NBA 2K22 (Switch) Review | Nintendo Life

With another year’s NBA season not far behind, a new edition of NBA 2K hits the Switch just in time to give b-ball fans a slew of sports action to dive into. This time around, developer Visual Concepts has made some major changes to shooting and defense, improved on last year’s controversial shot meter, and introduced a new fatigue system that will see you need to have a more strategic mindset during matches. If you are a fan of NBA 2K, there is certainly a lot to enjoy in NBA 2K22, even if this port can be a bit difficult to play on the Nintendo console at times.

Considering that there is pretty much the same core contingent of modes on offer as always for this 2022 update, most fans of the franchise will know what to expect at this stage. MyCareer, MyTeam, Blacktop, the WNBA, MyLeague, and a host of online options are making a comeback and while the career mode has been altered a bit, it’s pretty much the usual outside of this. The sleek next-gen versions of NBA 2K22 may have a new area of ​​town to play with this year, but unfortunately, this aspect of the game hasn’t made it to the Switch or other next-gen consoles.

So it’s mostly the tweaks that have been made to the main game in NBA 2K22 that are meant to give things a boost here, and thankfully it’s tweaks that make the game better once you get into the game. basketball court. Defending feels much better and noticeably more aggressive, getting your blocks and steals in and covering the rim from opponent’s attacks feels more satisfyingly shocking and AI defenders do a much better job overall of covering your players for that you don’t fall into a rhythm of making the same shots over and over again.

The shot meter itself has also returned to something more like its usual shape and you can choose whether you want to take your shots by timed pressing the ‘Y’ button or pressing the right stick. It’s taken us a bit to learn to cut down on slightly altered times on our shots (we’ve been missing a ton of open 3s), but the way the shot meter is now tied to Shot IQ, positioning, and fatigue makes it much more satisfying feeling basketball game.

In fact, you’ll really need to factor in fatigue in the way you do your job, as using a tired player makes it much more difficult to post well-placed shots. You’ll want to consider who you have on the bench, as well as slow down the overall pace of your game, taking your time and not just holding down the speed button as you move around the court. You feel more considerate and attractive in general.

Off the pitch, as we mentioned, most of the modes are working as usual this year, with MyTeam especially giving us some serious deja-vu as we load up their menus to find a game setting that seems virtually unchanged. However, drafts have been added to the mix here, something fans have been asking for over the years, as well as a new way to play online hidden in MyTeam menus.

“Los 100” gives you 100 points and challenges you to show how good your defense is against other players, those points are reduced for each basket scored against you in games. You’ll get bigger prizes the longer you can keep your point pool at a high level, and then go back to the lower tier of in-game goodies once it’s all out.

As far as MyCareer is concerned, it definitely feels a bit more disappointing than usual this year in terms of its true story, how fast it gets you to the NBA proper – this game doesn’t give you enough time in college and a lower level. leagues – and the usual hideously cheesy dialogue and script that, to be honest, we’re more than a little bored at this stage. We just never felt a real connection to MP, the YouTuber turned basketball pro that we can control here and the narrative elements in this way could make a real shake-up in the future.

However, things are not all bad with MyCareer, as there is also a great new version of the Neighborhood game here that allows you to race in the Cancha Del Mar Cruise doing RPG-style missions, spinning wheels for prizes, playing basketball. arcade, as well as hanging out and playing 2v2, 3v3 and 5v5 games with other players. It’s a bit of an odd setting, sure, but it’s also generous in size and packed with activities.

We can see fans in this way spending a lot of time over the next year. It may not be the eye-catching new streetscape of the next-gen version, but what’s here is certainly a unique and worthwhile addition to the procedures that helps make this next-gen version feel like a actual effort, rather than just eliminating the next one. -Great stuff and leaving Switch players with the old-fashioned neighborhood for another season. EA takes note.

All in all, even with the lack of really big new features here, NBA 2K22 definitely continues to provide a ton for basketball fans to get caught up in. The core gameplay on the court is noticeably improved from last year and that new cruise area is a decent amount of fun to play with. However, while this Switch port continues the developer’s tradition of offering solid versions of their basketball games on the Nintendo console, with a game that looks decent and plays at 30fps once you’re in the middle of the game. action, we definitely have some. Annoying issues to tackle too, the worst of which is loading times.

Yes, as you go through the many menus and modes here, you’ll find yourself sitting through some pretty long loading screens, with a particularly nasty few minutes required to connect to the game’s online services – something the fact doesn’t help. that you log out every time you log out. you put the console into sleep mode for a break. Load times have always been a problem for this franchise, and while perhaps to be expected on a console that is advancing in years, it still makes getting in and out of modes a bit of a hassle.

We also noticed some visual bugs, with player hairstyles in creation mode not loading correctly when we made our own pro, some shiny artifacts on faces and beards, stiff-looking animations at times, and some stutters and full pauses during play. scenes. in MyCareer mode.

Overall though, given how well this one runs on the court, how decent it looks overall on the Switch, and the almost overwhelming amount of content it offers, these issues pale in importance when compared to anything Visual Concepts. has well with respect to the kernel. game mechanics this year. It can still stink of microtransaction shenanigans, and some modes are long overdue, but there’s no denying that NBA 2K22 is another solid entry in the franchise that improves over last year’s offering, where it really counts and land on the Switch with an impressively solid port, if you can forgive those tedious loading screens.

conclusion

NBA 2K22 is another good entry in the franchise that continues the developer’s habit of offering satisfyingly solid versions of its basketball sims on Nintendo Switch. Yes, most of the modes don’t test anything hugely new, beyond MyCareer’s revamped neighborhood settings, and the loading screens will have you pulling your hair out every now and then, but refined core gameplay and enough content to keep you playing. until the end. Sometimes this is an easy recommendation for b-ball fans.