MLB The Show 18 First Impressions

[Skyboxer]

Re: MLB The Show 18 First Impressions

Like what? Again, genuinely curious.

• Relocation
• League Expansion
• Rotating interleague schedules
• Bring back more depth in regards to setting ticket prices etc. (You know everything that used to be in 5 years back)

To name a few...

And coaching staffs that affect the team/game..
So yep plenty of things..

But back on topic--->> Impressions

[bubba4]

Re: MLB The Show 18 First Impressions

Love what they've done this year! The game looks great. They even did some work on the Oakland A's stadium. They added the Rickey Henderson Field logo to the wall and to the field. However, for some reason they put a pretty awful screen behind the plate. It looks like something from the PS2 era. Other than that and no season mode, (what is up with that?) I am pleased..... so far.

[PVarck31]

Re: MLB The Show 18 First Impressions

Not a big leap from last year, but a lot of little things make it a great game for me. Lighting and colors are so much better. That was huge for me. Everything was so washed out before. Not anymore.

Gameplay is as good as ever. I love all the new animations. I love the casual catches the outfielders make on routine fly balls. I was hoping for more of those.

IMO so far, it's worth getting this year. There is enough to justify the price.

I have negative opinions on the game as well, but I'll give those in a different post.

[bad_philanthropy]

Re: MLB The Show 18 First Impressions

Early impression: feels like hitting and pitching are better and more realistically balanced.

Last year it just felt like hitting the opposite effectively was too easy. The timing and rate of getting balls in play seem toned way down this year, thankfully.

Additionally, I feel like the swing timing to go after that middle-in stuff in hitters counts has a lot more granularity. I'm liking how putting balls in play by getting the bat head out front feels so much better. Also, as I said, the failure, weak contact, and foul rates of trying to stay back on a pitch on the outer half, and send it the other way feels like a big improvement. Not ever hitter is a capable high-contact/master slap artist with two strikes.

[UNIT180]

Re: MLB The Show 18 First Impressions

Played one game, looks much better...4K framerate is not as bad as last year but will prob stick with the enhanced graphics option (middle one). Overall gameplay feels much better and more refined..Hitting is much better as well... Sounds of the Show DO NOT WORK! Spent my first two hours doing all the stadium sounds but they are not playing..This is by far the best baseball video game to date however...

[manny2012]

Re: MLB The Show 18 First Impressions

WOW , On the PS4 Pro it is glorious looking with the supersampling and the frame rate and gameplay is smooth as silk, thumbs up SDS, great job !!!!

I agree, gorgeous!

What I don't like is having my 99 RTTS player dropped to a 54. It was forced to which basically erases the countless hours I put into it the last few years.

[parmele]

Re: MLB The Show 18 First Impressions

I'm sorry, I can't create a new thread to ask this question. My first impression is frustration.

I'm a new player and I don't understand CAP. I want to CAP for DD.

From Options, I created a player (went through all the customizations) and it said he was added to the free agent pool. I can't find him anywhere including in Player Movement.

In DD, there are two options "Edit Created Player" and "Equip Created Player". If I click equip, it says I need to create a player. Which is what I thought I just did above. When I click edit, I can't change the primary position. If I go through with the player creation it says he is a SP. The second position is grayed out.

There's something I'm missing surely, it's just not clear to a new player.

Thank you in advance.

[aparks87]

Re: MLB The Show 18 First Impressions

The default presentation mode in Diamond Dynasty is fast play. Last year it was hybrid or broadcast. No replays at all....even in single player and offline game types. Pretty disappointing. Why was that changed??

[Skyboxer]

Re: MLB The Show 18 First Impressions

The default presentation mode in Diamond Dynasty is fast play. Last year it was hybrid or broadcast. No replays at all....even in single player and offline game types. Pretty disappointing. Why was that changed??

You can't change it?

[R9NALD9]

Re: MLB The Show 18 First Impressions

I agree, gorgeous!

What I don't like is having my 99 RTTS player dropped to a 54. It was forced to which basically erases the countless hours I put into it the last few years.

Didn't they say the regression is going to be gradual? And the one developer on here said only from the age of 34 (didn't make sense when I read it and thought he might've had it wrong...but still thought it would be gradual)...mmm

[Pompeo89]

Re: MLB The Show 18 First Impressions

Game looks familiar and plays familiar, but there are some noticeable improvements. The swing feedback and ball off the bat is cool. The player faces are much improved. Ball physics seem to have improved on balls in play. Started played on sharp and then switched to smooth I’ve noticed a few spots on both where we had some frame rate issues, anyone else experience anything? Noticeably faster frame rate on the smooth setting looks great. Waiting for rosters to start my franchise but started RTTS. I’m a fan of the progression system my guy just has no pop. Chose the all around archetype so I’m focusing on building up my power and plan on using equipment to boost that and speed a little. Still able to steal bags pretty easily starting out so I’m not too worried about the speed cap. Backdrops in minor league fields nice addition and the colors look great along with textures and reflections. So glad they fixed the faces though the game feels a lot more realistic now. Chris sale actually looks like a human being this year along with a bunch of guys on the Sox roster a lot of new face work. Anyone see Heath hembrees new hair?!?


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[Stunna2006]

Re: MLB The Show 18 First Impressions

Game looks familiar and plays familiar, but there are some noticeable improvements. The swing feedback and ball off the bat is cool

thinking the same thing. this game already seems to have a lot of gameplay improvement, even the high heater got toned down a little bit so 67 pitchers that throw hard wont dominate as much.

the online is smooth, and when i say smooth i mean u cant even tell u are playing online instead of vs ur friend on ur couch.

the new programs look like they arent gonna give me as many players i like is my only disappointment haha

[legacyme3]

Re: MLB The Show 18 First Impressions

I've got to go to bed, but I've got a few first impressions after roughly 5-6 hours with the game.

My first thought, when jumping into a game, is that it feels so much more like baseball than last year's game. This is because of a mix of things, but for me, the main reason is atmosphere. The fans can be heard reacting, at least semi-dynamically, to what is happening on the field.

When the ball is hit, and has impact, the stadium reacts accordingly. If the ball is rolled over, you will hear a small amount of noise.

On the note of hitting and impact, I feel like they've made hitting and pitching more realistic. Read - not easier or harder. It legitimately feels like there's a bit more balance out of the box than there was last year (or even late into 17's life).

I had to mess around a bit, but I found a medium I'm already happy with.

I like how they've handled ratings, and diamond dynasty. I am definitely a franchise first, RTTS second guy, but I can see DD actually being worth playing a bit more this year. We'll see what happens, but I was optimistic after my first DD game.

I know not everyone is going to be happy to hear this (especially not the people who were complaining because the biggest change to Franchise was basically cleaner menus and a brighter tone), but I'm a huge fan of what they've done to Franchise.

It's a winning formula as it is, to be honest, it's not missing much in the way of features. The ones it is missing are either entirely inconsequential to me (like setting the price of hot dogs) or are ridiculously huge features that might take up an entire dev-cycle, and take away from other focuses (like relocation, expansion, or a stadium creator).

The main thing Franchise needed, in my opinion, was a touch-up this year. It was already a B+ product, and I think the fresh screens make it an A-, honestly, it makes that big a difference to me.

I played a few games with my carryover save (which is now in 2021, and in week 7 or so of the regular season), and the dynamic storylines are in play, and it felt new.

Mark DeRosa is a great addition to the booth, and he doesn't speak a lot, so I don't think we're going to get tired of him all that quickly. When he does speak, he offers commentary that Harold Reynolds wouldn't, and it's definitely a new take.

I feel like this year's game, at first glance, is just about putting the fun back in baseball. From the intro (if you haven't seen it yet, it's really neat, though I personally preferred last year's) the tone is set, and once you start playing games, it just feels like the focus has been amplified.

I had my first rain delay (it was in the only game I played in the rain, hopefully it's not too common), and the logic made sense. My SP with 90 stamina was at roughly 60 pitches, and starting to get into the yellow zone (early season, still getting stretched out), but not quite there yet. Rain delay hits in the 6th inning, with one out, and I leave my pitcher in, out of curiosity.

Game comes back, and he's basically exhausted. I manage to get two more outs, but in games where there is rain, you will be rewarded for having the bullpen ready to go from the 5th inning onwards.

My biggest worry with the game at present is going to be how the logic works long-term. 6 hours is just not enough to see retirement logic, lineup logic, dynamic bullpens, CPU logic (to determine if we can finally turn off 30 team control, without worrying about the CPU shooting itself in the foot), and trade logic pan out. I'll be playing with it a bit in tests to see how that all works out, since I'm not playing RTTS or Franchise hardcore until OSFM is out for 2018.

In all, it's just a first impression, but I see 18 as an improvement over 17. Is it a 60 dollar improvement? I'm not so sure, that's a lot of money to some people, and this is the first year I've been forced to pay 60 (years of Amazon Prime allowed me to get it for 48 bucks, but not this year, or probably ever again) in years.

But I'm happy. I'm having fun, and for the first time since basically August, when I boot up the Show, I'm feeling optimistic, looking at screens (all of which are pretty snappy, colorful, and generally fun to look at).

A small touch that I wanted to point out before I go. In 2017, David Ortiz's number was retired, and was put up on the wall with all the other retired numbers, and I signed Bryce Harper in FA (who uses the same number).

In 2017, Harper kept wearing 34, despite the fact it was retired. In 2018, maybe by coincidence, in my carryover save, Harper got changed to 35. And I didn't see any other players wearing retired numbers.

Small change, but one that helps a lot with my immersion factor.

[SuicideSqueeze]

Re: MLB The Show 18 First Impressions

Season mode gone? SDS, what a bunch of idiots

[Cory4AU]

Re: MLB The Show 18 First Impressions

Feels a lot like 17. The hitting feels better. 4k mode feels better than last year. The PBR to the jerseys wasn't really noticeable in the lone game I was able to play. Night game at Safeco. Idk how they look during the day yet. Batting stance creator is cool. A little buggy but it is still neat. Overall, it's an improvement but it is very close to 17. Like the poster above said, it's an improvement but I'm not sure it's a $60 improvement. I guess that depends on your financial situation. Don't get me wrong 17 was my favorite version of the game yet but after one game (again extremely small sample size) it really didn't wow me. Dan and Dero seemed rather quiet in the game I played. Anyways, enough of my rambling thoughts. Maybe it will grow on me the more I play.

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