MLB 14 The Show Impressions From the Community (PS3)

[Steve_OS]

Since the game is now available for everyone, we are starting a new thread. Please post your impressions here. A Q&A post will be created in a few, so don't post questions here.

[BrianU]

This is a great game and improved across the board, but I always enjoy the little additions so i'll comment on those. It will take time to see how things like hit variety has improved and to see all of the animations. I play with auto fielding so can't give an opinion on the new flyball mechanics but it does look really good and well done.


Here are a few things I like:
The menus are perfect. Really easy to navigate both in the main menu and franchise mode. I hope they stick with this window format it is the best in any sports game i've played!

In franchise mode last year every team at the end of the seasons budget would increase by about 10% whether they won the world series or finished last place. This was fixed and now your and the CPU teams budgets will decrease if you perform badly. Thanks a bunch! It plays out pretty realistically. The most a team gains or loses is 20 million either way in general. The teams that usually finish in last like the Twins or Astros do not lose a full 20 million even if they end 20 games under .500 but if the Red Sox were to do that they would lose 20 mill the following year. I think the prior years winning percentage has a big impact on how much you gain or lose. I think it is implemented smartly and adds some dynamic to franchise.

The notification system they talked about adding to franchise mode is pretty similar to last years mailbox but it has been fleshed out so when you click on menus you get the appropriate popups for that section (Roster, Staff, Trades, Injuries, etc). Smart idea and I like it!

The bug where it would duplicate what the batter did in previous innings on the jumbotron seems to be fixed.

Sounds of the Show still are in if anyone was wondering.

You now get a pop-up if you have a reliever leading off the next inning instead of seeing them walking up the plate with a bat. You can insert a pinch hitter without ever seeing that and breaking your immersion it was a little annoying last year good to see it's fixed!

When you use the Fast Forward button from the menu to skip a half inning or whatever you can scroll up and down the game log. I don't think you could last year.



Mixed opinion:
Last year pitchers were notorious for getting in the way of hits up the middle. The ball would bounce off of them at an unrealistic rate. From seeing the videos so far and playing a few games this has been reversed. Now balls have a much easier time getting hit up the middle without bouncing like a ping pong ball off the pitcher. It might be overdone to the point that the ball actually goes through pitchers but I do feel this is a better situation then last year where nothing would get by them. I am sure this is tied to pitchers fielding ratings so it will take time to see how it plays out. Better than last year though.

The new pickoff/look over at the runner camera is awesome. You can see when the CPU is checking on your runner also. Adds more realism, I feel like a real pitcher when I glance over and change how quickly I will throw the ball to try to mess up the runners steal game. Not sure if it makes a difference but it feels cool to do My only beef is I have not found a way to toggle between looking at a runner at 3rd and a runner at 1st. I would like an option to look at either one not have the game choose for me which base I look at.



And here are a few minor things I do not like:
I use auto fielding with button throwing with the Throwing Meter off. So I let the CPU control my fielders and the throwing power based on ratings but I choose what base to throw to. This year I have round blue circles under my players when they have the ball which I did not have last year. I wish I could turn that off but I can't.

I also use auto baserunning like last year. Last year I was able to have the CPU control my base runners but I was able to control leading off and stealing while I was at bat. That was taken away this year and now you cannot lead off or steal playing this way. I am not sure if the CPU will steal automatically I haven't played enough. I would like the option to lead off and steal on my own while keeping baserunning on auto. To be specific If they patch this I would like the option to use the current method where the CPU steals/leads off for you as well as an option to manually doing only steals/leadoffs while the CPU controls the rest of the base running. More comments about this.. with auto baserunning the CPU will steal for you when appropriate. I think the devs just overlooked people wanting to manually steal with auto baserunning on and I expect them to patch it in if they are able.

There is a pop up that shows up randomly when you hit a foul ball. It pops up saying "OUT OF PLAY" in the middle of the screen. It does not happen for every foul ball it's strange I'd like an option to turn that off.

Trade logic in franchise is still awful. The Blue Jays who are leading the division in July traded Bautista to the Indians for an A Potential SP prospect Jude Herrera who has a 5.30 ERA in Triple A this season. It seems the CPU only looks at player potential when trading. I hope in the future they can look at the players stats for the current season as well. I wasn't expecting this to be much better I always use 30 team control to veto bad trades. A few weeks later the Yankees who are 2.5 GB traded Ellsbury to the Padres for Cameron Maybin and two prospects. Shortly after the All-Star the Nationals who are in 1st place traded Jayson Werth and Tyler Clippard in two separate deals for prospects..



Sim stats:
Sim stats are improved from 13 except for Stolen Bases, Shutouts, and Complete games. In my sim I had Brett Gardner (63), Craig Gentry (62), Michael Bourn (60), Mike Trout (58) for the AL and Ben Revere (80), Jean Segura (80), Jacoby Ellsbury (59), Carlos Gomez (59). Last year in real life no player had more than 52 stolen bases.

For Shutouts 9 players had 4 or more, where last year in real life no player had more than 3.

For Complete games in my sim 26 players had 5 or more. In real life last year Carpenter was the only pitcher with 5 complete games leading the league.

Despite these pitching sim stats the innings pitched, strikeouts, and wins all look pretty good compared to last season. Batting stats look pretty good as well.


Online:
I am an offline franchise guy but I will give some word on online. First of all online franchise looks really well put together with the new menus it is much more friendly to use then last year. There is additional stats tracked on the players cards which are tracked year to year but not too much more. It still only show 2013 stats at the earliest rather then full career stats. Online franchise still is a watered down version of offline. You cannot simulate games, you cannot assign profiles to CPU teams to manually draft for them or set their lineups. Offline franchise is still king for Human vs CPU play.

I dipped into Diamond Dynasty a little bit and I have to say I was really impressed by how complete it is. I think I will give it a shot this year there are many good ideas they have put into it. I was not that excited for Quick Counts as I prefer playing my games out but now I see that online is where quick counts can shine it works very good for online games and can be played in ranked as well as diamond dynasty. Quick Counts is a game changer for online play.



Bugs:
In the franchise menu the 'Delivery Man of the Year award' can only be viewed for the National League, you can't switch to American League.

[fearwhatnow]

Initial impressions after 4 games with QC on-Broadcast presentation.My settings:
Pitching: Meter - Veteran (Not so good as always in pitching)
Batting: Timing - All Star
Fielding and Baserunning on Auto
Throwing: Buttons - Manual

Graphics: Crispier than last year - Better lighting. Still rainy games seem quite "dull" to me.

Presentation: I like the "batter dynamic" camera. The game menu is great and easier to navigate. Commentary is pretty much in the same high standards.

Gameplay: First of all the animations are even better. The movement of the players is more fluid. QC feature is phenomenal for me as I never had time to finish many games. Batting in All Star seems easier for me this year. Looks like the hit window is larger this time? As I've mentioned before I've only played 4 games, all of them with QC enabled. Maybe the QC feature helps me in some way because this time I don't have to work the count from 0-0 everytime. Just a guess though. I'll wait for others to confirm that All Star batting is easier for them too. I just hope there is not some kind of bug and game plays on "Dynamic" difficulty mode.
Keep in mind though that I didn't touch any sliders.

That's all for now.

[THESHAMISASHAME]

Ok I played 7 hours 6 games with QUICK COUNT MODE IN POST SEASON MODE and here are my impressions and I play with Timed hit and Classic pitching .

First I was delighted to find I could choose my own weather in Post Season mode a dream come true but now alls we need is it to be a little more dramatic/visual so maybe next year ? as I have to squint to hardly see any rain of the downpour the announcers just described ?

I won 4 games 3-1 , 4-2 , 5-3 and 6-2 with little challenge though I did play smart but when I ran into Boston and NYY I got rocked pretty hard 8-2 and 7-5 but the best part was nothing felt forced or that kinda scripted predetermined feeling it can sometimes get when using Classic pitch and I would even compare the sim aspect of quick counts mode with the old High Heat series , different but fun and every pitch counts so stay awake

Visually everything looks almost the same as 13 but a tad sharper and the ball parks seem to have more depth also but the flow and smoothness of the gameplay and players is much improve and sliders are perfect not near perfect like every other recent version right out of the box .

The Audio for the ball parks , Organ , Music and sounds in general seem more realistic like your there but the announcing just doesnt feel like they at the game even with all the dialog but back to Dynamic views which are a great edition though fielding took me a while depth wise to adjust but Im enjoying it more now .
But Dynamic batting view is a thing of beauty and so realistic as the ball leaves the bat and you know when you watch on tv or at the game and you think its a goner or you get that just missed or crushed feeling too its in there and its just amazing and it never gets old ( ball to Bat ).

Ball Physics on all levels are near perfect now and couldnt get much better ( the sum equals the means) , very realistic and nothing seems forced or off as everything is pretty smooth and as an example I loved the realistic reaction as the cpu AI had a hit and run but the batter hit a soft liner and I easily doubled up their man and the animation was smooth as silk .

In closing Im enjoying QC mode so much I even think MoM gamers would enjoy this mode with auto fielding on as the AI and Logic are much improved as I saw things I normally wouldnt see from the AI like double steals and hit and Runs on default at pretty smart times like there was some great reasoning behind it and not random .

I also like to pitch on Classic but in 6 games I found the pitching very logical and I even tested it to the limit pitching my starters with no gas and I could see more and more cpu hitter advantage counts as I got tired though I agree with most something needs to be done in a Sacrifice bunt situation ( major issue in NL with Pitchers )but I could also live with a dice roll type outcome as I still have a chance .

With quick counts its also a compressed mind game so I find myself having to play smart baseball by choice so on a 1-2 count I use contact swing to foul off borderline pitches and to battle the count back to even ect .

Now my huge question going into quick counts would it be just like playing a full regular game AI wise and I think it kinda does but with quick counts the AI does alot of the tedious or hard-work we all dont have the time or patience to invest in this game so I think it successfully accomplishes what it was created to do without losing and actually adding much more excitement to the game but maybe thats the Strat O Matic Baseball imagination I have in me as I can make up how the count is what it is with little problem .

Now going foreword if SCEA reads this I think its very important to change things up every year presentation wise for freshness even if just tweaked by color or graphic style as the new navigation screens were much needed and really well done and are actually fun and easy to navigate after a few trys .

But the overlays in the Post Season mode after a few years already look tired and so MLB 13 and the same thing with Lineup presentations as even the slightest tweak would help and not make us think of the previous years game as a fresh coat of paint can do wonders !

EDIT : One huge thing I would like to add is nothing is the same in QC and every play is different whether it be trajectory of the ball , movement of the fielders or how the ball is thrown ect nothing feels or looks mechanical , even on tag ups the logic is greatly improved and thats a wonderful thing .
Its very organic like anything is possible and I dont feel beat out or put through the wringer after 6 games with QC , which is a good thing as I've been playing 11 hours with only a 1 hour break .

[saintjimbo1885]

Here are my quick impressions having played 4 games last night - could only finish 2 due to the hbp bug!!

Exhibition mode on HoF with analog controls for pitching/hitting, default sliders and using my own ratings.

The Good:

Game looks a lot sharper and more colourful than last year.
Individual crowd noises i.e.. umpire, guy in crowd shouting sound a lot better on my surround system (may be due to the overall crowd noise being low though).
New dynamic camera gives the gameplay a fresh feel.
The wind actually seems to impact the game more on default.
More pitches being thrown out of the zone but this could be due to my ratings.
The pitcher looking over to first when you have a runner on and the cat and mouse dynamic it creates.
Practice Batting mini-modes have a couple of new options that were obviously influenced by MLB 2k!!
Old school feel and sounds to the settings etc. feels like MLB 07-10 plus the soundtrack reminds me of older versions!!
The default catcher view is zoomed out further - exactly the way I have had it set up in custom the past few years (think 2k again!!)


The Bad:

The HBP bug!!
Outfielders still move far too quickly.
The break arrows on pitches don't seem to stand out as much as previously - may be my tv settings though as I have 2 game modes.
Pitcher still get hits too often - every game I have played so far.

Can't wait to get stuck in properly tonight after I get home from work!!

[Millennium]

After picking it up last night, the major impression I have is how smooth it runs.

Years past I would always notice framerate drops during cut scenes that showed the crowd. I don't see those anymore. I also believe that the new dynamic cameras make transitions from a batted ball to the field much easier to view.

Overall I am very impressed, and have a lot of the other praise you have seen already. This is by far the most polished sports game on the PS3.

[angelstrout]

Player models got a big time face lift they look amazing even on PS3, lots new face scans and facial hair redone to many players. Xander Bogaerts looks incredible.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[sydrogerdavid]

As with others, I love how smooth the game feels. I like the new dynamic fielding cameras for both fielding and hitting.

I also love the colors on this one particular TV I'm playing on. Everything looks great and has the correct colors (i.e. outfield walls). The problem is, this is just the TV making things look good. I uploaded a photo to Facebook to see if the colors were the same, they aren't. This means that the colors will also be different on my TV back at school. I'll need to try some calibrations.

The improvements to Busch Stadium are great. While BP Village didn't make it into the PS3 version, there are many other improvements to be proud of. I like it.


Bad Stuff:

About the only bad thing I've come across is Michael Wacha's face. Also, Carlos Martinez's face is pretty poor. I'm also certain that Carlos Martinez has the wrong player portrait.

The lefty base runner ear flap glitch is still in the game. Left handed batters who reach base will usually switch to a righty helmet. It's so annoying.