A few weeks ago, the annual spring jailbreak of the bat was called into question as the MLB lockdown dragged on. The players and federation have finally come to an agreement, and the season has been delayed a bit, but no games will be lost. As of this writing, we’re only a week away from the first ballpark opening on April 7. Sony’s MLB series The Show usually premieres a few weeks before the MLB season begins, but season five now launched just two days ago on April 5 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and first on Switch.
I just got my hands on the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Switch versions, and will update this story throughout the day and weekend with early impressions of my time on the diamond. Sony says hitting, pitching and blocking have been improved, and that the audio commentary will come from a different team. Players can also dive into a new online co-op mode, and can look forward to improvements in all of the series’ core gameplay, including the Franchise, Road to Show, and King of the Dead. diamond dynasty.
I’m impressed with the PlayStation 5 version. The first thing you’ll see is a short video about Shohei Ohtani reveals more about his path to baseball. Then for returning players, you’ll get some rewards for returning for another season. Here is what I get:
Before reaching the main menu, you select your favorite team, then are given the option to join a practice game to choose the style of play that works for you. I recommend going through this process to re-learn your playstyle and find the pitching and batting system you want to use.
New online co-op mode front and center on the main menu, inviting players to play 2v2 or 3v3. This will be my first playthrough. You can see what this mode has to offer in the trailer below:
Upon entering Diamond Dynasty, before you can watch anything, you need to first complete five quests. As always, the game gives you a default team to work with. This is my:
The first mission pits you against the New York Yankees in the last place of ninth place. You’re in the dish with the first and second runners. In my example, I try to throw the first pitch over the right yard wall to win the game and complete the mission. I received two cards as a reward: one of them is Vinny Castilla (72 years old).
Since those who pre-ordered the game will start playing in four days, I had no problem finding a teammate for my first cooperative game. We are far superior in terms of the squad. Before the action begins, both players choose a number of cards from their collection to use in that game (meaning you can use some Legends you never earned yourself). Our competitor must have opened a few packages to get Fernado Tatis Jr., Rickey Henderson, Joe Mauer, Giancarlo Stanton and more incredible strength in their lineup.
Matchmaking works fast, teaming up my team with my teammates in seconds and finding an opponent within 30 to 40. As you’d expect, in a 2v2 game, you and your teammates alternate. beat bats. If someone hits the ball, the player who doesn’t hit the ball becomes the hitter. For a game, one player throws the ball for the entire inning, while simultaneously controlling the pitcher and catcher for the entire inning, which means that this player handles the steals and most of the games. the hit. Other player fields. Any player can enter the pause menu to activate the bullpen. If you’re blocking, your line of sight is behind the pitcher until the ball is in play – allowing you to see areas of the field clearly (you just can’t see your teammates).
We did experience a bit of lag in our game, but it was smooth for the most part. We finished 12 shots into the net of their year, but two of their five were home runs. We had the bases loaded twice in our nine innings game. A scoring opportunity was destroyed by a ball hitting the ground in the middle of the field on a swing. The final score was 2-0. We did our best, but it’s still not enough.
The gameplay of the game is nice and smooth, but I don’t see much of a visual difference compared to last year. That said, it’s still a hell of a game. Every animation is right for this moment, player speed seems to be consistent both on the base path and on the field, and the pitching/hitting battle is as enjoyable as ever. I love that you can watch the PCI for your teammates to see how close they’ve come to squaring one.
The video above shows one of the packages I opened. I still don’t have any players over 90, but I only have 4,500 studs before a Big Dog pack, which gives me a rare Diamond 90 general and basic 85 and up. I’m looking into card designs this year, especially those tied to the Faces of the Franchise program which is timed to end in 28 days. Faces of the Franchise offers everyday moments, show highlights, Legendary and Flashback missions, as well as a duel with the final boss. XP for this battle-like path can also come from standard, collectible, and trade-in games.
The only other program listed at launch that gets you a Babe Ruth card at the end of the program. This challenge only requires you to complete a small game during the season and tally some basic baseball achievements, such as hitting five hits.
The menus and gameplay of Diamond Dynasty are a bit overwhelming and confusing at first glance, but offer many interesting avenues for players to earn rewards and spend time.
I’ve gone through a few listings and they’re all as current as you’d expect. Carlos Correa is on the Minnesota Twins and Marcus Stroman is wearing his Cubs headband. Rookies promoted from underage and out-of-tournament signings like Seiya Suzuki are yet to enter the game and must first play five innings before they can be added (or featured on any other game). which item). With that in mind, you might want to pause until the start of the actual MLB season before starting Franchise mode or any list-based activity. The best avenue at the moment is Diamond Dynasty.
And now for some bad news: MLB The Show 22 is a graphical mess on Switch. These impressions were made on the OLED Switch in handheld mode. From what I can tell, all of the content is the same as the Xbox and PlayStation versions, but the games on the field struggle to run, let down by both the frame rate and the pronounced flickering of the picture. When shadows are brought into play, I’m often distracted by graphic anomalies in the background, such as the top of the fence having a flickering light effect when textures pop out. Thankfully, the hit and pitch aren’t affected by the dramatic drop in framerate – which means it plays fine – but the pitcher animation is almost digitized. The most noticeable frame rate drops occur when during broadcast moments, such as zooming in on the pitcher after going out.
As of this writing, I don’t have any patches to download (and I don’t know if there are), but will note that I am currently unable to connect to the game’s servers. I can only play offline modes like exhibition, Road to the Show and Franchise.
I’ll be playing more Switch verison games in the coming days, but I’ll be returning to PlayStation 5 for a deeper dive into Diamond Dynasty, Franchise mode, and Road to the Show. One thing I started noticing when alternating between this year’s game and last year’s game was that the ball seemed heavier now. It’s hard to say how much it affects play, but touching a ball with weak wood will make a little difference.
Day 5:
I’ve always been a fan of Diamond Dynasty’s shorter three-round games, and the new Mini Seasons mode is the best implementation, offering great competition against CPU-controlled teams and great rewards. . I’m playing 21 games in my first season and currently only one game over .500, but would be in the four-team knockout if the season ended here. If I win the championship I get the Evan Longoria card (89) as well as the Diamond Championship Pack.
On the field in these games, I see some clever animations that affect player motivation. CPU opponents on All-Star difficulty can still make perfect matches more often than they probably should, but I’m seeing a fair amount of matches, almost always against players with lower ability ratings. Overall, the play is superbly balanced and I feel like I’m seeing the right results for my swing timing and which angle I make contact with the ball. Again, there seems to be more weight to it, which makes the grounders easier to read and the trajectory more precise out of the wall. Last year, this year’s version was great, perhaps a little better through the new animations that Sony has included in the mix.
Collecting cards also brings rewards, giving a steady stream of tokens for completed quests. Each Diamond Dynasty mode offers a series of quests, some of which can be completed within minutes if you stick to your game.
I still haven’t spent any time in Road to the Show, but have messed around with Franchise mode. Aside from advanced trading logic and options, I don’t see much of a difference here, and I suspect I won’t be able to say much as it hasn’t been a big draw for me the last few waves. .
For the sixth day, I hope the servers work better so I can spend more time in multiplayer. I’ll also dive into Conquet to see its rewards.
