You hear this said about annualized sports games every year, but this year it has a lot more truth to it than usual: NBA 2K21 is more of the same. That’s good in some ways: none of the minor changes have done anything to spoil the exceptional on-court experience, which accurately emulates the play and style of NBA basketball. Of course, it repeats the sins of its predecessor as well: Off the court, NBA 2K21 remains a disjointed mess and riddled with noxious pay-to-win microtransactions that leave a bad taste in my mouth. The addition of shot-stick aiming and a MyCareer reskin are nice improvements, but it’s becoming harder to ignore the lack of upgrades to key game modes while the focus on monetization only intensifies.