Well, another new edition of MLB The Show has officially been released, and with that comes a “new” version of their my-career mode known as Road To The Show (RTTS). Why is the word “new” in quotation marks, you ask? Simply put, contrary to what the promotional material released by San Diego Studios (the company responsible for developing the MLB The Show series) wants you to believe, RTTS is nearly identical to what it was last year based on accounts of fans on social media. Realistically, I could have copied and pasted my article reviewing Road To The Show from MLB The Show 25, did a global replace for the number “25,” and replaced it with the number “26,” and enjoyed the rest of my day.
However, I have unwavering dedication to the field of video game journalism and felt the need, nay, the obligation, to dive into RTTS and give the people my full, unbiased opinion on my experience playing the game mode.
Was that believable? I was damn near ready to run through a brick wall just writing all that. Realistically, the MLB The Show servers were acting up (like they always do during the Early Access portion of the game’s cycle), so I decided to play some RTTS since the mode isn’t dependent on an online connection.
From entering the game mode, you will notice a menu selection screen that is pretty much identical to what we have all seen in previous installments. After selecting your position, allocating skill points, and customizing your character, you are prompted to either select your college and MLB team of choice or let fate decide. Then, the “fun” starts as you are thrown into your first high school game.
I was really hoping one of my biggest issues with MLB The Show 25’s Road to The Show would be fixed, and while it was partially addressed, I was still disappointed with the experience as a whole. The game’s story has you believe that you are a generational talent from a local high school about to attend one of the premier college baseball programs in the country, yet your attributes do not reflect that narrative whatsoever. For immersion purposes, I wanted to be leagues ahead talent-wise of my peers when I’m playing the high school games; however, MLB The Show has me strutting onto the field with 45 overall contact and 43 overall power attributes. Now, pitchers do behave more like high schools throwing a limited array of pitches at much slower velocities, which is a nice change, but it’s simply not enough to save the experience for me, personally.
As you progress in your career, you play a few college games, then get drafted, and play a year or two in the minors before finally making it to the bigs; a very similar trajectory to last year. Now, I am not asking SDS to blow me away with a complex story line full of M. Night Shyamalan-esque twists and turns, but I am asking them to just pay a tad of attention to detail within the game mode. Fans who are paying between $70 and $100 to play this game should not feel like they are playing last year’s game except there are a handful of new colleges I can attend for the 15 minutes RTTS lets you play college ball.
You might have noticed that I haven’t touched on gameplay yet, and that’s because, yep, you guessed it, gameplay is the same as it has been the last few years. Again, I am not asking SDS to overhaul core gameplay mechanics every time they release a new game. However, I am asking them to address key gameplay glitches that have plagued the game for over 10 years.
Every year I create a third baseman in RTTS. Every year I hope that SDS has fixed a couple of weird gameplay mechanics that render fielding near unplayable (in my personal opinion). Every single year I am disappointed, and I end up traversing the menu to turn off fielding appearances. At this point, it is simply unacceptable.
In conclusion, if you were excited to dive into RTTS after SDS promised a new, fresh experience, I would temper expectations. There is still fun to be had in the mode; however, key flaws that fans have complained about for years have yet to be addressed, which proves the theory that SDS does not care about the RTTS game mode since it lacks microtransactions and brings home significantly less money than Diamond Dynasty.
I know this article is a little different than the review I posted last year, but I really felt like a straight-up gameplay review would have been redundant. I hope you enjoyed reading the article, and if you disagree, make sure to let me know in the comments below. See you guys next time!