NBA 2K24 Review (PS5) | Push Square

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Visual Concepts came to an important but necessary conclusion with NBA 2K24: it needed to dial back the superfluous aspects of the series back. For the past two years, on PS5 specifically, the release’s popular MyCAREER mode has wanted to touch upon all aspects of basketball – including the cultural stuff, like fashion and music. This year’s game, however, is focused fully on the court, and as a solo experience it’s all the better for it.

Your singular goal is to become the GOAT, and you’ll be playing through your avatar’s personal highlight reel to get there. While there is a story – involving your father and grandfather who were both NBA legends in their own right – there’s less faffing around, allowing you to focus on the good stuff, which is playing for your chosen team. You can simulate through to key match-ups, further accelerating the pace of your campaign.

Of course, all the old criticisms remain. While you’ll earn a small denomination of currency for completing in-game tasks, you’ll need a serious amount of VC in order to max out your player’s ratings. This can, as always, be purchased with real-money – and it’s borderline essential if you have any hopes of competing in the online social hub, The City. This is an NBA 2K tradition at this point, and while we do feel the overall cost of maxing out your attributes may be a little lower overall this year, it’s still horrific for a full-price game.

To make matters worse, NBA 2K24 revises the way Badges work, which are effectively perks for your player which buff certain attributes. In the past, you’d have to work your way through an arduous grind to max them out, and it was tedious. That aspect has been accelerated this year, but it comes with a caveat: your Badges