OK, got this thing in the mail yesterday, could barely stop playing it long enough to sleep. Here's a run-down of my thoughts so far...
- I am
not an avid gamer; I played a ton of NES back in the day, but this PS3 I got for Christmas is the only console I've owned since; also, I normally suck at baseball games when I play with friends, so I'm definitely
not a natural to games like this is general. I've never played the "The Show" series before.
- I am a baseball fan. Not hardcore, but quite committed. I do understand the game.
- First reaction is that the graphics are
incredible. Also, the level of customizability is bordering on absurd. Is there a facet of the game you can't toggle/adjust somehow? (probably not)
- The realism is remarkable. I haven't had time to get in the nitty gritty, but even on a cursory level, the attention to detail absolutely immerses the audience and makes it all the more enjoyable.
- The gameplay seems very good. I took about an hour to practice all 4 aspects of game control (hitting, pitching, fielding, baserunning), totalling about 150 reps (pitches) altogether. I focused a little extra on hitting, based on the extreme difficulty those in this thread had with it in 09.
- After practice, I played a game on Rookie difficulty (the easiest). Myself as the Blue Jays, my opponent as the
Frisco RoughRiders (Texas' AA affiliate). I did not adjust any of the difficulty sliders. Even despite the wild pitching, horrendous fielding and brow-raising baserunning in my first ever game, I actually quit after 5 innings because I was blowing them out so badly. I think the score was 13-2 and the hits were 18-4. The good news here is, this game probably gets easy enough for anyone to enjoy (in that sense).
Specifics...
- Hitting: I actually found hitting to be relatively "easy" and quite realistic. Maybe "easy" is the wrong word - "surprisingly natural" might be more correct. In terms of realism, what can I say?? ... Hill and Lind combined to be 7 for 8 with a double, a HR, 5 runs scored and 6 RBI, while Wells went 0 for 4 with a K, a fly out, a GIDP and a foul pop out. In my limited experience, the key seems to be staying inside the ball, being willing to take it to the opposite field, and rarely utilizing the "power" or "guess pitch" buttons. Know the pitcher's pitches, expect him to use his top two ("X" and "O") 70% of the time, but don't overthink that part of it - unless you notice a trend where he throws a certain pitch in a certain place in a certain count 95% of the time (the only time "guess pitch" is useful), it's easy to get stuck on a certain pitch in a certain area and just look silly. Don't try to do too much at first and you'll eventually get it. The timing is difficult, especially when they switch pitchers and bring in a guy with a sweeping curve instead of a slider, cutter or sinker.
- Pitching: I found this to be more difficult, actually. It isn't that the format is unintuitive, it's just that I have yet to get the timing down. So far, I've had a hard time keeping my release point consistent, but I've noticed that it's safer to "miss badly" with some pitches than others. I definitely threw my share of air balls and dirt balls in that first game, I hit a guy in the foot, etc. I guess I need more practice... aww shucks, eh?!
- Fielding: This is an interesting part of the game. There's many aspects to learn, but at the most basic, the controls do make logical sense. Getting used to which player you automatically control depending where the ball is hit is important. Also, remembering that the longer you hold down the "throw" button, the stronger (and less accurate) the throw will be is important. I love the ability to jump and dive and climb the wall to steal away a homerun (at least in theory... haven't done that one yet; it requires
perfect timing).
- Baserunning: At it's basis, very simple (L1 advances all runners; R1 returns all runners). But controlling individual runners definitely takes some getting used to... I floundered around with over-agression a few times. I also found base stealing to be very difficult; during my practice sessions, I successfully stole a base once out of 45 tries (and was picked off 6 times). I guess I just have slow reflexes.
So, that's about it. Love the game, and look forward to mastering it (or just progressing to the point where Halladay isn't utterly unhittable on a harder difficulty than Rookie, regardless.
Oh yeah.......... I should also mention that I encountered a strange glitch in my first game. After hitting a guy with a pitch, the camera view switched to the "the batter is in pain, he hops around, tries to walk it off, glares at the pitcher, and slowly takes his base" view, but totally froze during that cutscene. I tried everything to snap it out of it's stuck-ness (including switching pitchers for no good reason), but it wouldn't let me alter my roster in any way. I was forced to restart the game.