MLB The Show 2023 – Review
The simulation of sports is not always easy. This need for greater realism rises with each passing year, yet it frequently results in a jarring incongruity in the finished product. Although I maintain that no simulation has ever managed to achieve this delicate balancing act, MLB The Show 19 gets pretty darn close. The changes they’ve made to fix the series’ flaws are more impressive than the things we’ve come to expect from the series. The latest offering from San Diego Studios features a soundtrack full of familiar classics while also placing historical events front and centre. However, before we get to the fast-playing part, let’s address a potential stumbling block.
As I gain experience with more and more video game sports games, I’m learning that the struggle between patience and impatience may be intense. And that’s where things always seem to go wrong, especially with The Show, year after year. For instance, if you’re not interested in Ultimate Team, a single FIFA match may be completed in under 15 minutes. An NFL game may be completed in about 15 to 20 minutes in Madden, thanks to the game’s accelerated play clock and the ability to zero in on Key Moments. That’s not necessarily the case, though, depending on your goals in The Show. The length of time it takes to complete a game is out of anyone’s control. Fortunately, the player has an abundance of alternatives, albeit of varied degrees of focus.
First off, it’s always a plus in my book when a sports simulator gives extra attention to the career mode. This year’s Road to the Show has a flatter feel than any before. Since the draught is largely unnecessary, your player can simply be traded to the team of your choice. Unlike NBA’s MyPlayer, which can have its awkward moments, and FIFA, which has completely abandoned its story-driven The Journey series of the past, Road to the Show offers no plot at all. The deciding factor is how often you want to play the same games and do the same duties.
I will give it credit where credit is due: you may now choose to be a two-way player (thank you, Shohei Ohtani), and the options you are given at the outset are just flexible enough to let you get started on the route you want to pursue as a player. There are many different ways to approach the position of Pitcher, whether they want to be a Starter or Closer. You can choose to put your energy towards either Power, Contact, or Fielding when you’re at the plate. So, how about really going through the games? As the game progresses, players will be presented with Dynamic Challenges, the completion of which will grant them a variety of in-game benefits. Of course, not every Dynamic Challenge is the same, so it pays to play it safe at the beginning. The good news is you get complete control over it.
Having said that, Road to the Show is somewhat sparse. One of the best features this series has given its fans is the ability to adjust the difficulty of any game mode at any time. It isn’t enough to prevent this gameplay option from becoming boring after a short while.
The following mode, however, is anything but routine and represents MLB The Show 2019’s crowning achievement. The new Storylines mode from San Diego Studios highlights eight African-American baseball greats—Leroy “Satchel” Paige, Jackie Robinson, Andrew “Rube” Foster, Hilton Smith, Hank Thompson, John Donaldson, Martin Dihigo, and John Jordan “Buck” O’Neil—during the era of the Negro Leagues. Presented with narration from Bob Kendrick, President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, this documentary allows viewers to relive the greatest moments from the careers of some of baseball’s all-time greats.
The visuals of the game are at their best here. MLB The Show’s presentation is middling at best, with the amazing (though predictable) visuals serving as a high point and the lacklustre commentary serving as a low point. Perhaps it’s because Chris Singleton and John Sciambi haven’t recorded together very much, but their banter sounds flat and superficial compared to other sports entries.
Kendrick’s presence and the use of archival footage let Storylines stand out. There are eight or nine chapters total, with historical video of some of their most revered events interspersed between them. There is a plethora of possibilities, and you won’t encounter them singly. With them, you’ll have access to amazing retro uniforms and a wealth of historically significant locations. Plus, you’ll pick up a tonne of knowledge as you go. And if you’re a fan of Diamond Dynasty, I highly recommend finishing these Storylines! It’s a decision you won’t come to regret.
Oh, and for those who think modern athletes exhibit excessive “showboating”? You’re in for a wonderful time, I’m happy to say. There’s so lot to appreciate here, from the artwork to the nicknames of “Satchel” Paige’s pitches. The only real knock against Storylines is that it’s only in its first season. Nonetheless, in the future, this mode might easily become a feature of MLB The Show for many years to come.
I know now that the money in sports video games is not in Franchise mode. Do you think it would be too much to add an Online Franchise where gamers may compete against their friends? That’s the main thing that keeps coming back to me about this addition, however I will add this: The Show’s scouting feature(s) have been vastly upgraded. The draught system has been updated, and the inclusion of “fog of war” has made keeping track of prospects more of a risk-reward struggle.
In general, players will be satisfied with the game’s many alternatives for how to play. The Show gives you a lot of leeway to play whatever you wish, whether that’s in terms of how you approach an at-bat or how you want to run the bases on a given day. You are not limited to any certain play style and are free to experiment as much as you like. Quick Counts, which has been around for quite some time, is also useful if you’re trying to save some precious minutes. Even so, there isn’t always an even distribution of good and bad counts. Therefore, get ready to handle that.
No matter how many seasons you play through or simulate, I still wish more time and effort had been put into Franchise mode. Where it falls short, however, is where the following mode excels.
Anyone who has even dabbled in FIFA Ultimate Team or the NBA’s MyTeam knows that the greatest cards in the game rapidly become unaffordable. However, this won’t be the case in this iteration of Diamond Dynasty, as many of the game’s best cards will be freely available from the get-go. Furthermore, many of these top-tier cards are obtainable only by continuing to play. In 2018, the core of Diamond Dynasty is straightforward: the more effort a player puts into the game, the greater their rewards. Stub purchases and random pack luck are still there, but the playing field is far more even than in the aforementioned team-building options in The Show.
For the first time ever, Diamond Dynasty will let you pick a “Captain” as your starting pitcher and “Captain” as your first batter. Let’s pretend you get the chance to choose Mike Piazza as a captain early on; doing so will make any players you get from the New York Mets more effective. It’s clear that Team Affinity is making a difference and that their efforts are appreciated.
Moreover, and most crucially, Sets and Seasons arrive to The Show on a cyclical basis. As a result, at some point, players will have to build new squads from scratch, if not completely rebuild their old ones. When combined with Diamond Dynasty’s general ease of use, this version of the mode is among the game’s best. And that’s not even including all the many bat skin colours and World Baseball Classic uniform options from countries like Japan, Venezuela, and Israel (to name a few) that range from elegant to absurd. (Great Britain, especially).
Ultimately, players will get out of MLB The Show what they put into it, as is the case with most sports simulators. Given the breadth of available gameplay modes, there is no single optimal method to enjoy the game. While the lack of an Online Franchise may be a drawback for some, Diamond Dynasty’s wide availability ensures that players will never be short on competitive opportunities. And although Road to the Show was a genuine letdown, Storylines was not only a stunning contribution to the baseball canon, but also essential to our growth as fans.
The future of the series looks promising if MLB The Show 23 is any indicator, albeit mistakes are inevitable.
