NBA2K25 Community Day was phenomenal

Fresh out of the NBA2K25 Community Day, which is an experience that exceeded expectations, I can tell you that NBA2K25 may be the one to bring us casuals back. This community day was held in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA. 2K was there in full effect, including Ronnie2k. As they have to appeal to the die hards, there was always an underlying need for just wanting to get into a game, and play some basketball. With the build I played, it seems that the game has followed the footsteps of gaming as of late.

First off, let's do the technical stuff. 2K boasts 8,000 new PROplay animations, to make the players move more authentically. This includes dribbling animations, shot animations, and motion styles from rostered players. If you've seen them do it while watching, most likely, you'll see it here. This also highlights the new Dribble Engine. So if you think Caitlin Clark can't go behind the back and lay it up, the Indiana Fever is now up 16 points on you. Sorry not sorry.

In addition to the new animations, there are new ways to use the right stick. Your euro step is still there, but you can now customize the way you shoot. If you're into rhythm shooting, you have that. If you are still about that meter, that too, has been reformed. There's also shot canceling. Fighting game enthusiasts are familiar with this game term.  While canceling in a fight game means carrying the first few frames of animation for a special move for a more powerful move, this feature lets you pump fake and do a move to either pass or shoot in one fluid motion, with a touch of a couple of buttons. It's pretty neat to do, even if Caitlin Clark is splashing threes in my L.A. Sparks' faces.

Defense Wins Championships. You've heard it before and you'll hear it here too. No longer will every attempt to steal become a foul. There were times where I would press the rebound button as soon as the shot gets near the rim, and my player's animation would start. The right stick again here works wonders, as well as your triggers allowing you to stay with the ball handler. As you can't control all 5 members of your team, the AI is improved as well. But they cannot stop Cailin Clark from being 100% from the field, with 28 points, late in the second quarter. Even when I was guarding her.

Youre about to be angry about this next part, so just skip it. I didn't really get into customizing my player. As robust as it is, it is still VERY time consuming, and something I was just not into.
<span;>Everything that used to be there is, except it's even deeper. More so, you can test out your player or team in Build Tester in 3v3, 5v5, or even freestyle.  I skipped it. But I spent a lot of time in Learn2k.

Finally, an accessible version of a tutorial, Learn2k, located in MyCourt, lets you learn the basics you need to play the game, on both offense and defense. And there are levels to it. If you think that shooting, passing, and turbo are all there is, by all means, get out there and get whooped by an online player. There are more advanced modes in Learn2k, but more on that later. I must say I enjoyed this so much. Caitlin Clark didn't care. She just shot and missed her first three of the game.

The absolute standout here, is Triple Threat Park. They brought back the rooftop courts from NBA2K16, reminiscent of the River City courts. There are 9 in total. Some of them allow you to play with the cards you've acquired. And yes, real NBA players can be used here for the first time ever. You can also do 3v3, and gather your friends for a 6 player game. All you have to do is go to an available court, or a game already in progress, and click a button saying you got next. If you can't, the game will tell you it's unavailable, instead of wasting your time. You can access this straight from a guy customizable place, in MyCourt. I must note that this feature will only be available for the PS5, Xbox Series, and PC versions of the game.

All in all, there's so much more I would like to tell you, but you're going to have to wait. My colleague Jason will be reviewing NBA2K25, but I will be sharing footage of gameplay here closer to release. Of course I will also be streaming it on GamesNMoorer. I was in a room with 100 content creators, and they were going crazy. I've heard very few complaints from the ballers (who AREN'T just ballers online), so, so far so good. Thank you, 2K, for having us, and showing us a good time. It was an amazing day. More to come for sure.