be completely honest, I didn’t go “No Money Spent” in NBA 2K17. Because we were jumping right into 2K Pro-Am with NLSC THRILLHO, I think we all spent a little for a boost out of the gate. Back then of course, one of the cheaper packs of VC was still enough to get your player to a more competent level for online play. After that, my VC earnings game-to-game – along with some bonus VC here and there for fulfilling endorsement obligations on the daily calendar – made levelling up my avatar a fun journey. Thinking back, if I’d been a bit more patient and willing to grind a bit harder at the start, I’d have likely reached the same level with minimal frustration.

In fact, given how I ended up with hundreds of thousands of VC that I didn’t need by the time I was in Year 2 of MyCAREER, it absolutely would’ve been feasible! It’s astonishing to reflect upon how the game has become less fair, and far pushier about microtransactions. The fact that I was able to amass such a huge balance just through playing MyCAREER is probably the catalyst for the change; I doubt I was the only one who managed that! All that VC allowed me to dabble with MyTEAM, as I put it to great use to open some boxes. Guess what? There was more fairness there too, as I pulled several great cards without spending a cent. That would never happen today!

4. Other Modes & Content

Although I enjoy the PlayStation 4 version of NBA 2K14, it wasn’t the strongest Next Gen debut as far as content and modes. They’re fine – certainly better than NBA Live 06 or NBA Live 14 – but they are lacking. That very first iteration of MyGM took a controversial approach, forcing RPG elements that involved unlocking basic roster management functionality with VC. It had also been a couple of years since any new classic teams were added, and as much as it’s kept me hooked, MyCAREER does have its issues. Over the next couple of games, the team at Visual Concepts would address these concerns, thus building upon the solid foundation laid with NBA 2K14.

MyLEAGUE was introduced as a traditional alternative to MyGM, and by NBA 2K17, it included league expansion and more depth than before (though MyNBA has admittedly since taken franchise gaming to the next level). NBA 2K16 introduced some new classic teams, which were retained in its successor. The Dream Team was featured as a pre-order bonus, which led to Charles Barkley’s final official appearance in NBA 2K to date. The All-Time College Teams DLC was fun expansion content, and unlockable on PC via modding. From deep modes to a bevy of historical content and customisation options, there were plenty of ways to have fun with NBA 2K17.

5. It Feels Like The Last “Traditional” NBA 2K

As I noted, you could feasibly make the first four points in favour of one of the other top NBA 2K games that preceded NBA 2K17. After all, NBA 2K14 has a brilliant MyCAREER mode; I wouldn’t be in my sixth season if it didn’t! It also had fantastic gameplay, as does its immediate predecessor, NBA 2K13. In fact, from NBA 2K11 through to NBA 2K17, the series produced some of the best sim basketball gameplay in the history of the genre. There was fairness to the gamer in terms of the recurrent revenue mechanics – then still in their relative infancy – and they boasted deep modes and a ton of content. Still, I’d say NBA 2K17 saw the series peak in all of those areas.

To that point, the series hasn’t reached those heights since, because of the direction that it’s moved in. NBA 2K17 truly feels like the last “traditional” release in the series, before the focus well and truly shifted to the online scene and appealing to the elitists. The meta game wasn’t yet out of control, because the core experience was based on the traditional philosophy of striving for realistic gameplay. There were online modes, but they weren’t part of an unnecessary open world intended to pad gaming time and push microtransactions. It’s the last game in the series that in no way felt like it was trying to be Fortnite with basketball, easily placing it ahead of all of its successors.

So, that’s why I maintain that NBA 2K17 remains the best game in the NBA 2K series to date. Agree? Disagree? What’s your pick for the top NBA 2K game? Have your say in the comments, and as always, feel free to take the discussion to the NLSC Forum! That’s all for this week, so thanks for checking in, have a great weekend, and please join me again next Friday for another Five.

The post The Friday Five: 5 Reasons NBA 2K17 Was The Best NBA 2K appeared first on NLSC.