As the college and professional basketball seasons begin wrapping, and the latter won’t be done until what feels like 2026, the need for warm spring weather and good baseball is just kicking in. While my Cincinnati Reds haven’t been anything since the Ken Griffey, Jr. days, and really after 1990’s championship run, it’s still fun to see baseball return every year. And with the real game comes the video game.
MLB The Show 25 from developer San Diego Studio returns in fine fashion, bringing with it the very best baseball experience that you can have, and a few new tricks to keep the gameplay fresh. Bringing the very best baseball visuals, effort, and accuracy, this game still proves that sports titles can be kept ‘new’ when enough effort is put into them.
So, rub some pine tar on that bat, be sure to loosen up that swing, and let’s get on base for this review.
Tweaking and Visual Updating
MLB The Show 25 has steadily become more accurate each year with good pitching, catching, and hitting. The folks at San Diego seem to have found a rhythm with their year-to-year improvements, as each one makes the video game of baseball feel a lot more authentic. And it’s getting tweaked in the right areas. Let’s dig in.
Batting
The offensive tweaks this year made the contact with the ball feel spectacular. Both audibly and physically, hitting seems to have found the right marks for how it works. On the physical side, you can feel the contact and how it was made through the controller. While feeling the warm rumble of contact when the ball meets the bat isn’t anything new with MLB The Show, the haptic feedback portion of this game answers back when strong contact is made. There were numerous times when my Reds players hit the ball, and I could just tell by the rumble how precise my bat connected with the ball, as the gamepad ensured I firmly understood it. In other words, it felt good, even when I did a horrible job at the plate.
Audibly MLB The Show 25 helps support that contact with how the ball sounds hitting the wood. If it’s a slow thud, then it means more than likely it’s infield bound. If it’s a resounding whack, then you know that it made it to the outfield and, depending on the direction of the hit may have bought you a base. If the sound comes in with a thunderous and pointed crack, then you know you’re about to see a homerun animation.
Controller improvements feel great, while audible sound effects help to engage and hook the player. They certainly built some confidence in my offensive game, something I desperately was missing in last year’s game to sustain my baseball alter ego.
In addition to this, there is a new element to batting called Ambush Hitting. The concept of AH piggybacks off the pitch guessing has been in The Show since the PSP days of portable baseball. In those days, you would hold R2, guess the pitch, and then see if the batting box flashes red. If it flashed red, then you have guessed correctly and you had more of a chance to smack the hell out of the ball. If it didn’t flash, then you must mentally prepare yourself for whatever you didn’t guess.
Anyway, Ambush Hitting takes that concept and pushes it further. You can now guess the ball’s position on the plate. That guess directly affects the PCI and it will either go up with a correct guess, making it easier to contact the ball, or go down, which makes it harder to hit the pitch. It’s a neat option that is made for those who embrace the risk-reward concept, but it is just an option. You don’t have to play that guessing game if you don’t feel like it. It’s an interesting feature and a fun risk at times but not the go-to when it comes to improving batting. But I can see how people might have fun with this.
Overall, I feel like the offense side of MLB The Show 25 is a lot more set and accurate. It feels and sounds good, and the additional Ambush Hitting option is at the very least an amusing option.
Pitching – Fielding
On the pitching and fielding side of the tracks, everything feels far more tightened, especially with the latter. Starting with pitching, I feel like this portion of the game gets more interesting and better each year. While not much has changed when it comes to throwing that ball down the alley, I think the accuracy of pitching seems to have been accurately improved and tweaked. Three years ago, it felt loosey-goosey. One year ago, it felt good but not perfect. This year, pitching feels like it should and it’s not incredibly difficult to get a pitch right where it needs to be. In addition, balancing pitcher exhaustion and stability is a strategic hoot that fits right in with accuracy and makes the game a bit more intriguing.
Between the two sides of the defense, fielding has become a lot more accurate and less of a 2K slow-motion affair to get through. You’re probably wondering why I mentioned 2K since they haven’t contributed to baseball in a while. That’s a fair question. It’s because I cannot stand how you can get stuck with animation in NBA2K once you execute a movement. You must let the animation play through before you can adjust what you’re trying to do. It’s infuriating and 2K has always enjoyed pretty visuals over practical movement with their gameplay. That shit hasn’t changed since the Dreamcast.
On the MLB side of the tracks, back in the day, it felt like a 2K game when it came to fielding. Sometimes moving players on the field felt like trying to turn a bus – slow and clunky. Steadily, San Diego Studio has improved movement and loosened the player and animation restraints. Last year, I loved how the infield worked but it was occasionally unforgiving. This year, player movement on the field is nothing short of perfection. Fielding ground balls in the infield and outfield feel natural and have zero constraints on movement. It’s smooth and accurate without a delay. It’s a big improvement since last year.
Modes
The included modes with this year’s game are pretty much the same as last year, including the Negro Leagues (season three) coming back to MLB The Show 25. The Negro Leagues mode is a phenomenal baseball history lesson that should be continually expanded from year-to-year. Preserving the memory of the league and making sure it isn’t forgotten is vital and I’m glad that San Diego and Sony brought it back, and hope they continue to include it.
Another mode of interest is the franchise mode, which has an interesting Battle of the Big Boards option for that budding GM in your soul. This is an interesting strategic element that brings free agency into the baseball mix. While I’m not a fan of manager or GM elements of any game, and that’s by personal choice as I grew up in a simple gaming world, I know this portion of sports titles is getting more popular each year. It’s a helluva mode that will certainly keep you occupied, should you choose to explore it.
Beyond this, franchise mode is simply that, just franchise mode. Everything feels good in it, as stated by the pitching/fielding/batting up top, and it’s a good thoughtless way of playing baseball.
Switching gears, the Road to the Show has moved in the right direction this year and has become a tad deeper than last. Within this mode, you still can build out your character, see them through their careers from high school to college (up to eight actual teams), and then draft and beyond. The inclusion of real college teams, which are sadly limited to the best of the best, helps bring an immersive experience of pulling your player through the path to the MLB. I appreciate this added detail as it makes the experience just a bit purer, but I do wish more college teams would have been included. I’m sure the collegiate baseball experience could have been a game of its own, but it would still be neat playing at Kentucky in the game and then shoving off to the big leagues.
Beyond that change, Road to the Show still features branching narratives that could shape your player, as well as choices you must make to get them to the highest possible point in their professional career. During my experience with this mode, and it was the biggest amount of time for my review session, I couldn’t get out of the minor leagues fast enough. I played a couple of seasons and steadily improved but the wait to get to the show felt like forever. I guess that is the point of this and when you finally do get to the show it feels well worth the effort. My only real complaint with this mode is that the graphics need improving, as the player models dramatically drop in the cutscenes.
The last mode included is Diamond Dynasty. If you’re used to casual gameplay and dominating performances, then you’ve come to the wrong mode! Unless you’re dedicated to the process and are dead set on taking down actual competition, it’s a tough mode to settle into. I know gamers who live and die with this mode and make this the reason to stay dedicated to MLB The Show. On a base level, this is still the mode to look forward to if you’re a competitive video game baseball player.
The additions to DD are interesting. The first big one, and one that fascinates me because I’m shocked no one thought of this structure before now, is the RPG-led Diamond Quest. You’re placed on a DnD-like board, you roll a die, and you move toward an end goal. Wherever you land awaits a challenge. If you complete enough of those challenges, there is a boss fight, which allows you to dominate a ballpark should you prove successful. There is also a small demon-like creature following you that you must eventually go head-to-head against. It’s like a weird turn-based RPG baseball structure. And you know what? It works well.
Diamond Quest is fantastically creative and adds more value to the typical DD structure. And it was for sure an off-the-beaten-path chance that paid off. If more companies thought this way about their sports game, then maybe their sports game wouldn’t feel like they merely need an update to make them new.
Outside of the DQ addition, there is also a Weekend Classic game, which I respectfully didn’t play too much during my review session. It’s good for those passionate DD fans out there who want the most from their dynasty experience, but nothing I would return to if given the chance to play this game freely. I like playing easy and casual baseball. My competitive days are all but over with sports titles.
Overall, the modes are solid, they’re improved, and the addition of Diamond Quest is super cool and a great way to bring a new feature into the mode mix.
Now, let’s talk visuals.
PS5 Pro and those commentators
The PS5 Pro version of this game is stunning. It helps with load times, gorgeous lighting, and textures, and the player models are simply flawless. This is the prettiest way to play MLB The Show 25 and it isn’t even close. I’m sure that PSSR helped quite a bit, especially in the lighting and uniform texture categories. It’s just gorgeous on the PS5 Pro system.
While this isn’t PS5 Pro-related, the commentators are positively gold. While the minor league and high school commentators are not as good, the main commentators for the MLB talk so much beautiful gibberish that you would swear they’re at your house watching you play. They’re funny, informative, and work the way commentators should work during an actual game. Huge kudos to the director for bringing the best out of the commentators.
On that sweet note, let’s wrap up this review.
Conclusion
MLB The Show 25 from San Diego Studio is a good upgrade from last year’s game. The gameplay feels tighter and smoother on the offense and defense side of the field. Including the new feature Diamond Quest gives more depth to what a typical baseball game would be, bringing in new ideas on how you can compete in Diamond Dynasty. MLB leads the way again by bringing a solid experience and off-beat innovation that works more than it doesn’t.
