Tom’s Guide Verdict
MLB The Show 25 offers several improvements to Sony’s iterative baseball title.
San Diego Studio continues to produce an excellent baseball game.
Essentially, it looks the same as last year’s edition.
The higher it is, the faster they react.
The studio added new indicators that show you the difference between elite Gold Glove defense and average.
It means you’ll actually want to focus on defense during training or when scouting players in Franchise mode.
You might even focus on fielding abilities in the RTTS mode over just hitting a bit.
Speaking of hitting, the new Ambush Hitting system lets you have a little more strategy as a hitter.
Ambush Hitting allows you to sit on pitches inside or outside the plate.
Basically, you’re guessing where you think the pitch is coming from.
The zone you choose slows things down, and the one you didn’t gets harder to hit.
It’s a different version of, say Guess Pitch or power swinging.
Plus, it’s missing the ability to sit on the top or bottom of the zone.
Finally improved menus
Outside of fielding, the biggest improvement in the game might be the menus.
The menus make sense with legible fonts.
We reviewed an early access copy of the game and saw some people reporting freezing issues.
Road to the Show
RTTS saw possibly the biggest addition with the new Amateur Years.
In college, you’ve got the option to improve your draft stock.
It’s deflating and insane that this remains an issue.
I think it’s related to overall rating gatekeeping, but I am not entirely sure.
However, I wouldn’t mind some side games or something of the like to offer some variety.
Franchise mode
One flaw of many sports sims is that they don’t really track the league’s storylines.
The farm report tracks your affiliated minor league teams.
It’s awesome and makes you feel more immersed.
Free agency has been renewed with a new system that has you tracking players throughout the offseason.
It really makes you consider who to go after for your team’s needs.
Trade logic remains an issue.
I saw claims that SDS had improved trade logic, but I didn’t see that in action.
Young stars on team-friendly deals got dealt away with no compunction, and strange in-division trades became very common.
Diamond Dynasty
Diamond Dynasty is largely the same.
There is a new Diamond Quest that acts as a roguelike gameboard with moments and boss challenges.
You get rewards and penalties for passing or failing.
Diamond Quest is fun and can be done offline.
Storylines
Baseball is one of the few professional sports that remains obsessed with its history.
Honestly, it remains the best thing SDS has done with the franchise and continues to be so.
MLB The Show 25 verdict
San Diego Studio makes quality baseball games.
Just about every mode has received some kind of update, some bigger than others.
RTTS and Franchise mode are otherwise still fairly straightforward as well.
I’m not entirely sure that MLB The Show 25 succeeds in that regard.
Outside of updated rosters, there isn’t quite enough to make it stand out.
Beyond the menus, graphically it looks similar to The Show 24.
Still, you should be pleased if you do pick it up.
