New Legends a Major Letdown
Not sure what I was hoping for but this ain't it - at least so far.
I stopped playing MLB the Show 23 just after the launch of Set 4. Part of the reason came from my then 7-year-old son who was less than enthused about the new cards now available, asking why we had to grind for different versions of cards we already had.
The boy made a good point.
My biggest issue with last year’s game – and honestly, the last three years – was the declining number and quality of legends. Where did Ted Williams go? Why did Ty Cobb disappear? Will we ever get Joe DiMaggio? Darryl Strawberry would be cool. Can we get stupid A-Rod already?
MLB the Show works best when there are exciting cards to work for. Will that change in this year’s game? It sure doesn’t appear so. San Diego Studios this morning dropped its legend preview, touting 190+ different legends in the game including newbies Adrian Beltre, Johan Santana, Rafael Palmeiro, Tony Oliva, John Kruk, and Andrew Miller. This comes to already announced ones like Andy Pettitte, Paul O’Neil and Bernie Williams.
Sorry, but I’m not impressed. Where are the big names? Last year we got Jeter, Sosa, and McGwire. While the game overall lacked a depth of legends, it was hard to not get excited over these three. This year’s roster – at least what we currently know – is lacking.
The only true big name we’ve gotten that people wanted was Josh Gibson. Beltre and Santana were in earlier versions of the game. They are fine, but I would not buy the game just to play with them. Palmeiro should be good thanks to his beautiful swing, and I’m sure Andrew Miller will be a popular choice with the lack of good lefty relievers. The rest? Meh.
Maybe I’m overreacting a bit. There could easily be some other huge reveals coming but recent history tells me otherwise. Baseball has such a long history that could be further mined for fun players. Let’s take the Mr. Burns strategy for building a softball team and add it to MLB the Show.
New Animations Should Help Gameplay
Some of the handful of 400 new animations seem to give fielders a larger sense of urgency, potentially solving a major problem with the game. I’ll hold off any opinions until I play the game but this is promising.
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