MLB The Show 18

[Aristo]

2K's baserunning was perfect. I wish SDS had just lifted it from the game.

But I'm getting used to this new one. I think at some point using the LS to point at the runner I want to control will become second nature, and it will feel good. But for now, I'm screwing up or playing station to station baseball.

Gonna have to find a new defensive camera, because I am also completely misjudging angles on balls to the OF that are not fly balls. I'm giving up triples and the occasional inside the park home run on balls that should be singles.

[sportdan30]

Count me as one who strictly played Season Mode. So, I definitely was not happy it was excluded. However, I guess I can simply set everything to AUTO with regards to all the off the field stuff. So, there is a workaround unless of course you wish to play a shorter season, which is not possible now. Whether or not they can patch it in, who knows. All I know is they are taking some pretty big heat from not communicating this exclusion.

So, they added Mark DeRosa to the commentary, but it still sounds very disjointed. I seem to recall they saying it will now sound like all three guys are in the same booth. I'm not sensing that. First of all, I don't think it's necessary to have a 3 man booth. Maybe for the playoffs and World Series. I'm bored with Matt V but it would sound better with just one other color commentary. I'm just surprised after all these years it doesn't sounds very authentic. 2K's baseball game was world's better in this category.

It's definitely easier to smash and pitch. I had to bump the level up from my standard Veteran skill for both pitching and hitting to All-Star. Also, I increased the speed on both the fastball and change-up to 7 each. Too slow for my tastes. There's definitely subtle improvements to how the ball comes off the bat. I'm seeing many varieties of hits which is awesome. Pitching wise, I'm fine with I guess. It's gotten to be a little bit tiring after all these years. I'm not sure what they can do to improve it. I switch back between meter and classic, with classic getting most of my time. I like meter, but I become impatient with the slow deliveries of some of the pitchers.

Fielding feels a tad bit better in terms of control. Fielding a fly ball still locks in too quickly but on the plus side, I'm not seeing some ugly animations that have been in the game for what seems like forever. With regards to grounders, I still don't feel that I am able to make the same spectacular plays the CPU will make on balls in in the hole. I will say that ratings do seem to play a fairly significant part in this game.

Visually, it's more clean and bright. Finally, the Cardinal red looks bright and accurate. There seems to be a lot more scanned faces in the game which is great. Hopefully, if I'm still playing video games when the PS5 comes out, they will be able to make the uniforms looks more life like.

All in all, I'm quite happy with the game on the field. There's enough subtle changes that it feels fresh and still fun. Improve the presentation and I think it'd be a near perfect baseball simulation.

[Diablo25]

I agree on just playing a franchise and setting whatever you want to auto to get your season fix. To be honest I am guessing that is what SDS is thinking. It was a bit shady to not announce it though.

As far as the shorter season, what I do to get thru a 162 game season is use the player lock on a different player each game you don’t play the full 9 innings. The games fly by and its like Road To The Show except you are playing with a big league player. Play a game, player lock two games, rinse repeat. I did it with Rhys Hoskins last night and had a blast. I beat the Braves too...Sorry DB

I am enjoying 18 more than recent versions due to the improved hitting and fielding. I’m seeing the pitches WAAAAAY better than previous versions. The animations are simply superb. I am enjoying my Diamond Dynasty so far. Conquest and Battle Royal are fun modes.

[dbdynsty25]

I beat the Braves too...Sorry DB

Sadly, another year of a lot of teams being able to say that. Oh boy I love our farm system tho (see ya in two weeks Acuna), so maybe next year.

[Rodster]

As someone who only buys the game for the RTTS, it does feel like they added to it this year and made improvements for the better. I do like the Coaches interactions and the new XP system versus the previous training points where you increased your player rating as you wanted. Now it appears the new system makes you think about your future choices. I also noticed that your player doesn't become superhuman after a few months of farming training points.

The other biggie for me is the AI opponent is a lot better at making you pay in the mid part of the game if you start making mistakes and become too predictable. In the past I had my ERA around .053 where now it's up to a believable 3.20 in Double A ball. And the mgr has no qualms about pulling you after 5-6 innings of work even if you've had a good outing. In previous RTTS I would be left in to pitch for the entire game.

[Aristo]

I'm addicted. DD is a flipping blast.

But I really need to work on my hitting. The problem is, I'm early on everything. I'm still drawing walks and working coutns, but I am whiffing a ton because I am swinging too early. Won my first Event game today, 2-1 on the back of two solo HRs that were also my only hits. Lost my next game 1-0 in 10 innings (of a 6 inning game) whenI finally surrendered a HR. My opponent had 5 hits, and I had, well, zero.

The current event requires your team be no better than 70OVR, which means there are not a lot of great hitters, but still, there aren't many great pitchers, either.

[Rodster]

I'm still digging the new features of RTTS but I had to turn off dynamic pitching difficulty and just set it to All-Star. It gets annoying and your timing is thrown off whenever the difficulty changes on the fly.

[sportdan30]

Only 10 games in to my Franchise with the Cardinals, but so far having a great time. Had a 7-5 win the other night against the Brewers to only be shut down 2-1 the following day. I was actually being no hit thru 8 innings. Love the variety this game delivers.

[tjung0831]

3-2 in my Angels franchise and loving every minute of it.

[Diablo25]

Game is awesome.

[10spro]

I have a hard time conquering the Rockies territory on Hall of Fame. Usually I may not have enough fans to try it at least on a lower level. I may have a dinger, runners around the corners but the AI will always come back to beat you. Your best SP may last just one inning and once you start using your bullpen it’s a crapshoot. Still digging DD a lot.

[Diablo25]

I have a hard time conquering the Rockies territory on Hall of Fame. Usually I may not have enough fans to try it at least on a lower level. I may have a dinger, runners around the corners but the AI will always come back to beat you. Your best SP may last just one inning and once you start using your bullpen it’s a crapshoot. Still digging DD a lot.

I conquered the Rockies last week

[Aristo]

I'm getting crushed in conquest. I seriously suck.

The Rockies curb stomped me last night in two games.

[Diablo25]

Game is damn fun. Really enjoying my Phillies franchise. 6-3 to start the season.
A few highlights.

[10spro]

New patch today addresses some gameplay issues. For me the big one is the increased speed on some pitches especially during online play in Diamond Dynasty mode.

Gameplay
♦Adjustments made to the Plate Coverage Indicator.
♦Increased pitch speeds within Diamond Dynasty (both online and vs CPU).
♦Fix for a rare occurrence where the outfielder would not play a catch (or run over the ball) on firmly hit ground balls that get through the infield.
♦Adjustments made to allow more user control for infielders on soft line drives just over their head. This allows users to break out and run for the ball, when they sometimes felt locked in.
♦Fix for a rare issue where the catcher would come out of his cover position (covering home), not allowing branching throws to the plate when a runner is attempting to score.

Franchise
♦Fix for when user is unable to make free agent moves until free agency IV phase if the World Series ends on or before Oct 25th.

Miscellaneous
♦Fixes for various low frequency consumer reported crashes.
♦Several UI and art adjustments to add polish.
♦Various other minor bug fixes and adjustments made throughout the game.

[Diablo25]