MLB The Show 21: End of Year Review

TangoJuliet24_PSN

2020 was my first year playing DD. I didn't play a single game of ranked this year. Events were my thing until I got into BR. Absolutely love that mode.

Things I loved:
Parallels - Loved this addition. Grinding for a V on or offline was a huge W. Being able to "import" the paralleled player into other modes like showdown, etc was HUGE.
Pitching - I didn't use pinpoint but the trend where balls would gravitate to the middle of the plate from '20 is gone.
Programs - being able to grind to get a WS player, etc was pretty cool. I'm not that great of a player so going 12-0 or getting to WS is almost impossible right now. (I'm working on it...and gettin' gud)

Things I didn't like:
Dashboarding - still an issue. I don't care that people do it. What bothers me is the play should finish. I hit a bomb with a player I'm trying to get mission stats from and they dont count...thats not cool.
102mph high sinkers - I think they fixed this a bit as I'm not seeing them as much. Although it may be that I can recognize them more now.

Overall I think the mechanics of the game were much improved from '20 (at least for me). The content was descent - always something to do but overall I think the rewards may have been a little disappointing. Mookie, Kershaw, Acuna and Ohtani were all ok. Surprisingly Ortiz was money for me all year. I couldn't hit with that card at all last year.
I learned a ton from '20 and had a strategy going into this year. I think it worked for the most part as I have almost every card in the game and a stub balance of over 4.3 million.

Schwizzle_Nizzle_PSN

For first year players, they will always say this is the best baseball game they've ever play. That was the same for me in 20 jumping into DD. First year players shouldn't count. The game is great until you repeatedly see the same worthless [censored] year over year that SDS has jammed into the game. I'm still sticking to my 2.5/5 on this year's game. MLBTS20 was better.

JEEZY-E_PSN

@schwizzle_nizzle said in MLB The Show 21: End of Year Review:

For first year players, they will always say this is the best baseball game they've ever play. That was the same for me in 20 jumping into DD. First year players shouldn't count. The game is great until you repeatedly see the same worthless [censored] year over year that SDS has jammed into the game. I'm still sticking to my 2.5/5 on this year's game. MLBTS20 was better.

‘20 was one of the worst in the entire franchise IMO, the only year that was worse was ‘18. If you launch a game where the basics of the sport cant be performed for the first 2 months I can’t put it up there with the likes of ‘17 or even ‘19.

SurfinSantaCruz_XBL

@jeezy-e_psn said in MLB The Show 21: End of Year Review:

@schwizzle_nizzle said in MLB The Show 21: End of Year Review:

For first year players, they will always say this is the best baseball game they've ever play. That was the same for me in 20 jumping into DD. First year players shouldn't count. The game is great until you repeatedly see the same worthless [censored] year over year that SDS has jammed into the game. I'm still sticking to my 2.5/5 on this year's game. MLBTS20 was better.

‘20 was one of the worst in the entire franchise IMO, the only year that was worse was ‘18. If you launch a game where the basics of the sport cant be performed for the first 2 months I can’t put it up there with the likes of ‘17 or even ‘19.

20 suffered from COVID shortening the season to 2 months but SDS did a good job w/ the content. They were in a no win situation with 20 although I enjoyed 20 very much.

In the PS4/XBOX ONE era, I would rank :

1-MLB 21
2-MLB 17
3-MLB 20
4-MLB 16
5- MLB 18
6- MLB 19

TexasKid789_XBL

7/10
Here's why

I like
The offline grinds - Not too long but always something new.
Parallel system - Rewards players for using cards
3-day daily moments - It's nice for people who aren't always home.
Extra Innings - Nice offline-online element
Create-A-Stadium - Quick and easy if you know what you are doing.
Pinpoint pitching - Makes pitching easier.

Needs to be added
Difficulty Indicator - So many times I think I'm on HOF but I'm on legend instead.
DH - You can choose between AL rules and NL rules.
Longer Inning programs - Longer time-wise and longer reward-wise.
Late side of good buff - Nerf just early and early and give late side of good a chance to be "good."

Things I didn't like
Too many off PCI homers - Self-explanatory.
Server issues - Couldn't even play half of the time because servers were down.

Overall, could be better, but not horrible for a trial year.

JEEZY-E_PSN

@surfinsantacruz_xbl said in MLB The Show 21: End of Year Review:

@jeezy-e_psn said in MLB The Show 21: End of Year Review:

@schwizzle_nizzle said in MLB The Show 21: End of Year Review:

For first year players, they will always say this is the best baseball game they've ever play. That was the same for me in 20 jumping into DD. First year players shouldn't count. The game is great until you repeatedly see the same worthless [censored] year over year that SDS has jammed into the game. I'm still sticking to my 2.5/5 on this year's game. MLBTS20 was better.

‘20 was one of the worst in the entire franchise IMO, the only year that was worse was ‘18. If you launch a game where the basics of the sport cant be performed for the first 2 months I can’t put it up there with the likes of ‘17 or even ‘19.

20 suffered from COVID shortening the season to 2 months but SDS did a good job w/ the content. They were in a no win situation with 20 although I enjoyed 20 very much.

In the PS4/XBOX ONE era, I would rank :

1-MLB 21
2-MLB 17
3-MLB 20
4-MLB 16
5- MLB 18
6- MLB 19

Content doesn’t make up for your players not being able to catch a ball for 2 months, or your pitcher throwing pitches that defy the laws of physics and float into the middle of the zone. Content means nothing if the game plays like sh*t, which ‘20 did, its just my opinion but I stand by ‘20 being the second worst game in this franchises history.

Schwizzle_Nizzle_PSN

@jeezy-e_psn said in MLB The Show 21: End of Year Review:

@surfinsantacruz_xbl said in MLB The Show 21: End of Year Review:

@jeezy-e_psn said in MLB The Show 21: End of Year Review:

@schwizzle_nizzle said in MLB The Show 21: End of Year Review:

For first year players, they will always say this is the best baseball game they've ever play. That was the same for me in 20 jumping into DD. First year players shouldn't count. The game is great until you repeatedly see the same worthless [censored] year over year that SDS has jammed into the game. I'm still sticking to my 2.5/5 on this year's game. MLBTS20 was better.

‘20 was one of the worst in the entire franchise IMO, the only year that was worse was ‘18. If you launch a game where the basics of the sport cant be performed for the first 2 months I can’t put it up there with the likes of ‘17 or even ‘19.

20 suffered from COVID shortening the season to 2 months but SDS did a good job w/ the content. They were in a no win situation with 20 although I enjoyed 20 very much.

In the PS4/XBOX ONE era, I would rank :

1-MLB 21
2-MLB 17
3-MLB 20
4-MLB 16
5- MLB 18
6- MLB 19

Content doesn’t make up for your players not being able to catch a ball for 2 months, or your pitcher throwing pitches that defy the laws of physics and float into the middle of the zone. Content means nothing if the game plays like sh*t, which ‘20 did, its just my opinion but I stand by ‘20 being the second worst game in this franchises history.

I played about 100 RS (74-27 record) games and likely 200 event games in 20.

I've played 14 RS (12-2 record) games in 21 and about 20 event games.

I don't play BR.

21 has been awful. Hitting has been awful. Pitching overpowered, but that played to my advantage because hitting is so bad. There has been something "off" with this game all year and it has just made me hate it more and more.

I went back to 20 to play some RS and I went like 5-0 before getting bored there too. You could actually hit the ball in 20.

Schwizzle_Nizzle_PSN

Also, content this year doesn't make up the fact of the constant BS we've put up with. No stamina drain on starting pitchers? Come the f#!k on. Persistent all year and no fix? SDS just bad at their job. Once they put out 21, they started on 22 and just forgot about how bad 21 was and gave up. Took them 2+ months to get the servers up and running consistently. Trash. Pure trash.

SurfinSantaCruz_XBL

@jeezy-e_psn said in MLB The Show 21: End of Year Review:

@surfinsantacruz_xbl said in MLB The Show 21: End of Year Review:

@jeezy-e_psn said in MLB The Show 21: End of Year Review:

@schwizzle_nizzle said in MLB The Show 21: End of Year Review:

For first year players, they will always say this is the best baseball game they've ever play. That was the same for me in 20 jumping into DD. First year players shouldn't count. The game is great until you repeatedly see the same worthless [censored] year over year that SDS has jammed into the game. I'm still sticking to my 2.5/5 on this year's game. MLBTS20 was better.

‘20 was one of the worst in the entire franchise IMO, the only year that was worse was ‘18. If you launch a game where the basics of the sport cant be performed for the first 2 months I can’t put it up there with the likes of ‘17 or even ‘19.

20 suffered from COVID shortening the season to 2 months but SDS did a good job w/ the content. They were in a no win situation with 20 although I enjoyed 20 very much.

In the PS4/XBOX ONE era, I would rank :

1-MLB 21
2-MLB 17
3-MLB 20
4-MLB 16
5- MLB 18
6- MLB 19

Content doesn’t make up for your players not being able to catch a ball for 2 months, or your pitcher throwing pitches that defy the laws of physics and float into the middle of the zone. Content means nothing if the game plays like sh*t, which ‘20 did, its just my opinion but I stand by ‘20 being the second worst game in this franchises history.

I Play offline so never had those issues.

eatyum_PSN

I could write long paragraphs justifying my score, and maybe I will at some point, but I'll give a brief summary of why I think it is a 7/10.

The Good

They fixed my two biggest complaints about 20, floating pitches and foul balls. (Though some would argue that foul balls are worse, I would not. I get way more strikeouts pitching this year) Remember how in 20 people could just sit fastball and foul off every offspeed?.
Endless amount of players to use, and while you still see Degrom just about every ranked game, I'd argue that's more on the players, I've found success with so many different pitchers.
The BR and Ranked season reward paths are awesome and solved the endless 1m orders on cards problem from 20 while giving everyone a chance to earn those players.

The Bad

Servers, no explanation needed.
I'm struggling how to word this, but HoF and above is to "hard", It's not something easily put into words without making it seem like I'm mad because I'm bad.
Off inner pci home runs

Schwizzle_Nizzle_PSN

@eatyum_psn said in MLB The Show 21: End of Year Review:

I could write long paragraphs justifying my score, and maybe I will at some point, but I'll give a brief summary of why I think it is a 7/10.

The Good

They fixed my two biggest complaints about 20, floating pitches and foul balls. (Though some would argue that foul balls are worse, I would not. I get way more strikeouts pitching this year) Remember how in 20 people could just sit fastball and foul off every offspeed?.

Endless amount of players to use, and while you still see Degrom just about every ranked game, I'd argue that's more on the players, I've found success with so many different pitchers.

The BR and Ranked season reward paths are awesome and solved the endless 1m orders on cards problem from 20 while giving everyone a chance to earn those players.

The Bad

Servers, no explanation needed.

I'm struggling how to word this, but HoF and above is to "hard", It's not something easily put into words without making it seem like I'm mad because I'm bad.

Off inner pci home runs

Good #1 - I wish they just fixed foul balls/check swings for online only. Offline is such a joke. They can't even get the animations to match the result.

MRAD2010_XBL

My biggest problem with this game is the online aspect. The lag is horrible. The ball jumps frames into the zone. Kinda making you guess where it will be.

JEEZY-E_PSN

@schwizzle_nizzle said in MLB The Show 21: End of Year Review:

@jeezy-e_psn said in MLB The Show 21: End of Year Review:

@surfinsantacruz_xbl said in MLB The Show 21: End of Year Review:

@jeezy-e_psn said in MLB The Show 21: End of Year Review:

@schwizzle_nizzle said in MLB The Show 21: End of Year Review:

For first year players, they will always say this is the best baseball game they've ever play. That was the same for me in 20 jumping into DD. First year players shouldn't count. The game is great until you repeatedly see the same worthless [censored] year over year that SDS has jammed into the game. I'm still sticking to my 2.5/5 on this year's game. MLBTS20 was better.

‘20 was one of the worst in the entire franchise IMO, the only year that was worse was ‘18. If you launch a game where the basics of the sport cant be performed for the first 2 months I can’t put it up there with the likes of ‘17 or even ‘19.

20 suffered from COVID shortening the season to 2 months but SDS did a good job w/ the content. They were in a no win situation with 20 although I enjoyed 20 very much.

In the PS4/XBOX ONE era, I would rank :

1-MLB 21
2-MLB 17
3-MLB 20
4-MLB 16
5- MLB 18
6- MLB 19

Content doesn’t make up for your players not being able to catch a ball for 2 months, or your pitcher throwing pitches that defy the laws of physics and float into the middle of the zone. Content means nothing if the game plays like sh*t, which ‘20 did, its just my opinion but I stand by ‘20 being the second worst game in this franchises history.

I played about 100 RS (74-27 record) games and likely 200 event games in 20.

I've played 14 RS (12-2 record) games in 21 and about 20 event games.

I don't play BR.

21 has been awful. Hitting has been awful. Pitching overpowered, but that played to my advantage because hitting is so bad. There has been something "off" with this game all year and it has just made me hate it more and more.

I went back to 20 to play some RS and I went like 5-0 before getting bored there too. You could actually hit the ball in 20.

I never said ‘21 was much better haha, the only thing I will praise about this years game is that SDS did everything they could to make DD NMS and to provide line up parody and variety.

TEXAS10PT_PSN

Give me 16 or 17 and I'm fine with the game. I have played 18-21 because it is the only baseball game but to be honest I haven't enjoyed those versions that much. My RS participation has slowed to almost a halt because of the way it plays online. Maybe someday it will get better but not if they cut and paste every year.

TheGoaler_PSN

No way I'm reading all of this. I don't even read books, lol.

slipkid69_PSN