MLB The Show 21

While it isn't a massive step forward for the franchise as a whole, the expansion to the Xbox ensures that a new generation of baseball fans can enjoy this homage to America's pastime. One of the biggest and most notable differences from previous years is that MLB The Show 21 is now available for players on Microsoft's system with crossplay, meaning that fans can enjoy the best baseball title regardless of the system they're playing on. That's a huge bonus. It brings in a lot of excitement to online play and demonstrates just how massive this franchise is among sports video games. It's also nice to see that for these newcomers (and even for veterans), there's a significant amount of tutorials and info to help bring them along, whether it's explaining a game mode or going over the ins and outs of the various control schemes of the game. Speaking of, it's clear that the new Pinpoint Pitching system is a clever concept to give players tighter control over the speed, timing, and direction of a ball hurled at the plate. But in practice, it's much harder to effectively locate your pitches without putting in a ton of work on the sticks. Not only do you have to choose where you want the ball to go, but you have to be extremely precise with your analog stick movement to be successful (not too fast, and not too far off the drawn indicator line, or you'll have a wild pitch out of your hands). If you're not willing to put in the work on this, you may want to choose a different setup.

Move past the controls, and you have much of the same rock-solid gameplay as previous years. The new animations deserve a callout, because it's a lot of fun to watch players slam their bat in frustration when they hit a pop fly during a clutch situation, or see outfielders scale the wall and rob someone from going yard. Beyond that, Road to the Show gets a new twist with the focus being on your created athlete as a two-way player (able to pitch and hit, and possibly be a good fielder). It's up to you to decide if you want to keep this distinction as you try to make your way from the minor leagues to The Show, or if you'll dedicate yourself to one position only. While it's nice to see the addition of MLB Network analysts like Cliff Floyd, Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo, and others talking about your player's successes (or failures) in video clips, these sometimes feel like they're scripted to happen at set moments instead of being specific to what you've just done. It also feels a bit lighter because the same issues from last year remain, but the focus on rivalries has been removed. Perhaps that's because there's a bigger drive to push players into the Diamond Dynasty mode to enhance and unlock new gear for Road to the Show, along with unlocking fantasy athletes and stadiums. While you can earn content by playing games, it's hard not to feel a slight push to pay for in-game currency if you're going to play and compete in some Showdown matches for bigger packs and rewards. Again, MLB The Show 21 may not be a home run, but it definitely hits for extra bases with its solid gameplay across multiple systems.