MLB The Show 25 celebrates 20 years of baseball — but may not entice regular players

MLB The Show 25 is celebrating 20 years of excellent baseball play, and since going multiplatform in 2021, it's been the standard across multiple consoles.

That doesn't mean The Show isn't without criticism, as the series has struggled to make modes like Franchise and Road to the Show (RTTS) more appealing.

This year's edition adds additions like improved fielding, and the Amateur Years in RTTS are enticing enhancements that make gameplay a lot more fun. However, there is still some wonkiness, like Trade Logic in franchise mode, that seems to believe that the Dallas Mavericks destroying the franchise by trading away Luka Doncic for peanuts was the correct move.

As MLB The Show enters its second decade, can Sony's San Diego Studio keep up the gold standard, or does it creak along on older bones?

MLB The Show 25: The Basics

• What is it? MLB The Show 25 is the 20th edition of Sony San Diego's long-running professional baseball franchise. The sports simulation digitally recreates MLB action and lets you play as some of the best players and teams in the world.
• Who is it for? Baseball fans.
• What’s the price? The standard edition costs $69 on PS5 and Xbox and the Switch version goes for slightly lower at $59. There is a digital deluxe edition for $99.99 for all consoles. The deluxe edition features packs and extras for the online Diamond Dynasty mode.
• What other games has the developer made? San Diego Studio is a Sony first-party studio that has only made MLB The Show games since 2017. The studio's last non-MLB games were Starblood Arena and Drawn to Death, released in 2017.
• What games is this similar to? It’s a continuation of the long-running MLB The Show series with some competition from Out of the Park (more of a front-office simulation) and Super Mega Baseball (an arcade-y offering).

Fielding

Despite San Diego Studio dropping support for the PS4 and Xbox One and PC gaming, don't expect a huge graphical update in The Show 25. Essentially, it looks the same as last year's edition.

However, what SDS did do was add 100s of new animations to the game that affect how players react to balls in play. Reaction ratings actually matter now, as the animation that comes up is tied directly to the strength of that rating. The higher it is, the faster they react. It's a split-second difference between a leaping catch to stop a line drive hit from landing in the outfield to watch the ball flash just over the tip of the glove.

The studio added new indicators that show you the difference between elite Gold Glove defense and average. It means you'll actually want to focus on defense during training or when scouting players in Franchise mode.

MLB The Show 25 | Fielding Feedback: Gameplay Updates - YouTube

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It doesn't make fielding any sexier than pitching or hitting — a near-impossible task — but it makes fielding more interesting and gives you something concrete to work towards as you train up players. You might even focus on fielding abilities in the RTTS mode over just hitting a bit.

Speaking of hitting, the new Ambush Hitting system lets you have a little more strategy as a hitter. Ambush Hitting allows you to sit on pitches inside or outside the plate. Basically, you're guessing where you think the pitch is coming from. The zone you choose slows things down, and the one you didn't gets harder to hit.

It's a different version of, say Guess Pitch or power swinging. Like those systems, the bonus from guessing correctly is awesome, but the tradeoff is still harsh enough to warrant leaning away. Plus, it's missing the ability to sit on the top or bottom of the zone. It's something that's more needed as pitchers attempt to make you swing at a low curve or a high fastball.

Finally improved menus

Outside of fielding, the biggest improvement in the game might be the menus.

A number of menus and navigation bars have been redesigned this year making the game actually feel refreshed as you navigate its various options. The menus make sense with legible fonts.

I don't play Diamond Dynasty as much, but the screens there were usable, especially the market screen which felt more Madden-esque, a compliment of sorts if you enjoy Ultimate Team from them.

We reviewed an early access copy of the game and saw some people reporting freezing issues. I had a couple of pauses on my standard PS5 in Diamond Dynasty, which is more online, but SDS has already issued a few updates, so I expect some of that to go away as the game gets more players.

Game day - Modes

While every mode has been touched in some way, not every mode saw big additions.

Road to the Show

RTTS saw possibly the biggest addition with the new Amateur Years. Here, you start as a high schooler and can be drafted straight out of school or signed with one of eight colleges, including UCLA and TCU. In college, you can improve your draft stock.

The Show has always done a decent job of simulating the slog as players attempt to make it out of the minors to the Show. Like older editions, you can still be killing it in the minor,s and your manager or the system will say that you need to "step it up." It's deflating and insane that this remains an issue. I think it's related to overall rating gatekeeping, but I am not entirely sure.

If you just play the game and enjoy the RPG-esque nature of upgrading your perks and stats, then it's perfect. However, I wouldn't mind some side games or something of the like to offer some variety.

Franchise mode

One flaw of many sports sims is that they don't really track the league's storylines. The Show 25 has new storylines, league news and farm reports that track major milestones, league leaders, big performances and more. The farm report tracks your affiliated minor league teams. Storylines offer the tale of you or your opponent, including division battles, winning or losing streaks and how certain players are performing. It's awesome and makes you feel more immersed.

Free agency has been renewed with a new system that has you tracking players throughout the offseason. It really makes you consider who to go after for your team's needs.

Trade logic remains an issue. I saw claims that SDS had improved trade logic, but I didn't see that in action. Young stars on team-friendly deals got dealt away with no compunction, and strange in-division trades became very common.

You can turn off CPU trades or adjust the frequency of trades but it's weird that it's still a problem.

Diamond Dynasty

Diamond Dynasty is largely the same. Sets and Seasons have been removed in favor of power creep, meaning you start with lower overall cards, and higher overall ones will be cycled in throughout the year and not replaced like in The Show 24. There is a new Diamond Quest that acts as a roguelike gameboard with moments and boss challenges. You get rewards and penalties for passing or failing.

Diamond Quest is fun and can be done offline. As someone who mostly sticks to Franchise and RTTS, I find it a nice addition to a mode I usually ignore.

Storylines

Baseball is one of the few professional sports that remains obsessed with its history. For the last few years, MLB The Show has penned a love letter to the game's past with its Storylines mode and its ode to the Negro Leagues, an unfortunately ignored space in its time.

This year's edition adds three new Negro Leagues including legendary base runner James "Cool Papa Bell", Wilbur "Bullet" Rogan, the two-way equivalent of Shohei Ohtani in his time, and Norman "Turkey" Strearnes, who was a legendary hitter.

If you haven't played them, the players from Season 1 and Season 2 will be included at launch, with more coming in April as a free download. Honestly, it remains the best thing SDS has done with the franchise and continues to be so.

MLB The Show 25 verdict 

San Diego Studio makes quality baseball games. If you haven't picked up The Show in a couple of years, the 2025 edition is well worth the money.

The additions to this year's game, including improved fielding, the Amateur Years and improved UI, make it a much better experience. Just about every mode has received some kind of update, some bigger than others.

Yes, flaws like the odd trade logic in franchise mode and ambush hitting not being as interesting as they should be do set things back a bit. RTTS and Franchise mode are otherwise still fairly straightforward as well.

When it comes to iterative sports titles, the newest edition has to justify why you would purchase it over continuing to play last year's game.

I'm not entirely sure that MLB The Show 25 succeeds in that regard. Outside of updated rosters, there isn't quite enough to make it stand out.

Beyond the menus, graphically it looks similar to The Show 24. The fielding is a nice edition but if your focus is on hitting and pitching, then the new animations probably won't scratch that itch.

I can wholeheartedly recommend MLB The Show 25 as it's a great game in the series while also noting that long-time players don't necessarily need to update if they're happy with last year's or even the '23 version.

Still, you should be pleased if you do pick it up.