MLB The Show 21 review

MLB The Show ’21 is a baseball simulation game where players can go through a diversity of season/franchise-like game modes; giving players the feeling of winning the MLB World Series by starting at the bottom or managing their own team. While the core focus of the game is being a simulator, the game also includes a bevy of accessibility features and game modes that allows a more arcade-style of gameplay. MLB The Show ’21 also looks to be a very inclusive game in order to reach a broader audience; from newcomers to long-time fans of MLB simulation games.

When you’re first starting the game, it will guide you through various settings based on your skillset; alongside setting the A.I.’s difficulty. For pitching and batting, you’ll be given the choice to select how to bat and pitch. You’ll have the choice to select various ways of playing the game; such as for pitching, you can use a mode where you choose the pitch with a face button and guide the left joystick until it vibrates to hit that perfect spot. Or for batting, you can use a similar method than pitching, but you’ll also be able to choose to use the right joystick. As far as throwing to bases go, you can either use a method where you aim to the desired base with the joystick or have a face button match a base. And for in-fielding, you can set it manually or automatically such as the A.I. catches the ball for you; you’ll obviously still have to throw. There’s something for everyone.

One thing’s for sure, the game has a lot of gameplay content. Players can tackle a plethora of modes such as Road to the Show; where as Joe Random, you’ll work your way up from the minors. There’s also the Diamond Dynasty, March to October, Franchise. You can also tackle weekly challenges with will earn you unique rewards via the Challenge of the Week mode. There’s also Moments where you can relive, or alternate, classic moments from the sport. If you’re looking to practice your batting skills, there’s Home Run Derby. Otherwise, there’s Exhibition, Exhibition (live roster), Online Rated, Retro Mode (straight to the point arcade baseball game; like the good ol’ NES days). Further down, you’ll also find Post-Season, Custom Leagues, or additional modes to work on your skills; Custom Practice and Options explorer.

One of the constant issues I had was the constant lack of server connection. It worked about 5% of the time, so juggling my save state between my XB1S and XBSX wasn’t as easy and as fluid as you’d expect. The game will always see you as a new user even if you already have a save state available. This was quite baffling to be honest. And constant server issues will hinder players from getting into Franchise mode as for some reason it requires constant internet access. The few times I tried to launch it, I barely got through my team’s design and hop disconnected.

But here’s the thing. Yes, it featured a lot of accessibility features for all player skills, but the problem is even on the lowest difficulty setting, the A.I. will always catch 95% of your hits or your player will be out before reaching first base so trying to score is frustrating. Additionally, if you struggle, the game can adjust the game accordingly by lowering even more the difficulty, but should you manage a homerun or get some points, the A.I. will put you in your place fast by re-hiking the difficulty. Every game I managed to get ahead by a few measly points, the A.I. would respond in kind and hit every throw and have a few players on bases. The re-upping of the difficulty is quite steep and feels daunting to newcomers.

Annoyingly, you cannot save mid-game; no matter the sports game, I believe being able to “suspend” a game, would be fun so beneficial. Sometimes we have a few minutes to play, so we could get a game started, get it on hold and come back later to pick up where we left off. Being forced to see a game through, simulated/sped up or not, can be frustrating. Even then, if you want to simulate the rest of a game, I shouldn’t have to wait until the game is done; it should jump to the final score/stats.

So how does the Xbox One version compares to the Xbox Series version? There’s nothing major except obviously the loading times, which are surprisingly long on Xbox One (played on an Xbox One S), but the Xbox Series X unsurprisingly loads uber-fast. Visually speaking, there’s also a noticeable difference. The XBSX version is brighter; crisper and looks great on an HDR TV. There were a few minor odd clip-ins here and there, but nothing major; it was also barely noticeable as I happen to watch the screen in the brief second it happened.

As mentioned above, the game looks great on both generations of consoles, but with the XBSX getting a small advantage thanks to its sped-up loading times and having a small, but noticeable, visual upgrade; especially when playing on an HDR TV. Players look great and have realistic movement; the stadiums are lively. The weather settings are also well done. The only hiccup is when doing foul balls on extreme left or right, the ball looks like bounces off the audience, instead of being “lost” among the public. The audio is great as well. The broadcasters do a great job here of describing the action and it gives off that genuine ball game feel despite announcers having to do the commentating remotely because of the current world situation.

So is MLB The Show ’21 worth the investment? I’d say yes, but only if you’re a long time player of baseball simulation games and if you’re a newcomer, you have plenty of time to sink into it in order to learn all of the intricacies of the game. Every time you feel you’ve figured out something, the game throws you a curveball (pun intended) where you have to adapt. There’s also a lot of content to chew on. If you can get over the minor humps, you’ll definitely have a blast. For long time players, this is a must-buy. Newcomers? Get a sub to Gamepass and give it a whirl.