MLB The Show 16 Has Officially Arrived, Post Your Impressions Here

[Steve_OS]

MLB The Show 16 arrives for everyone today, so we have started a new topic so everyone can join in with their impressions. Play a few games and post your impressions here!

[philmnn]

I don't think I've seen this mentioned but I could be wrong. This is probably my favorite new little feature this year. I despise baserunning, and sometimes I just want to hit. With this I can get my 3-5 at bats done in about 5 minutes and be on to my next game. Huge "small" addition.


Initial Impressions:

1. The game looks better. Its not going to blow the casual gamer away in terms of mass improvements, but its an obvious upgrade.

2. The game sounds different but I can't really say how. The commentary is still the same old song and dance but Matty V seems to have a little more bass in his voice so it kind of works as a breath of fresh air. I think they may have updated spring training sounds so there's more of a low crowd/casual atmosphere.

3. I'm undecided on the fisheye cam. While it gives a beautiful view of the ballpark, everything just seems so far away and I can't read pitch locations at all. I wish there was the choice to edit it so I can zoom in a little. However that's just personal preference, so if you can hit with it I'm jealous.

These are just super early impressions, but overall its a good game. Its not a giant leap but its a solid one.

[NAFBUC]

Quote: Originally Posted by philmnn

I don't think I've seen this mentioned but I could be wrong. This is probably my favorite new little feature this year. I despise baserunning, and sometimes I just want to hit. With this I can get my 3-5 at bats done in about 5 minutes and be on to my next game. Huge "small" addition. Initial Impressions: 1. The game looks better. Its not going to blow the casual gamer away in terms of mass improvements, but its an obvious upgrade. 2. The game sounds different but I can't really say how. The commentary is still the same old song and dance but Matty V seems to have a little more bass in his voice so it kind of works as a breath of fresh air. I think they may have updated spring training sounds so there's more of a low crowd/casual atmosphere. 3. I'm undecided on the fisheye cam. While it gives a beautiful view of the ballpark, everything just seems so far away and I can't read pitch locations at all. I wish there was the choice to edit it so I can zoom in a little. However that's just personal preference, so if you can hit with it I'm jealous. These are just super early impressions, but overall its a good game. Its not a giant leap but its a solid one.

You can edit the fisheye, move it in, offset etc.

[Don Jon]

I just saw that the right stick, pull back to stride, and up to swing mechanic is back! And I couldn't be happier!!!

It just feels so gooood!

[AncientDiety]

Early impressions are it looks and plays amazing....Definitely an upgrade. I don't like the new camera though, it's too far away and I can't read pitches. May need to switch back to the old camera.

[dalger21]

Quote: Originally Posted by AncientDiety

Early impressions are it looks and plays amazing....Definitely an upgrade. I don't like the new camera though, it's too far away and I can't read pitches. May need to switch back to the old camera.

Yea I thought the same thing. I switched to the mlb 15 one but customized it a little so I can read pitches like I always have.

[dnr720]

I noticed i imported my franchise from 15 and the stats are not correct alot of them have zero totals.That being said game looks great love how player card now shows all years played stats and team played for

[Flaxseed Oil]

Got out of bed at midnight and played a couple of 3 inning games. Played a couple more full length games this morning.


Graphics
I have heard a lot of people raving about how much better it looks this year. It does look better, but the differences may have been a bit overstated. The lighting definitely looks better, especially at night, and the areas that have PBR look good...you can really see it pop in a few areas. I have noticed the player faces look a bit better, but the player hair seems to have taken a step back.


Animations
One thing I was hoping would be addressed was the pitching motions. I can tell you they have been. Many of them look much, much better. I went through all of them this morning, and they have gotten rid of the little 'dip/bounce/back leg bend' that a lot of the guys have. Also, the follow throughs seem to be different depending on the outcome of the pitch, which makes a huge difference, especially on strikeouts.

Personal preference, I wish they had addressed Tanaka's windup more. The first part of it looks good, but the leg kick and drop/drive look bad...if you could combine his with the animation they used for Luke Gregerson or Brian Dunsing (sp?) it would look perfect. I ended up switching his motion to Brian Dunsing. They gave a completely new windup to Ivan Nova, Michael Pineda, and in his game debut, Luis Severino.

The fielding animations all look smooth as always. I saw a couple of cool double plays last night.

The batting stances all look really, really good, and the post contact animations are fantastic.

Gameplay
The gameplay is better this year. Flat out. It seems players have a bit more speed overall, but I may be imagining it. One thing that definitely has more speed is the ball off the bat. I had two doubles down the line - one with ARod and one with Headley. I think I've had maybe 10 ever with MLBTS15.

When I first started up, I tweaked the power up a notch because that's how I played in last year's version, but quickly turned it down when I had back-to-back HR with the next two hitters, including a 4th deck shot with Mark Texiera (445 ft.) in Yankee stadium. I turned the slider back to default and upped the difficulty to All Star and it seems to be perfect.

Presentation
I'm going to include audio in this. Bat sounds are terrific and varied, and match the result of the hit. The commentary is definitely improved. I was skeptical but it's better.

My biggest complaint is they removed my favorite hitting cam - Catcher Classic 2. So I had to make due with an adjusted MLB 15 cam. I wish I was able to zoom in more, though, because part of what makes a pitcher tough to hit is his size on the mound.

My second biggest complaint is the HR celebration camera. Totally unnecessary and I hate it and wish I could turn it off. I wish instead of that behind the plate HR Cam, they would switch to an MLB broadcast HR cam. That would be much more realistic.

Overall
Overall the game is terrific. I will play the hell out of it I am sure.