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I agree 100%. The gameplay took a HUGE step back from MLB 19. I know 19 had line-outs, but contact hitters were usable. This year, if you do not have over 80 power you are likely to be out. I played a game the other day, my opponent had 0 baserunners through 6 innings, and in the 7th, I was pitching with 99 Giolito. I had a perfect release on a circle changeup and he hung it over the plate and he hit a solo homer. I actually only had 2 runs because I was making good timing outs all game. Entering the top of the 9th, i was up 2-1, my opponent who has struck out 15 times this game, gets a bunt single, my infield was playing in and J-Ram decided that instead of charging the ball on a bunt, he will walk to it, of course once your opponent gets something cheesy it starts screwing you. I had a only thrown like 5 pitches with Fingers and he was wild. I walked the next batter. He had 99 Trout up, I brought it Crochet. Had him down to 2 strikes after two dot pitches, the game decided another Good timing released 4-seamer down the middle was the option and he it a 3 run homer, in the bottom of the 9th, I made three good-good outs. I lost 4-2. In MLB 19 I was a top 200 player with close to 1000 hours played. I'm at 560 hours this year, I just cant play that much. Its not fun to play a lot of games.

I really miss the pre-release gameplay, it was legit the best feeling mlb game i have ever played. They released a hitting patch on day one, ruined it for the year.

In MLB 19 Moments were a great idea. Things happen during the lengthy history and each season, and i think it is important to recognize it, but having said that, we are 4 straight games into moments having a huge impact on offline grinding. I find them to be boring and mind-numbing.

I really do not care who the rewards are for the Moments extreme program, because i've had enough of doing moments.

All this i've said double it for conquest. If I never see another conquest board in my life i'd be happy.

SDS have become very lazy with content and I guess the praise they've received over the past few years has caused them not to care as much.

I can only hope they hire someone who can bring some life into the game, instead of releasing a boring mess.

I honestly could make an entire post about the lack of Supercharged cards in the game, and how with a little effort could have been the best part of 22.

For some reason I am not meant to make World series. I lost again, 14-7. My opponent was taking bad swings in the first 4 innings and then all of the sudden in the 5th inning he couldn't get out. From a game development standpoint. Idk how someone could take horrible swings and keep getting rewarded. I gave up 3 "Late" homers. lol I'm current down to 847 because SDS enjoys making you lose more points than you gain on wins.

I'm 18-13 on the season, and its not looking good. I would take a few days off of Ranked, but there isn't anything else to do in the game lol. I've played BR and Events, since there's no other grinding. Ranked is the only thing I haven't done yet.
At least in MLB 18 you could grind Immortals, there was always something to do. In mlb 24, you complete the 10 minute mini program and then nothing.

You're absolutely right. It seems like the game has been worse & worse each year

Big issue with this game is there's no progression. They make us do the same thing over & over and it never feels like you are moving forward. Even with collections & team building.

Hey guys! I am writing my review of mlb 24. I want to start by saying I am not a new player to MLB The Show franchise. I have been playing the game since MLB 06 on my PSP. Actually I put plenty of hours in "MLB" with Vlad Sr on it on PSP as well.
I am going to break down each part of the game and say what I like and what I'd like to see improved. Any comments (Even Trolls) are welcome!

I'm going to start with Offline game modes and then move to DD.

1. Road to the Show
   When I first heard they were bringing Females into RTTS I was kinda excited. I really haven't played much RTTS in the past few years. The last time I actually had any decent time was in MLB 16. The game mode was basically the same thing over and over. I have watched different Youtube playthroughs including Mighty Goat & Dodgerfilms, so I had a good grasp on what the mode was. I want to say i only have about an hour in RTTS this year, but based on mighty goats play through I am not seeing a lot of differences from previous years. With the addition of Females I would have hoped they had different animations or swings, but I haven't noticed any. They look like the same male models except the face is different. That is very disappointing, I was hoping for someone NEW! One thing that really bothers me about RTTS is, MLB 24 is on the same consoles that GTA6 is coming out on and we CANNOT have voiceovers? Why is the entire mode built in text messages? I didn't get deep into the Female story but I know you are supposed to have a friend that you go through your career with, how can you develop a personal relationship through Text? You will probably mention budget but i'm not looking for a Meryl Streep performance here. LOL. Hire some voice actors to play the characters or even have devs read the lines. That would make it more engaging IMO. I know they have the "MLB Network" Videos but based on the ones i've seen they are mid. I say that because it doesn't feel like they are talking about my character. I remember in NBA 2k franchise they had Erin & Shaq between games scanned in and it made it feel like they were talking about my performance. The MLB Network ones feel like they are talking about a fake person. I'd love to see them Face & Body scan RoFLO & Sarah, that would be DOPE! I just watched MIghty Goats video from today and he didn't stop and view one cut scene probably because it doesn't really make a difference in the game because it is irrelevant. Please SDS put in effort here and make me want to play it please!
   SDS can also do what 2K does and give your character a "Nickname" that everyone calls them, make it feel like they are talking about an actual person. I want an actual story and narrative in the game, not just skip all the cut scenes and go to the next game.
   Rating: 2/10 NEED MORE EFFORT

Franchise
I haven't played Franchise much, but I've watched Ant Ortiz and RGS play. The game mode is basic and boring. I loved Franchise back in MLB 10-11 and those days. You could actually do hot dog prices, tickets, buy a new field for your stadium so it could avoid injury, training facilities, i can't remember all but it felt more of the business side which i enjoyed. Back in Dec I played MLB 14 franchise and rebuild 5 teams for the month to do something while I was bored of MLB 23. The game mode hasn't really changed too much in a decade. If I had more time to write and think about it, i could come up with more ways to improve the mode. If you play it for what it is, its not horrible, but I'd love to see more. I will give it credit that you can draft a 98 overall player that's fun.
**Thinking about it, more storyline driven content in Franchise would be cool. If your team isn't playing well and you have to DFA a player, perhaps they don't take it well and you get into an argument. That doesn't have to be it, but more manager and player communication would be fun to see. You get promoted to the MLB and you get a voiced over cut scene of the player getting hype, we all love those on twitter. that would be awesome to see get added to franchise mode! Imagine you are calling up your top prospect and you get a cut scene and its in the managers office and he's like you're going to the show and you see him get hype. I would love that!
Rating 4.5/10 MORE EFFORT

Storylines
I haven't really played Storylines yet, but they are fine. After being tortured over the past 6 games in moments, I am glad they aren't too difficult and you can skip them. The video production is always top tier and Bob Kendrick is probably the best narrator in the history. I would love to see that effort put in RTTS. I will say I dislike doing moments and that ruined the mode for me last year. I plan to do these soon, so I may revise my review about them.
Rating - 8/10

Overall offline gets a 6/10 Storyline really carries this rating. Without storylines its a 4/10

ONLINE Diamond Dynasty

Ranked
This has been the exact same mode as MLB 17, I think it was the same in 16, but I really got into DD In 17 and it hasn't changed. Yes we have the Ranked program, but that still doesn't change the main goal is to get to 900 rating. I've been at 900 rating so much I don't really have desire to do it anymore. I want a better progression system, something more from the mode. I am not sure how I would do it yet, but If i got paid to do it, it would be better. Don't get me started on the stamina system and quitting. It sucks when you start your favorite pitcher only to pitch and inning your opponent quits now you cant use him for 4 games. Please work on that. Freeze offs are just as bad, from my understand they attempted to help with the loss you get from quitting a freeze off but it didn't work coding wise.
Rating 1-10 - Please give us something different next year.

Coop Ranked
I really enjoy linking up with my viewers on twitch and playing coop it is very fun and probably my favorite online mode. I have really enjoyed using Real 99s and cards we won't normally get to use. Its been fun. I do HATE freeze offs though, they have to be addressed in COOP. My partner and I were up 21-11 in a game and I had to quit because i was live on twitch for nearly 30 minutes looking at a freeze off game and no one wants to watch that. If they improved connections that would make the game better.
Rating 6/10

Battle Royal
Similar to my above post, the only change is now 10-0. That is a nice quality of life change, but the concept is the same. No real changes here. We need something else. I wish i had more to say, but with very limited content there isn't much to talk about, we've had BR since 17 and the goal is always the same. No creativity at all.
Rating 1-10 - BORINGGGGG

Events
I do not see any value in events anymore lol. So far this year, they just have the same cards from Ranked & BR in events and you just got to get 20 wins for collection fodder. Why can't we have all Common event, Gold., silver. Just something to where i can use different cards, not the same diamonds. I can only hope they give us more, but based on last year probably not. Events haven't meant anything in a long time and with only 3 online modes its embarrassing. I'd like to see a month long event with multiple layers to it, making it 2 weeks and get a mid card doesn't make me want to play it, makes me want to stay away.
Events 0.5/10 Not a lot of redeeming qualities. Can only hope for better

WE NEED MORE GAME MODES. I was thinking the other day. What about a SHOOTOUT MODE. You start in the top of the 9th inning. You try and score and then save it in the bottom half, and vice versa for your opponent. You can have like 75 win rewards or something. It would be intense and engaging and probably fun. It would also give you a chance to get better in save situations in Ranked. I would love anything new. PLEASE SDS Give me something!!

Overall Rating 4/10 - if COOP Ranked wasn't here I would legit give it a .5/10 overall

Offline Diamond Dynasty

Mini Seasons
This is where I could write an entire novel about how bad offline grinding is. Again there is ZERO creativity in Mini seasons. I know they are trying to go for a "Ranked" like experience with MIni Seasons but it just becomes a drag after like 10+ wins. Once you've reached 10 wins you realize you're just playing the CPU, and that's all it is without a storyline, character/player development. It just becomes boring. I know there are people who enjoy the mode and I would pay money to hear how they enjoy it I've heard playing on higher difficulty is supposed to do that, but it just makes it more annoying. I will say you do get plenty of PACKS from doing it, but it sucks you have to be bored to death for 4-6 hours to get the packs. and I'll come back to packs later. I've personally really enjoyed the Salvy card from the grind, but I want more from the mode that just isn't there.
Rating 4/10 - Savly & Packs boost this lol.

Conquest
For some reason SDS gets a pass every year for releasing the exact same game mode for 8 straight games without any differences and everyone is fine with it lol. I know Conquest was in 17, not sure about 18, but i'm positive it started in 17. They've made ZERO changes to conquest since then. Its a slug to get through. They could at least change the hexagon to a square or triangle or something. NOPE it just looks the same with a different pattern each year and we keep doing it. I don't understand why we need to see the SIMULATION screen each time you take a territory. Can't we just remove that screen and you tell me the amount I have left? I also dislike when i have 15+M fans going up against like 3M and lose and then the CPU starts taking the spaces I already had, then you have to go back and conquer those territories again. It takes forever, its boring. I know there are people who enjoy it, but I am not one of those. Doing the something over and over sucks, I wish SDS would make something new in its place. The USA Conquest board takes 6+ hours and is so boring to get through. I've heard, you don't have to play it. Yes you do, SDS hit 8 CORE cards in the Map so, if you want the CORE collection you have to do it. I did the stupid board, and I hope its gone in 25.
Rating - 1/10, it would have received a 0 but the packs are nice.

Showdown
In MLB 20 when they introduced Showdown I actually enjoyed the challenge. It was a different way to play and I though it was great, but like all the other modes its barely changed in the past 4 games and has only gotten easier. They took any difficulty out of it and you just do it to get the TA tickets and you're done. Once that is over there really isn't a reason to go back. I wish they would release a few like 20 that are long and had challenge.
Rating 5-10 Its fine whatever lol

Overall Rating 1.5/10 - MLB The show is in desperate need of something else.

XP Reward Path
The reward path has been fine so far, nothing special about it really. I think it is silly to have 30 cards in the path but you can only have 2 and the others were 25k a piece in the pack store so if you choose a card you aren't really good with FOR ME Adam Dunn you are now stuck with it. I though Dunn would be great to use, but I have struggled and now I don't have another option bc he is NO SALE. Who thought this was a good idea? Please tell me why I can't just change my player? I'm 3-18 with Dunn, maybe I get better with him or not. I FULLY understand why we have the XP limit, but come one who cares, let us play all day and get the cards we want to use. who cares if I get the 99 before someone else. Just let me play how I want to.
Rating 5-10, please do better next season.

Team Affinity
TA is a grind to get through and I'm not really a fan. I can appreciate that you can do most of it online, but I wouldn't mind if it was gone. I never missed it a few games ago, and still wish it wasn't here. We have enough grinding in the game, i'd like to see less.
Rating 5-10, nothing really to say.

Programs
So far the programs have been nice, a nice good surprise so far, all the cards given are actually usable! Missions weren't too long or felt over grindy. Moments are horrible but went by fast. Please keep it up!!
Rating 9/10 we need more stuff like this!

Overall Rating 5/10 Please GIVE US SOMETHING NEWWWWWW PLEASE!!!

Misc

Packs
DO NOT GO INTO THE PACK STORE UNLESS YOU GET A FREE PACK. Packs this year are so bad. You should never spend stubs on packs you should only open the free ones given. SDS wants you to open packs to make more money by you purchasing more stubs, but its a waste. I've opened 2 Headliners and only got silvers. Base round on the Fresh Start pack. I am not money spent and stubs are important this time a year. To lose half of the pack value sucks.
Spring Chicken pack cards are mid, Ottavino is the best out of the pack so just pay 26k and not waste 20k on trying to pull him.
Chase Packs have been boring. I love Mantle and bc that card was so nice I was looking forward to the future packs, but Baez and Langford aren't great and there are free options thats better. Please make this pack the best card in the game at the time they come out.
DO NOT OPEN HEADLINER PACKS PLEASE. thats all i have to say.
SDS Needs to put in more effort to reduce pack costs and make the cards featured in the packs interesting. Not boring. No pack should cost 40k.

Collections
Live Series Collections
I am not really interesting in doing live series collections this year. Babe is awesome but he has been in the game since 18, i'd love a new legend as the overall collection reward. Pedro is usually BP, and although I like the Palmerio card and understand why he is a 95, we should be getting all 99s for locking in millions of stubs. I wouldn't mind removing the collection all together in future games. Try something new.
Rating 2/10 - not impressed.

Season Collections
This is a good idea, but it sucks we don't have the effort form 19 & 20. When the Wagner and Trout collection came out you had to lock in all your cards because they were the most expensive sold cards IRL so it made sense they would be expensive in the game. It was creative and brough excitment to the game. Now collections are just a feature that has been overplayed . I'd like to see them go back in the lab and think of more creative ways to do collections. I have not seen one person use Biggio, there are better options. Franco is a MUST have in the pen so good job there. I like Aurila but haven't used him yet. i'm sure he is great.
Mays, Brett, and Paige are great options, but don't really make sense in the "Collection" concept. Again just another part of the game.
Rating 6/10 Great cards, just no creativity.

Special Collections
Hyper Vlad.
This is the worst collections in the history of Diamond Dynasty. The Vlad should be a 95 overall minimum, you have lock in 240k stubs worth of cards to get a 91 overall that other cards are already better than? the only reason to do it is because of the CORE Collection. This has to be the worst effort put into the game so far.
Rating 0/10 Don't do it.

Card Art & UI

I really like all the card art this year, its a plus! The ripped paper look at the top is a great touch! Great job art team!
Rating 10/10!!

Overall I give MLB 24 a 5/10, The lack of Creativity and nothing really new doesn't give me a lot of excitement to want to play everyday. Do it do it. Yes. I just want to see SDS revamp the game. It must be lack of competition that they release the same game each year and think its okay. I'd love to see 2k, EA, or another developer make a Baseball game, then we could see the real SDS back. Maybe one day.

Thank you so much for reading. I'm looking forward to comments!

@Teak2112_MLBTS Disagree. I'd rather play a complete play vs cpu. I can control the difficulty & quit when needed.

I think mini seasons is uninspired and boring.

They could have done a lot with this mode, but its just conquest without simulating spots on a board.

My biggest complaint, i've played two different teams that have generated full collections complete, and the most recent team has Andrew Miller, so i guess whoever i matched up with is rich lol. The CPU seems to cheat on the higher difficulty so i have to play on Veteran to make sure I win. lol.

I wish before each series they had a cut scene breaking down the team your playing's last few games, or telling us more about the team's history (even though its made up). or just something other than a paragraph.

Instead of them randomly generating teams from online, they should have made up players and give them complete backstories and their history, then they could have put leaderboards, by showing who played the best vs those teams.
Its just playing the cpu 20+ times for the Longeria card and thats the only reason i'm playing, and it sucks he is stuck behind that grind...

Come on SDS, where is your creativity at?

@spin_doctor01_psn said in I have officially become a Joke at MLB The Show.:

@jcassaro44_psn said in I have officially become a Joke at MLB The Show.:

I’d say that the meta of this game hasn’t changed in years and now everyone knows how to play, uses monitors and the player base has expanded, So it’s even harder to be good at this game.

Yeah that all sounds very nice and logical. But the OP just said the dude struck out 18 times and only got one run, probably because an accidental home run, playing in a cast and is just a casual player.

The op is an experienced player so, I don't see how that plays into the "meta" of whatever you're talking about. If you look at 90% of the post around here you will see that a lot of people think the "meta" has absolutely changed, other than the fact that it's still a baseball game.

My opponent In this game had all of his hitters with .250 ba and lower. He hit a solo homer bc I threw 1 fb up and in and he turned on it. I put a lot of balls in play and wasn't rewarded with any xbh.

I've been playing mlb the show since 06 and this is the lowest the game has been.

I honestly miss mlb 10-14 when I used to play with franchise with the Reds and play every game and win the world series. I'd make the same trades as the irl Reds. It was much more fun than this.

I'm thinking about going back to that for 23, bc DD isn't fun.

I just finished the all star collections today.

Just to find out we have a HOF & Legends/ flashback in a week & half.

How about we take a month off collections and just let us play the game.

If it didn't require millions of stubs id be down. But I've done enough diamond quest for the rest of my life.

It sucks the game is less about earning cards rather than purchasing them with stubs.

The honesty answer was the May 12th hitting update. It really messed up hitting beyond repair in my opinion. I finally made WS on Saturday, my opponents were less than amazing. Hitting has been horrible since that last update.

There was definitely a change in the gameplay starting May 29th. I started this season 11-2 and at 850, i've done nothing but struggle in Ranked too. Even guys like Koogs and Shelfy have struggled. They 100% made changes that weren't needed.

My one request for MLB 22 is they revamp the ENTIRE hitting engine. No more PCI junk that means nothing.

I just lost a game to a guy with over a 100 loses this year, Larry Walker has 125 power but misses the center of the PCI by a half an inch and it is popped up in the infield.

I would love it if they can try something new and give us a system that would actually make sense.

I cannot understand how anyone can get to 1000 rating or 40 wins, because after 2 games of playing ranked a day, i'm done playing for a few days. The amount of weird PCI feedback and losing just makes MLB 21 boring and uninspiring to play.

Great idea and I love the concept. Too bad that would require effort on SDS part, and they only want the easy way. They've proven that from MLB 20-22.
Example, Mini Seasons.

@the_dragon1912 said in I have zero interest in Moments Extreme.:

While I agree they have grown somewhat tiresome, extreme is awesome imo. It brings a lot more life to these modes

Sure, it was a great idea 2 years ago.

SDS is so lazy and lost any creative ability. They want to go to the well once more, instead of coming up with something new!

@Blind_Bleeder said in Anyone actually still having fun?:

@Weshill627_PSN said in Anyone actually still having fun?:

@Blind_Bleeder said in Anyone actually still having fun?:

I am, but I stay away from the parts I don't like (except opening packs - that's a necessary evil). No online, showdowns, mini-seasons (which are okay, but I feel they are a waste of my time), or events.

I have eight conquest maps to finish, TA3, TA4, and the August MA - so I have a lot to do...so yeah, still having fun.

I'm happy at least someone is, the game has become super stale to me.

Give Franchise or MTO a shot. Franchise can be more challenging than MTO (depending on how involved you get with your team), but they are both fun modes.

I have been playing MLB The show since 06 lol, ive done just about everything there is to do in the game lol
I tried MTO it is BORING, just more CPU griding at this point haha.

I find it hilarious that people actually believe that since Sets & Seasons are going to be removed that MLB 25 is going to be great. That is far from the truth.

S&S weren't really that big of an issue in MLB 24.

SDS really needs to put all of their money they are allocating for legends into their network structure. I could run out a team of all the top 10 players of all time and still not have fun bc the balls warp and don't even look right. IDK how many times I've attempted to steal a base and the runner stops middle of the way and walks to the base and gets tagged out. If they can't overhaul their network they should at least allow me to narrow down my search of players.

Let me search for people on the East coast - PS5 specific. would i may have to wait extra time, maybe but having a smooth game is better than having a laggy game that I can compete. I am really tired of playing people in the DR & PR and it just lags the entire time. No one will accept a friendly quit anymore. So i'm just stuck in a laggy game for an hour bored.

WE NEED more game modes. I can guarantee all the people praising S&S being gone are the ones who probably still won't be playing the game today. I have 950 hours in MLB 24, and even with content coming out tomorrow, im still going to be bored, bc we get these new cards just to play a laggy ranked game.

We need SDS to please give us new modes and fix the network.

Hey Everyone today i'm writing my MLB 25 Review. I wrote a review of MLB 24 & based on the changes for 25 I highly doubt anyone at SDS actually read it. I am a LONG time MLB player. I've been playing since MLB 06 on my PSP. I have thousands & thousands of hours in the game franchise so I'm no noob. I'm going to break down each game mode/feature and give a base rating, then at the end give my overall number. Each will be out of 10

I'm starting with offline & moving to DD. Just like my MLB 24 review.

1. Road to the show
   I haven't played the mode in MLB 25 but i've watched multiple You tube videos covering it. I think myself like others was excited to hear they expanded the game mode to bring high school & college in to RTTS. That was something when first announced it was hype for, but when more info came out the hype slowly drifted away. First thing SDS did a poor job in character models. Call this a nit pick but why does my 17 year old high school player have the exact same model throughout his career. I would love to see them put in the effort to make your character look like a high schooler then age each season. Instead they look the exact same. Next, why would SDS put the funding & time into making bat sounds, metal cage sounds and purchasing rights for colleges just to allow you to play 4 games? We should be allowed to play at least an entire season, 56 games shouldn't be that hard to code, and maybe in the future we will be able to. College baseball was the only part of RTTS I was looking forward to and was let down. If they had an entire college season and every game mattered to your draft position that would be awesome. Instead you get 4 games lol. I might start a RTTS soon and try it out myself, but I doubt it because it is just the same as before. I know they allow you to adjust each attribute now, but that was a feature in MLB 06. I'm very disappointed in RTTS this year. They need to take it to the next level. You can like or hate NBA 2k, but I personally have been really enjoying my player. I bought the game and to be able to play with your friends & have a season separate is very fun. I wish SDS would take RTTS to that next level. but i guess with Sony not providing enough funding or limited dev time. They are not. WHY ARE THERE STILL NO VOICE OVERS IN 2025!! ITS ON THE PS5! PLEASE!
   Rating: 1.5/10 ALL HYPE, DIDN'T DELEVER.

2. Franchise
   I started a franchise this year to play all 162 games of the Reds MLB season and post it to you tube as a fun activity for me. I have so far played 1 game & i will give SDS credit. In-game presentation is actually very nice. They will earn points for that. You can tell franchise team put in effort for when you are actually playing the games & innings, but we all know that's not what franchise is used for. At least on the high view count you tube videos. The point of the mode is to take a bad team & rebuild them. SDS big claim this year was off-season free agent signings. Which is very important in rebuilding a team, but my big issue is that's all they did. They didn't make any additional cut scene interactions with player-manager, post or pregame interviews, call up clips. Things that would make the game feel more like a video game. Instead its basically the same as last year, slightly different. Based on the feature premier it seemed the devs were hype for franchise but I think Ant Ortiz & RGS on you tube make the mode better just on their videos than the mode itself. I echo the same things from last year, bring back hot dog & seat prices. Let me have post game interviews that could raise a batters attributes for a period of time.
   Rating: 5/10 - INGAME CUT SCENES CARRY HARD, MOST PEOPLE PROBABLY WONT SEE THEM

3. Storylines
   Same as last year. When SDS wants to put in effort for something they knock it out of the park. Storylines have great art work, beautiful storytelling and you can actually feel the love & care put into the mode. Moments so far this year haven't even been that bad. Bob Kendrick really makes the mode. He's a legend. I don't have anything bad to say about the mode, the way its presented you feel like you watched the player live.
   Rating: 10/10 WHEN THEY TRY, YOU KNOW IT.

Offline: 6.5/10 Storylines really carry this rating.

ONLINE

1. Ranked
   Ranked absolutely SUCKS. I have zero nice things to say about the mode. Its the EXACT same mode we've had since MLB 17. I look at the mode on my screen and feel so much distain that I truly HATE loading into it. It seems to have become worse than last year. Not only are the servers worse, the lag is worse, hair messes the game up, and its just generally not fun. Exit velos make zero sense. Why can't I choose to play with people on the easy coast only? Why do I have to match up with people thousands of miles away? it make zero sense. The only change was they made WS 800 instead of 900. Great job SDS way to think outside of the box, while still touching the box.
   Having GOAT mode is an interesting idea. I know the top players are amazing at the game and need something more challenging, but i'll never play GOAT online. I have zero desire to play the mode.

-- Weekend Classic
We all were dupped when we heard about weekend classic, even myself. We all know ifs just ranked with separate rewards. the same bad connections, terrible pci feedback, bad exit velos. I don't understand why they attached it to ranked that makes zero sense. I know I and many others were begging for a new game mode and they took the easy route. Its just ranked with different rewards. woohoo. YOU GUYS NEEDS TO DELETE RANKED AND GIVE US SOMETHING ELSE! PLEASE
Rating: 0-10 NEVER WANT TO TOUCH IT!

2. Coop Ranked
   Its the same thing as years previous. zero changes. BORING. I do miss using Real 99s in mlb 24. That was probably the best part of MLB 24. I found players & cards I had no idea existed and for a brief period. It was great. Using real 99s should be an option, if even in offline. I get the gimmick but come on.
   Rating: 0/10 Waste of time. Unless you like playing with your friends, but bad internet ruins the fun.

3. Battle Royale
   I have played a total of 2 BR games this year. I have no interest in playing. I've never gone flawless before, but it was copy & pasted from last year, with zero effort put in. I know Berkman was a new legend, but his card isn't even good, we have better options without playing 3 inning games on all-star. Plus, ive watched a few people try & go flawless on Twitch & you tube and I don't care to wait an hour for a game. I'd be totally cool if they removed BR in MLB 26. Let's try something new.
   Rating: .5/10 Zero effort put in, and I have no idea why.

4. Events
   At this point there isn't a reason to talk about events. lol. Beyond using it as a means to get multiplayer missions done there's no reason to play. If the mode is there for means to another end it makes no sense. Maybe SDS will make it worth it later but doubt it.
   Rating: 0/10 WHAT??

5. Multiplayer Program
   I never liked the Ranked or BR programs, they were just a way for "causals" aka people who never wanted to actually play the game to get cards they wouldn't really even been using in June when they stopped playing, and august when Madden & 2k came out and they stopped playing for good. I like how they condensed it into 1 total program. Makes it better, not having ranked & br rewards in the program at the start was a good idea. My biggest question is who at SDS loves making us get Strikeouts online? It is the hardest thing to do on All-star. I've completed it to the end & its fine. Nothing really to write home about. Just another "new" content they tried.
   Rating: 5/10 Eh, could be worse but better than the BR program

Overall Rating: 2/10. Online has a chance to improve this year, i'm still holding out hope, but I doubt it. Based on how the game as been presented so far. Looking like another boring online year. They really need to work on server issues, feedback, and exit velos. I SHOULD be able to pick where i'm matching up at location wise. The servers are not strong enough to give me a solid game playing someone in the PR or DR. or even California. Please delete current online and make something new. I know that won't happen but please!!

Offline Diamond Dynasty

1. Diamond Quest
   Which ever team came up with Diamond quest did a great job with the mode. It is a great idea & a fun mode to play through. It has everything you need in an offline game mode. Its challenging, engaging, requires skill & luck. Its all around a fun mode, I'm happy they made the rewards sellable because its not only fun to do the first time, you can make at least 20k+ a run with packs you get. I would like to see the mode fine tuned a bit with the moments. There's been a few runs where I've done the exact same moment 4 times in a row. That might just be a bug I ran into which I can understand. Hopefully they will tune it and you only see a moment once or twice a run. Other than that its a fun mode. I would like to see them put their entire offline efforts into DQ and move away from the others. We have moments & showdowns in DQ no need for the rest.
   Rating: 9/10 - Fine tune the duplicate moments and you have a winner.

2. Mini Seasons
   I could understand being a guy who can enjoy an offline game of 2k or madden how someone could enjoy this game mode. With online being so bad I don't blame people for wanting a ranked experience somewhere else. I just don't like mini seasons. They done NOTHING additional to it in the years its been in the game. They've copy & pasted the same mode and its boring. It would be fine if it were there to play for people who wanted to and even get rewards. I just hate that they lock rewards behind it. People told me at the beginning of this game that rewards are hidden in BR & Ranked which is no true, those are sellable. You should be able to buy & sell CC on the market. I can't understand why they don't allow it. Playing 20+ boring 3 inning games sucks. At least be creative with it. Instead they don't
   Rating: 1/10 I don't want to play mini seasons anymore....

3. Conquest
   I don't know what to say about conquest anymore. I want to know why people play it and why they enjoy it. Every time I ask no one will give me straight answer. I would be excited if they made ANY changes to the mode at all. Its been the exact same thing since MLB 17. 9 games later and its still the same. Its another mode that I HATE they lock specific rewards behind. Those gold cards that didnt even make my team should be sellable. If conquest was deleted tomorrow and never came back i'd be happy. They can keep their packs with bronze & commons lol.
   Rating: 0/10 ding ding ding, my first ZERO rating. Nothing good to say about conquest.

4. Showdown
   I have only done the starter showdown and its the exact same thing that's been in the game since MLB 20. With showdowns being in DQ now, there's zero reason to have this mode in the game. It can be deleted. Thanks.
   Rating: 1/10 No longer needed.

5. XP Reward Path
   The 1st inning reward path is fine i guess. Seems like they took the feedback from last year and made it easier to get the rewards from just XP. I did enjoy the cornerstone packs and the grind that came from it. The 3 cards that we got were solid. I just wish they were better because it seems like they were fazed out pretty quick with better options in the game. The bosses were good choices. Having Manny being an option was great regardless of the hair lag. For some reason Beltre is killing it for me. I haven't had a chance to use Mark, but hopefully i will soon. I like the idea of getting rewarded extra for putting in hours in the game. I thought the XP limit was well done too.
   Rating: 7/10 - Good, just with the cornerstone cards were better just to be usable longer.

6. Team Affinity
   I think they did a fine job of making TA grindable without forcing you to grind it all at once to get the rewards. Having the Jolt cards are nice and most are actually good cards for this time of the year. Being able to stack your squad with team specifics. I've almost got all of them completed. Just missing a few. I just don't like the grind is the exact same for all the teams. I've hit more doubles grinding than I would have ever liked lol. I like how they made it a year long grind and that is good.
   Rating: 6/10 Good, just boring to grind with all missions being the same.

7. Programs
   They are fine so far, seems like they've just taken previous years idea and stuffed them into this years game. Nothing really new here. Do moments, missions, and pxp. Same ole same ole. I would rather they delete programs and do something new.
   Rating: 2/10 Same thing over & over. Need something new.

Overall Rating 6/10 - Other than Diamond Quest offline is boring. I would be happy if they took out all the offline other than DQ and went full force into it next year. We no longer have use for Conquest or Showdown.

Misc

1. Packs
   Packs are a waste of stubs, there's ZERO reason to ever go into the store and buy a pack. If you want packs you need to do a DQ run. You get plenty. I have bought a few 10 pk bundles and have pulled ZERO Diamonds. All of my diamond pulls have come from free packs given in the XP path & DQ. If you like wasting your stubs buy them, but take my advice. Don't. The first two chase packs were buns, but Devers isn't bad and i'm sure the cards in the chase pack will keep ranging from useless to can't go without. I just wish they would put more effort into making you want to buy the packs instead of staying away bc of the larger chance of wasting stubs than pulling something.
   Rating: 1/10 Please make buying packs in the market worth it.

2. Collections

Live Series Collections
Its time to move away from Live series collections going into MLB 26. It's the same thing every year. You take millions of stubs and lock them in to get the 99 overalls. Beltran is one of my favorite players and I want to use him, but we all know he will get a Astros 99 that will probably be maxed out. Its annoying that we have to lock in so many stubs to get an worse card just bc its available now. As a No Money Spent player I hate that I have to choose between getting the LSC done or participate in current content. I have the stubs to get Santander, but I can't get him bc I'm selling everything to get LSC done. Someone will say, you don't have to do it, but I want it!
Rating: 1/10. Sucks, think of something else please.

Special Collections
I like the Roki Card & Santander is great, but it sucks that we have to lock in so many stubs to get those cards. I miss MLB 19 & 20 when the best card in the game came in a collection that took some thought, locking in cards just to lock them in for a slightly better card takes zero effort. There's not an outlier bad collection right now like the Vlad in 24. Just try something new with them in 26.

Card Art & UI
I think they did a great job with the card art, I like the Gold plated 1000 rated reward and I'm happy we have the black background. Art team usually kills it every year. Content team should take notes!

Overall my rating for MLB 25 is a 5/10. They had an amazing idea with Diamond Quest and I can honestly believe that they wanted RTTS to be great with adding High School & College, but those fell flat for me. Online is a mess and I dread every day that I have to play ranked & Br. My hope is they skip MLB 26, delete everything and start over. Give us a new experience. I know they have 8 months to create a game, which in 2020s is not enough time. I believe going forward with the demand Sony wants from the game we will never reach the peak of MLB the show again like we had on the PS3, especially MLB 10. SDS did a fine job with content from July forward in 24, I can only hope servers & Ranked gets better and content hits it out of the park.

Thanks for reading!

I agree 100%. 25 online is probably the worst it's been in years. 22 & 18 were bad but this just isn't fun.

@RealMessiah_XBL 2k gave up in the last couple but early on 2k was awesome! We played 2k6 all the time on ps2!!