My Team is the counterpart of FIFA Ultimate Team in NBA 2K23. In this game, you create a custom team by opening packs of cards in the style of loot boxes and then compete against other players online or in single-player mode to see how well you can do. Because of this, it will inevitably offend the sensibilities of those who consider loot boxes to be the work of the devil, and with its ability, for example, for you to create custom shoes that enhance your players' attributes, it's very naked in its consumerism. As such, it will inevitably offend the sensibilities of those who view loot boxes as the work of the devil.
Yet, it is also extremely interesting since it gives you the opportunity to test out your scratch side in a variety of different game-formats. These game-formats range from street-style three-on-three action all the way up to entire NBA games. Luckily, it is also rather generous in its early stages by throwing out enormous quantities of cards and providing you the resources to buy more - yet, if you grow obsessed with the pursuit of your all-time dream team, you will ultimately be required to invest real money to reach that goal.
To put it another way, NBA 2K23 offers a vast playground that is both adaptable and amazingly authentic, and it is packed with a big selection of basketball-related activities. So what is the experience of actually playing like? The response is really remarkable, despite the fact that it requires a lot of effort on your part to become proficient in its more obscure gameplay options. Newcomers to the game of basketball will definitely discover that it is first puzzling. If you don't know your pick-and-rolls from your triple threat stepbacks, you'll have a lot of work to do to catch up to the rest of the pack.
There are actually two different ways to play the game: player-focused, like in My Career and WBNA, in which you basically control one player and are required to ask your team-mates for the ball when you are in space, and team-focused, in which you automatically switch focus and control to whichever player on your team currently possesses the ball. Both of these types of gameplay are available in the game (as exemplified in My Team). There isn't a huge amount of difference between the two control techniques; but, when you're concentrating on one person, you always have particular goals to accomplish, which changes the way you approach the game in a way that's more rewarding.
The controls have been improved in a multitude of little ways this year by 2K Games, but the gameplay of NBA 2K23 is still focused on making baskets in a style that is as dazzling and impressive as is humanly possible, and the game provides you with the tools necessary to accomplish this goal. Personally, we found defense to be much more difficult than attack since if you are overly aggressive, you will continuously give away fouls. Nevertheless, you can somewhat lessen this difficulty by selecting a forward as your My Career player, for example.
Although there isn't a tutorial in the traditional sense, there is a thorough training component that walks you through the enormous array of actions that are available in the game. On the other hand, it would have been good if it included a mode that made you actually practice and carry out those actions. You will find that you are able to progress through My Career and My Team without having to master the game's most obscure moves if you so want. But, as you progress through the game, you will also learn new skills, and even at the beginning of the game, you will be able to pull off some impressive moves.
The dribbling engine, in particular, feels like a great approximation of some of the real-time moves actual basketball players would use, and the right-stick shooting also feels like a great approximation of some of the real-time moves actual basketball players would use. Whatever changes 2K Games made to the control system, the result was certainly a game that felt intuitive. Hence, when you play as, say, Michael Jordan, you don't necessarily feel as though you're perpetrating some sort of atrocity. Yet, in order to win those games that he personally grabbed by the scruff of the neck, you will need to attain a certain level of defensive skill.
