The frame of reference is really thing; we have WWE2k15 and 2K16 to compare this one with. And thanks to the demise of most other worth while wrestling franchises, WWE games are the only remaining, decent wrestling games available in the market at the moment.
It's been a while since we last saw a TNA game, and we all know what happened to WCW and ECW.
WWE 2K15 was a bad game. It had a nice showcase mode, but that could not save the game. 2K16 was much better, and things have gone in the right direction in the latest game. This is also the first WWE game I bought for the PS4.
I played the other two by borrowing them from friends, but did not feel like buying.
So WWE2k17 has an awesome roster. Instead of meeting specific goals to unlock, all the wrestlers can be bought with in game currency, which gives it a retro feel. Backstage brawls are back, too, which was a welcome new feature for someone like me who started playing these games way back in the era of PS1 with WWE Know Your Role and such.
I have been playing this game for a while, and I must say, despite of some issues, I am enjoying it. The biggest complain I have is that wrestlers sometime move awkwardly. As an example, I have my opponent downed and I want to do a running leg drop or similar attack. However, despite of pressing the button on time, my wrestler often decides to jump over his fallen foe and go directly above the rope; instead of doing the desired attack
Also, I find the submission system quite irksome. It's been around for a while, but I still can't used to it. This is a personal issue, though.
I see significant improvement in multiple character matches. Previously, every pin attempt would get thwarted by the tag partners unless both of them have been exposed to finishers, and it was nearly impossible to pin one wrestler with few others present.
In a 4 man match, suppose two wrestlers are brawling outside the ring. You apply the finisher on an in ring opponent and just when the referee was going to do the 3 count, the people fighting outside would magically appear inside the ring and break up the count. However, this year around, people get rolled out of the ring, and cannot get back on their feet until they regain stamina.
I am not a big fan of multiplayer, but the online servers seem stable and I could play a number of matches smoothly. Did not face any cheaters, yet.
As a whole, I recommend this game to wrestling fans.