“NBA 2K24” released earlier this year on Sept. 8. Once again, the question remains: will it ever live up to “2K16”? The simple answer is no. That’s not to say I hate it. I think it works in some ways, and it is a slight improvement over last year’s iteration.

First, My Team remains the same. I’ll be honest, this is not my thing. I have never been a fan of this mode. I know people love it, and I have heard it is fun, so if that’s your thing, have fun. I played it for a bit, and the cards are nice, not too overpowered, and the servers work well, which is all you can ask for.

Next, The W is a good mode for all WNBA fans. The career mode works, but they really didn’t change much from the last game. I wish they put the same effort into the mode as they do for the men’s side. I won’t lie, it feels like they threw it in there just so people wouldn’t complain. The season mode is fun, but again, it only works for a year, and then it ends. The W is a cool idea that is not seen much in sports games, but work still needs to be done if they want to take it to the next level.

I think for once they did a good job with My Eras. The first few eras, Magic Vs Bird, Jordan, and Kobe, are all the same. But where it shines is the LeBron era. You pick up in 2011, and it was super fun to relive one of the first years I remember being an NBA fan. The only issue I can see is that for the draft prospects, every team now knows who becomes stars. For example, when I did my playthrough, Draymond Green was drafted in the top 10, whereas in real life, he went in the second round. It’s not an issue, but I wanted to see what prospects they actually thought of at the time, rather than how they were after the fact. I do wish they would bring back My GM. I loved that mode to build the team I wanted and get a chance to deal with media, trades, and much more. I’d even take the one in 2K19 where Andrew, your assistant, just trades a player for no reason. At least there were some stakes, you know? Overall, though, I did like My Eras.

For My Career, they took out all the random stuff like skating, rapping with J. Cole, or the beef with a random selection of the 11th and 12th picks in the draft. You pick up in your first game in the starting lineup as the highly sought-after draft pick. I think it’s fun to not only get to play but not have to grind for weeks to get my minutes up to 11 a game. The mode still takes place in the city, and you do get to interact with fans, which I did like.

The game looks great, runs well, and provides a refreshing experience. “2K” still has a way to go to relive the hype it once had, but it took a step in the right direction.