What i didnt like about the 2023 playoffs is the sizing. The Aquas from 2015 i went tts and they felt and looked amazing but the 2023 playoffs tts was way too snug and felt more narrow and then the half size up made my feet looked huge.I love my pairs and don't regret doubling up, but without a doubt, the '23 Playoffs were a step back from the '15 Aquas, which is wild considering that JB/Nike has been doing pretty well lately with improving silhouettes over time. They didn't fix the issues that the '15 Aquas had (e.g., inner bootie needing to be taller, pull tab needing to be a little larger and longer, heel needing a sharper V-shape, etc) and instead made more mistakes on top of those issues. The heel stands straight up in the back with no curve/slant toward the toe, the toe box itself is too slanted, and the upper should have been completely monotone and used the exact same nu-durabuck/synthetic nubuck(?) that the '15 Aqua 8s used.
If, by some chance, they couldn't recreate the OG cracked texture look on that material, I'd have been fine without it. At least the upper would have been mostly perfect. Then there's the two-tone contrast issue that the upper has which stands out when viewed up close. It's also why even when adding more contrast to the cut lines, they look better yet at the same time kinda odd. The OGs were completely black, so the contrast provided by the bright cut lines looked better.
The 2023 release was a solid 7/10 imo but it's a huge step back from the 9/10 release that was the 2015 Aqua 8s.
