MLB The Show 25 Road to The Show: Everything You Need to Know
A Blog by Greg
Since its release in March, I have been playing MLB The Show 25 religiously. Diamond Dynasty is my mode of choice under normal circumstances; however, due to an issue with my connection to the PlayStation Network, I am restricted from playing against other people in online modes. I tried grinding some of the offline modes within Diamond Dynasty, such as Conquest and Diamond Quest, but soon became extremely bored. I decided to finally venture out of the realm of Diamond Dynasty and into MLB The Show’s Road to The Show game mode. Like many, I was intrigued by the new addition of high school and college into the mode, so I wanted to experience it for myself to decide if the mode had actually improved at all from past installments of the game.
In this article, I will be breaking down multiple aspects of the mode, including presentation, features, gameplay, etc. I am usually not the biggest fan of Road to The Show (RTTS) typically, but I always end up creating a character and playing a few seasons in the majors when I get tired of grinding Diamond Dynasty. My RTTS phase may have come earlier than expected, but regardless, I’m going to share my experience with you all.
High School and College
Unlike most people, I was skeptical when San Diego Studios (SDS) announced that users would be able to play high school and college games with their RTTS players in this year’s version of MLB The Show. Don’t get me wrong, it's not that I'm not intrigued by the opportunity to play high school and college baseball with a virtual version of myself, it’s just that I had been let down by this premise in previous games. NBA 2K and Madden have both included the ability to play in high school and college in their respective “My Career” modes in various installments of their games. Every time this would be announced, I would get my hopes up and ultimately be let down when the game was released. Unfortunately, MLB The Show 25 suffered the same fate. Like other games that tried previously, RTTS makes two crucial mistakes: it is too quick of an experience, and your player is too low of an overall at the start.
The ability to play high school and college games was a major selling point of MLB The Show 25, but the experience only lasted two hours before I was thrust into the minor leagues. Additionally, I expected high school and college to replace the generic and repetitive “region vs. region” showcase games, but, for some inexplicable reason, those four games are still present! I played roughly the same amount of high school and college games as showcase games, which have been a feature in RTTS for well over a decade. In my opinion, including these showcase games was a huge mistake.
Another issue I encountered when playing RTTS’s high school and college experience was that my player was so low of an overall when the game started that it totally ruined the immersion. Your RTTS player is supposed to be a highly touted prospect that is being scouted by some of the best Division I baseball organizations in the country as well as a number of MLB teams, but somehow you are a lower overall than many of your teammates and opponents! Personally, I wanted to hit bombs in high school and college, proving that I was leagues better than anyone else on the diamond. However, it just felt like a reskinned version of the gameplay found when you play minor league games in RTTS. If you take out the metal bats and the unique stadiums, there is nothing that differentiates high school and college games from showcase and minor league games.
I think the inclusion of high school and college ball in RTTS was smart, but the execution was poor. I hope this experience returns in future installments with a few crucial improvements. Unfortunately, for now, this experience was disappointing for me, personally.
Fielding Issues
Gameplay-wise, MLB The Show 25 does not differ greatly from the last few MLB The Show games. The lack of improvement in fielding gameplay is on full display in RTTS, as being playlocked tends to put the game’s flaws on full display. For example, I have been a 3rd baseman (the position I played as a kid) in every MLB The Show RTTS since 2022. I have noticed the same issue in which the CPU hits near-perfect bunts down the third base line way too often. Even when the bunting makes no logical sense, the CPU will lay a perfect bunt down the line, never foul, and beat it out with an incredibly high success rate. This is an example of SDS ruining the immersion in this game mode by refusing to address issues that have plagued their game for years.
Hitting
This section is going to be short because, to be honest, there is really nothing noteworthy to mention about hitting in MLB The Show 25. If you have played a game of MLB The Show within the last few years, you will find very few differences comparing this year’s game to previous versions. One issue I do have is the frequency of “Dynamic Hitting Goals” when playing games. I understand that Dynamic Hitting Goals break up the mundanity of offline gameplay, but when they pop up nearly every at-bat, they become more of an annoyance than an interesting gameplay mechanic. Dynamic goals that offer the player additional rewards should make that specific moment feel bigger and more important. For example, the perfect scenario to offer a dynamic goal in RTTS is when it is a tie game, two outs, late in the game, runner in scoring position, and your RTTS player comes up to bat. That takes a high-stakes situation and makes it feel even more tense, as the opportunity to upgrade your player further and earn exclusive rewards is at stake if you are able to score that runner with a base hit. However, when dynamic goals are offered in the 2nd inning with no runners on and nobody out in a 0-0 game (a situation that I encountered multiple times while playing), they feel forced and less significant. I like Dynamic Hitting Goals but wish they appeared less frequently.
New Upgrade and Perk System
Finally, I will spend some time praising Road to the Show and the SDS developers. The way you upgrade your RTTS player in MLB The Show 25 is entirely different from how you upgraded your player’s attributes in previous games. The standard way to upgrade your character’s specific stat in previous games was to, well, do that thing. Essentially, when you got a base hit, your contact improved. When you would hit an extra-base hit, your contact and power would improve. When you stole a base, your speed increased. Are you starting to get the idea? While the mode did have an archetype system that allowed the user to change their player’s base stats, the way you upgraded your character was very flawed and made it difficult to create the exact player you wanted to play as. In MLB The Show 25, a token system was introduced. By playing games and leveling up, you earn tokens that can be used to upgrade your player’s specific stats. For example, if you hit multiple home runs in a game, you will likely earn yourself a few tokens that can be used to increase whatever attribute you like, not just power. In previous games, hitting a home run would only increase the relevant hitting stats associated with hitting said home run. Now, this feature is not entirely new and is very reminiscent of “skill point” systems that were used in MLB games from decades ago, but still, it was a good decision for MLB The Show to “go back to the basics” in order to improve their game.
Unlike “skill point upgrade systems” in other sports games, tokens in RTTS can be used to upgrade your player in another way outside of purely manipulating attributes. A perk system was introduced this year that gives your player special abilities. Rather than spending tokens to directly upgrade an attribute such as contact, you can purchase a perk that increases your contact stats greatly in specific circumstances. This addition makes the mode feel more like an RPG adventure and gives the mode a sense of customization that has been lacking in prior years. I really hope SDS carries this feature over to subsequent games and improves upon it.
Final Verdict
I know I have been very critical of MLB The Show’s Road to The Show game mode, but I still enjoyed my time playing it over the past few weeks. If you like playing MLB The Show and specifically RTTS, you will find enjoyment in playing this year’s version. For those who are expecting a total rehaul of the game, I would advise that they lower their expectations. Let's all hope SDS listens to our feedback and builds upon the foundation laid this year and makes the perfect Road to The Show mode in future installments of the game. Or at least give us the option to play a full season in high school and college!