First and foremost, let's please keep this thread civil. I don't want this turning into a thread where issues with '17 are brought in and harped upon. They have their own threads for discussion.
Next, I want it to be known that I am thoroughly enjoying '17. This is in no way an attempt to bash the game nor the devs. It's just an observation.
Last night I was having a discussion with a friend about '17 and some of the "issues" that were present in the game so far. Some I've experienced and others that I haven't. But we were just talking about how this year's game felt different than '16. Granted a lot of that probably has to do with the new ball physics and new player quirks, and so on, but still something just felt different about this year's game. He made a mention that he was becoming frustrated with '17 and thought about going back to '16 for the time being.
After hearing that and our discussion, I thought, I'm going to pop in '16 and play a game or two, just to do a little experiment if you will. Just see if our feelings were "correct/justified".
Well, after playing two games of '16 last night, I have to admit that there is a difference between the two. What that difference is, or translates to, I'm not sure. But whether correct or not, '16 just felt more "natural" to me. Now this could be very well because '16 is very similar to the baseball games that I have played my entire life, and didn't consist of the new ball physics which have undoubtedly changed baseball games. Maybe I'm just not used to the impact that the new ball physics have on the game. And that very well could be. But to say that '16 didn't feel "better" to me than '17 would be a lie.
As I said, it felt "natural". Nothing felt forced, which sometimes I feel happens in '17. Playing '16 I felt that hits were earned whereas in '17 it feels that hits just happen at times to happen. '17 feels more offensive, whereas '16 feels more balanced. Again, this all may be due to me having to get used to something different (ball physics) which didn't exist in this magnitude in the 30+ years that I've been playing baseball games.
But after playing '16 for again 2 games last night after playing 50 or so of '17, I came away with the feeling that '17 needs a bit more fine tuning to accommodate the new ball physics and player quirks. '17 just feels, well a bit unbalanced. Again, I'm not saying this to slam '17 or call it a horrible baseball game, or anything of the like, just pointing out an opinion as to the different feels between the two games in a year's time.
Please note that all games played on '17 and '16 were played with the exact same settings, HOF across the board with no slider changes.
And yes I know that I can adjust sliders on '17 to try and "balance" the game to my liking, but to be honest, I hate adjusting sliders. I feel that once you start changing them, you are continuously playing the game to see that your sliders are providing the outcome that you desire instead of playing the game to play the game.
Now what does all this mean? I don't know. Am I giving up on '17 and going back to '16? I don't think so, but again I don't know. But this was an interesting experiment. I was generally surprised that I was able to enjoy '16 as much as I did after having played '17, and even more surprised that it seemed to play a better game of baseball at this point in time.
Some other takeaways:
* Commentary definitely better in '17
* PCI seems to be a bit smaller in '16 vs '17
* Less meatballs thrown in '16 vs '17
* And of course, the intro in '17 is far superior to that of '16
I would be curious if anyone was to try this out and play '16 on the same exact settings that you're playing '17 on and see how you feel.
Next, I want it to be known that I am thoroughly enjoying '17. This is in no way an attempt to bash the game nor the devs. It's just an observation.
Last night I was having a discussion with a friend about '17 and some of the "issues" that were present in the game so far. Some I've experienced and others that I haven't. But we were just talking about how this year's game felt different than '16. Granted a lot of that probably has to do with the new ball physics and new player quirks, and so on, but still something just felt different about this year's game. He made a mention that he was becoming frustrated with '17 and thought about going back to '16 for the time being.
After hearing that and our discussion, I thought, I'm going to pop in '16 and play a game or two, just to do a little experiment if you will. Just see if our feelings were "correct/justified".
Well, after playing two games of '16 last night, I have to admit that there is a difference between the two. What that difference is, or translates to, I'm not sure. But whether correct or not, '16 just felt more "natural" to me. Now this could be very well because '16 is very similar to the baseball games that I have played my entire life, and didn't consist of the new ball physics which have undoubtedly changed baseball games. Maybe I'm just not used to the impact that the new ball physics have on the game. And that very well could be. But to say that '16 didn't feel "better" to me than '17 would be a lie.
As I said, it felt "natural". Nothing felt forced, which sometimes I feel happens in '17. Playing '16 I felt that hits were earned whereas in '17 it feels that hits just happen at times to happen. '17 feels more offensive, whereas '16 feels more balanced. Again, this all may be due to me having to get used to something different (ball physics) which didn't exist in this magnitude in the 30+ years that I've been playing baseball games.
But after playing '16 for again 2 games last night after playing 50 or so of '17, I came away with the feeling that '17 needs a bit more fine tuning to accommodate the new ball physics and player quirks. '17 just feels, well a bit unbalanced. Again, I'm not saying this to slam '17 or call it a horrible baseball game, or anything of the like, just pointing out an opinion as to the different feels between the two games in a year's time.
Please note that all games played on '17 and '16 were played with the exact same settings, HOF across the board with no slider changes.
And yes I know that I can adjust sliders on '17 to try and "balance" the game to my liking, but to be honest, I hate adjusting sliders. I feel that once you start changing them, you are continuously playing the game to see that your sliders are providing the outcome that you desire instead of playing the game to play the game.
Now what does all this mean? I don't know. Am I giving up on '17 and going back to '16? I don't think so, but again I don't know. But this was an interesting experiment. I was generally surprised that I was able to enjoy '16 as much as I did after having played '17, and even more surprised that it seemed to play a better game of baseball at this point in time.
Some other takeaways:
* Commentary definitely better in '17
* PCI seems to be a bit smaller in '16 vs '17
* Less meatballs thrown in '16 vs '17
* And of course, the intro in '17 is far superior to that of '16
I would be curious if anyone was to try this out and play '16 on the same exact settings that you're playing '17 on and see how you feel.
Comment