First impressions thread

[Nick]

How are you going with the game lads? What are your impressions so far?

Here's my thoughts so far: At first glance the game LOOKS the same as 2k16 in terms of graphics. Some new animations. Things FEEL a bit different. There's obviously been subtle tweaks under the hood. Things feel more fluid. It will take a few more hours to truly notice the subtle nuances and how it affects the overall balance. Everything seems like it's balanced really well. For those who haven't played it, don't expect a huge change. The key with 2k17 is FLOW. It flows well.

Quickfire notes!

- Jumpshot animations are awesome. They're quicker. Super smooth.

- Rebounding with elite rebounders feels good too.

- Ball movement is awesome this year. You can execute faster.

- Stealing is cool. Sometimes you knock the ball loose but they get it back. I like that.

- You can edit staff this year (through roster editor, outside of MyLeague), that's cool. (although can't change their names unfortunately)

-Menus are real nice. Best i've ever seen in 2k.

-The roster editor is perfect. Love it. The logical next step is obviously to include more things other than attributes (vitals, tendencies, etc)

-New attributes: open shot, contested shot, speed with ball, and intangibles. I wonder what intangibles does?

-Not being able to edit player body types YET AGAIN is really annoying. Couldn't in 2k16 either. So all generated players have the same body. And heaps of NBA players have that ridiculous skinny high school body (gordon hayward, kevin durant, etc)

-The face shapes of generated players in draft classes still look weird.

-The art department is way behind the animations department.

-The shot stick thing is pretty easy to get the hang of. Just push down and release at the right time, pretty easy once you get a feel for it. The releases are quicker this year. The dribbling controls have a steeper learning curve though. At least for me.

-Things feel nicely balanced in regards to fouls vs non-fouls, charge vs block, and contested shot miss vs open shot. ambitious 3pt gunners vs guys who just shoot when they're open. It's good out of the box at first glance.

-It's cool how big athletic guys can jump over people to dunk. Adds a beastly element.

-I feel like they need to update the running animations once and for all. It makes the game feel antiquated. Particularly the agility / initial acceleration movement.

-I'm up by 19 points with 4:30 to go in the 4th quarter and assistant coach seems pissed off with the team. Lol. Suspension of disbelief got ruined.

-Can hear a "BEAT LA!" chant coming from my Spurs game. That's cool. (even though we're up 20 and the result isn't in doubt, but still)

-Graphically speaking, the game looks t he same as it ever did. I feel like they need to put a filter over the overall visuals to make it look like a real live broadcast. Maybe something to blur things a little bit? Or round the edges? Or to add slight trails to the movements? It still looks like a videogame. Would prefer that cinematic look.

-Defending feels better. I feel like i can control my players. I feel like the results of my defense (for better or worse) are justified. Contesting shots feels realistic.

^ those are just initial impressions from a coupla games. Still haven't really absorbed everything

[Sportsdude360]

I was able to play the game at 11:00pm last night on my PS4. I concur with everything you just said. The dribbling, shooting and passing all feel much more intuitive this year. This actually reminds me of NBA Live in some ways, most notably the shot stick. And yeah, some players look entirely too skinny. Jeremy Lin looks ridiculous!!! Hope 2k Sports does something about this in future installments.

The new trampoline slam dunk exhibition during halftime is waaaay better than the dancing girls. I also thought the new coach scenes during timeouts add a bit of authenticity. Also, the ability to make loads of adjustments, both offensively and defensively, during timeouts is welcome. The new menu system is loads better than before!

I also thought the graphics were a bit more colorful this year. And I love how each arena seems to have it's own personality. The new arena specific sounds are another welcome addition. More later.

[Dee4Three]

How are you going with the game lads? What are your impressions so far?

Here's my thoughts so far: At first glance the game LOOKS the same as 2k16 in terms of graphics. Some new animations. Things FEEL a bit different. There's obviously been subtle tweaks under the hood. Things feel more fluid. It will take a few more hours to truly notice the subtle nuances and how it affects the overall balance. Everything seems like it's balanced really well. For those who haven't played it, don't expect a huge change. The key with 2k17 is FLOW. It flows well.

Quickfire notes!

- Jumpshot animations are awesome. They're quicker. Super smooth.

- Rebounding with elite rebounders feels good too.

- Ball movement is awesome this year. You can execute faster.

- Stealing is cool. Sometimes you knock the ball loose but they get it back. I like that.

- You can edit staff this year (through roster editor, outside of MyLeague), that's cool. (although can't change their names unfortunately)

-Menus are real nice. Best i've ever seen in 2k.

-The roster editor is perfect. Love it. The logical next step is obviously to include more things other than attributes (vitals, tendencies, etc)

-New attributes: open shot, contested shot, speed with ball, and intangibles. I wonder what intangibles does?

-Not being able to edit player body types YET AGAIN is really annoying. Couldn't in 2k16 either. So all generated players have the same body. And heaps of NBA players have that ridiculous skinny high school body (gordon hayward, kevin durant, etc)

-The face shapes of generated players in draft classes still look weird.

-The art department is way behind the animations department.

-The shot stick thing is pretty easy to get the hang of. Just push down and release at the right time, pretty easy once you get a feel for it. The releases are quicker this year. The dribbling controls have a steeper learning curve though. At least for me.

-Things feel nicely balanced in regards to fouls vs non-fouls, charge vs block, and contested shot miss vs open shot. ambitious 3pt gunners vs guys who just shoot when they're open. It's good out of the box at first glance.

-It's cool how big athletic guys can jump over people to dunk. Adds a beastly element.

-I feel like they need to update the running animations once and for all. It makes the game feel antiquated. Particularly the agility / initial acceleration movement.

-I'm up by 19 points with 4:30 to go in the 4th quarter and assistant coach seems pissed off with the team. Lol. Suspension of disbelief got ruined.

-Can hear a "BEAT LA!" chant coming from my Spurs game. That's cool. (even though we're up 20 and the result isn't in doubt, but still)

-Graphically speaking, the game looks t he same as it ever did. I feel like they need to put a filter over the overall visuals to make it look like a real live broadcast. Maybe something to blur things a little bit? Or round the edges? Or to add slight trails to the movements? It still looks like a videogame. Would prefer that cinematic look.

-Defending feels better. I feel like i can control my players. I feel like the results of my defense (for better or worse) are justified. Contesting shots feels realistic.

^ those are just initial impressions from a coupla games. Still haven't really absorbed everything

Hey Nick,

I'll be playing when I get home. Great quick notes. I have a couple questions:

1. What did you mean by this?

"-The art department is way behind the animations department." Can you give some examples?

2. Does it seem that your defense is rotating better? As in, if somebody make a dive to the hoop, help comes?

3. When you said the following.. are they still doing that strange hurky jerky running motion while getting up the court?

"-I feel like they need to update the running animations once and for all. It makes the game feel antiquated. Particularly the agility / initial acceleration movement." - Judging by the comment, it's still an issue.

4. I am guessing it can be, but can the shot meter be turned off? (I like having it off for realism)

5. Can the Dream Team players be traded to the other teams?

Thanks for all the first impression feedback. I can't wait to give the game a try when I get home.

[RICH72601]

I'm having an ok time with this game so far. It's always nice to play something new. The new additions across the board are well-implemented. I still suffer from UBRitis, but I'm enjoying myself.

One of the things that stand out and are kind of an eye sore for me is that there are so many players with the wrong body types (far too many players with the "teenage boy" body). Even when players are skinny/thin, they still have shape to their arms and such because they are athletic. Giannis Antetokounmpo is one of the best examples because he has the wrong skin tone and he has that "boy body". Sometimes I think that there's no way in hell the 2K guys are seeing the same players as I am. The other thing that really stands out is the jersey and court accuracy and detail. They could actually learn from NBA Live in that department. I don't like how Live's jerseys sit and move on the players, but you can't deny the detail. The courts are night and day though. Our community guys do floors way better than the 2K guys (Myth, Retro, Bliss, and others).

[Nick]

Hey Nick,

I'll be playing when I get home. Great quick notes. I have a couple questions:

1. What did you mean by this?

"-The art department is way behind the animations department." Can you give some examples?

I mean that the animations are awesome. They're so lifelike. But it still doesn't feel like a real life broadcast of a basketball game, and in my opinion it's because of the graphics.

2. Does it seem that your defense is rotating better? As in, if somebody make a dive to the hoop, help comes?

I haven't made any observations about help defense yet. But i will say, if somebody drove to the hoop in 2k16 then help always came. If anything, it overhelped. The cpu AI was too eager to leave their 3pt man open imo.

3. When you said the following.. are they still doing that strange hurky jerky running motion while getting up the court?

"-I feel like they need to update the running animations once and for all. It makes the game feel antiquated. Particularly the agility / initial acceleration movement." - Judging by the comment, it's still an issue.

I'm not sure what hurky jerky running motion you're talking about, but the default running/dribbling looked the same to me.

[Dee4Three]

Thanks. Im referring to when the player is in the backcourt (when being controlled by the AI without the ball), he does this weird start/stop animation, it looks goofy and strange.....

Also, what I mean by AI defense, was just the defense in general. Over helping is also a problem (because it also leaves someone wide open). My biggest complaint about 2k16 was the bad defensive AI.

Either way, thanks for the feedback. Very helpful.

[tampy]

I can't believe crossovers requires VC now..

[Dee4Three]

I can't believe crossovers requires VC now..

What?

[Book_Gazette]

Crap I'm late to the game. But I don't need to worry as the season hasn't begun yet and I still have to build my PC. i am sad to start MyCareer later than everyone else

[buzzy]

I just paused the game with 1:47 left in the quarter to watch a replay. I was able to rewind back to the start of the 6 minute quarter. What the fuck.

I don't know where the limit is, but it seems there isn't one anymore. You can literally watch whole quarters again.

[crazy_me_87]

2 Games in here are my 2 Cents so far:

The Gameplay is amazing. Its smooth.. it flows.. and is faster.
There are quite alot of new animations,especially around the Rim.
I had a "Wooah .. Ouch.. let me watch that again" right at my second Possession. Lebron gets the Ball running downhill and starts something that looks like a strong layup but he actually slammed it over Pavlovic. Epic
But as almost every year.. my Ego took a hit because suddenly after beating the crap out of HOF CPU in 2k16 just yesterday i suddenly suck at basketball again But hey thats the fun of learning the new Game

Overall i am very,very happy. The one thing that misses for my total NBA 2k heaven is something thats not the Games fault^^ I am a huge MyLeague guy and i cant really start until we find a way to add Cyberfaces to draft classes.

[CarolusXCI]

Hey Nick, thanks for the info. Could you elaborate more on:

-The roster editor is perfect. Love it. The logical next step is obviously to include more things other than attributes (vitals, tendencies, etc)

I mean, how is it? I heard you can change player ratings easily this year, and I wonder how. Is there a global editor to edit all players ratings at once?

[Phreak50]

From PC version:

- frame rate is showing constant 60fps on my counter but there is weird syncing/stuttering going on
- hair and beards are transparent (Nvidia GTX1080 latest official driver, all settings max)
- more clipping than this game has ever had. In the first few plays I posted up Gasol, Aldridge and Leonard and each time from the default camera view you could see their arms and legs clipping right through the defenders body
- the overhead pass that has been in the game for 18 years still exists. It was slow and ugly back then and is no different today
- they seem to have added a lot more facial animation but for whatever reason it makes the players look cartoony and goofy for the most part
- as said above, it still looks like a game, the stadiums, crowd and lighting need an overhaul

+ generally controls are much smoother and lighter, don't feel heavy and slow like previously
+ jump shot animations and generally responsiveness seems quicker and smoother
+ commentary is superb, great to have multiple teams but really great to hear a lot more player specific game related bits and not long drawn out stories
+ the most simple and intuitive menu the game has had for years
+ lighting and skin tones seem improved
+ arena sounds are nice

[Andrew]

Finally got the PS4 patch installed, and jumped into some Pro-Am with the guys. Ended up buying VC to upgrade my MyPLAYER, because 57 Overall wasn't going to cut it. It's also going to be a huge grind to upgrade this year. The VC rewards in Pro-Am have been nerfed something shocking, in a rather transparent attempt to encourage more microtransactions. Not cool.

Also not cool, the lack of customisation out of the gate. Way to take something that made 2K Pro-Am a lot of fun last year, and make us grind for it for no good reason. Also, the grading logic still feels kind of broken.

That said, after we all started getting used to the controls, I think we all started having some fun. I'm liking the Shot Meter - which does feel like NBA Live 16's Shot Meter in some ways, which is fine by me - except on free throws. It seems to fill up way too fast on free throw attempts, and there also doesn't appear to be a way to upgrade your free throw rating. If nothing else, it doesn't show up along with the other attribute upgrades. The last game we played was one of our best efforts. Lots of good features such as a "ready" option while shooting around in the Team Arena, roster management, and stats tracking. Pro-Am should be more fun this year, I just don't like that it takes a while to be able to import images and customise your branding.

MyCAREER is looking very solid. I'll start getting stuck into the story this weekend, but I like that we don't have to slog through the first year to get to the good stuff from Year 2 last year. The drills and "Doin' Work" meter are a good idea.

I need to play some regular games without being locked to my MyPLAYER to really comment on the gameplay at length, but as in The Prelude, so far it does feel a bit more responsive. Still some issues feathering half-steps to the three-point line and things like that, though. I'm still generally optimistic, though I am noticing legacy issues with clipping (not as improved as advertised) and some out of control moments.

I'm sure I'll be playing it a lot more this weekend, getting into MyLEAGUE, firing up my PC copy, and everything else. But after a few hours playing it late last night and into the early morning, I definitely came away feeling positive and optimistic about a year of playing NBA 2K17.

[Dee4Three]

Played for a few hours... presentation/graphics are great, no issues there (Love the touchups on the classic player cyberfaces)

But it's all about the gameplay... my thoughts:

1. Help defense does seem better, the trailer three was not working as often, and players seem to help more.
2. Some of the cheese seems to be fixed. Spin moves do not seem as dominant for one... it takes more work to get by the defender...
3. The dribbling reminds me of NBA 2K16 before any patches... it doesn't feel natural... I like the combo move idea. But the main dribbling animation/mechanics seem out of control
4. I like that certain players (Like Iverson) have that acceleration again.. they should and deserve it. Those guys shouid be able to blow by slower defenders.
5. The spin move into a pass or shot (double tap the shoot button) is back working solid again. it's more realistic.
6. I like the new shooting feel. It feels faster and more fluid.
7. I don't like the new quick play setup... I couldn't even figure out how to run a simple isolation or basket cut. I'll have to mess around with it a little more.

I like this game better out of the gate than I did with NBA 2k16 before patches. But hopefully I'm not the only one that sees the dribbling as a flaw right now.

NOTE: I play on HOF only. So this first impression is based off of HOF gameplay.

[mcoll86]

I'VR HAD A COUPLE HOURS TO PAY WITH IT. I GETTING TO LIKE IT. IM COMIG FROM 2K14, SO IT FEELS A LITTLE WIRED BECAUSE OF THE THIS NEXT GEN AND NEXT IS MUCH 3D AND SOMTHING MY EYES ARE NOT USE TO, BUT IM LIKING IT. I'VE MOST OF TIME IVE HAD INSTALLED TODAY JUST LEARNING TO GET ANROUND. SEEING TE DIFFERNT FEATURES OF THE GAME AND STUFF OF THAT NATURE AT THIS POINT.

[Book_Gazette]

I am hoping to get this soon along with a new PC. Looking at the game it is very shiny and very nice. It's got that 2K14 next gen feel mixed with 2K11. The models are excellent and screw KD's shitty long arms. MyCareer has many possibilities and I love that concept.
Wish me luck for my rig building...

[fjccommish]

Way too easy to score. HOF, 10 minute quarters, every game is around 130 points for each team. Both teams usually shoot over 60% from the field and from 3.

Problem is, if I adjust sliders the CPU teams don't adjust. They keep taking the same shots, so it becomes too easy to beat them.

[TBM]

Way too easy to score. HOF, 10 minute quarters, every game is around 130 points for each team. Both teams usually shoot over 60% from the field and from 3.

Problem is, if I adjust sliders the CPU teams don't adjust. They keep taking the same shots, so it becomes too easy to beat them.

Adjust tendencies as well.

[menten]

i have played one game so far and havent noticed any differences to the previous game. everything other than the commentary and new menu is basically the same. i wonder what the hell they were doing the whole year

[maumau78]

Really disappointed for what I can see from youtube videos (I won't get the game as you may know this year):

- Arena specific light? Where?
- Arena specific SFX? Where?
- Same running animation for every Player
- No new retro Teams
- Still not possible to edit rosters to have sort of UBR

no no for me

[Nick]

Hey Nick, thanks for the info. Could you elaborate more on:

-The roster editor is perfect. Love it. The logical next step is obviously to include more things other than attributes (vitals, tendencies, etc)

I mean, how is it? I heard you can change player ratings easily this year, and I wonder how. Is there a global editor to edit all players ratings at once?

Basically, yeah. Think of it like a spreadsheet with cells. You can see every player's attributes. You move the cursor around using the left stick and change the attribute values by pushing the right stick up or down. Pretty simple.

It's not as perfect as i originally thought though, as they seem to have forgotten to have put Offensive consistency, Defensive consistency, and Draw foul in there for some reason.
Also don't see why tendencies can't be there too.
But apparently they're aware of all this and may get it all patched in.

[Nick]

I'm liking the Shot Meter - which does feel like NBA Live 16's Shot Meter in some ways, which is fine by me - except on free throws. It seems to fill up way too fast on free throw attempts, and there also doesn't appear to be a way to upgrade your free throw rating.

It gets easier once you get used to it. I've been playing since Friday and i feel like i've got freethrow mastered. I.e. i just played a 12 min qtr game and i shot 22-23 from FT. I find it to be really easy, personally

[Andrew]

Could've been some lag in Pro-Am. Shooting around in team practice feels a lot better.

[buzzy]

I always turn off the shot meter altogether. I'd rather look at the player's release than the meter. And I'd say it's working pretty well.