NBA Live 19: Five Reasons Why the Game Is Still Fun Today

[Steve_OS]

NBA Live 19 is a game that's frozen in time as it is currently the last...

Written By: Colin Mieczkowski

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[Sausage]

Definitely enjoyed my time with this game.

[GhostPandaStorm]

Quote: Originally Posted by Sausage

Definitely enjoyed my time with this game.

I bet, it's definitely good fun. We'll see if EA decides to hop back into the console NBA scene again.

[sheredia]

what a hidden gem.....can definitely scratch my street ball itch with this game. they have all of the best street ball courts in the world included and they all look great. it's no 2k, but it's not trying to be. i think if EA just concentrated on the street ball portion of the game, it definitely could have been a viable alternative to 2k. my idea of the perfect alternate to 2k would be a street ball/fiba combination. EA would have really had something if they went that route. just keep the street ball portion and add fiba (tournament and teams). it would be perfect.

[blvrc]

The gamel looks great, courts also but the gameplay is unfortunately miles away from 2K.

[pslieber]

Very happy to see this article, and concur. I may be an anomaly, but I still find NBA Live 19 infinitely more playable than 2K. I see 2K too right stick heavy and shooting/play execution staccato, IMHO. Same reason I always preferred PES over FIFA.

Granted, 2K is gorgeous, as is FIFA...

[TarHeelPhenom]

I think in terms of gameplay, 18 may have been better. That game is still fun as well.

[CujoMatty]

I downloaded this again on ps5 after reading this article. I forgot how fun this game is. I played one game and was instantly interested in starting a new franchise. I was not thrilled with what I found so I decided to make a different list. I'm still going to enjoy the game but these do hamper the experience.

Here is 5 reasons why the game can be hard to enjoy 4 years later:

1. No roster share feature. Obviously this is a big deal if a game can establish longevity. If anyone wants to play with current rosters, each individual would have to update the roster themselves. Many sports games keep people playing years later by having dedicated fans create yearly rosters.

2. Only 135 create player slots. So even if you did decide to update your roster it's near impossible to get all the players added that are missing from a 4 year old game.

3. You've come to terms with the roster limitations and can compromise not having 100℅ accurate rosters. Let's get it as close as possible. Nope. There was unfortunately a create player glitch that started in Live 18 and continued in Live 19 where after a certain amount of created players were made, in game they would revert to the 1st created player face on the list. Essentially you get a bunch of chunky bald white guys. The game gave a warning that it would happen if there were more than 8 created players on a team but it actually was happening with far less. I read about a user that had reported it after only creating 3 total players.

4. Cpu lack of 3 point attempts. This was an issue back in 2018 when the game first released and the issue hasn't gotten better. The NBA continues to be a 3 point league more and more every year so it can be hard to come to terms with the shockingly low amount of cpu attempted threes. That especially rings true in 2023.

5. No shoe editor. Ok this one is a bit of a reach and it really doesn't hamper ones enjoymenent but for me having everyone running around with shoes from 2018 that all match their uniforms is weird. In the real NBA 90℅ of players wear shoes that aren't team colors. I love in NBA 2k having that level of authenticity which is possible with a shoe editor. In all fairness to EA though, they did include an impressive amount of shoes.

I did struggle to find 5 severe enough issues to make me not want to play. The game is still really fun and I've been enjoying it a lot again. The first 3 issues though are bad enough that unfortunately it will probably only be a short visit to the return of Live 19 into my life.

It's a shame. Classics become more classic when they are the end of an era. Many people still play college hoops 2k8, NCAA football 14, NFL2k5, and MVP 05. All of those games have something in common. They are the last versions of the series and dedicated fans keep them updated, current and relevant. Hopefully when PS4 emulation becomes readily available and modding becomes possible, NBA Live 19 joins that list and is worthy of a consistent spot in someone's rotation but as of now NBA Live 19 isn't worth much more than a temporary visit for short term nostalgic fun.