Luka Doncic is perhaps the finest all-around player in the NBA, capable of scoring, rebounding, and playmaking with the best of them. So it's fitting that he lands the cover of the NBA 2K franchise in the year that the game delivers one of its finest all-around efforts. NBA 2K22 signals a re-ascension for the finest sports gaming franchise of the last two decades. Last year, the game had strengths, but it had gaps too: Franchise mode wasn't always stable (I lost several simulations after Year 10), the on-court gameplay had a series of minor frustrations, and several star players didn't look like, well, themselves. Chalk it up to the first year of next-gen consoles, perhaps, and the challenges of developing in the COVID era. And with NBA 2K22, watch as the game evolves. This year's game pushes NBA 2K back to wear it should be, and overall, feels like a much cleaner, more polished experience. That improvement starts on the court, where subtle adjustments make the game feel more realistic, and far less difficult. It starts with a more robust shot meter that finally gives you the feedback you need to understand why shots make and miss. It's vertically oriented instead of horizontal, so it takes some getting used to, but once you've adapted, shooting feels far more natural and fair in NBA 2K22. That's not to say that it isn't challenging, because it is. Different situations, shrink and grow the shot meter, even for the finest jump shooters — and one such situation that's seen hefty attention is fatigue. Now, the effective portion of the shot meter will shrink as player fatigue increases, making even open shots that much harder. Suddenly, there's legitimate consequence for riding a single NBA star too hard, so you're forced to manage roster minutes more carefully. In previous years, I might push, say, Steph Curry to play the full game. Now, that can't be the case; much like the real NBA, you must carefully manage and allocate minutes, and rotations suddenly matter. Another place of serious adjustment: The blocked shot. New blocking animations and variety make playing defense more fun in NBA 2K22, and they allow you to challenge shooters in new ways. Coupled with more varied steals animations, offense no longer feels completely overpowered. There's virtue to playing good steady defense in NBA 2K22.