MLB The Show 24 Review: Play Your Way

Over the last few years, developer Sony San Deigo has built its MLB The Show series into the best sports franchise on the market. That's partially because of several bad choices from its competitors, but the developers have continued to introduce new ways to play, improving the baseball sim's overall product. That doesn't change with MLB The Show 24. Not only is gameplay among the best in the sports world, but SDS keeps the focus squarely on giving players plenty of ways to play.

There aren't many massive gameplay changes in MLB The Show 24. With how good the on-the-diamond action has been over the last few entries, that's far from a bad thing. If you kept up with The Show 23, there will likely be a slight learning curve as you get adjusted to playing with low overall players again in Diamond Dynasty. That said, the gameplay changes are mostly inconsequential. 

Endless Possibilities

Instead, SDS has focused on giving players more ways to have fun with the excellent gameplay they've built. One of the most discussed features is the inclusion of women in MLB The Show 24. EA Sports FC 24 was the first modern sports sim to do this, and The Show's inclusion is just as seamless. There's the option to make a female Road to the Show character, and Toni Stone's groundbreaking story is playable in the Storylines mode. After finishing that story, you can add her to your team in Diamond Dynasty. I haven't had the time to get very deep into RTTS, but the addition of women is handled well overall.

Speaking of Storylines, this remains the most exciting feature in MLB The Show 24. Last year, SDS introduced the first season of the Negro Leagues storyline, and the team is back with season two. Players get access to four stories out of the gate, and six more will drop over the next few months. Splitting it up is a smart strategy because it keeps players invested while giving SDS an easy way to introduce higher-rated Negro Leagues players for Diamond Dynasty.

The team has also introduced a more modern storyline, though this one is less interesting. This storyline focuses on the early part of Derek Jeter's career. It's a fun mode to go through with some neat rewards, but Jeter's story isn't as exciting as digging back into baseball's deep catalog. Having Jeter involved might sell more copies, but most baseball fans already know about The Captain. I'd prefer to explore less discussed players and give them the spotlight. Again, it's not a bad choice, it's just not the one I would make.

Much like gameplay, most of the modes have small changes that some players might not even notice. For example, one of my favorite additions to Franchise mode is that you can finally see your players' awards tracked on their player cards. Previously, I had to keep that data tracked in a spreadsheet, so this is a huge improvement. There are also better options for jumping into games, making it easier to get through a Franchise season if you don't want to play every single game. I feel like it lets you set a sweet spot between running a full franchise and playing March to October mode.

Cause for Concern in Diamond Dynasty

Over in Diamond Dynasty, the biggest change is that seasons are now longer. That also means the team is splitting Team Affinity drops into three mini-seasons. The hope is that this will give players much more content to work through, but I can see it becoming an annoyance depending on how SDS handles things. It's always tough to judge these changes to a sports game's live service mode at launch because we don't know what it's going to look like in a month or two. That said, I'm comfortable in saying that I don't think this will have as negative an impact as taking the Auction House out of NBA 2K24. Players might become annoyed with the developers if the content starts to feel stale, but it's probably not going to completely break the game.

It's not all perfect though. You're still at the mercy of other players if you decide to hop online. The best example of this is that it's currently possible to rack up Team Affinity points quickly by pitching in online games. Because you don't have to do anything outside of pitch innings, you'll run into players who aren't playing the game. Not only is that boring to come up against, but it slows things down in general. Again, this kind of behavior isn't game-breaking yet, but if SDS doesn't find ways to get around it, the team might have some problems on its hands.

Either way, most of my annoyances are largely nitpicks in the grand scheme of things. Having Jeter take center stage once again in Storylines is ultimately not going to affect my opinion too much. Knowing that the RTTS mode has a lacking narrative is frustrating, but it's also incredibly hard to write a compelling story for a yearly release like MLB The Show 24. At the end of the day, the on-the-diamond gameplay is as good as it was last year and Sony San Diego keeps finding fun ways to give players more content. If you're a baseball fan, this is a must-play. If you want a fun sports game, there isn't a better one on the AAA market.

Rating: 4 out of 5

MLB The  Show 24 is available now on PlayStation, Switch, and Xbox platforms. A review copy of the game was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.