I was conflicted on what rating to give this game. I have been an avid player of the 2K franchise since NBA 2K5. After 2K19 I stopped playing all together due to the extreme fall off in gameplay quality, as well as the never ending focus on making the consumer spend more money. I redownloaded 2K21 and deleted it within a week. Took another year off and did the same thing with 2k23, and again with 2k24. I told myself I was done again. However, seeing 2k25 in the Xbox store for $25 made me get the itch again. I bought the game expecting the same thing. I have actually been pleasantly surprised with this years game. It feels more like the later 2010 games to me gameplay wise. The shooting is much improved from last year, the defense is more accurate, everything feels a little better. This goes for all offline and online modes. To me the severs also don't seem to be quite as bad. With all the positives it does still have a lot of the same flaws as the last few games. Bump steals, terrible pass animations, glitchy moves, bad out of bounds boarders, all the fun stuff. But I feel this game is at least a step in the right direction for 2K and hasn't made me delete it yet.