MLB The Show 20 Review: A Worthy Sendoff For This Generation

[ChaseB]

Sony San Diego Studio's yearly release of their award-winning baseball franchise is here. For me, there...

Written By: Robert Kollars

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[ChaseB]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Review: A Worthy Sendoff For This Generation

If something wasn't mentioned etc. we are still doing plenty of deep dives over the next days and weeks so we'll probably end up getting to whatever it is you want talked about.

Thanks y'all!

[AUTiger1]

IMO, the best The Show intro was the one from a couple years back with the chalk painting!!

[Caulfield]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Review: A Worthy Sendoff For This Generation

It is also worth noting in many ballparks the surrounding cityscapes have been fleshed out and built up with much more detail than what we saw in last year's version.

on moonshot homers so far, I have put a replay lock on the ball and at the highest peak stop the frame and just take it all in. the outside world is beautiful. I've done this with about 8 stadiums so far, and what got me started was outside Anaheim, I noticed there weren't any cars in a parking lot. I thought hey what's the deal here, then I scan around and see another lot jam-packed with vehicular

[Siuflyer]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Review: A Worthy Sendoff For This Generation

If something wasn't mentioned etc. we are still doing plenty of deep dives over the next days and weeks so we'll probably end up getting to whatever it is you want talked about.

Thanks y'all!

Has the dev team said anything about patching in the real world schedule if and when real baseball starts? At this point it seems pretty certain whether they still try and play 162 or have to shorten the season, it’s going to be an unusual summer. I know we franchise players feel we’ve been put on the back burner the last few years, going the extra mile on something like this could be a meaningful gesture to the franchise community.

[jeffy777]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Review: A Worthy Sendoff For This Generatio

Of these changes, the two biggest would have to be the throwing meter and fielding movement. In past years, I would go as far as turning the meter off because even the hardest throws just became commonplace and maybe even mundane. Enter 2020 and the revamped meter, and that change has forced me to multi-task.

First, I must make the play and understand who is running down the line, and adjust accordingly to what type of throw is required. If you hit the throw meter just right, it feels wonderful and accurate. Press it too long or not enough, and the results will have you cringing in anticipation of where the ball is headed.

As someone who also turned the meter off in the past, I agree the new fielding meter is good in terms of results, but I’m quickly realizing it becomes pretty easy and mundane.

The reviewer states, “First, I must make the play and understand who is running down the line, and adjust accordingly to what type of throw is required.“

That sounds lovely, but is that truly the case? Isn’t it basically just a matter of hitting the button in the middle of the meter every time? There’s really no way to change your type of throw or speed from an input perspective. That’s all handled automatically, right?

Don’t get me wrong, I like the updated meter, but the new changes really only affect the results from what I can tell, and with no way to adjust the difficulty, it essentially becomes more of a muscle memory mini-game than any sort of strategic process. I just wish there truly was a bit more depth to it....maybe pulling R2 to rush your throw or L2 to make sure you plant your feet for a more conservative approach? Just spit-balling here.

[Caulfield]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Review: A Worthy Sendoff For This Generation

...and I'm not sending off this generation of consoles til after Show 21. I hope there are even 3 more years left on the PS4 but I do want to be upgraded on a PS5 when Show 22 arrives. might be some life left in them old bones beyond 20, hopefully lol

[LoadStar81]

Opening videos are a lost art.
The opener for The Show 16 just about singlehandedly made me a fan of The Struts.  Rock's not dead, it turns out, and those guys are GOOD.  Even their covers are no slouch (Dancing In the Street and Ballroom Blitz are impressive), and I dare you to listen all the way through "Tattler Magazine" without smiling at least once.
The chalk art opener for 17 needs no further praise.  It gets me every.  Single.  Time.  It might just be the single best introduction to the sport in under 3 minutes.  I mean, come on:  going from Cal Ripken, straight into Gehrig's farewell address, that is  just *sniff* positively unfair, man... *sniff sniff*
I'm not crying.  You're crying.
The way the kids and the pros were intercut in the opener for 18 was nicely done, and if you wondered what they'd do to top it, well, they had four different videos in 19.  FOUR.
So, yeah, this opening cinematic was a bit of a letdown, but the rest of the package is fine by me.

[AUTiger1]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Review: A Worthy Sendoff For This Generation

Opening videos are a lost art.
The opener for The Show 16 just about singlehandedly made me a fan of The Struts.* Rock's not dead, it turns out, and those guys are GOOD.* Even their covers are no slouch (Dancing In the Street and Ballroom Blitz are impressive), and I dare you to listen all the way through "Tattler Magazine" without smiling at least once.
The chalk art opener for 17 needs no further praise.* It gets me every.* Single.* Time.* It might just be the single best introduction to the sport in under 3 minutes.* I mean, come on:* going from Cal Ripken, straight into Gehrig's farewell address, that is* just *sniff* positively unfair, man... *sniff sniff*
I'm not crying.* You're crying.
The way the kids and the pros were intercut in the opener for 18 was nicely done, and if you wondered what they'd do to top it, well, they had four different videos in 19.* FOUR.
So, yeah, this opening cinematic was a bit of a letdown, but the rest of the package is fine by me.

Yeah, was just coming here to say the same thing. The intro sucks. I mean it might be cool if you're a Cubs fan or a Javier Baez fan but even then I'm sure that would get old quick for folks like me that hate the Cubs. I mean Jeez!! And I never thought they'd make a worse one than the Yasiel Puig one but this one here trumps it, especially after the last several years really tugged at the heart strings of what makes baseball great and why I love this sport!

[stlbss29]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Review: A Worthy Sendoff For This Generation

The chalk outline was the best on the PS4 by a mile. But my all time fav was The Show 12 on PS3, which was a supercut of the last night of the regular season. AKA the most exciting finish to a regular season ever - the Red Sox collapse, the Rays piling on the Yankees late for the win with Longoria hitting a HR into the small gap just inside the LF foul pole - Crawford’s cutout - created when Carl Crawford was a Ray, yet he was was a thousand miles away in Baltimore with the Red Sox. And the Phillies won in extra innings in Atlanta to eliminate the Braves and sent the Cards straight into the playoffs without having to play a tiebreaker. Watched all of it live that night and it seemed like it all happened within 30 minutes of each other. I cant tell you how many times i watched that intro - all time favorite Intro of any sports game!

[Jr.]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Review: A Worthy Sendoff For This Generation

Yeah that intro for '17 is the greatest video game intro I've ever seen. Just beautiful

[SmashMan]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Review: A Worthy Sendoff For This Generation

Yeah, was just coming here to say the same thing. The intro sucks. I mean it might be cool if you're a Cubs fan or a Javier Baez fan but even then I'm sure that would get old quick for folks like me that hate the Cubs. I mean Jeez!! And I never thought they'd make a worse one than the Yasiel Puig one but this one here trumps it, especially after the last several years really tugged at the heart strings of what makes baseball great and why I love this sport!

Speaking as one - nope, it's not.

Not sure who thought slow-motion jumping of any player would be good for an intro. It stands out as especially weak compared to the A+ effort put in over the last few years too.

[csamuelsvt]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Review: A Worthy Sendoff For This Generation

Love the game this year, but with regards to the commentary, enough is enough. It's time for a new commentary team once and for all. I, and many others, can call out most of the commentary lines as they've been pretty much the same for many years.


If the NHL team, Madden team, etc can do it, MLB can as well. I know there's a relationship with Matt, but the commentary is so incredibly dated.



Need a guy with more emotion(Been saying this year after year). Nothing worse than coming up in a big spot and then hearing Matt just lazily read his line with zero emotion behind it. Completely ruins immersion.

[JoshC1977]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Review: A Worthy Sendoff For This Generation

Yeah that intro for '17 is the greatest video game intro I've ever seen. Just beautiful

I quite literally get goose-bumps just THINKING about that intro. The music was beautiful and the moments that they captured were just brilliant.

This year's was...very bleh....the one upside, it was short.

[LoadStar81]

@csamuelsvt You lost me at "NHL."

EA Vancouver hung on to Gary Thorne and Bill Clement until they had pretty much no choice but to switch crews on the NBC rebrand. Thorne and Clement didn't sound bad per se, the community just wanted different voices. The result? Way too much Doc Emmerick, who is an acquired taste even when he's calling a LIVE game. And video game commentary? *facepalm*

So this year, with the NBC agreement having run its course, they decided to go with a different crew, and even invited guest commentary from such noted hockey experts as Snoop Dog, Will Ferrell, and Drake...? Wait, what?

Be careful what you wish for, and don't be so quick to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

With an established cast, you can add new lines to the database without having to rebuild all the commentary from scratch. Bring in a new cast, and you have to start all over from nothing. Pick the wrong cast, and you could spend YEARS trying to get the commentary back to what it was.

Love him or hate him, Matty V is the straw that stirs the drink right now. And starting over with a brand new voice cast is a gamble. With the series shifting to a new hardware generation, I'd expect he stays put for now, until the franchise is established next gen.