MLB The Show 25 Gameplay Updates Deep Dive

[LegendKillerOne]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheBrew101

The things that interest me are the infielder reaction times (I was playing Super Mega Baseball this weekend and thinking to myself how defense in that game matters more than MLB The Show as you can definitely tell when your player has less range and weak arm) and if the Goat Skill level applies to pitching. For hitting I'm not good enough to worry about Goat level. Pitching however has been a problem for me since MLB23 and my stats are a touch too good even when I set it to Legend+. The big thing is the infielder fielding as I think that can impact strategies and roster construction. Ambush hitting isn't for me (I don't want any bonus in my offline games). Homerun catches are something that should only show up a few times a month so that isn't impactful to me. That being said, I do understand the sentiment that some have that there isn't a lot here to be excited about. I am probably leaning that way too and they will have to show me more than this to be a buyer of MLB25 at regular price even with my intrigue about infielder reaction times. Hopefully more exciting things announced in future information releases as it pertains to offline franchise play.

I am in the same boat. I do not use the style of hitting in the game where Ambush would matter to me so really i would not be able to comment whether or not its a good feature.


The infielder reaction time is big. Specially if you notice the difference. that will be key. you nailed it about super mega baseball. You can really tell in that game who has good range and who is pew pew

[PhlliesPhan6]

Some of these look pretty cool but I usually play with auto fielding so I probably won't see much benefit.

Everyone saying that it looks like the same old game, that's what we say every year but last year was probably the best gameplay we've had in a while. I'll reserve judgement for the final product and not a bunch of short clips and feature lists.

[SoxFan01605]

So...

- I like the fielding additions and creating more separation in reactions.

- Ambush hitting - not as generic as it first looked but it really is not all that different from what you could do with Guess Pitch conceptually. They even touted guess pitch in a similar way back in the day.

I do think that, in theory, the did a good job balancing risk/reward but it's probably something I'll skip as it do it manually in game already and don't need any boosts/penalties beyond what naturally occurs. I get the concept and appeal for many though.

- Visuals do look improved. Even before now, I completely disagreed with the dramatic "late PS3 graphics" comments but if you still say that now it's simply a lie at this point. I do think the player models are holding the game back from making that next big visual jump though and is the main culprit for those kind of comments (and for some of the lingering awkward animations) - but lighting looks fantastic! A lot of faces and textures look good as well (we'll see about CAPs though).

- grass and dirt do look improved but it bugged me how quickly the dirt effects disappeared after a slide (specifically one slide into third where it looked great and then poof! it's gone before the camera pans...be nice to at least let it persist until a cutaway). Maybe that's something they'll iron out before official release.

- Def love the new rob HR setup and like that a lot of things are more ratings driven.

Not a spectacular update IMO, but solid and I can see the value to pretty much all of the updates even if they aren't all for me. Per usual, franchise updates will be my personal make or break but certainly a net positive on this one IMO.

[mellamoaaron]

I like that it seems that they put in a decent amount into gameplay, but some of the things like Ambush hitting doesn't really work for my playstyle or hitting setup. I am still probably going to skip this year's version as I still am not a fan of the animations and player models. Will wait for The Show 26 to jump back in.

[FBeaule04]

Quote: Originally Posted by PhlliesPhan6

Some of these look pretty cool but I usually play with auto fielding so I probably won't see much benefit. Everyone saying that it looks like the same old game, that's what we say every year but last year was probably the best gameplay we've had in a while. I'll reserve judgement for the final product and not a bunch of short clips and feature lists.

Same boat here. I'm almost at 400 hours on MLBTS24 and still finds things and judgement target is moving.

I just hope that MLBTS25 with the new features is has good or slightly better than 24 since I'm still having a blast.