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 just over a week away from the first football field opening on April 7. Sony’s MLB The Show series usually premieres a few weeks before the MLB season begins, but the most part this year 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 the new online co-op mode, and can look forward to improvements in all of the series’ core gameplay, including 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 take turns hitting 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, meaning 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 90+ players, but I only have 4,500 studs before a Big Dog pack, which gives me a general and basic 85+ rare Diamond player. 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 as textures pop in and out. Thankfully, hitting and pitching isn’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 of the Switch version 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 of an impact it will have on play, but touching a ball with weak wood will make a little difference.
