MLB The Show 24 comes with changes that’ll satisfy your Baseball-loving hunger.
MLB The Show 24 makes its way as MLB The Show franchise returns with yet another banger to prepare for the upcoming MLB season. On a scale of one to ten, how excited are you to create more legendary moments in an ultra-realistic brand-new era in a progressive virtual professional Baseball world?
We enjoyed last year’s MLB The Show 23, but this year is different. Everyone has a story to tell, so what’s yours? Do you plan on achieving greatness? If so, then there’s no better place to begin. But here in MLB The Show 24, you only let your bat do the talking, and we’ll be listening. You’ll be heard much more clearly with brand-new changes, additions, and improvements.
MLB The Show 24 now comes with approximately 400 brand new animations that provide quickness and logic, as well as more refinements to the already existing animations to provide the most authentic Baseball experience ever. You’re guaranteed a sharper and cleverer AI than you’ve faced in the franchise, improving the defense for yourself and your human and AI opponents, resulting in behaviors that mimic actual human beings.
For pitching, along with the new animations, MLB The Show 24 introduces changes to the pinpoint pitching mechanic that might be a little difficult to perfect. For those who don’t know, in the simplest terms, pinpoint pitching is a system that measures how accurately you throw the ball against the batter. This system features a circular meter where you’re required to trace the meter’s patterns at the correct times with the use of the right analog stick. This only applies to Xbox Series X. PlayStation 5 and PC have their methods.
They’ve added four new pinpoint gestures and made more changes to the sinker, making it much more difficult to use. Because of this, the player’s skill is more important. Also, you’ll be able to experience the pinpoint system from a left-handed thrower’s perspective and motions.
The new gestures of MLB The Show 24 are Sinker, Slurve, Lefty Knuckle Curve, and Lefty Sweeping Curve, all of which have unique patterns. Moreover, with newer pitching animations, you can now take throws to trick runners. Plus, the new throws involving more 1B throws allow 1B to make throws that can handle various fielding situations, improving your defense.
As for the hitters, the large majority of its mechanics, especially the hitting balance, will be untouched for this installment, as San Diego Studio claims that this will keep the momentum of this area, and they felt that at this time, there’s no need to make drastic changes to a system that received immensely positive reactions. And to be fair, you can’t really argue with their viewpoint on this, as the performance of the hitting system and mechanics were in fantastic shape in last year’s game, so if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.
When it comes to the visuals, MLB The Show 24 has updated player skins and eyes, as well as others, and an updated lighting system to display over a thousand players far more accurately. Seriously, going and comparing the faces of players like last year’s cover star, Jazz Chisholm Jr, and Bryce Harper between this game and last year is clear. You’ll notice that many players have brighter, more vibrant, and fuller faces for almost photorealistic effects. It’s not just the players; the stadiums, fields, crowds, and so on look much better.
Last year’s Storylines was phenomenal, and having to play as one of the best Black American players in MLB was incredible. In MLB The Show 24, Because of the great multiyear partnership between The Negro Leagues and MLB The Show, we head back to the expansion of the history of the Negro Leagues with Season 2.
You’ll be experiencing ten brand-new fabulous stories of Baseball legends such as 25x All-Star and 1957 World Series Champion Hank ‘Hammer’ Aaron and 12x All-Star and 2x Negro Leagues Champion Joshua Gibson. Plus, this also means that the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum’s Bob Kendrick will again provide his phenomenal narration throughout all stories. To top it off, you can earn great rewards along the way.
What’s even better is that more will be added in the future. Moreover, there’s another storyline mode that’ll be a tribute to 14-time All-Star, 5-time World Series Champion, and Baseball Hall of Famer Derek Jeter. You get to relive the story of the man who was recognized as the face of Baseball in his era as you go through his greatest years in the game, beginning from the 1995-2000 seasons.
MLB The Show 24’s Franchise mode this year has surprisingly gotten a major buff. You can multitask a lot easier, as you can switch between teams during the draft. Also, you can now scout and discover 2-way players, and if you manage to acquire a top prospect who delivers, you’ll be finely rewarded with extra draft picks.
And as if they didn’t add more realism to this mode, the Franchise mode now reflects on real-life situations. For example, if a player in real life has an injury or condition that’ll make them miss games, the same player will suffer the same problem in your Franchise mode in MLB The Show 24. So, you had better pay attention to actual games and hope and pray that your team’s top players are in the best condition most of the time, or it could hurt your virtual team when competing. This little detail is impressive when you think about it.
Road to the Show, we must start with MLB The Show franchise putting more respect for female Baseball players and fans; you’re going to love the brand new ‘Women Pave Their Way’ mode that puts more respect on your name, even males are welcome. A separate Road to the Show mode where you’re invited to play out your career as a female player and guide her to being a legendary Baseball player.
Players are now given the option to create female ballplayers in MLB The Show 24 and help them grind their way into the Majors. This will include a phenomenal story where you gradually take her game to the next level during the experience. And what better time to enjoy this great mode than on Women’s Month?
Also, the Draft Combine feature returns to the franchise, where players are invited to show off their skill in 3 exciting Exhibition mini-games to get the attention of the scouts. Plus, using this feature will determine your draft position. Another feature that makes its way is the Quick Time Events, which occurs occasionally and involves a sequence of buttons you must click to perform a throw or a play. But this feature isn’t exclusive, as it’s also in the storyline mode.
There are a few changes in Diamond Dynasty, but one that caught my eye the most is the In-Season Cards. They’ve now brought in Seasons with a twist. The new gradual climb rule means that every season, you will start with lower-tier Diamonds, work your way up, and by the end of the season, achieve 99-rated cards. Each season will run for around three months, and when the new season launches, all cards you obtained in the previous season expire.
Also, Team Affinity returns, but you’ll be getting chapters in each Affinity. You get the first chapter right now; the second chapter will arrive around the middle of April, and the third chapter will come through in approximately May. And yes, the gradual climb rule applies here, too. Keep in mind that both the Diamond Dynasty and Road to the Show are now separate game modes. Therefore, the player you create in the latter can’t be uploaded to the former.
March to October is probably the only ‘major’ mode that has had few, if any, changes and that’s fine. Around a couple of years ago, in the MLB The Show 22 review, I mentioned that this mode is essentially the lite version of Franchise mode, and it has no business in this game.
You aim to make the postseason by successfully tackling through key games and moments. That’s not to say you shouldn’t play this mode every now and then, but the lack of changes in this mode in MOB The Show 24 might be an indication that we will finally kiss this mode goodbye; we’ll see.
For MLB The Show’s multiplayer, you’re getting a cross-platform experience so you can challenge fellow Baseball lovers from all available platforms, including your friends. Plus, with cross-progression, you’re able to continue where you left off and earn content to use on other platforms. You can either go with co-op and go for glory together or rank up by battling against other players; it’s totally up to you.
There is other great content you’ll love in MLB The Show 24. The classic Exhibition mode allows you to play casual games solo, with or against friends locally or online. The Daily Line-ups feature where you play Exhibition games with the current MLB rosters from any point of the season. Moreover, the retro option for the nostalgia heads, where you play games with the current rosters with simplified game controls, old-school camera angles, and audio.
Then we have the Instant Action mode, which also contains great features. Moments allows you to play as MLB’s legends and stars, and you’ll relive Baseball history, or if you’re cheeky, rewrite it. The Home Run Derby, where you compete online or offline against other players who can achieve the most home runs. Then, of course, there is the Challenge of the Week for online arcade challenges with actual weekly physical and digital rewards. Moreover, there is the Custom Practice section, which allows you to improve your skills by doing certain practice drills.
For creativity, MLB The Show 24 has added 30 new stadium templates that are arriving to create a new stadium, making it much easier for you to use instead of doing so much work to create your ideal stadium.
MLB The Show 24 is very much enjoyable, but it doesn’t come without some issues. It’s mainly the online servers. The online play sometimes freezes before the match is even played. Now, server issues like this are common when a game has just been released, so it does make you think that it’s best to wait until this problem is fixed to play modes like Diamond Dynasty. Also, trying to create a stadium is frustrating when you can’t really upload them due to a bug.
The commentary also deserves a mention. American Sports veteran Alex Miniak returns to the franchise as the public address commentator. As for play-by-play commentary, American sportscasters Chris Singleton and Jon Sciambi also return. American sportscaster Sarah Langs and the ex-general manager of the Colorado Rockies, Dan O’Dowd, will provide their coverage, but only for games in the Road to the Show mode.
MLB The Show 24 continues the upgrades we witnessed in last year’s great title, and it had to take a lot to accomplish that. With the additions and enhancements, this is easily the most authentic Baseball game in the franchise. Plus, it provides equally outstanding experiences for both men and women players. And yet again, to sweeten the pot, it’s available on Xbox Game Pass. So, go ahead and get this puppy, and let’s play ball.
