Last July, Ken Griffey, Jr. took his rightful place among the hallowed halls of Cooperstown, and this year he is the cover star of Sony San Diego’s MLB: The Show 17 (in North America, at least. Aaron Sanchez is the cover star for Canada and Wei-Yin Chen graces the Taiwan cover). But is the game worthy enough of a cover star who gained the most Hall of Fame votes ever, after a stellar career that spanned four decades? The short answer is dear god, yes.
MLB: The Show 17 continues to build upon the absolute best sports franchise on the market by giving players a solid year of new tweaks and features meant to give fans of America’s Pastime so much more to do than just hit a ball with a bat and run bases. The new polish for 2017 includes new animations and player celebrations, new in-game announcers from the MLB Network in Harold Reynolds and Dan Plesac, joining the always reliable Matt Vasgersian, and needed tweaks to existing modes, including Conquest in the Diamond Dynasty and new features in Franchise.
But the biggest addition to MLB: The Show 17 comes to the Road to the Show mode, where the mega-popular player career sim has taken on a true documentary feel with a narrator, conversation trees that award certain bonuses and dictate the direction of a player’s career, and tweaks to how a career is played out. This new feature in RTTS is called “Pave Your Path,” and it truly adds an even deeper RPG element to the storied game franchise.
In fact, after playing a few rising stars games and entering the MLB draft, players used to be able to select their favorite teams to play for, but in 2017, that’s gone. Players will have to suffer through a draft and hope, just like a real life MLB star-in-the-making. They will have to play well and hire an agent and demand a trade, or ride out their contract and sign as a free agent IF your favorite team has a need. It adds a new wrinkle to the RTTS mode — good or bad — and while I feel like I’m wasting my limited career years in the Rays and Brewers organizations, the day I can sign a contract with my beloved Mariners will be a great day indeed, so I can see how this adds some new realism to the mode.
Franchise mode gives players more freedom to run a franchise from all aspects. Its not just trades and free agent signings. A GM has to juggle all facets of an organization, including scouting, and the minor leagues. San Diego Studio has included the option of turning off some of the more intricate tasks, but purists or sim fans will find plenty to chew on in Franchise.
Diamond Dynasty returns with more tweaks, and a greater emphasis on Topps cards to build teams, including more legends than ever. Players can even design their teams from top to bottom, including custom logos and uniforms, and then take their team out for various types of games, both against the computer or online against other players. Tournaments and battle royals can be played and the rewards are more cards, stubs, and mission fulfillments.
Conquest is back, with gives MLB: The Show 17 a RISK-like game mode where a Diamond Dynasty team tries to take over North America a fan base at a time. Players amass fans and then play short three-inning games against the defending team and the winner gets the territory. Certain games can be simmed, which saves some time when battling for no man’s land territories in the Dakotas, but trying to take out strongholds on the upper eastern seaboard are as hard as one would think. Who knew the Yankees and Red Sox had so many fans? (That was a joke question. Please don’t tweet at me that I have no idea what I’m talking about.) Conquest is a nice break from the marathon of a season in Franchise, or a multi-year career in Road to the Show, and gives MLB: The Show 17 yet another outstanding pillar in its overall structure.
As for the graphics, MLB: The Show 17 looks amazing, yet again, and the PS4 Pro upgrades, including 4K and HDR support, really make everything look more realistic. While the current wave of ridiculous beards and mop-like long hairstyles does nobody any favors, the designers at San Diego Studio did what they could to replicate even the worst hair — looking at you, Jacob deGrom — and it’s a small thing that has to be overlooked when everything else is just popping off the screen.
Lastly, and certainly not least, MLB: The Show 17 has included a “retro” game mode in honor of Ken Griffey, Jr.’s cover appearance. This mode looks and plays just like Ken Griffey, Jr. Presents Major League Baseball on the SNES, including replications of the some of the sound effects. Griffey himself will pipe in with comments for good plays, and they’ve even included an 8-bit filter to further enhance the retro feel. But there is something funny about seeing realistic player models moving side to side on the pitcher’s mound or in the batter’s box, and some of the animations for home runs and strike outs are delightfully ludicrous. Like Seattle Mariner third basemen Kyle Seager flexing his guns after a homer, or seeing Robinson Cano break his bat over his knee after a strike out. It’s just another sweet treat in the box of chocolates called The Show 17, and one worthy of savoring.
I also noticed something this year while playing in RTTS. At the minor league stadium we called home, the batter’s eye, at a certain time of day, would get an annoying shadow of a tree, and as the season progressed, that tree’s shadow would slide over day by day, meaning the San Diego Studio was utilizing real-world physics in their lighting and shadows. It’s not just a day/night cycle; I’m talking about the axis of the Earth shifting. That level of detail is astounding any way you look at it, and sums up perfectly why MLB: The Show 17 is one of the best designed games, sports or otherwise, on the market.
MLB: The Show 17 continues to build on the foundations that the previous games have set. Each year, the developers add more and more to the game franchise, and further blur the line between game and reality. By creating even deeper RPG elements in the crown jewel Road to the Show mode, and still keeping the sanctity of the great game of baseball intact, The Show 17 is a stellar addition to the franchise and is one worthy of the cover star.
MLB: The Show 17 is available now for the PS4. This review is based off a copy of the game purchased at retail.
