One of the best sport series every year, MLB The Show 25 steps up to the plate! The Show 25 offers the most polished player-controlled baseball simulation experience to date. We not only see the difference but feel it as well with new mechanics and gameplay. In last year’s edition, MLB The Show 24, it featured minor or just a few improvements. The Show 25 shines by taking steps in the right direction for this year and the future.
Road to The Show
RTTS (Road to The Show) in MLB The Show 24 had gotten a little stale and while still being a fun experience, it lacked in substance. MLB The Show 25’s RTTS corrects that from the start. Once you have created your player, you start off as a high school athlete in your high school playoffs. You also get the choice to go to the draft or go to college. There are a total of 8 different colleges to choose from and each college offers something different. For example, if you choose to go to LSU, they have 5 stars in exposure, but only 3 stars in skill development. They are also one of the schools that offer a gold package. Other schools in Tennessee, Cal State Fullerton, Texas, South Carolina, TCU, Vanderbilt, and UCLA.
Picking a college is a must, because even after being drafted, I have the option to go to college or start my career. This gives you a chance to increase your draft choice. If you choose to go to college the game fast forwards to your senior year, as you are competing in the College Baseball World Series. If you win all four games and the championship and play this significantly boost your draft status. Which in turn propels you through the minor leagues faster than you would if you were a middle-to-late round player.
Along with the new high school and college experience, there is the new upgrade system. In earlier games, my attribute increase was tied to how well I played. If you were a pitcher and you struck out several batters in a game, you would see certain attributes go up. Now we have the token upgrade system. Having a good game still helps you but instead of directly affecting a certain attribute, it gives you tokens. Which will allow you to directly invest in whichever attribute you would like too. For instance, if you wanted to max out your speed, to be better at stealing bases, you could do just that. Be able to throw further and more accurately, you can increase those specific attributes as well.
When your player is on the field, we also see some new quick time type of mechanics as well. Depending on the position of your player, determine the type of event you experience. Catchers have a new qte (quick time event) where they are recovering a dirt pitch or another where they must direct other players on where to throw the ball. This made fielding feel more engaging and fun when controlling just a single player.
Franchise mode is where you take over your favorite team and help lead them to becoming a baseball dynasty. The franchise mode in The Show 25 is much the same as last year’s game. The one tremendous change is the overhaul of free agency. You now make a small selection of targets your priority. Over the passing days, you gain interest from these targets. You eventually have the choice of grabbing a major all star or focusing more to round out your roster.
Gameplay
The core gameplay in MLB The Show 25 is still great, focusing on making small but needed updates and not overhauling everything. Everything still plays great from swinging the bat to fielding. One of those small but needed changes we see a new batting ambush feature added. It always you to cheat inside or outside on a pitch. Which makes it easier to hit depending on the side you chose and harder for the opposite. Its good feature especially if your great at guessing the pitch. I used it on and off at my times at, but I am more of a neutral guy. One of the best feelings is still getting a perfect hit, the sound always makes me feel good.
Another change is the addition of a swim move when base running. You must be locked on a single player to do this, and it does not happen all the time. This can occur in the event of avoiding being being tagged. It adds a different element when stealing bases, since the defense can have different and faster reactions. It may not happen too often, but it is a nice addition when it does.
Storylines
Storylines return for its third season, as one of the main attractions of MLB The Show. The impressive mode is a combination of documentary and playable moments in the careers of Negro League players. You relive some of the greatest plays from players like James “Cool Papa” Bell, Norman “Turkey” Stearnes and others. Outside of those new stories, we do not see a substantial change in The Show 25’s version of Storylines. I was hoping to see a player featured like Derek Jeter in The Show 24. It would be wonderful to see a player like Reggie Jackson, Ozzie Smith, Barry Bonds, or others get the same treatment.
Diamond Dynasty
Diamond Dynasty is the live service side of MLB The Show. Here you capture cards of players to use to form your baseball team. A wonderful change was made to Diamond dynasty which pleased me and other players of the mode and that’s cards are no longer retired after a set period. So those great cards you get from grinding, no longer just go away. You can keep it, upgrade it, and earn XP with it.
Another new feature added here is “Diamond Quest.” Diamond Quest takes notes from a rogue lite board game. You must roll your dice and for every space you cross can hide a gameplay challenge, a reward or nothing possible. The goal is to get to the stadium and try to win three innings with your team. Winning allows you to keep your rewards and helps you to advance to play for a high-level card. There is a lot of replay ability with this mode, especially having that chance at high level cards.
Final Thoughts
The MLB The Show series is the premier baseball game each year. The on-field experience from franchise to RTTS are core things we as fans look forward to every year. Even though most of my time is spent in RTTS turning my player into a future hall of famer, the improvements in MLB The Show 25 gives the game a breath of fresh air. I love the new upgrade system in RTTS, I really feel like I have more control over my players growth. I am overjoyed that I can grind and upgrade my cards in Diamond Dynasty, and they will not have to be retired after a certain period.
Hopefully, we will see some more changes and features in next year’s iteration of the game. A new in-depth player in Storylines, making the baserunning and controlling feel a little bit smoother. Overall, I have and will continue to enjoy my time with The Show 25. I am giving MLB The Show 25 an 8.5. The improvements that were made this year were great, but they still lack in some areas.
MLB The Show 25 was reviewed on Xbox Series X and released on Xbox Series S/X, PS5 and Nintendo Switch on March 14th 2025. Gamer Social Club would like to thank the developer San Diego Studio and publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment for the code.
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