While the rest of my teammates performed NBA 2K22 MT like steaming garbage in an embarrassing 40-point loss to Brooklyn - and MyCareer has been known to contrive horrid games for narrative effect -- that was it. I played my way into The Sacramento Kings. The Kings were where I thought my player was a better fit throughout, however, because I had such a good performance in the pre-draft portion of MyCareer (which takes place at the very lowest level of difficulty) I was picked at No. 1. by Detroit.

It's not that the single-player career styles in other sports games aren't able to help you act out or act entirely for your own personal interest. They're just much more bland in their approach, and further their limited narratives don't offer an incentive to make radical choices. Madden NFL's "Face of the Franchise" background is much less revealing than last year's dull, hole-ridden, and cliched setup. The player's character doesn't develop any personality, and the choices for either or dialogue appear to yield the same team buff or player benefit.

MLB The Show 21's Road to the Show abandoned the perk tree that its two predecessors had. Along with it the game was stripped of its dialogue. Prior to this, responding to questions based on a personality kind ("Maverick," for example, or "Heart & Soul") could lead the player towards certain bonuses and unlocksthat helped in improving and evolving the character. But even so fighting with rival teams was a bit sour, and if not even good-natured.

At one point, the career suite of Cheap MT 2K22 Codemasters' F1 series experimented with giving the driver an attitude, offering drivers the option of answering questions to the press either in the form of a "Showman" or a "Sportsman." Teams racing were to have an option to select one of the two and you'd need to meet that to either get another contract or stay with your current one.