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Gaming => Console Gaming Discussion => Topic started by: Crewe on March 19, 2020, 10:10:12 PM

Title: MLB The Show 20
Post by: Crewe on March 19, 2020, 10:10:12 PM
I normally picked this up every year, but skipped last year because my playing time waned somewhat.
However, I grabbed it this time and here's some impressions. Note that I only play RTTS.

First off, I didnt back up any of my 2018 RTTS guys in the cloud and it turns out, you cant import them in to 20 unless via the cloud.
I say that because its a guess and the reason is, it also appears you cant import anyone that isn't from the 2019 game. I could be wrong if someone else can check that. At some point, I think I can fire up my 2018 version, save a RTTS guy to the cloud and then come back to 20 and see if I can import.

I think this was setup in 18 but I cant recall so Ill go ahead and discuss:
Once I get this game, the very first thing I do is load music and set sounds, chants, yells and the like. Takes a good while, but once you do it, it's done.
I can recall that you used to have to do, say your chant sounds. You would have to go to that category, scroll through your entire library of music/sounds and pick which ones you wanted for chants.
Then do yells, then music cues...good god can you imagine how frustrating and boring that is?
Well now, you can select any category all at once.
Your music (and or sounds etc) are in column one on the left. On th right are three other columns with checkboxes; music, chants, yells (at least I think thats what they care called, doesn't matter for our purpose here)
So you only have to scroll all your music once; checking every category in which you want that music to appear all at the same time. So much more user friendly.

Enough of that, on to the game.

The good
I always always always hated how your guy would go from zero to top speed in one step. it looked foolish, wasn't realistic and was quite unnerving, especially as a fielder. one step, full speed for ten steps to the spot and stop on a dime. It played silly.
Well, no more. The animations have been updated to have a much more realistic feel and appearance and will easily lead to errors in the field if you aren't careful, which I like. Although, I'm seeing a lot of E7's right now  :o

Perks
So this has evolved over the years and I like where it is right now. You can prioritize your characteristics and thus your perks. Captain, Heart and Soul, Maverick and Lightning Rod are the choices. You can pick a few to start and gain more as you go to help develop your guy. Although, Im about three months in to my first season and I haven't progressed in the perk area at all yet so Im not sure how it works. If it's based off of challenges, well then, that makes sense because, I suck at challenges. That said...

Challenges
This too has evolved and I think its really cool. used to be, say at bat, the manager would just give you some stupid meaningless order you had to follow to gain progression points. I recall I was under a red light, no steals, ever, because I got caught a few times in a row. Well, I got on base an the manager told me to steal lol I literally got benched for trying to steal when he told me to but after the game said I didnt understand what no steals meant.
None of that shit anymore, a nd it doesn't happen often in a game, or sometimes even once every two or three games. It's very situational.
Say a man is on second; you might get something like this:
Maverick: Make contact with every swing and drive in the run (and get x points for clutch lets say)
Captain: Swing only at pitches over the plate making contact and drive in a run.

So, much much more interesting and believable situations.
Now, I could get 4 hits a game, seeing a beach ball floating to the plate, then I get a challenge and swing at three pitches out of the zone and Im done lol Challenges make me choke.

Relationships
This is another aspect that is really cool. The the opportunity arises, you can build relationships either with your teammates, or stoke a rival.
You usually get options of three rival players or teammates. You'll be able to see what stage you are at with each one and how you wish to go forward.
The three stages are unknown or unfriendly (basically, you dont know each other) friendly and bros, or rivals.
At each development stage, you get perks. Such as, if you have a bud on base, he can boost your contact for that AB.
Owning a rival, playing within a division etc all have the potential to add perks which makes it feel like games mean a bit more than wins or losses. There's meat behind your progress, rather than just wild silly meaningless challenges.

The umps variability is actually reasonable now. In 18, if my check swing was appealed, it was always "no swing." Got kinda boring.
I was in a clutch sitch and was able to finally heck my swing on a two strike count. An appeal was requested and that turd rang me up! I was so surprised!
At that moment I didnt care much for it obviously, but I really like the fact they changed that horse hockey.
Also, behind the plate treats calls that could go either way just like that, either way. And some bad calls too. They've really tweaked the algorithm to make this more realistic and fun.

Real minor league rosters!

Training
Im still in a young season so I haven't seen everything yet, but it seems to be much more refined and upgraded with a few twists. Some events that would force you to take 20 actual practice balls before now just automatically gives you your progression points.
There are some activities that are quite fun and frustrating though. If you have ever played, you'd recognize the toss up drill where you see a strike zone while balls are 'tossed" in to the zone and you have to hit them to gain points, and its a lot tougher, to me anyway, than it looks.
Things like that have made it a much better and faster transition through off days.

The bad
it is darn near impossible to check swing. I dont mean having a half swing called a strike. I mean, I cannot perform a check swing but maybe once out of 30 tries. I used to be pretty decent at it, but not now.

Just as hard or harder to draw walks. it seems that most of the time, the pitcher will start you off with something right down the middle of the plate.
hardly anything out of the zone, certainly not enough to garner a walk. Ive tweaked the sliders I normally do as this is something Ive had to do for years to draw walks, but its not working on this version yet so Ill keep tinkering.

If you round a base or try to steal and go back, just forget about it. you're dead meat. The animation pushes you too far down the line and can't recover.
This has been an issue for a few versions now.

The ugly


When trying to steal a base, stretch a single to a double, or a double to a triple, the throw is going to be on the money, 100% of the time, period. Right at the shoe tops. Every. Single. Time. never a bouncy throw, never the slightest bit offline. Never bobbled. Nothing. If you don't beat it outright, you're toast.
That sucks ass.

This game didnt take too long to download but holy crap, the install took a flipping lifetime, so, be prepared for that little inconvenience.

Finally, and this is one of my bigger complaints and always has been. You move up too damn fast in the minors. Now I know, you have to appease all the 8 year olds who want to hurry up and get there but damn. Two months in to my career and Im boosted to AAA. That's just not reasonable, at all.
Im sure, despite hitting .270 and part of a myriad of players at my position in the organization, Ill be elevated to the bigs in no time. I really really hate that.

*****

Everything else is pretty much the same as far as operation goes, that Ive seen anyway.
Many of the perks and development features make this game way more interesting than just drab binary progressions and whatnot.
Overall, still the same game, but to a more satisfying degree. I dont know what all was changed in 19 so some of these elements may not be new to you.
Whew, that's enough. let me know if you have anything to add or if Im overlooking something. Im still new to this version so that could be likely!




Title: Re: MLB The Show 20
Post by: TheNorm on March 20, 2020, 02:54:22 PM
Was gonna ask you about this since I've seen you playing it lately. Thanks for the info!
Title: Re: MLB The Show 20
Post by: Crewe on March 20, 2020, 05:08:01 PM
no problem norm. And I have to add, that my initial concern was correct.
I fired up 18, saved my RTTS guy to the cloud.
Opened up 20, tried to import from the cloud aaaand you cant. You must have the 2019 version in order to import in to 20, which really really sucks.
I lost a 10 year guy I was working on...I mean I still have him, but in 18.
I guess I could wait until 2019 is $20, but I just won't do that simply to port a player over.
Title: Re: MLB The Show 20
Post by: Crewe on March 26, 2020, 03:48:06 PM
ok, so, like I said, in no time, Id be prompted, well, I was.
It's just absurd to me, and I should add, during the rookie Showcase series, I declined the draft for four years for college, because an 18 year old in the bigs is just stupid. Even at 22, no way I should be sniffing the MLB.
That said, I was drafted by Detroit who are currently 34-73, so I guess they would have room.
But even then, Im doing terrible, worse than ever.
I had a run on what I call my Klan games (3 k's a game, I know, bad taste, but Im a sad player right now)
My average was almost below .050, seriously LOL It was for a long time bouncing around the .075 range but never got sent down.
Amongst my K games, Im managing to get a few hits here and there and am now at .140 but who knows what will happen. I also continue to make errors in LF because once your guy stops to wait on a fly ball, if he is a step out of the indicator area, he will not adjust until its too late, hence the error. So you basically get one shot at stopping correctly. I guess it gets better as you progress, at least that show I remember 18.
O and Minnesota and Detroit fields suck ass! You can even see the ball out of the pitchers hand until its beyond you because of the sunlight behind the pitcher on the backdrop.
Which is another complaint, how come every game starts in the daytime? Completely unrealistic.
Title: Re: MLB The Show 20
Post by: BojackHorsefella on March 26, 2020, 08:15:12 PM
Quote from: Crewe on March 26, 2020, 03:48:06 PM
I had a run on what I call my Klan games (3 k's a game, I know, bad taste, but Im a sad player right now)

This genuinely made me laugh out loud on reading
Title: Re: MLB The Show 20
Post by: Crewe on March 26, 2020, 08:21:57 PM
Quote from: BojackHorsefella on March 26, 2020, 08:15:12 PM
Quote from: Crewe on March 26, 2020, 03:48:06 PM
I had a run on what I call my Klan games (3 k's a game, I know, bad taste, but Im a sad player right now)

This genuinely made me laugh out loud on reading

LOL yea, gets me too
Title: Re: MLB The Show 20
Post by: TheNorm on March 26, 2020, 08:28:48 PM
Klan games lol...I'm dead. Good one
Title: Re: MLB The Show 20
Post by: Crewe on April 06, 2020, 04:36:29 PM
So Im in my second season and lets just say I didnt even whiff the Menoza line. However, I did eclipse 200 strikeouts. unfortunately, I only had a couple of hundred at bats. I made Adam Dunn look like a contact hitter.

So, you guys that play or have played, what hitting method do you use?
I see everyone uses the circle method where you place the contact circle in the area of the oncoming pitch and then use the x button to swing.
Ive never in my life ben able to hit that way and have always used the right analog stick with strip, the timing swing, in order to hit.
Course, none of its working right now lol
Title: Re: MLB The Show 20
Post by: BojackHorsefella on April 06, 2020, 04:50:32 PM
Yeah, I've always done the "Pure Analog," I think, where you're just flicking the right stick forward on timing.

Back in the '08 and '09 days, I just used X and Square. I'm like you, never have been able to line up that damn circle.
Title: Re: MLB The Show 20
Post by: Crewe on April 06, 2020, 05:20:43 PM
Glad its not just me.
Do you do the analog stick back and forth, or just the flick forward?
If you move it back, you are in control of the timing step too.
Title: Re: MLB The Show 20
Post by: BojackHorsefella on April 06, 2020, 06:05:53 PM
I like doing the just flick forth.
Title: Re: MLB The Show 20
Post by: TheNorm on April 06, 2020, 06:38:08 PM
Also purely just a flick the right stick forward person. Always tended to end up with better contact that way, relearning the timing going back then forth was too much of a hassle.
Title: Re: MLB The Show 20
Post by: Crewe on April 07, 2020, 01:24:57 PM
whoa! there's almost a half a dozen of us!! lol
Title: Re: MLB The Show 20
Post by: Rigg44 on April 08, 2020, 04:42:51 PM
I to am a flick the stick guy.  Man that sounds bad but you know what I mean.
Title: Re: MLB The Show 20
Post by: Crewe on April 09, 2020, 08:21:56 AM
 :D
Title: Re: MLB The Show 20
Post by: Crewe on April 09, 2020, 04:10:11 PM
I just had to go back to dynamic level for a while. I was just getting murdered. And btw, I looked up my strikeouts previous season...200 AB's with 100 K's lol Wow!

But, Im back u to .234 now and my whiffs are down some but still greatly prevalent.
Title: Re: MLB The Show 20
Post by: Crewe on May 07, 2020, 02:08:05 PM
So I fired this up again and now have my average up to .280 but in order to do that, I had to admit defeat and move the difficulty to dynamic.
Im still whiffing a lot, still having my occasional Klan game, and a few times even had what I dubbed my Executive Klan game which is 4 K's. lol
Title: Re: MLB The Show 20
Post by: TheNorm on May 07, 2020, 11:01:14 PM
I know there's a thread for 19 but might as well post in here since this could be make or break on whether I purchase this or not. In RTTS how fast did you get to the majors? Because in 19 I'm only in July of my first season and I just called up to the big league club. Granted the Tigers aren't what they were a few years ago but I don't think me as a 65 OVR SS should be fighting for the top spot in AAA, much less the MLB club.

That said, it was a nice little highlight blasting my first MLB HR against Cleveland at the Jake. Was an absolute no-doubter too; love it when the automatic green around the base paths pops up on the display, doesn't even give you the option to have to sprint like it does if it's close lol.
Title: Re: MLB The Show 20
Post by: Crewe on May 07, 2020, 11:31:10 PM
yea norm, I ca say thats my only complaint. I was bumped uptown in my first year too, ironically to the Tigers as well lol
I mean, now, we are 30+ games out of first and not even to the AS break and weren't even tis good when I was brought up, so while there were players better than me, I could see it, if I squint lol
To help combat that, I stayed in school all four years so I wouldn't be an 18 year old in the bigs. Plus you get a boost each year you stay.


That said, it was a nice little highlight blasting my first MLB HR against Cleveland at the Jake. Was an absolute no-doubter too; love it when the automatic green around the base paths pops up on the display, doesn't even give you the option to have to sprint like it does if it's close lol.

Dig it! lol

I didnt buy 19 so I dont know what has changed but the relationships, both teammates and rivals is cool. I love the categories of leadership pus the at bat gains losses. The challenges are spot freakin on as opposed to 18 and before which were just flat out silly and unrealistic.
Th day off training s much more aligned with realism too.
I think the mechanics of the ball movement from the pitcher is more realistic and tougher than ever thus year which I like.
If 19 has all that then yea, may not pick it up, but otherwise its a great game.
Title: Re: MLB The Show 20
Post by: Crewe on May 13, 2020, 12:52:43 AM
now Im down to .262 with a wealth of K's. Man, this just might exceed Adam Dunn territory lol Ill keep you posted.
Title: Re: MLB The Show 20
Post by: BojackHorsefella on May 13, 2020, 04:46:43 PM
Hey, is it a "klan" game if you strikeout 3 times, but one of them was looking, so it's a backwards K?
Title: Re: MLB The Show 20
Post by: Crewe on May 13, 2020, 06:05:14 PM
Quote from: BojackHorsefella on May 13, 2020, 04:46:43 PM
Hey, is it a "klan" game if you strikeout 3 times, but one of them was looking, so it's a backwards K?

I haven't been caught looking in a Klan or Executive Klan game yet, nor do I anticipate that happening, but I would imagine that no, it doesn't count, except maybe in Mississippi  lol
Title: Re: MLB The Show 20
Post by: BojackHorsefella on May 13, 2020, 06:52:34 PM
You're too much man, hahaha
Title: Re: MLB The Show 20
Post by: TheNorm on May 14, 2020, 03:51:40 PM
LMAOOOOO you certainly have a way with words.
Title: Re: MLB The Show 20
Post by: Crewe on May 14, 2020, 09:09:00 PM
Quote from: BojackHorsefella on May 13, 2020, 06:52:34 PM
You're too much man, hahaha

Quote from: TheNorm on May 14, 2020, 03:51:40 PM
LMAOOOOO you certainly have a way with words.

haha, glad you fellas appreciate that, I'm not sure everyone else would
Title: Re: MLB The Show 20
Post by: Crewe on May 17, 2020, 07:37:21 PM
I will pay big money to anyone that can tell me how to hook slide in this game.
I didnt buy 19, but in 18 and previous you could slide to a side of the bag, but for the life of me I cannot replicate it in 20.
Everything I read says it's exactly the same as 18 but it does not work for me.
If you figure it out, please let me know!!
Title: Re: MLB The Show 20
Post by: Crewe on May 19, 2020, 05:16:00 PM
no takers?

Incidentally, what sounds you fellas use for the game?
I have quite a bit Ive found over the years along with many captured myself.
I could dropbox them if you are interested in sharing.
Title: Re: MLB The Show 20
Post by: TheNorm on May 21, 2020, 03:12:05 AM
I honestly haven't figured out sounds for 19, but it seemed so much easier to do on the PS3. Definitely did it for MLB10 as well as the NCAA game, which was incredible as far as immersing yourself in the game and college atmosphere went.
I'll have to look up how to do that for this gen.
Title: Re: MLB The Show 20
Post by: Crewe on May 21, 2020, 08:06:16 AM
Its actually easier than the last version I had I think, although time consuming just due to the sheer amount of options.
Once you import the sounds/music, you apply them where desired.
The time consuming part is listening to them all as you decide where to use them such as cheers, jeers etc..
And if you want to set up music cues, i.e. different parts of the same song, you'll have to devote time to the music editor.
You can add ballpark cues to selected or all stadiums if you choose. I typically do it for my home stadium, but that's all.
Normally I devote a couple of hours just adding this all at once after I buy the game but didnt really do it this time so here I am.
Title: Re: MLB The Show 20
Post by: TheNorm on May 24, 2020, 11:58:56 AM
I'm more curious on how well it cooperates with streaming services like Spotify and such. Ever since my primary desktop finally bit the dust a couple years ago (that Mac lasted 10 years...wow) and I've switched to laptop, I've gone the streaming route since I don't want my tunes taking up a ton of space. Thought I'd read it could be done, but honestly haven't been too bothered to look into it lol.
Title: Re: MLB The Show 20
Post by: Crewe on May 24, 2020, 05:28:07 PM
I think you can play Spotify while playing the game but I advent tried it.
I like having all the custom ballpark sounds