The sixth Feature Premiere for MLB The Show 22 was for Ballplayer and Road to the Show. I was interested in this one going into it because Road to the Show and Ballplayer took some lumps last year. Franchise mode got the most heat, but many folks did not like some of the structural changes to RttS and Ballplayer. While most everyone agreed the mode felt stale, how SDS went about updating the various aspects of Road to the Show did not hit the mark for many people.
So after the Feature Premiere today, it will be interesting to gauge the response. I will be the first to admit Road to the Show and Ballplayer are the aspects of The Show I use the least, so I’m a bit out of my element here as it relates to gauging these updates because I just don’t have strong feelings on them. That said, I still have some general thoughts on the updates, so let’s jump into things.
MLB The Show 22 Road To The Show
Road To The Show Narrative
SDS started out talking about narrative updates to RttS, and it seems the general focus was to add more depth to the scenarios while trying to be more dynamic as your Ballplayer goes through the journey from the minors to majors. Joe Mauer and Rachel Balkovec are among the new faces for the podcast feature used throughout the mode, but it does not look like any major structural changes have impacted the narrative overall. Instead, it’s more about trying to just hone in on those highs, lows, and the general grind a player goes through on that quest through the minors.
I do think it’s cool that SDS jams so many talents into this podcast feature, but I do suspect many (most) people click through these segments because they are just talking head segments. I do wonder if it would be better served just being purely audio rather than even doing much with visuals for this, but then it would mean you need more stuff to do within the RttS menus to give you a reason to listen in the background like you did way back when with the Tony Bruno segments in Madden. That show was novel because it was just nice background color while you were looking to pull off a trade and so forth. I don’t find it very engaging to watch these segments in The Show, even if I think Sean Casey can be a humorous goof or that it’s all about my Ballplayer.
On top of that, there is just a layer of “generic talking head” that radiates through a lot of this. I understand not being able to say my name or having to talk in generalities rather than get too specific because you’re setting up various parameters to make any of these moments trigger in RttS, but it remains the reason narratives in these “player” modes just rarely hit with me. While I’m the “center” of the story, I’m really not the center of anything because they’re not saying my name, and they’re never really talking about me — if you get what I’m saying. They’re talking about general accomplishments or failures I pulled off, but the way Ken Griffey Jr. hit 600+ home runs is different than how Albert Pujols hit 600+ home runs, and I don’t think there’s that level of nuance here.
That said, the focus also appears to be trying to teach folks about baseball in a general sense, and then also provide more color for things like major MLB rivalries, and even how to approach the mental side of the game. I do think the teaching aspects of Road to the Show are a smart way to add flavor because talking about real baseball is a logical way to go about things in these modes focused on being a professional.
Regardless, I felt like this was the weakest part of the presentation, and I did find it a little odd they started with this aspect of things.
MLB The Show 22 Ballplayer
Community Feedback
SDS started out here by talking about how the changes to Ballplayer this year directly tie back into community feedback about not liking that you really only had one Ballplayer last year, that the progression was inconsistent, and that your Ballplayer could basically be great at everything. These guidelines were the basis for a lot of the framing around changes made elsewhere, so it was important to point these out from the start.
Starting with the singular Ballplayer, now it will be easier to have multiple Ballplayers. In addition, changing how they look, and also deciding what each Ballplayer will do is more easily pulled off. This means you do not have to start as a two-way Ballplayer anymore before either deciding to stick with it or pick pitching/hitting. From the start, you can now decide to just be a pitcher or hitter again if you want.
Church And State Progression
One of the biggest complaints last year — and this ties into the “inconsistent” progression — was that online/Diamond Dynasty were clearly favored last year for progression. SDS has changed that now so offline folks no longer get shafted. Road to the Show is now where you progress your Ballplayer. All the missions and such are inside RttS now rather than being this mix and match approach where Diamond Dynasty ended up being the best spot to go.
On top of that, you should progress at a faster rate now than last year when playing RttS, and you will now have multiple archetype items that you can use while doing a program rather than having to go back to the start of one if you swapped to a different archetype item. Other quality-of-life improvements to progression tie together with each pitch now being something that levels up on its own. So if you want to use a cutter for a bit and upgrade it before using a 2-seam and upgrading that for a couple games, you can do that now.
One other key way online and offline (Diamond Dynasty vs. Road to the Show) are being split back up is certain aspects of RttS can just be for that mode now so as not to upset the online balance. This means you can now use a knuckler again, but then you just can’t take that pitch type online for DD games. And, again, DD and RttS feel like they will be more separate than joined at the hip, so hopefully more offline changes can occur moving forward without a fear of ruining online games by having annoying Ballplayers running around online.
Miscellaneous Changes
Other additions for Ballplayer felt like the “narrative” additions for Road to the Show. More or less, SDS is doubling down on perks to make some that are now dynamic to situations, and then also adding in things like dynamic challenges for you to do for certain at-bats.
Bottom Line
This felt somewhat in line with the Franchise/March to October updates from last week, but just with perhaps a bit less juice. I think if people don’t like some of the major structural changes that happened with Road to the Show last year (perks/loadouts), then I’m not sure how much they’ll love doubling down on some of those changes. That said, making offline and online separate again is a good change to the “old ways” of doing things, and being able to have multiple Ballplayers is an important way to get back that era as well.
Ultimately, it seems like SDS is trying to win back some of the old fans they angered last year, while still believing in some of their new changes and wanting to follow those into the future. I don’t know how that balance will play out as of yet, but it’s good that at least SDS realized offline gamers should take priority when it comes to Road to the Show, which was always intended to be a single-player experience.
