I thought I would start a thread for people to share their first impressions that pre ordered. I'm usually against pre-ordering games but I know I'm buying 2K and you get it a few days early. They got me.

The graphics are pretty good. I am not maxing the game and prefer frame rate and so far it isn't running so well but it does look nice and better than last year I would say for sure. Sweat seems maybe worse though? It just looks really exaggerated almost like NBA 2K5 era but maybe I'm just over reacting. The animation seems more complex and more physical and dynamic, which looks cool.

The game has hung up at times when it seems to be connecting the servers through menus which hasn't been great. I haven't tried online play (I almost only ever play these games single player).

My Career

The MyCareer mode so far has been backstory to getting drafted. It gives you 3 high school games and 4 college games where you can choose where you go from limited options. It determines your draft position. So overall it acts like a protracted version of the draft combine stuff they did before. They are decently fleshed out, like in high school there is a goofy announcer, your character towers above the competition (for the most part), and they have high school cheerleaders.

But beyond just that, there is a lot of storytelling and it's pretty good. It is digital acted (which they show immediately by showing you the real actors in motion capture gear) and it has a pretty lighthearted Spike Lee tone so far. We will see if it gets serious. The writing and acting is solid. There even are these small side interviews like with your characters parents about where they first met. None of it is amazing but for a career mode in a sports game is certainly way beyond what's been done before. You get a goofy nickname assigned to you. Anyways I have to say it's pretty cool to see legit production values go into this and I have enjoyed it up until getting drafted. I just was drafted and we will see how the NBA part plays out.

Now to the basketball:

I have played like one quick game and then MyCareer so limited amount of play so far.

Ratings for players have gone down. Any player in the 90s is a HOFer basically is how it scales so that is an adjustment to see. I think the way 2K pitched it is basically 99 should be the best player ever and it should go down from there and that seems to be how it works.

Overall it feels much more physical. There is a new collision system and things like small guards going to the rim against bigs looks pretty cool and not very canned. Small guys can really launch into bigger defenders and bounce off them how they do in real life. If you're larger it also feels like you can muscle or go through smaller players in a more accurate way.

They actually have modeled the wingspans more accurately now so that makes a big difference on how players feel.

I think a big area of improvement is movement off the ball. The CPU is more active and also they smartly set back screens for example on a regular basis. Also they come off off-ball screens you set with purpose. The AI seems much better and less robotic as they move through an offense. This was a big issue for me in MyPlayer in last years game because unless you were the play maker the offense was just no fun. I am playing a more off ball athlete character this time and it is way better in this years game and more fun to be in an offense. The AI will do things like set you a screen to run off back door right after you pass without you needing to do anything. They also claim the coach and system matters more and they more accurately run the right systems. I am interested to play more and see how deep it goes. But so far the offense has seemed much smarter.

The passing has been greatly expanded which I didn't realize and that's fantastic, but it's a tough adjustment control wise coming off 15. Basically: A throws a straight pass, B a bounce Pass, Y a lob. That's not after a modifier either, it's just when you have the ball those are the controls. This is fantastic for having control over the pass and what comes after(for example, Y automatically throws an alley oop if that's the right play). I need to get used to this part but I am really happy that has changed. I really like being able to throw a lob to a taller player when he has mismatch reliably (as you would want to) vs pressing the pass button and hoping you don't bounce pass or do something else unexpected.

I also just think the passing seems smarter in general and it gives you more rewarding passes. I've had some great longer passes that smartly catch players in stride over the shoulder that you wouldn't see in last years game.

It feels like your players feet really are touching the ground on movement which is big to how it plays. Animation in general (which affects control) feels different. I think it seems better but I'm adjusting.

Getting to the rim is interesting. In the open court players feel faster. If you get a finisher and athletic player in the open court you can really move which I like as a change. Also if you get a good run and go with the right angle there are some very fast finishes to the rim which look great. I think however it seems harder to get past defenders initially this year. It also seems like good big defenders seem to be tough to finish over when they come to help, which is also I think a good thing.

The controls for screens have changed but seem really good. The button changed which has also really thrown me off. It has changed to I believe give an go which seems quick and snappy to use now.

I love the new Classic teams. They added more recent ones like the 08 Celtics, the T Mac/Vince Raptors, and the 7 Seconds or Less Suns.

I haven't played too much yet and this is my first game since like 2K13 so everything's a little weird for me. I've mostly been sticking with MyCareer at the moment, and I just played my second NBA game (they skip you ahead a few weeks between games, it's not consecutive, at least as a rookie). I've been finding it really annoying how the game has to hit the server any time I want to customize a kneepad on my guy. The loading screen takes forever and it fails 9/10 times, but this is early release stuff, hopefully it's sorted out soon. I just hate that this type of stuff has to be online in the first place.

The story is already getting a bit serious. Team Owner guy really goes for it.

I should have preordered sooner. I did last night around midnight and therefore have only been able to get into the limited quick matches that lack commentary, sound effects, etc. not the ideal way to play the game so far, but some of the control changes seem smart. It'll take some getting used to, but I'm liking it so far.

Oh and one big negative: they left the MyPlayer attribute upgrading the same from last year. Basically you can only upgrade whole areas vs individual stats. That sucks and really limits how you want to develop your character. I was really expecting that to be changed.

So on a scale of yes to no, is the career mode He Got Game but a video game?

yes--|-----------No

Can you actually upgrade your consistency in My career? Last year was terrible only shooting 50 percent when the computer was shooting 80

Also how do they handle race in the story mode? Seems like it's a black family would that change depending on the character you create?

Well the trade logic in MyGM is jacked. As the Celtics I could trade Sullinger and Evan Turner for Drummond and KCP. I could trade David Lee for Kevin Love AND a first from Cleveland. I could also trade him to the Warriors for Draymond Green AND a first (which is even funnier). These were all offers presented in the Trade Finder function. maybe they are overvaluing expiring deals? I don't know.

@oursin_360:You're player is from Harlem and all. I made a black character so I can't speak to how it plays otherwise but seems like the backstory definitely goes in that way.

As far as consistency, not sure what you mean exactly by that. Just that specific rating? As I said before, you can't upgrade individual stats unfortunately. As far as attribute upgrades, it's exactly like last year. Personally I have never had a problem scoring in MyCareer.

Well in 2k15 Offensive Consitency wasn't included in any of the upgrade tables so it always stayed at 50%. I forgot to put offense since defensive consistency was upgradeable. Basically no matter how good your shooter was you would make about 50% or lower of your outside shots unless you had perfect release(which is harder on higher difficulty)

And yeah, i'm using game face so my character will be black but i bet this will be really upsetting to some players since i know a lot didn't like the fact you had to have a "black" voice.(whatever that means)

I caved and just bought it, downloading now lol.

I'm not sure if it's just me but I'm finding myself shooting a lot of fadeaways when I'm not intending to, especially after coming off screens or pumpfaking. Has the momentum become a lot more finicky in recent years? I feel like that shouldn't be affecting the shot I want to take so often.

Also, anyone that hates the story in MyCareer, just stick with it. The mode opens up in year 2 to what was shown in pre-release trailers with the connections, team shootarounds, etc. I actually ended up enjoying the story for what it was, but I can see that a lot of people will probably hate it.

Yeah, you have to stop your momentum earlier to not fade away, it was like that last year and takes some getting used to

Edit: well face scan is still terrible, it couldn't even import the one from last game correctly? smh turrible

@redyoshi: I would enjoy year 2 but once i hit it on PC it crashes within a couple seconds of booting up the mode. Hearing that it's a result of them shutting down that bug that was giving people unlimited free VC on PC, but it sucks ass. Can't play the mode for now.

Story mode is definitely to intrusive this time around, it's good though and the actors so far give a pretty convincing performance. The introduction of a twin sister seems odd since she will not look anything like you lol. I didn't see a stat increase for Offensive consitency AGAIN, don't know what 2k is thinking. I just finished my first college game and without the free pre-order vc my guy would be terrible, i don't understand why we don't earn stuff to increase are stats? Perfect opportunity to have a decent player going into the league, and they ruin it. smh, only 2k.

@oursin_360: Ah I see what you mean by the consistency. As I said, it seems the exact same to me. I hardly played MyPlayer last year despite playing 2k15 a TON (partially because how the upgrades work).

Yeah my player is somehow the only white guy in his entire family. I think his mom has some explaining to do!

Doesn't really bother me, just a little weird.

@jjweatherman: the whole pride of Harlem narrative though as a white dude haha. Oh well. One day maybe these story modes will be really reactive but that's a way off. It's just good to see someone trying more story regardless of how it fits with all.

EDIT: as far as the questionable trade logic I mentioned earlier, the CPU seems to greatly overvalue expiring deals and they seem to want to give away any lengthy deals of any player in the low to mid 80's.

@jjweatherman: youre a twin though, can't explain that

For some reason I thought this was your impression of NBA Live 16, and I thought "Wow, I thought this game was supposed to be fucked up?"

Loads of bugs and terrible performance on PC version, as usual. I can run MGSV at 1080p60+ on max, but NBA2k16 can barely maintain 30 at 720p...yeah ok 2k. Sometimes the game will hang when getting subbed into a game in career mode and will sit staring at the player with a grayed out background. Pausing with esc during cutscenes/timeout animations/stuff like that will cause your controller to become unresponsive until you restart the game. Alt-tabbing can also make your controller unresponsive. There are audio bugs and stuttering/robotic audio. Load times are still very long even on an SSD. SMH

It sucks that your entire rookie year in MyCareer is tied behind a story that is not interesting at all (I skipped most of the cut-scene towards the end). At least your sophomore season is more of a traditional MyCarrer. Right now my only problem is how long it takes to skip the Pre and Post game show (I just want to get to the basketball playing as quickly as possible).

Tried to play a game in MyPark, but couldn't seem to connect to any games.

This is the part that really stands out to me. In the previous games it felt like the bigger players were just a taller character model with no real advantages. Now the big guys seem to have a real weight to them that you can feel when they're banging in the paint or even coming out to set screens. The game has always played well, but this new wrinkle is a huge improvement.

My career kinda sucks this year, the story talks like i'm a phenom but since i'm rated so low i'm averaging like 3 points a game lol. No vc for college and highschool kinda kills the momentum, why add those modes if you can't upgrade your guy? Terrible. I played on guard who did full court pressure and couldn't bring the ball up court cause i'm to slow and weak. How did i get drafted #ll? Like the owner should drop me especially with story stuff going on.

Does the opposing team AI in My Career still make every shot? Haven't played since 2K14, but I felt like the opposing AI would drain--literally--every 3-pointer, even on highly contested shots. If I wasn't posting a near triple-double in each and every game, my team was certain to lose.

The my career story is awful.

I can't wait to get past it and never see it again

I think the story is good, but very one note and doesn't reflect whats actually happening in the game. The acting is better than anything in 2k ever though, very enthusiastic performances which i dig. I wouldn't want to go through it completely with a new character though.

haven't been able to play a game long enough to notice honestly, maybe 10 minutes a game so far. This the most trash character i've had since 2k11 honestly, you don't make nearly enough vc to upgrade your character, and even with the 10k i was level 64 ;-/

I guess sicne i picked balanced my shooting max's at 80 WTF, that used to be where i would try to get mid range before upgrading other stats in the games before this terrible new upgrade system they use now.

@mojofac: I haven't had those bugs but the performance is definitely not as good as I would like either, so I feel you.

I agree with this. Coming out of the draft at 55 feels like bait for people to buy VC. No thanks.

Thankfully this isn't want I come to 2K for. Overall it feels like a mode built on micotransactions in a shitty way. I would be interested more in the mode if it had the customization of the other modes. But then that might rob 2K of their microtransactions. This isn't a new issue for the mode but I don't think you ever came into the league with such a low rating. That plus the same upgrade system and I think I'm just going to skip the mode again.

I could probably use CheatEngine to fix the issue but I don't really have interest in the mode if I have to do that to make it fun.

A couple of classic player omissions I noticed: James Posey and Rasheed Wallace. Bummer as I really like both players. I guess they fall in the Barkley zone where they aren't part of the package that 2K can license to put in the game. Waiting for someone to mod them into the PC version.

By the way, you can keep an eye on modding progress on this site NLSC. So far, the modding prospects look better this year than last years game (which was unmoddable basically). In the past when modders could work with the files there's been good stuff to come out of the community.

In some ways I like the way the upgrade groups work, but I do miss being able to pick and choose certain stats. In previous games, I used to dump a lot of points into vertical early because it was very cheap and I'd be able to get a lot of rebounds as a guard to pad out my stats, which would lead to more VC. Now that it's tied to athleticism, which gets pretty expensive, I'm kind of at a loss of what to do. Right now I'm just hoarding VC until I can get more than two upgrades at a time. Going one by one is frustrating and tedious.

It's also unrealistic and you can no longer make a character in the league of actual superstars. Just because i can shoot midrange doesn't mean i can shoot the 3, just because i'm fast doesn't mean i have a 50 inch vertical etc etc.