NBA 2K21’s G League career choice is the one to take on PS5, Series X

In the locker room tunnel of a single minor league arena, the expanded tale of NBA 2K21 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, it makes you think you made the wrong decision, turning pro immediately after high school.

Your trainer, weary of the world, mumbles in front of the trash cans left by the hockey players the night before. You might be a beginner, but he expects you to win your playing time in the next game. Then you meet your teammates: the Tracy Morgan-style Middleton “ATM” Sheldon; Shammy Wells, who would shoot a four point if they had a line for it; a Nosferatu type of appearance named Vlad the Impaler; and, of course, Jackson Ellis, a fan of himself.

All of these names are familiar to veteran NBA 2K players. They have been career narrative antagonists dating back to NBA 2K14, with Ellis as the motorized spokesperson for the player’s original ascent to glory. Visual Concepts brought the group together in the best way for the opening of MyCareer on new consoles, but since they kept this a secret when the game launched on November 10, pointing out other improvements until then, I really didn’t know. not how much better the mode was. until I tried it on my Thanksgiving weekend.

Being introduced to these yo-yos was all it took to know I had done the It’s correct choice by taking out a “select contract”, for bus travel and G League taco promotions. I played all 10 games with a big smile, even the first one where I think the game weakens all of your attributes down to getting off to a bad start which is key to the player’s personal journey.

Ellis jumped NBA 2K20 last year, but he’s been in every MyCareer story since 2013, even making an appearance as an arena security guard in NBA 2K18

. He teamed up with ATM the last time the series went to the G League, in NBA 2K19, where the two announced themselves as the “Smoke and Mirrors” player combination. Hagi also appeared in this game just like an opponent in the game, with no cutscenes or conversation lines. He was a formidable Eastern European post player whose shot blocking pushes you to look for open teammates. And Shammy Wells comes from NBA 2K18, where he played alongside the player character “DJ”, taking an excessive number of contested 3-point shots and getting in front of DJ if he didn’t pass the ball enough.

All these guys are back with their original actors on the mic. As one fan put it on Reddit, it looks like Visual Concepts was writing a sentimental farewell note to NBA 2K on next-gen consoles.

Love letter or victory trick, Visual Concepts deserved it. 2K Sports’ in-house studio turned to these fictional friends after their attempts to make real NBA stars that the player’s mentor turned into embarrassing voice work (looking at you, Eric Gordon) for NBA 2K14 Yes 2K15. Spike Lee made a story without a mentor for NBA 2K16; Michael B. Jordan also acted solo as player character Justice Young in NBA 2K17; and the teammates returned to the stage dialogue by NBA 2K18 with actor Cameron Bedford as Shammy Wells.

At this point, the story of MyCareer got much more interesting. Plus, the show’s writers have discovered a winning formula: take an antagonist, give him a face spin, and now you’ve got a character that players will go to mattresses for. In NBA 2K20, was the training partner Axel Walden (Blondy Baruti); He ends up entering the league with the player character in an honestly touching final on the court. In NBA 2K21Hendrixx Cobb (Vince Washington) is the player’s alleged No.1 pick and rival, but after going to college the two develop a very close friendship, culminating in some hilarious shenanigans before the draft.

Of course, you miss that arc with Cobb a lot if you hit the G League route in the NBA 2K21. (Cobb and the player always part ways on a happy and positive note.) But it’s worth skipping college to take the bus like Vlad freestyles; celebrate ATM and Jackson returning to the NBA on 10-day contracts, then come back together for a two-game final that I can’t fuck the opposing team. However, veteran players should be able to find the roster.

NBA 2K21, Like the three games before it, it has cleverly written dialogue and well-acted scenes that are way above the story modes attempted (and abandoned) by other sports video games. I have a feeling Visual Concepts has stuck with storytelling because its authors understand an absolute truth about sports video game career patterns: to have to give the player a character they can admire, someone they want to be, or someone they care about if they’re not onscreen themselves.

Visual concepts and NBA 2K21 does more than that; they also give players friends they care about.

List File is Polygon’s current affairs and opinion column on the intersection of sports and video games.