MLB The Show 23 Review (Switch)
For the second year in a row, SIE San Diego’s MLB The Show franchise is coming to the Nintendo Switch, and this time the story takes center stage in the new Storylines mode, which gives players the opportunity to learn about some of the greatest black baseball players of all time. League. This is undoubtedly the highlight of the game, which is underwhelming in places and suffers from some of the Switch-specific performance issues. But, when all is said and done, MLB The Show 23 still manages to deliver a decent overall package.
Let’s start with what’s missing the most, and MLB The Show 23 once again fails to address a few issues that have been fairly long-standing in the game at this point. The Franchise and Road to Show modes do little to stand out from previous entries, continuing to hold a solid place against Diamond Dynasty’s centerpiece. That’s not to say that participating in any of them is a complete disappointment – they’re still totally fine – they just seem a little flat and uninvolved in terms of presentation, and there are several reasons to stick with them compared to Diamond Dynasty and the new Storylines offering. .
It’s also beginning to look like MLB The Show, as good as it looks and sounds in places, is in need of a major overhaul. We’d love to see a little more life and variety in the commentary handed out by John Skiambi and Chris Singleton, and something like MyPlayer NBA 2K’s narrative when it comes to the lackluster Road to the Show mode. The latter mode, in particular, should appeal to players a lot more than it does now, but lacking a story to get involved in and the fact that you can sign up for your dream team from the start, it lacks a punch. and gives us no incentive to get stuck and get involved in the long term. There is little to do here between games, so you just have to play matches and then return to the nondescript dressing room.
The franchise mode also seems to be treadmill in many ways. Again, this is still a perfectly competent mode – MLB The Show 23 plays a great game after all, there are plenty of options and difficulty settings to tinker with, and yes, a new fog of war mechanic has been added to make the draft feel a little more exciting, but still seems to play second fiddle to the big money regime that Diamond Dynasty is.
As in the case of FIFA and NBA 2K, it’s card collecting, the team-building aspect of the game that understandably gets the most attention here. Diamond Dynasty is where most people are going to spend most of their time, and it’s a fantastic mode that has been improved this year thanks to the fact that you can earn a lot of top cards just by playing the game. The 2023 offer is indeed quite generous in terms of how it offers powerful players and cosmetics, meaning you’re unlikely to have to willingly put real money into stubs to keep them arguing if you really don’t want to. We mentioned in our review of last year’s release that a further slide into pay-to-win territory would be bad news for this part of the game, and thankfully, it looks like SIE San Diego Studios has taken notice of the fans.
Moving on to the all-new Storylines mode, which was the big surprise of MLB The Show 23 and the element of this year that impressed us the most. The Diamond Dynasty may keep us on our toes in the long run, but this deeply educational journey through the history of the Negro leagues is simply breathtaking. Told by Bob Kendrick, President of the Museum of the Negro Leagues, this is just the first chapter in what we believe will be a lengthy enterprise, and it’s jam-packed full of fun and informative gameplay. The introduction to the line-up of baseball greats featured here is excellent, and is enhanced with plenty of background detail, archival footage, press clippings, and lively storytelling that sets you up perfectly for what’s to come for you to take control of the likes of Leroy. “Satchel” Page, Andrew “Roubet” Foster and Buck O’Neal during some of the highlights of their careers.
We love how certain aspects of these players are introduced into the gameplay here, with Satchel Page’s various nicknames for his serve – like his “bee ball” being named so because he’ll be where he wants to be when he says it.” We’ll be there – they’ll appear onscreen and you can choose from a variety of custom-made animations to bring these great baseball players to life. It’s amazing stuff, exactly the kind of informative and entertaining stuff we love to see, and absolutely the highlight and surprise of MLB The Show’s offering this year.
Away from it all and, well, it’s actually common. MLB The Show 23 gives you plenty of options for how you want to play, and from absolute beginners to die-hard fans, there’s a wide array of difficulty modes, control settings, and accessibility options to suit.
Of course, since this is a Switch port, things get a little more complicated when it comes to performance. We’ve been switching back and forth between Series X and this version of the game, and the expected visual degradation – while not as bad as you might expect – is certainly noticeable. There’s a lot more blurry textures on the players and fields, as well as a lot of fine detail and lack of polish. However, at this stage, that’s fine on the Switch, and overall, MLB The Show still looks pretty good on the Nintendo system.
In the end, it’s the frame rate that causes the biggest problems. With silky smooth 60fps on the Xbox Series X, it’s easy to notice bumps, and like last year’s port, it all feels more sluggish when it comes to actual gameplay. If you’re only playing on Switch, you’re unlikely to notice it as much, but based on the next-gen versions, you can get a feel for how it affects pitching and batting, with varying amounts of time needed to get things right. This is then used in online games such as Diamond Dynasty. With crossplay enabled, you will absolutely run into this when playing against users on more advanced platforms, and disabling this option leaves you with only a pool of Switch players to take on, meaning it can be a lot harder to find a game.
Honestly, if you’ve played MLB The Show 22, you know the score here. It’s about the same in terms of performance and the way things look and feel, there are some noticeable stutters when the camera moves around in large stadiums and things feel less smooth in-game. However, you still get a solid port, a full blown version of the big old baseball sim that doesn’t cut corners or leave Switch players with fewer modes to explore. Plus, this new Storylines addition makes it more complete than last year. We should also mention that it’s very easy to link your account to your progress on another platform, and being able to take our franchise and diamond dynasty on the road when needed is certainly an enticing prospect that will keep us dipping our toes into this portable version, no matter what. what disadvantages.
Conclusion
MLB The Show 23 is a better all-round package than last year’s edition, thanks in large part to the new Storylines mode, which adds a well-presented and educational history lesson for players. quite acceptable, with the expected graphical drops, but the frame rate can still cause problems in places, which makes the game feel sluggish compared to other platforms. However, beyond that issue, it’s a solid port that includes all of the modes found in other versions of the game, making it a worthy option for MLB fans.
