As we know by now, the month of September coincides with the great return of sports titles, more and more loved by a growing audience. Also due to an exponential increase in general interest in basketball in our country, in recent years the appointment with the series NBA 2K, branded Visual Concepts, has become a real mandatory path for the many enthusiasts, satisfied with the overwhelming by a software house able to improve, like few, from year to year.
And, if the online component, understood above all as MyTeam and MyPlayer, have given rise to strong and increasingly evident discontent, due to a questionable management of microtransactions, the heart of the production, that is the gameplay, has continued to give great satisfaction, increasingly strengthening a powerful and sometimes photorealistic simulation vein.
The secret of 2K, however, is very simple: like a good basketball player, the software house has continued to work and work on its fundamentals, bringing to the screen, year after year, a product that is always in step with the times. With the arrival of NBA 2K21, scheduled for next week (the next gen version will arrive later this year) the developers have released the inevitable demo, useful for starting to set up and test your alter ego on the parquet and above all to familiarize yourself with the gameplay innovations that have been introduced with the delicate chapter of the series, a transition chapter due to the arrival of the next gen around the corner but not for this renouncing in terms of innovations.
Let's be clear, starting the game we didn't have the pleasure of pulling our hair out as far as we saw, and probably we should also have foreseen it, but from 2K we always expect half miracles, and perhaps this is why we turned off the console with a hint of bitterness in the mouth. But be careful: there are also news for the current gen version, both on and off the field, and we will try to explain them to you in the best possible way.
Never change a winning team
Let's face it: immediately after activating the demo we launched ourselves to play one of the five friendly matches available for the test, obviously using the All-Time selection of our beloved Lakers, with whom we were able to feel the big pieces such as LeBron and O 'Neal, but above all the historical star Magic Johnson and the late Kobe Bryant.
The impact with the game was overall mixed: having overcome the "shock" due to the almost total (albeit predictable) absence of improvements or anyway of news on the technical front, we decided to start focusing on gameplay, eager to find out what news in this version have been introduced. Well, once again, we noticed a certain proximity with 2K20, from which this 2K21, in truth, does not differ that much. To a more experienced eye, however, it is obvious how the small diversifications scattered a little here and there immediately catch the eye. We have noticed, for example, a general reactivity greater than in the past and a fluidity in the offensive and defensive transitions that are much more papable. This is also partly due to an apparently wiser management of AI, with teammates appearing to move with greater self-awareness and self-awareness in the middle of the field, on both sides.
For example, it happened to us several times, during the match dedicated to the MyCareer builder (which we will talk about later), to observe two great talents like Leonard and Antetokounmpo, noting attitudes very similar to the real counterpart. We have seen several times the good Kawhi groped to double in defense the opponents trying to dirty the shooting trajectory or trying to steal the ball, independently, as well as Giannis has decided several times to rely on his conclusions in the area out of time, making it impossible marking even the most daring of defenders. These are small things, on paper, but as we have said previously, they are all elements that those who hang out in the parts of 2K can notice with great ease.
And… one!
The most important news, in terms of gameplay, of this NBA 2K21 concern the management of the shot. Of all the shots. Once again, the developers have decided to tweak and revolutionize the shooting control system, resuming mechanics already seen in the past and for several reasons abandoned. Basically, to shoot accurately you have to carefully observe the shot bar, which appears above the head of the player used at that moment. With a visual expedient, it becomes so evident that in order to have a better chance of scoring you have to release the ball at the right time, that is when the shot indicator reaches a certain area, marked by a different color. This extends to all kinds of shots, including those coming in in the third half, which makes attacking the opponent's iron much more difficult than in the past.
In order not to miss anything, the guys from 2K and Visual Concepts have added a further "complication" to the formula, but fortunately avoidable if you do not feel able - especially at the beginning - to try your hand at such an undertaking. In case you shoot with the analog stick and not with the "simple" square button you should even keep the aim of the shot under control. Yes, you got it right: it will be your job, in fact, to keep the trajectory of the shot under control, thus making the experience both rewarding and decidedly more prohibitive.
New animations for everyone!
We have already anticipated the fact that on the technical front, in all honesty, various miracles have not been performed, nor was there any intention to do so. NBA 2K21 is practically identical to 2K20 by eye, but once again the news are like the devil and hide in the details, clearly more evident to those who usually run far and wide on the virtual floors of the saga. Looking closely at the hands of the players when they start dribbling we noticed a much more interesting and truthful handling of the ball control animations, as well as for the defensive animations, especially if we refer to elements such as the reactions of the players to a missed rebound or a failed attempt to retrieve the ball.
Shooting animations have also been revised, in part to make them more homogeneous with the new shooting management. By keeping an eye on the moment of the shot it is possible to notice a much slower and more harmonious mimic of the hands of the players, which makes the feedback of the shots a lot more romantic.
To try to make you understand what we mean, the release of the ball has genuinely excited us, making us truly remember, in some way, the times when the writer could do it for real and on real fields. Overall, however, it is undeniable how much the miracle is always expected from 2K, which this year did not happen. To enjoy the novelties, including aesthetic ones, we will therefore have to wait for the next-gen version which, we are sure, will be able to give us a lot of satisfaction, taking for granted the work done so far by a software house that from this point of view has never disappointed.
MyPlayer and MyTeam: important news on the way
Thanks to the game demo we were able to give life to the usual practice that every year, in this period, accompanies us with an inexplicable romanticism: the creation of the character through the face scan usable thanks to the MyNBA2K21 app to be used in the career (and not only) .
Immediately after, having overcome the usual problems due to a not exactly titanic precision of the engine that takes care of creating the facial models, we started to create our character, which will then be imported into the final version of the game. The MyPlayer builder allowed us to create an incredibly customizable player, from several points of view. Body type, weight, opening of the arms, height, every detail of the body is customizable and directly affects the player's abilities, however adjustable through the choice of the role and the archetype linked to it. Unfortunately, however, from a first glance we could not fail to notice that the available archetypes have remained fundamentally linked to the formula already seen in NBA 2K20, further demonstration of the willingness of the developers to dwell on other factors, leaving unchanged the most important dynamics in this. NBA 2K21.
The created player will take part in a different career this year than usual. After last year's fairly successful experiment, based on a very "pumped-up" vision with many prominent actors and a strongly cinematic plot, this year the developers have decided to focus more on gameplay and basketball played, but above all on a more "quiet" story.
The player, in fact, is neither an announced star nor a predestined one: in NBA 2K21 you will start from college, as complete strangers, and through (it seems) many more games than usual you will have to prove your worth to make your way into the basketball that matters.
Even MyTeam, the other key mode of NBA 2K21's playful offer, has received a substantial number of new features, some of which are apparently very interesting. With a nod to realities such as FIFA 20, the developers have put together a much more interesting MyTeam, able to keep players glued throughout the life cycle of the chapter in question.
For this reason the seasons have been introduced, with related prizes and themed objectives, but above all two functions have been added that are very reminiscent of the work done by Electronic Arts in recent years. Let's talk about the “The Exchange” function, the equivalent of the SBCs (squad creation challenges) of FIFA Ultimate Team. 
By exchanging players from your own squad it will be possible to unlock other stronger ones, or in any case more useful to the cause, perhaps to be tested during the Weekend with the MyTeam Limited, a mode designed (in the FUT Weekend League style) for the most competitive players.
We are sure that all these innovations will be able to delight the players, but it will be necessary to understand how the microtransactions will be managed which, clearly, with these changes could be even more invasive and heavy than in the past.
This first "practical" contact with NBA 2K21 gave us positive feelings, but more mixed than usual. Having overcome the obstacle of the very narrow innovations on the aesthetic front, we were able to discover a gameplay still eager to get involved, thanks to a new management of shots and an even more substantial number of animations, able to make the action more and more realistic and less woody than in the past. The most important news, however, those concerning the contents, which promise to be really full-bodied, we have not yet been able to try them, and for this reason we invite you to stay with us, when we can test them with your hand in the review phase. If a good morning starts in the morning, however, we feel we are moderately optimistic: even though it is a transition chapter we are sure that NBA 2K21 will be able to offer us many hours of fun even in the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC and Nintendo Switch versions starting from next September 4th, the day it will hit shelves and online stores. Mark the date!
► NBA 2K21 is a Simulation-Sports game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Games for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Google Stadia, the video game was released on 04/09/2020
Version for PlayStation 5 from 12/11/2020
Version for Xbox Series X from 10/11/2020
NBA 2K21 is a great game that we recommend - we decided to rate it with a 75%, if you are interested in learning more you can read the NBA 2K21 Review
