WWE 2K19: Top Gameplay Videos and Comments from WWE Superstars

The AJ Styles-covered WWE 2K19 arrived Friday for those who upgraded to the Deluxe Edition or Wooooo! Edition.

With it comes the arrival of the latest effort from 2K Sports and droves of promises for longtime fans and newcomers alike. Those range from less of a simulation-esque experience to the return of showcase mode and a story-heavy MyCareer mode, among other details. 

It sounds ambitious, and it is, which is fitting given a global phenomenon like Styles is on the cover. His coworkers in WWE recently sat down to talk about what it means to have a name like Styles on the cover: 

Maybe guys like Elias weren't too thrilled about Styles making the cover, but comments from Superstars like Charlotte Flair and Jeff Hardy calling him the best in the world counteract it pretty well. 

Opinions aside, those other Superstars help craft what is easily the most impressive roster in a WWE game to date. 

Not only does the roster feature more than 200 superstars from the past and present, the game makes sure to cover all brands, ranging from NXT to 205 Live. And where it might have holes, 2K Sports already has plans to patch by adding names like Bobby Lashley, Lio Rush and Candice LeRae—to name a few—through DLC. 

A few of the included Superstars chatted about the roster recently: 

Several WWE Superstars also discussed the biggest changes in this year's game in an interview with WWE.com.

Of course, the roster itself doesn't mean much if the gameplay isn't right. 

It's clear the team at 2K Sports is taking fan suggestions as the driving force behind this year's game. Putting a major story element into MyCareer and reviving showcase mode with the spotlight on Daniel Bryan is proof enough. 

But it also applies to gameplay itself, with creative director Lynell Jinks revealing the following in an interview with Hardcore Gamer's Cory Wells: 

"All these things we wanted to do and think outside of the box that people have been used to. They kind of got turned off by the product we were giving them and we had to think outside the box and they never thought that we'd do it. The core was simulation, and people got turned off by that and we were hearing loud and clear that they weren’t buying it anymore and that was the driving force behind all of that."

To this end, WWE 2K19 places a bigger emphasis on strikes and has new ones in the game for players to use. The gameplay takes a more arcade-like approach, which meshes well with the incorporation of a tower mode, something found in more traditional fighting games. 

This serves as a good example, while also featuring a look at the new Hell in a Cell: 

Alongside revamping the general feel of gameplay to more align with what players have requested, 2K Sports also promises better frame rates when players decide to throw six to eight characters into a single match. 

This NXT-minded video shows the improvements there: 

More chaotic fun rather than a simulation experience sounds like fan service done right, so it's good for users to see video evidence of it before the game's release. Also aligning with this ideal is the new payback system, a meter that fills throughout the match and serves to recreate some of those intense swings in momentum that happen in every WWE match. 

Providing what was expected, like a strong roster and general performance upgrades alongside going the fan-service route with top game modes and gameplay itself, 2K19 seems like a soft reset for the annual franchise. 

Maybe this isn't as dramatic as say, WWE's scrapping of the Batista plan all those years ago in favor of Daniel Bryan—something players are sure to hear about in showcase mode. But it's admirable in its own right, and like that historic moment, fans are more likely to focus on the end result than past mistakes.