Take Me Out to the Ball Game- An MLB The Show 25 Video Game Review

Baseball fans all around; rejoice! San Diego Studios newest addition to the MLB The Show franchise has arrived. This year’s edition brings new modes and new mechanics, while still keeping the integrity of the game that made fans fall in love in the first place. 

This year’s brand-new installment featured over 25 new legends to the game, players from Ted Williams all the way to Jose Bautista. This game is available to purchase on Xbox, Playstation, and Nintendo Switch. MLB The Show 25, continues to build on the great foundation of its previous games while even introducing a new difficulty called G.O.A.T, to make an even more realistic experience for players to enjoy!

Diamond Dynasty

MLB The Show 25 exhibits a stellar range of modes that caters to all the types of players. Diamond Dynasty (DD) is perhaps the biggest highlight of their online mode portfolio. In “DD,” you are allowed to complete challenges or moments to obtain rewards, including new player’s cards that will help you improve your very own team! Yes, your own. You can add your favorite players within the game to your own squad. You can then go online and play against random players in a ranked nine-inning game to see who will win. 

My personal favorite mode in DD is co-op. There is also local co-op and online co-op. In this mode, you can use players from each of your teams and combine them into one 26-man squad and play against other random players online. Gone are sets and seasons from the previous couple of years and reintroduced are people’s favorite aspects of the game which is Grind 99. This is where throughout the year the player’s people they use on their teams won’t just start off as 99 overall. You will have to start out with lower overalls anywhere from 59-94 overall. As the season goes by, the overalls start increasing. After some time, the 99 overall cards become available to use on your team from completing missions and programs.

This year, San Diego Studio also added a new featured mode called Diamond Quest. It looks like a board game, as you roll a dice to move across the map to be able to start earning rewards. If you lose any events, your team will get disadvantaged in your next match and will earn fewer rewards. However, if you win your events along your way, you can earn boosts and greater rewards. I found this new feature really fun and there are multiple maps featuring different rewards to earn.

Road to the Show

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to get drafted and grind through the minor leagues with the hopes of playing in the majors? Have you ever wanted to hit 500ft homeruns or strikeout players with a 100 mile per hour (mph) fastball? Well then, Road to the Show (RTTS) is just right for you. 

RTTS is an authentic mode where you start in high school and, depending on your performance, will be talking with colleges about the opportunity to attend or declare to the MLB Draft and become a professional at 18 years old. With the new and improved storytelling and different player arcs to choose from, there are different paths you the player can take, therefore making each time you make a new player or progress unique from the other. 

As you progress in story mode you will make and develop relationships with your teammates depending on how you play or how you choose different speaking options during cutscenes. This made it way more appealing for somebody like me who really just sinks all their time into DD. This really made me want to check out the mode since they revamped it from last year’s game. And I really enjoyed the mode this year, even though I didn’t get drafted to my favorite team. I still really enjoyed the team/teams that I did end up playing for. This mode, in my opinion, can make the user want to replay this mode over and over again with how customizable the players are.

Franchise Mode

In this mode, you can become the general manager of any team you want and try to lead them to winning a World Series. All of this while you are making financial and team decisions that can impact your team or players for a long time. 

This is my least played mode because I am not someone who wants to deal with scouting players or managing the teams compared to just creating a lineup. So, I can quite honestly say that this mode is not for me, BUT it doesn’t mean that it won’t be good for you. 

This year, Franchise Mode added a remodeled scouting system for new players and provides a more in-depth approach to how you interact with your player and other teams. This makes it so the dynasty you are trying to build will be evermore satisfying when you win.

Audio/Soundtrack

The soundtrack for this year’s edition of the game added a diverse combination of classics and new music. Some featured artists this year were Kendrick Lamar, Marvin Gaye, The Teskey Brothers, Vince Staples, Bad Bunny, etc. 

While I personally listen to my own music when playing the game, it doesn’t take away from the fact that the music does play during your games and you can turn it into a jam. Now, if you are like me and would rather hear the crowd and announcers, then you can always go into the options menu and change the songs or select silent. The best part is that you have all the control!

Gameplay Mechanics

The core gameplay of this game mostly remains the same as the past three games; while refining the hitting mechanics, they have also added a new hitting style to add something fresh. Ambush hitting is this year’s new feature, which allows you to guess which side of the plate you think the ball will be thrown, and if you guess right it will become easier to connect with the ball, however if you guess wrong it will be twice as hard to make contact and hit the ball. 

The pitching from previous years hasn’t changed much other than the introduction of a new pitch called the Sweeper, which moves like a curveball but has way more horizontal break to it. Fielding is as smooth as ever in this year’s game, with some great enhancements to the AI that help make defensive plays more intuitive. New fielding settings have allowed for newcomers to get the hang of it and provide more depth for returning players.

Graphics and Presentation

The visual fidelity in the game this new release is unlike anything else. The lifelike player and stadium models make it look like you are watching a live game on television. The lighting during games can be too bright depending on the stadium you pick, but luckily you can choose what time of day you want your game to be played. Everything seen while playing really makes it feel so realistic. If you put your grandparents in front of the screen while a game was being played, they wouldn’t believe that it is a videogame; they would have thought it was real on TV.

Cons to the Game

By no means is MLB The Show 25 perfect. While it has so many upsides to buying and playing, there are some things that can definitely be improved for next year’s edition. 

One of those issues specifically is the way the servers handle the online game features. The servers on days in which new things come out will be really slow and, in some cases, freeze the game making you have to restart it, which can be really annoying if you just want to play the game. 

Another issue I had this year, while it may be minor, is the attribute wheel display, which shows the ratings of your players hitting or pitching stats. It was always incorrect and still hasn’t been fixed by any updates or patches. This becomes really annoying when I want to see a player’s speed or power.

Conclusion

That being said, MLB the Show 25 is a home run for the games franchise. It caters very well to both brand new and returning players, as well as blending together traditional and innovative experiences that capture the essence of the sport of baseball. 

If you are an enthusiast of the sport or are wanting to play a competitive sports game, then MLB The Show 25 deserves a chance in your game library. 

So step up to the plate and take a swing at America’s favorite pastime.

My rating: