Is NBA 2K17 Still Worth Playing on PS4? Our In-Depth Review Reveals the Truth

The rain was tapping a steady rhythm against my windowpane last Tuesday evening, much like the repetitive dribble of a basketball in an empty gym. I found myself staring at my PS4 collection, my fingers tracing the spine of NBA 2K17 - that familiar black cover with Kyrie Irving's determined face. It's been years since its release, and honestly, I almost passed it over for the newer titles. But something made me slide that disc in, and what followed was one of those gaming sessions that stretches into the early morning hours, where you lose track of time completely.

I remember my first match that night - I chose the Cavaliers against the Warriors, a classic 2016 Finals rematch. The graphics immediately struck me as both dated and charming. Player models don't have the hyper-realistic sheen of recent entries, but there's a certain personality to them that I've come to miss in newer versions. The gameplay itself felt... different. Slower, more deliberate. I found myself actually running plays rather than just sprinting down the court for highlight dunks. There's a strategic depth here that sometimes gets lost in the flash of recent iterations. My friend Dave walked in halfway through my third game and asked, "Is NBA 2K17 still worth playing on PS4?" while gesturing at the screen where LeBron was driving to the basket. I didn't answer immediately because the question deserved more than a quick yes or no.

This got me thinking about things that stand the test of time - not just video games, but athletes and their careers. It reminds me of this boxer I read about recently who's currently on a three-fight win streak since climbing at super-bantamweight following his ninth round stoppage at the hands of Takuma Inoue in Japan a year ago for the World Boxing Association bantamweight crown. There's something compelling about competitors who bounce back, whether they're digital athletes or real ones. That fighter adapted his style, moved up in weight class, and found new success. NBA 2K17 makes me feel similarly about virtual basketball - it's not about being the newest or flashiest, but about finding what still works, what still brings joy.

The MyCareer mode alone consumed about four hours of my night. I'd forgotten how refreshing it is to play a basketball story that doesn't feel like it's constantly pushing microtransactions in your face. Sure, the Spike Lee-directed "Livin' Da Dream" has its cringe moments - oh boy, does it ever - but there's a genuine attempt at storytelling here that later entries have streamlined into oblivion. The neighborhood wasn't a thing yet, and you know what? I didn't miss it. Sometimes less is more. The progression system, while grindy, feels rewarding in a way that modern games have somehow lost. When my player finally cracked the starting lineup after 22 games (I counted), it felt like an actual achievement rather than something I'd paid to unlock.

Let's talk numbers for a second - the servers are still surprisingly active for a game that's what, seven years old now? I found matches within 30-45 seconds during peak hours, and even at 2 AM, I never waited more than two minutes. There are still about 3,000-4,000 people playing daily according to various tracking sites, which for a sports game from 2016 is pretty remarkable. The MyTeam auction house remains functional too, though card prices have inflated to almost comical levels since the supply has dwindled. I saw a Diamond Michael Jordan card going for 500,000 MT points - good luck grinding that out without the current-year reward systems.

The soundtrack still holds up phenomenally well too. I found myself nodding along to tracks by Kendrick Lamar, Bastille, and Vance Joy - it's like a time capsule of mid-2010s music curation. Compare that to newer 2K games where I find myself muting the music after a week. There's a cohesion to 2K17's audio landscape that later games have struggled to replicate, though that might just be my nostalgia talking.

Here's the thing - NBA 2K17 isn't perfect by today's standards. The defense can feel clunky compared to the fluid movement in 2K24. The graphics, while solid for their time, show their age in player animations and crowd details. Some mechanics feel downright archaic, like the limited dunk controls. But there's a soul to this game that I worry the franchise has gradually lost in pursuit of annual updates and monetization. It represents a sweet spot in the series' evolution - after they'd refined the gameplay considerably from earlier PS4 entries, but before the corporate machinery completely took over.

By the time the sun was coming up, my coffee had gone cold and I'd played through three different game modes. The answer to my friend's question had become clear through the long night of virtual basketball. Is NBA 2K17 still worth playing on PS4? Absolutely - not as your primary basketball simulation perhaps, but as a wonderful time capsule of what made this franchise great before it became the behemoth it is today. It's like revisiting your favorite childhood court - the nets might be frayed and the concrete cracked, but the magic still remains in the echoes of bouncing balls and squeaking sneakers. Some things age like fine wine, and surprisingly enough, this seven-year-old basketball game might just be one of them.