[Padgoi]

Once again, it's November and I find myself searching for a game to play. Why? Because once again, the Show has failed to deliver for me what I would consider a realistic, organic representation of baseball. This has literally become an annual happenstance for me and the worst part is that it could EASILY be avoided. Let me list what I feel is absolutely dragging this title down, in no particular order:

Patches - I'm the kind of guy that won't play unless the game feels realistic to me. What frustrates me to NO END is when the developers release a patch, I rework my sliders, finally get to the point where I feel the game is playing well, and they release ANOTHER 20 patches up through November, all of which CLEARLY affect gameplay even thought the patch notes make no mention of it. And before some of you say that the patches don't affect gameplay, let me just say that when patch 1.22 landed, I was playing on Legend with pitch speed at 5 and it was solid. After patch 1.23, I had to raise pitch speed . . . TO TEN!!! I didn't just magically get 5 notches better. That patch CLEARLY affected gameplay, even though the patch notes didn't mention it at all. And because of that, I now have to stop, rework my DAMN SLIDERS IN NOVEMBER, PLAY MORE PRACTICE GAMES TO MAKE SURE THE DAMN SLIDERS ARE GOOD, and then continue? I'm not going through that in November when the next game releases in less than 4 months.

Team Rankings - they simply dictate too much. If you're using a team like the Yankees, guess what - you're doing well. You can play like absolute dirt, it won't matter. Your pitchers will be unhittable. You will be successful. Why? Because the Yankees are a highly ranked team.

Game Engine - honestly, I'm done with it. You can tell me until you're blue in the face that there isn't any type of mechanism involved that boosts the skill level of the losing team, but it is literally EVIDENT IN EVERY SINGLE GAME I PLAY. Now, this is NOT catchup AI, no no. The developers are too smart for that. The losing team gets a boost, it's that simple. If you're up 1-0, it's not as evident, but if you're up 2-0 or more, that's when it becomes very obvious. Umpires squeezing their zones on you. Ground balls conveniently taking tricky hops and getting past infielders. Wild pitches. Perfectly timed batted balls ALL going right to fielders for literally AN ENTIRE GAME! It doesn't matter. The losing team has a boost in ratings to make the game more competitive. It's the same if you're losing. All of a sudden, the CPU can't throw a strike (I've literally had 5 consecutive walks issues to me to try and get back in the game) or the CPU starts throwing meatballs. This isn't every 5 games. It's EVERY SINGLE GAME. The engine honestly is BROKEN. The AI needs a complete and utter overhaul because as currently constructed, the game feels about as inorganic as RBI baseball. I'm happy some of you are having fun with the game, but on Legend difficulty, the game is plain bad. And I've tried other difficulties . . . the CPU is just way too dumb for my tastes on lower levels. They play with zero urgency.

The worst part about ALL of this is that the game, every year, plays great when you first buy it, but the damn patches make it play like last year's version because the tweenie boppers complain and naturally the developers have to listen to their largest demographic to appease their DD populace. Honestly, I've had it. Another year down the tubes.

See you guys in March.