 Oh hey, I didn't see you there. My fault, I'm in the middle of an investigation. When games come out, I'm really careful about what I say. I like to preface every statement I make as to not make a misstep, we've been there before. And so today I'm investigating. Who capped? Which one of you industry reviewers capped about 2K21 next gen? I've been there before, I've made those mistakes. I mean, Agent Zero has. I remember 2K18, I was invited out to the event. I thought, what could possibly go wrong? Here we were, we saw the trailer for the first time, for the neighborhood, and we lost our minds. In that moment, I forgot what I always knew to be the case. Always about execution. And I promised myself I made a plea, I would never get bamboozled like that again. And I have it. But these industry chumps, I swear to God bro, they keep coming out with reviews just blatantly capping or exaggerating points just because they want the industry plugs and they wanna be invited to these events, man. So this is Detective Agent. If you've made the error, if you've done the crime, oh, you're gonna do the fucking time, buddy. So from now on, like anytime I see something, I go like, wow, that could be dope. As long as it's implemented correctly, and this and this happens, I don't just make bold statements like this is gonna be the greatest thing we've ever seen in 2K history anymore. Cause it often really isn't. It usually, the things that we love most about games is stuff that surprises us. NBA 2K21 PS5 review. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, IGN, ha ha ha ha. Ooh, okay, they dropped their first hands-on impressions and then the review. All right, the thing we care about most, up front and in the center, play now online. That's everyone's favorite game mode that never gets, all gets all the improvements and is never always still. Did I get it right, 2K? Great to have you with us. We are set to get you over the hump this Wednesday night with another edition of the NBA on 2K Sports. I was especially excited to play NBA 2K21 on the PS5 because it's one of just a couple next-gen launch games that's being built specifically for the new consoles. Yes, 2K21 is out right now on PS4, but the next-gen edition of the- Oh my God, bro, I played 2K and right now the graphics is not even in 4K. Put it in 4K? Why would you not upload this in 4K, IGN? Anyway, I could literally see the stitching of the players on my monitor. Oh my God, it looks literally better in this video than it does in the game. That's so weird. The popular basketball sim is a new, built from the ground-up version that has unique tech, modes, and features. Developer visual concepts took the same next-gen do-over approach last time around with NBA 2K14, but the PS4 version ended up being pretty bare bones next to that year's PS3 game. Okay, hey, what's your name, big guy? I like what I've seen so far. You quoted 2K14, which means you've been doing this for a minute. I like that out of you, man. I like that. Don't let me down. Now this is a good start, buddy. Not so with 2K21. It's got everything that's in the current-gen version now and more in- Come on, man. I literally just gave you a compliment. Why would you? See what I told you about these bold statements? Okay, let me explain to me why this game has everything current-gen had and more. Please go ahead and explain this to me. Including a bold new city mode and deeper WNBA integration. NBA, we always talk about pace well. And that's in the current-gen version now and more, including a bold new city mode and deeper WNBA integration. Of course! The mode everybody's been dying for, WNBA, yes! I can't wait for him to talk about that. NBA, we always talk about pace well. This will be all about pace. But first, let's talk about the most fun part of any sports game's generational transition, the graphics. The native 4K 60 frames per second presentation in NBA 2K21 is impressive. It is, it is. Among the few dozen launch titles across both the PS5 and the Series X, this might be the one you fire up first to show off your new next-gen console's horsepower. Animations are much better with foot planting and momentum being key areas of improvement. Players also now take procedural steps instead of just canned animations which leads to less of the skating effect. Let's take a look. Which isn't that so interesting? The fact that, logically, it should be less sliding around. But for some reason, when I play online, I feel more of it. Why has all this technology, logic, graphics, physics, guys? What y'all know about physics? Me, not much. I failed science. But the developers do. And they talked about all these gameplay improvements, but I don't feel it. You know why I don't feel it 2K? Because when I play your game, it is so unresponsive online. You guys have never addressed the latency issue that's been plaguing your game since, well, really forever, but especially since 2K17. Y'all did all of this stuff that's supposed to make the game feel more responsive. But when I'm playing online, it feels unresponsive. So the only time you really feel the effects of all the physics changes and foot planting mechanics you included in the game is when I'm playing my career. And I'm not having fun on my career, because it's my career. That was fun 10 years ago. I'm all about self-improvement, continuing to grow and trying new things. So I'm very excited that Skillshare is helping sponsor this video. Skillshare is a massive online learning community with thousands of different classes. So no matter what your passion is, you could explore it. For example, let's say you're into music. There's hundreds of different classes. You click on this one right here. You can learn how to mix music with young guru. Why don't you look at that? You wanna get into videography. You don't know how to do it. There's classes for that. Video on a budget, prepare your shoot without breaking the bank. It's all useful material. And they have plenty of different categories so you could explore your passions and learn at your own free will. I love that, man. I love that. I wish more people would take the initiative to try new things themselves. The good thing about Skillshare is that it's curated for learning. So you're not seeing ads and there's nothing interrupting the process of you getting to what you want. And they're always adding premium classes. So no matter where your creativity takes you, you can follow it. And all of that, ladies and gentlemen, for a beautiful price, if you get the annual subscription, it's only $10 a month. And I got y'all plugged up with a dope, dear ladies and gentlemen, it's the top link in the description, the first thousand people to click the link and sign up for Skillshare. You guys get a free child of the premium membership. Ladies and gentlemen, chase your dreams, man. I just met and stopped you from doing it. We got all these online resources. Use them. Thank you to Skillshare for helping sponsor this video. Look at our starters for the Golden State Warriors. Player faces are, of course, more detailed than ever. And a little thing that sells it is that everyone else looks much better now, too. From the crowd, which finally has kids in it, to the referees, people at the scores table, dance team, mascots, mop boys, cameramen, security guards, et cetera. The visual concept says they've added custom AI routines for 150 NPCs in the arena's lower bowl. Well, obviously, they've even added an entire second play-by-play broadcast team led by Brian Anderson and Grant Hill. And I don't like them. I mean, their commentary. I don't like their commentary. Go back to other guys, please. Hi, everyone. Alongside Grant Hill and Steve Smith, I'm Brian Anderson. In short, the whole look of NBA 2K has a much more holistic feel compared to the current gen versions. OK. 2K Studio Art Director Anton Dawson told me that the team has a brand new set of tools. Say it again. Say it again. Studio Art Director Anton Dawson Figured you out, man. God damn it. Ha ha ha, hey me! For years up and trying to figure out who in the designed that 2K18 neighborhood. The art team, y'all have been ghosts. You don't talk to nobody. Art team is you don't even know who's on the art team. We have no clue who's on the art team, guys. The guys that make the level design, the guys that make the game look pretty, we have no clue who's on that team. Till just now, IGN broke the case. IGN, who's the guy that was responsible for 2K18? In short, the whole look of NBA 2K has a much more holistic feel compared to the current gen versions. 2K Studio Art Director Anton Dawson We got him. We got him in 4K. Anton Dawson. Visual concepts. Okay, okay. This is him right here, Anton Dawson. He's just, oh there's a lot of people. Oh my God, what the? Is this a, they have a game credits? My whole life I've been trying to figure that this answer is on their website? They just tell us who's on what team? Guys, right here. Oh my God, this is incredible. Where's the level design guys? Environment artists. Who is the team? These guys. Hey, don't, I realized this is a video and I'm kind of half trolling here, although I was kind of genuinely curious. Hey, don't say nobody know hate, let's be honest. It's gotten a lot better since 2K18. I just don't know that because you guys can be weird and then you guys are gonna go there and then now I have to answer why thousands of people aren't Anton's DMs. For what it's worth? Wow, have y'all rebounded since 2K18? Incredible work. For 2K18, he put us through a lot. He told me that the team has a brand new set of tools to scan player faces and capture arena lighting and they've been working on the next gen version since midway through 2K20's development. In short, just about everything about the way players are brought into the game and then rendered and lit has changed and you can see the results on the screen. Outside of the simulation, NBA 2K21 next gen's big new idea is the city. Okay. It's billed as the next step after neighborhood and it is an actual open world where you can walk around, join one of the four affiliations and compete in one-on-one or... I like this guy a little bit. I like him a little bit because he used the word affiliation which means that he actually played 16, 15, 17. He mentioned 2K14 earlier. It seems like a guy who actually plays the game. So don't mess this up. I'm curious what you're gonna say. Ha, ha, ha. Or bigger team events. You get around the city on foot, skateboard or bike. There are shops, pickup courts and more. There's even a four square-esque feature that allows you to run for mayor of each district complete with in-game polling places to vote at every six weeks when new elections are held. It's rigged. The four mayors then get to curate matchup soundtracks, design their affiliations, courts and customize the look of their district. Hundreds of players will walk around at a given time though when I jumped into the preview build only a couple of QA testers were milling about. Still, it's a fascinating feature if visual concepts can pull it off. The new 2K also doubles down on its double... I like this guy. I like this guy. God damn it, I like this guy. Did you hear what he just said? He didn't say this is gonna be the most game-breaking. We're so happy. We at IGN are so happy that this is happening. He said this could be incredible if they do it right. He's on my type of time. I like this guy so much already. WNBA integration. You've got a full My Player career mode available now plus a full online league option. I played a bit as the Phoenix Mercury, aka my only Arizona sports team actually capable of winning a championship and sure enough, these women move differently and play differently compared to the men as they should. Visual Concepts' quest for authenticity here seems genuine, which 2K says is owed to the women and men on the team who are big WNBA fans themselves. And back on the men's side, My Career offers a new story mode called Long Shadow, which introduces the G-League as another big career path option alongside college. Watch out now! Various nemeses from My Career modes in previous years return here as teammates on your G-League squad, complete with plenty of off-court drama that's bound to follow. It'll be interesting to see- Oh, you were doing so good! God damn it, you were doing so good! Ah! He didn't play current Gen like that or at least he doesn't remember the experience because it's almost the exact same in story. Except for the G-League, if you decided to go to the G-League instead, you get a little bit of different story in there, but it was largely the same bare-bone story from current Gen. Now personally me, I don't care about the story. I'm an online type of guy. But the fact that you didn't mention that- And this is hands-on, actually. Yo, this is hands-on. All right. You know what? The hands-on. I'ma see your full review, big dog. All right? This is your full, this is your got a chance to play the game for a while. Don't mess this up, buddy! The blonde's showing the hardest treat that other players- Usually with cross-generation games like this, when we play on the shiny new boxes, we expect to see the same exact game but prettier. However, the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X version of NBA 2K21 uses the opportunity to take the ambitiously forward that the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 version didn't. Everything feels newer and bigger from the jaw-dropping variety and presentation to the giant city that can be explored in MyPlayer. It doesn't shake the bad habits that Rob- He called it MyPlayer. What the fuck is not 2010, dude? We stopped calling it that like six years ago. Catch up, buddy! The existing version of greatness, though. We're still stuck with unnecessary grinding, putrid pay-to-win microtransactions. Sorry, sorry, I was excited. Let's keep going. And a host of problems that seem like a direct result of NBA 2K21's ambition. There's a lot to be excited about, but much like a fast-brake dunk, God or I, sometimes flash is less important than substance. The Blight's after, buddy! So far, he's keeping it a buck. I didn't expect that. I didn't expect that out of you, buddy. I need you to know that you caught me off guard here with this review. Cause you know, IGN and M, like all the industry media outlets, they kind of have a bad rap for just gassing up bad games. Because like, when something is new, like you almost want to be like, this is the most incredible thing ever. But maybe it's not, though. Maybe it's not. Maybe it's just actually one of the worst things that could ever happen to a game. But you don't know that cause you're blinded by the new shit. You didn't get to the core. It's like, it's like being in a relationship. It's all fun and games. So you're about six months in and then she starts showing you who she really is and you're not fucking with it. Y'all have problems now and y'all break up in your heart broken. I've been through heartbreak over 2K. That's real shit. That's why I stay distant. I'm broken inside. I need therapy. A junk donor. What's your name? Ben? You're not the same guy who did the other one. Ryan McCaffrey. And this guy's name is some other. Okay, all right. So y'all are different people. Okay, y'all have so many people that work there. How does IGN make money, guys? It's not off AdSense. How'd they make money? I'll think on that later. But wow, does it look great. Watching players' expressions change as they come into contact with each other in the air or fight for position off-fault is truly impressive. Even beyond the players, the sidelines feel so much more alive and dynamic. The unfortunate side effect of all this realistic glamour is that when things break down, like when a player stares blankly into the void at the free throw line, it looks odder than it would otherwise. Still, NBA 2K... It's right there like he's getting his soul sucked. Like he was having a good night. Dodging looked like he just won the championship and he wanted to celebrate with his girl. 21 is a good representation of what the new consoles are capable of graphically. We also get a new broadcast team with Brian Anderson, Grant Hill, and Ali LaForce adding to what is already the best play-by-play and color commentary in sports video games. That's facts, actually. Well, he just said right there is facts. Maybe not the adding to it because I don't like the new commentary, but what they already have... Between the hoops, the new gen version of NBA 2K21 addresses many of the legacy issues that have plagued the franchise for years. Okay, like what? Warped animations happen much less frequently and as a result, there's much more efficacy when on defense. Positioning isn't just about reacting anymore. It can be employed as a strategy. Unfortunately, the AI doesn't take advantage of this in the way that it probably should. Bro, is this a good review I'm watching right now? And that makes it far too easy to get into the lane for an explosive dunk or an easy foul call. Movement also feels a lot better with foot planting resulting in less sliding and more nuanced play. Again, the real beneficiary here is how it feels to play defense. Tapping the analog stick to one side or the other doesn't result in a big move. On my career, you need to specify. Online, it still feels like dog because of the latency, but on my career, you meant to say, Ben. Instead, it results in the controlled player taking a quick step to the left or right to adjust position. The ability to position yourself for a charge when playing against someone overly eager to drive the lane is a great refinement and that emphasis on position makes mid-gain battles more fun and engaging than they have ever been in the past. The trade-off is that the changes to the movement mechanics seems to result in accidental out-of-bounds happening far too frequently, breaking the immersion that NBA 2K21 works so desperately to achieve. Similarly, other... That happened to me like a couple times in like the first couple days of the launch. So that almost sounds like, honestly, I'm not gonna lie to you, bro. Hey, I'm gonna keep it a holy bean with you, bro, Ski. Ben, you haven't curry-slid one time, so I can tell you're not great at the game. We know all the great players always curry-slide. So until I see a curry-slide out of you, bro, I don't need you to tell me about how you fucked up the immersion. I want you to curry-slide on high-picking roles. All game, seven times of possession. Thanks, Ben. Other new issues crop up as a result of some of the changes. The pick and roll is incredibly hit or miss and frequently results in a far too easy basket for the offense. The off-ball defender doesn't switch match-ups when it's appropriate and often sinks on players it shouldn't, such as Steph Curry. This is likely a side effect of the animations being less automatic than they were in the past, but given that the pick and roll is such a common tool, it's a glaring issue. Bro, you hit the nail on the coffin of the head top when you said the high-picking roll is abusive. Facts, this is OP. This is very OP, man. Even without brick wall. You hit that on the nail of the market ahead of the coffin, man. But then you fold it up and you give it up. How about it? Who did how about it? What do you say? And often sinks on players it shouldn't, such as Steph Curry. This is likely a side effect of the animations being less automatic than you. Oh, the animations. Oh, man, I thought you made a mistake. No, so far, perfect review. Yeah, I thought you meant the jump shots. Yeah, cause that got easier. That's automatic this year. NBA 2K21 makes quite a few changes outside of the Arena 2. My career features the same disappointing story from the previous generation versions, but it now includes a branching storyline that involves going to the G League out of high school instead of playing for one of the 10 available universities. Additions like the return of some characters that had made appearances in previous 2K stories are neat, but skipping the whole story is still the recommended option. The rest of my player has seen an ambitious overhaul. The city is a brand new area to roam and explore with created players and it's absolutely huge. In fact, it's arguably far too big. It takes forever to get from one end to the other and even though there are 100 players present, they feel far too spread out over such a large space. Even finding a three on three matchup can take around five minutes, which almost totally defeats the purpose of the incredibly fast loading times for next gen. Adding to the frustration of all this is that your my player can't transfer over from the previous generation version. Going back to square one, shines the spotlight square on the gross micro transactions that speed up the grind back to a high rating. It's really a shame because my player has so much potential to be one of the best and most complex game modes in sports game history if it ever stops trying to ring cash out of us. Ben, this has been the greatest review I've seen in my entire lifetime. You kept it a buck so far. You see how I prefaced it? You see how I made the statement and I prefaced it? That's what everyone should be doing because we actually never really know. You've hit the nail on the head of the market and coffin on the head top with every statement you've made so far. I dead ass came on this video bro because I've done this video in the past and I didn't cap out their ass. I came on this video expecting y'all to have no idea what you were talking about. You didn't even play the game. You don't keep up with the game. You don't know the history of the game. And I was gonna say, Colin, you cap man, Ben, you cap right now bro. I don't trust you or IGN to give me my goddamn news information about this game. But I didn't sat here man and I watched his hands on in first impressions and now I'm watching this review here and you spit in facts. I've been saying it for a minute. I swear I think 2K's park has the opportunity to be the greatest mode ever in the sports gaming history. It has the opportunity if they deliver. Think about it for a moment bro. Can you imagine you're playing FIFA or Madden and you could just walk around an open world and play with your friends and invite people in and you could just hop on God next and you'd be like, oh my God that'd be such a crazy mode. 2K has that but it's bogged down by stuff this segment is literally called away from the court by stuff away from the court bro. Ben, you hitting the nail on the head of the coffin of the market head top right now bro. Let me take this little costume off. Let me watch it as Agent Cerro right now. The rest of the revised modes are hit and miss. My League and my GM have been fused into the new My NBA and it's nice to get the best of both the in depth customization of the former and the role playing elements of the latter. The new SSD enhanced menu navigation is similarly convenient as it gives you the ability to jump around from trade prospects to coaching decisions in the matter of a second or two. While my team is more of the same, especially when it comes to grinding out card packs or spending loads of virtual currency to get the players you want, the play now experience online was surprisingly fun. Latency still proves to be a problem, but has found a new best friend of this guy so much bro. Say it again, say it again. Online was surprisingly fun. Latency still proves to be a problem, but has felt much smoother than it has in the past. Oh no, you fell for the trap. Damn man, I just talked about how much I loved you. You fell for the trap bro. It is always the best in the first few days and then they stopped trying. Day one is horrible, it's obnoxiously bad and then they fix it for a few days and then it gets worse over time. Over the 2K's history, it's gonna get worse until the 2K is eventually servers closed. Oh my God, wow, holy, whew. My heart rate is actually rate, if I had a heartbeat rating sensor on me right now on screen, y'all would be like agent is really, he wasn't lying. When I said I wanted this guy to be my new best friend. It's past 100 for sure. It's like, it's almost as if I'm doing a workout right now. PlayChanges really benefit online play where defense feels a lot more focused than in the past and using stars like LeBron James to control the offense feels better than ever. James goes in. Hey, it's James. NBA 2K21 jumps into the new generation of consoles with a heaping pile of ambitious upgrades. On and around the court, it's one of the best sports game experiences around. The movement is fluid, the presentation is startlingly good and NBA 2K21 leaves a lot of the franchise's legacy issues in the dust. The rest of NBA 2K21, namely everything it does off the court feels like the first half of an alley-oop. There's so much potential in the MyPlayer experience that it's maddening that things feel so empty and heavily dependent on pay-to-win progression mechanics. Still, the new MyNBA mode has plenty of depth and streamlines things in a refreshingly simple way and the ability to take on most of what NBA 2K21 has to offer through the WNBA is a really important addition. Ultimately, it's just frustrating to see NBA 2K21 pass up what seems like should be an easy slam dunk. For more, check out our review of the... That is my favorite review I've ever watched in my life. To the point where I actually wouldn't even bother ever giving y'all a review because I would just tell you that Ben said everything I wanted to say about the game. Hey, no cat writer came on this video expecting to talk my shit, bro. But Ben, I'm sitting here right now. I'm letting you know, man. You caught me off guard, man. You spitting facts here. Like industry journalism has such a crazy bad rap for just being ingenuine. Is that the word? Disingenuous. And largely because they kind of rely on their access to be able to continue to get games early. Like they get sent these games a week beforehand. You know what I'm saying? So that they can drop the review when the game comes out. And obviously the devs want a good review, of course. And they know that when they drop a review like this that it's gonna be less likely they're gonna get an early copy. You can get the regular copy like the rest of the people. But still, man, they dropped this right here anyway. And it's facts. Everything he said is facts. Detective agent, I talked to him in a moment, bro. But I guarantee you he's gonna see no wrong doing here. Nothing straight facts. Me personally, I see the same. And I feel some type of way about it, man. I have to. Ladies and gentlemen, I dropped a video explaining a lot of my frustrations currently with 2K right here. You can click and watch that if you want. If not, second channel link in the description. Almost at 400,000 subscribers. Thank you guys for showing love, man. Pleasantly surprised to hear this video. I'm gonna catch y'all in the next one. Peace.