Sugesstions of The Future of NBA Live

 

With next-gen here and NBA Live taking a 2-year hiatus, without any indication of a new title. It’s time to talk about the next title in the franchise which will hopefully be NBA Live 22 in the fall of 2021. Now, NBA Live 19 is performing well on the next-gen consoles but it’s time that we take a look on how NBA Live could rejuvenate its franchise to become one of the best simulation basketball games today.

First, there has to be solid smooth gameplay mechanics. With Live 19 there were some improvements but there are still those same stiff subdued animations. For example, when a player goes for a wide-open layup at times a player is two feet away from the rim and it still goes in. Another thing is automated rebounds. A player should go and get their rebounds when they want, not for the game to get it for them automatically. So, these are just a couple things that Live needs to improve on.

            Next, Franchise Mode needs a big improvement as well. As a Franchise player, there’s really no need to play it because there’s nothing new about it. Here’s what Live can do to expand Franchise mode. First, when a player first goes into franchise and choose their team we should start in the offseason and edit in the offseason. Next, we should have the option to look at all of the top prospects coming out of college and see if we want to in a feature within Franchise called “Recruiting”.  Then, there should be pre-draft workouts with the option to have them playable. Now, with the workouts having a playable option there should be 2 or 3 three minute sessions of whatever workout NBA draftees go through in those three minutes, and based on how well the player did they’ll receive a performance grade. Next, an optional playable summer league after the draft that consists of 5-10 games. These two features will be big for franchise mode if they’re implemented, not only will they be in “Franchise” but they will be in “The One” Career Mode as well and will give us as the player that real authentic NBA experience that we will enjoy and have fun with.

            Next, “The One” mode “The One” was introduced in Live 18 which included the career mode and their new trait system and the return of “Live Run”. NBA Live 19 had the same thing. So, here are some suggestions to expand “The One” as well. Live 19 “The Ones” player creation was easy and quick just as it should be, but once a player got to choose their positions it got to be a little confusing. A player couldn’t choose their actual position. They had to choose a Guard, Wing, or Big. After that, a player had to choose one of the playstyles within that. For example, if a player chose a guard, they will have to choose between a backcourt shooter and a Sniper. Here’s another example, if a player chose a wing, they’ll have to choose between a Wing Shooter or Wing Defender within the “Wing” category.  For one thing, a player should not have to go through that. We should have the ability to choose our actual position and choose how we want to play. So, with that, we as players can create our players with a simple player creator. As far as the trait system goes, currently the trait system consists of three trait slots that a player has and they can choose which traits that they want. There should be an expansion to that with at least 5 trait slots. Here's another example, a player who mainly plays more offensively and needs help defensively the player can also put on a few defensive traits that can boost their defense and vice versa.

             So, with all this being said as an NBA Live player myself, there has to be a big turnaround for this franchise and a better experience for players who played Live at its best and not only for the regular players but for new players who are new to the franchise as well. With the next-gen software and with EA Play coming up in about a month, this franchise needs to be something that everyone can have fun with, be competitive, and enjoy.