![]() That’s not to say there isn’t still enjoyment to be found from incrementally improving a ballplayer, but that happens almost in spite of rather than because of its rickety framework. Everything about the mode, from the hollow interactions with your coaches to the way some training drills require you to actually do something while others sort of happen on their own, has grown stale by this point. Whether or not you prefer this stripped-down ascent from the minor to the major leagues, it’s undeniable that there have been few exciting additions to the Road to the Show mode from last year to this one. ![]() While NBA 2K23 is busy creating more music and fashion missions to do within The City that you roam around in within its M圜areer mode, MLB The Show 23 has always offered a more minimalist approach. There’s a long journey before catching the likes of NBA 2K in the franchise mode department, but this is a starting point. It’s not a “new” feature to use potentially dodgy info and the fog of war as a mechanic in a franchise mode - we’ve seen it in most major sports games at this point - but it’s still a sign that SDS is taking franchise mode/March to October more seriously than it seemed in past years. The emphasis on this fog of war element of team-building will lead to some tough decisions in drafting players that can either pay dividends for your franchise down the line or leave you crippled for the foreseeable future. There’s been a concerted effort to change that this year by having you rely on scouts that may or may not be accurate when assessing a player’s skills. Considering baseball is more of a crapshoot in evaluating young players than other sports, the MLB The Show series has always done a sub-par job of recreating the challenges of scouting talent. When it comes to Franchise and March To October, both modes have benefited from improvements in how prospects are evaluated and drafted. If nothing else though, the Negro Leagues feature has helped distinguish MLB The Show 23 from the rest of the series. It’s easy to see how the MLB The Show series could use the same template in the future to extend these Storylines to the Cooperstown Baseball Hall of Fame and introduce a younger generation to other legends of the sport. The breezy format even smartly takes a page from streaming services by concluding each episode with a countdown to the next installment of each storyline.Īt the end of each storyline, you’ll be rewarded not just with some knowledge but also with a card of the highlighted player that you’ll be able to use in Diamond Dynasty. Every episode comes with a playable moment that strives to put you in the shoes of not only legends like Satchel Paige and Jackie Robinson but also lesser-known names like Hank Thompson and Buck O’Neil so you can properly appreciate their achievements and talents. The episodes thrillingly blend together archival clips, animations, and a trip to the Negro Leagues museum in Kansas City complete with great narration by the engaging Bob Kendrick to help bring history to life. The mode is broken down into different Storylines, with each one highlighting the life of a prominent figure from the Negro Leagues through a series of episodes. Without question, the headlining feature of MLB The Show 23 is a glorious tribute to the Negro Leagues that manages to be both fun and educational. It’s all enough to make you forget about how the action on the field doesn’t feel all that different from last year’s edition. Even the oft-overlooked franchise and its truncated off-shoot March to October modes benefit from a new scouting system and improved logic to make overhauling a roster more interesting. Diamond Dynasty continues to be the most accessible card-collecting mode, taking its ease of obtaining viable cards to dangerous extremes by giving you some potent cards right out of the gate this year. ![]() MLB The Show 23 responds with some neat additions, including a feature on the Negro Leagues that manages to be both a fun and informative look at an overlooked chapter of baseball history. Though the series from SDS has been consistent in producing a quality baseball simulation, there’s been a gnawing feeling in recent years that it might be resting on its laurels a tad without much in the way of innovation. Just as the MLB season kicks off with cock-eyed optimism for all these ballclubs, anyone who enjoys video game baseball approaches MLB The Show 23 with the expectation that the game will make the kind of leap that a team hopes for from a top prospect. As the ground thaws and the ballparks begin to open again for the sport that continues to cling tenuously to the title of America’s pastime, there’s a sense among every team that anything is possible. Spring is a time for hope, rebirth, and baseball.
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