Hey guys, I downloaded the Vita version last night so for now anything I say applies strictly to that format. You can support our site by clicking through one of the links below (or the affiliate link on our home page)...
Buy PYS 2014 (PS3, Vita, PSP)
Buy Japanese PSN Yen Card (for Digital Download version)
I'll start off with a positive, I know this one is killing Gold so I'll get right to the point: Relay/Cut-offs by the 2nd baseman are fixed.
I went into fielding practice and hit some deep shots in the gap with men on base. The 2nd baseman ran into the outfield and took the throw in a perfect position. Now I didn't try every scenario but at first glance it seems fixed to me.
- Ok Konami can you please stop changing the home menu? I have to create yet another version for the site.
2010 was the best because it also had English text. Oh well
- My 2 pet peeves are still in the game: Batting Practice still uses a static camera (so if you hit the ball to left or right field you can't see the ball.) :evil: It would be so easy for them to allow us to use the regular gameplay cameras so???
My other pet peeve is the lack of CPU batters hitting foul balls, this is such a big part of baseball that for some reason is missing here. No, I don't want to watch the foul ball sail into the stands for 20 seconds. Rather, I just want to get into some long-winded battles.
Onto the big one (the new Guess Pitch feature)...
Wow! I was blown away at how little time you have to react if you guess wrong! The vids I saw don't do it justice, when you're actually playing and a fastball comes in outside when you guessed inside good luck! Now on the other side of the coin when you guess right then you can look forward to getting more beach balls! So much so that I'm concerned you PS3 jocks might find it too easy. For the Vita though it's a welcome addition because you can use that extra little help because of the smaller sticks.
Guessing right is not some lame "power up" thing though, you still have to properly square up on the ball. I hit several dribblers and weak grounders when I was off just a little bit. When you do square up it feels great because the animation kicks in, you load up and rip it with more power. I tried hitting a contact swing HR but no luck yet, mostly the "correct guess" smash hits with contact swing have been line drives.
The first game I played was really well balanced (hit variety etc) and I think "Guess Pitch" is a welcome addition to the game. It actually felt a bit stale when I had no guess on...going after that meatball by guessing right is addicting. It confirmed though what I was hoping for: how it makes you work counts & get things in your favor so you can make some guesses. Just like real life when you're ahead in the count you're going to do better. Also, it brings a gambling element to the game; on a 0-2 count trust me you'll be tempted to guess.
On the pitching side Muka is right - you'll have to think twice before using your go-to location. When the CPU guesses right they really lay into it, and when they guess wrong it's cool to watch the awkward swing followed by a weak hit. I think hit variety is improved because of it. And thanks to the animations you can sometimes tell which way they were looking, and that makes you think about how you want to approach the next pitch. I don't know if I've even scratched the surface here, I mean if each CPU batter has a unique "Guess Pitch" AI which is tied to their special skills this could really be something great.
Here's some random notes:
- It looks like CPU Pitching set to Hard- is pretty much the same this year, but early results show more wild pitches outside the zone. You'll still only get a couple pitches right down the middle.
- At times there were some frame-rate hiccups, usually when pitching when the ball crosses the plate. Not a game killer, and it may be tied to the new animations or the "Live" online feature. Messages keep popping up about this "Live" thing, I need to find out how to turn it off. Remember this is Vita version I'm talking about so PS3 may be fine.
- Simming speed in between innings is slower now, apparently so you can follow the action better? I guess some will like and some will dislike this, and perhaps there is a setting to adjust.
- I see a new setting in "User Settings" and "Match Settings." I'll get Muka on that, or post images here since some of you speak Japanese now.
- The custom uniforms available in VP shop are underwhelming. I was hoping for better since you can use them in Pennant mode this year.
- The crowd noise, chants, sound effects & music is more engrossing this year. A subtle thing that I wasn't looking for, but overall I felt more into the game.
I'm off today so will be playing as much as possible. Hit me up if you have any question.
Buy PYS 2014 (PS3, Vita, PSP)
Buy Japanese PSN Yen Card (for Digital Download version)
I'll start off with a positive, I know this one is killing Gold so I'll get right to the point: Relay/Cut-offs by the 2nd baseman are fixed.
I went into fielding practice and hit some deep shots in the gap with men on base. The 2nd baseman ran into the outfield and took the throw in a perfect position. Now I didn't try every scenario but at first glance it seems fixed to me. - Ok Konami can you please stop changing the home menu? I have to create yet another version for the site.
2010 was the best because it also had English text. Oh well- My 2 pet peeves are still in the game: Batting Practice still uses a static camera (so if you hit the ball to left or right field you can't see the ball.) :evil: It would be so easy for them to allow us to use the regular gameplay cameras so???
My other pet peeve is the lack of CPU batters hitting foul balls, this is such a big part of baseball that for some reason is missing here. No, I don't want to watch the foul ball sail into the stands for 20 seconds. Rather, I just want to get into some long-winded battles.
Onto the big one (the new Guess Pitch feature)...
Wow! I was blown away at how little time you have to react if you guess wrong! The vids I saw don't do it justice, when you're actually playing and a fastball comes in outside when you guessed inside good luck! Now on the other side of the coin when you guess right then you can look forward to getting more beach balls! So much so that I'm concerned you PS3 jocks might find it too easy. For the Vita though it's a welcome addition because you can use that extra little help because of the smaller sticks.
Guessing right is not some lame "power up" thing though, you still have to properly square up on the ball. I hit several dribblers and weak grounders when I was off just a little bit. When you do square up it feels great because the animation kicks in, you load up and rip it with more power. I tried hitting a contact swing HR but no luck yet, mostly the "correct guess" smash hits with contact swing have been line drives.
The first game I played was really well balanced (hit variety etc) and I think "Guess Pitch" is a welcome addition to the game. It actually felt a bit stale when I had no guess on...going after that meatball by guessing right is addicting. It confirmed though what I was hoping for: how it makes you work counts & get things in your favor so you can make some guesses. Just like real life when you're ahead in the count you're going to do better. Also, it brings a gambling element to the game; on a 0-2 count trust me you'll be tempted to guess.
On the pitching side Muka is right - you'll have to think twice before using your go-to location. When the CPU guesses right they really lay into it, and when they guess wrong it's cool to watch the awkward swing followed by a weak hit. I think hit variety is improved because of it. And thanks to the animations you can sometimes tell which way they were looking, and that makes you think about how you want to approach the next pitch. I don't know if I've even scratched the surface here, I mean if each CPU batter has a unique "Guess Pitch" AI which is tied to their special skills this could really be something great.
Here's some random notes:
- It looks like CPU Pitching set to Hard- is pretty much the same this year, but early results show more wild pitches outside the zone. You'll still only get a couple pitches right down the middle.
- At times there were some frame-rate hiccups, usually when pitching when the ball crosses the plate. Not a game killer, and it may be tied to the new animations or the "Live" online feature. Messages keep popping up about this "Live" thing, I need to find out how to turn it off. Remember this is Vita version I'm talking about so PS3 may be fine.
- Simming speed in between innings is slower now, apparently so you can follow the action better? I guess some will like and some will dislike this, and perhaps there is a setting to adjust.
- I see a new setting in "User Settings" and "Match Settings." I'll get Muka on that, or post images here since some of you speak Japanese now.
- The custom uniforms available in VP shop are underwhelming. I was hoping for better since you can use them in Pennant mode this year.
- The crowd noise, chants, sound effects & music is more engrossing this year. A subtle thing that I wasn't looking for, but overall I felt more into the game.
I'm off today so will be playing as much as possible. Hit me up if you have any question.
Comment