MLB The Show 22 - (PS5/Xbox Series X|S) Impressions

[jwilphl]

My last frame of reference for the Show was the '17 iteration, so coming into this year's version of RTTS was quite a change. First off, no more using stubs to improve your player. I do have mixed feelings about that, as I found it useful to advance my player more quickly due to lack of time, as well as pick the certain attributes I wanted to improve. Now I don't have to worry about spending extra, which is nice and a change of pace in this day-and-age, but again makes the grind, well, a grind.

Not that it's a bad game of baseball, by the way. I'm enjoying it so far, though I haven't ventured outside of RTTS quite yet. I'm not sure I love all the changes to RTTS, though. There's no more pre-draft games (at least as far as I could tell). No draft itself, unless I missed something. The mode also feels a tad more lifeless, I think. You play games and do training, but there's no more other interactions unless they come later?

No social media, no agent or coach to talk with. I see there are player relationships but I don't know if those go anywhere yet. Compared to '17, anyway, it doesn't feel like a mode that's actually advanced or innovated in any way. Maybe I'm premature and things change when you get to the majors? I don't know and I could revise my review later if that's the case.

The commentary is pretty meh, too, but that could be because I'm in AA. Again, not sure if I have a full view. Vasgersian and the guys were kind of tired, I suppose. Not sure the new duo is all that interesting.

Also, what's with all the pick-off attempts at 2nd base? That's so bizarre.

[JayhawkerStL]

Quote: Originally Posted by baseballguy99

Cause they don’t care if we hate it lol Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Why should they? You buy it every year. Complaining or not, they own your ***.

[countryboy]

The pace of the offseason is so well done.

Far too often previously, all of the big time free agents would fly off the boards and leave the offseason to kind of drag on.

So far, I'm seeing a ton of great free agents still available as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday. Only a very few, probably count on one hand, have been signed. The rest are just waiting and fielding several different offers.

Aaron Judge has had no shortage of 7 different teams be in his top 3 and has had several different favorites to sign. Yankees lowballed him during exclusive negotiations and now the past day or so, teams are just throwing offers out there and now who do I see in the top 3? The Yankees offering a salary that matches what he's receiving on the open market.

So well done

[jcar0725]

Quote: Originally Posted by countryboy

The pace of the offseason is so well done. Far too often previously, all of the big time free agents would fly off the boards and leave the offseason to kind of drag on. So far, I'm seeing a ton of great free agents still available as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday. Only a very few, probably count on one hand, have been signed. The rest are just waiting and fielding several different offers. Aaron Judge has had no shortage of 7 different teams be in his top 3 and has had several different favorites to sign. Yankees lowballed him during exclusive negotiations and now the past day or so, teams are just throwing offers out there and now who do I see in the top 3? The Yankees offering a salary that matches what he's receiving on the open market. So well done

Oh man, can't wait to get to the year 1 off-season.

[NAFBUC]

Quote: Originally Posted by KnightTemplar

There in lies the magic for the gamer. I had the Pirates get 8 runs off me in the top of the 10th to kick my butt. Enjoyed every minute of it, win or lose.

Sorry bout that KT.

[NYJin2011tm]

Quote: Originally Posted by countryboy

Playing a series against the Rockies. Randal Grichuk has had 5 at-bats and has 5 homeruns. Maybe I should stop pitching to him...

I would have hit him by now lol.

[Hockeystatic]

I would be very curious to know the player BABIP vs. The computer BABIP because it feels incredibly lopsided toward the CPU. Extremely frustrating part of an otherwise good game.

[JayhawkerStL]

Quote: Originally Posted by Hockeystatic

I would be very curious to know the player BABIP vs. The computer BABIP because it feels incredibly lopsided toward the CPU. Extremely frustrating part of an otherwise good game.

I would also look at other aspects. A lower BABiP is caused by swinging at bad early in a count instead of waiting. So you could also look at how you pitch the ai, in relegation to their swing tendency, to see if you can induce more bad swings, as well as if you are not taking enough pitches. Are you swinging at breaking balls early, instead of looking for a fastball?

The main reason I am finding this game so rewarding this year is that how you play affects the game. If you make poor swinging decisions, over the course of 100 pitches, you are going to suffer.

By the same token, if you pitch by the book, or just super consistent, the CPU will learn when you are going to throw a pitch, and it will become less effective. It’s also why it is critical to throw outside the zone, with intention. Sometimes I view the catcher’s suggestion as a time to do the opposite.

I mean, it feels so wicked good to freeze a hitter with a two strike change-up over the heart of the plate. I know he’s sitting fastball. Everything says fastball. Honestly, it’s less risky than it sounds, because the change of speed comes with some break, and maybe you get a groundout or fly out.

If you tweak the sliders so the CPU grounds out more, or more of your hits get through, you might have just missed part of what makes playing sports great. Finding a flaw, and then fixing it.

The game isn’t just happening to us. We are driving it. One of the main reasons I focus on pitch count so much is that it drives the narrative of an inning.

One of the best places I learned this, believe it or not, was in SMB3 in online play. There is a point when you begin getting matched up against guys that know how to exploit the typical weaknesses guys have when they move up a level, just in the minors.

One thing I learned was the importance of taking a ton of pitches early, because if a good guy got you to chase, that guy was going to battle you hard. But if you could take strikes, they are less likely to throw balls, and now I’m starting to see pitches.

But Metalhead is also insanely good at using this info to drive their ai hitters and pitchers. (Side note: maybe THAT’S what EA really bought.) You could lull yourself into thinking you were playing a human a lot. The ai decision making is so good.

That said, I feel like the AI has been equally good in those areas in The Show over the last two years. It becomes less about a checklist, and more about adaptation. And if an AI can make me game plan it like I would a human, I’m going to stick with it for awhile. So far, The Show has given that to me in spades.

Also, bouncing between DD and franchise play will mess with you. The way rosters are built and games are played is completely different, as your goals are different. When to get aggressive or conservative switches up fast.

Back in the day, verifying the supposed accuracy of a sim model wasn’t the end all. The point was to change things to see what results you got. Somehow, it has morphed into making the game play “correctly” no matter what the user does, so the game can always reward them for being good.

I play this on default sliders, and it is just remarkable. I feel like real baseball decisions result in real baseball results.