NBA 2K25 Reviews
A handful of improvements mean NBA 2K25 has a few tricks up its sleeve to be pleasantly surprised by this year, even as many long-term issues continue.
At the same time, everything else it does is so impressive, both as a basketball sim and when stacked next to any other sports game, that it's a delicate balance to find with words. It does so much so well, and much of it is done uniquely. But its refusal to decouple its marquee features from its virtual currency keeps this championship contender from reaching its full potential.
NBA 2K25 is still geared more towards its community but the devs have made it more approachable for casual players than in recent years.
Pared-back gameplay options, outdated visuals, and lengthy loads are par for the course for 2K on Switch, but the fact that NBA 2K25 feels like a lessened experience on even last year's disappointing entry is a real turnover for the series. Sound the buzzer and call for a substitution, it’s time we brought ‘Switch 2’ on.
NBA 2K25 has improved greatly on the court thanks to Pro Play and the new dribbling mechanics, with some nice tweaks to various modes.
Micro-transactions aside, NBA 2K25 is one of the best sports games to date. With its variety of game modes and stunning realism, it offers more than its predecessors. This game is a true delight for basketball fans, and if you're willing to overlook a couple of flaws, you're almost guaranteed to get hooked.
On the court, NBA 2K25 is probably the best instalment in recent years. Off the court, it follows a path that might work, but it's crying out for someone to compete against 2K. Even so, if we disregard the online component, the game provides many hours of fun on the NBA courts.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
NBA 2K25 offers a very complete experience that comes from presenting an overwhelming amount of content that is fused with truly advanced RPG elements for a basketball simulator. Essentially, it is a very good video game that is limited by a recurring problem: the weight of microtransactions.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
On a pure gameplay level, NBA 2K25 is "The" basketball simulation. Too bad about 2 K's "vampire" attitude that sucks money in online modes. Like it or not, you must make in-game purchases to compete; the gameplay and graphics innovations convinced us, somewhat less so those related to game modes: the Steph Era is cute, and The W has unexpressed potential. The rest has not changed much from last year.
Review in Italian | Read full review
NBA 2K25 is both a great and a frustrating experience. Beneath the layers of VC and the slow grind is a very good basketball game. The presentation is top notch and MyGM is the best mode to play to get the full NBA experience. MyCareer can be fun and it is a shame it is so bogged down where players have to choose to grind very slowly to improve, or to spend quite a bit of additional money to improve their players.
NBA 2K25 improves on the last game thanks to some playable novelties with real impact on the court and with a good amount of content in modes, which is only marred by the same mistakes as always in terms of micropayments and presentation.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
By daring to downscale some of the fluff, NBA 2K25 brings its focus back to basketball in a positive way. Improvements to the series' dribbling system and ProPLAY make this the best feeling hoops sim Visual Concepts has made, while the sheer density of different modes and features means you could play nothing else all year – and still never get bored. But the borderline insulting emphasis on microtransactions remain a thorn in this series' side, and something you simply have to accept if you want to enjoy everything else on offer here.
Longtime players of the NBA 2K series already know what to expect from 2K25. The game has played well for a long time, and this years game is no exception. While there were more glitches and issues than I would have liked, you’re still getting a solid on-court experience from this years edition. With that said, I simply can’t score the game higher than a 7 based on the continued overemphasis on microtransactions to the detriment of what should be the most enjoyable mode in the game. I can’t recommend buying the game at full price, knowing that you’ll need to pay the VC tax if you want to have a shot at being competitive online. I hope for next years game 2K will consider decoupling MyCareer and MyPlayer online and do something more akin to MLB the Show, while making microtransactions much more optional and less intrusive. That feels like wishful thinking however, as the game continues to sell hand over fist. If you plan on taking the dive again this year, just make sure you know what you’re getting into.
Some decent changes help elevate NBA 2K25 from last year's release, such as a more consolidated experience in The City as well as even more gameplay animations to enhance the gameplay experience. Learn 2K even helps you get back into the swing of things. However, menu input lag, incessant microtransactions, and clunky standard movement show how much room this franchise has to grow, even after all this time.
NBA 2K25 is - still today - the best basketball experience on the entire market, with the right optimizations regarding the shooting system. Unfortunately, problems related to microtransactions remain.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Expectations for annual releases are often low, so NBA 2K25 is a pleasant surprise in that regard. The game feels like a notable improvement on NBA 2K24. It’s hard to say players absolutely have to buy it if they already have last year’s game, but players who buy the NBA 2K games annually regardless will be pleased with this year’s offering.
While the on-court gameplay improvements from last year are incremental and subtle, NBA 2K25 is still the high-water mark for sports games. A more newcomer-friendly MyCAREER, and the addition of worthwhile game modes to MyTEAM make this one of the best entries in the series, even despite it constantly trying to reach deeper into your pocket.
Every year, the NBA 2K saga poses as the high priestess of sports game simulations. It is difficult to envisage, when the basic recipe remains the same, that the outcome will change this year.
Review in French | Read full review
Summing up, NBA 2K25 continues to improve what was already a top-notch sports simulation last year by mitigating the problems raised by the community and continuing to flesh out an already quite substantial package.
Review in Italian | Read full review
As an entire basketball package, there is no denying that NBA 2K25 is something to be savored by fans of the sport. With its great selection of game modes and the various improvements made in all areas, this makes it more of an obvious choice compared to last year's offering, and when Visual Concepts and 2K Games finally cut the cord with the previous generation, there will surely be even more amazing things to look forward to for a championship-caliber franchise.