Every major sport has its own annual video game franchise, though some are certainly better than others. MLB The Show has been one of the most consistent and reliable sports game franchises available, with most entries earning strong reviews and some outright garnering critical acclaim. MLB The Show 25 is the latest in the long-running series and, as expected, it's another solid entry. MLB The Show 25 doesn't mark a significant evolution for the baseball sim, but it offers a polished, fully-featured game.
MLB The Show 25's core gameplay iterates on the near-perfect formula that San Diego Studio has refined over its many years of developing MLB The Show games. It's hard to imagine a baseball sim playing much better than this, with players given a suite of options to tailor the experience to exactly how they want to play. Those looking for a casual baseball game can have that, while those wanting realism are covered as well. There are even dynamic difficulty options, so MLB The Show 25 automatically adjusts to player performance.
Players can go with an old-school batting system that uses face buttons for input, or they can use the stick-flick input that The Show has popularized. Basically, anything and everything in MLB The Show 25 can be tweaked or customized to better fit one's playstyle, giving players near-full control over how the game plays. I dabbled in various options, but stuck with stick input for batting and dynamic difficulty for most of my time with MLB The Show 25.
After players get comfortable with whatever playstyle they want to go with, they are free to dive in to MLB The Show 25's extensive game modes, with a dizzying amount of content to check out. Most longtime fans will likely head straight to their tried-and-true favorites, and they can rest assured that the franchise's most popular modes are back in full force.
MLB The Show 25 Brings Back the Franchise's Best Modes
Since the original MLB The Show in 2006, the franchise's signature game mode has been Road to the Show. The concept behind it is simple: players take charge of a single player and attempt to make them a Hall of Fame-worthy baseball star. MLB The Show 25 expands Road to the Show by starting players off in high school. This way, players live their baseball star's career from the very beginning, making it an even more rewarding journey to the Majors.
Players are given total freedom when it comes to creating their character for MLB The Show 25's Road to the Show, from their gender, to the positions they play, to their starting stats. MLB The Show 25 features extensive character customization and even lets players scan in their own face if they want. Like with all face-scan tech, this can lead to some goofy-looking custom players, but after a few attempts, players should be able to get a result that's pretty close to their likeness.
MLB The Show 25 injects RPG elements into the baseball sim through dialogue options, gear that can be equipped for stat boosts, and a leveling system. XP is earned through most positive actions in any given baseball game, but players can get bonus XP and tokens for completing challenges. Road to the Show in MLB The Show 25 is, as usual, a meaty, rewarding experience. It's easy to get invested in one's custom player, though the mode is not without its drawbacks. Road to the Show's lack of voice acting is odd, and the written dialogue is often cheesy. Luckily, the focus of Road to the Show remains on the actual gameplay, and that's as fun as ever. There's even a new first-person mode for Road to the Show that offers an interesting twist on the formula, and while I personally stuck with the standard view, it would be great to see this feature expanded.
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