Ok I rented this game because of this thread. I play MLB games rarely, but when I do I expect a lot. The important things to me in this genre are: Depth, Presentation, GM mode, and Control. Impressions are based on those premises. (and my basis for comparison is ESPN Baseball 2005 on the PS2). Also, I played using the Classic Controller.
Presentation
I really love the super-deformed characters, but not as much I like just a normal representation. I get the point, too; it allows for more facial expression and an easier suspension of disbelief...neither of which I particularly care about or need in an MLB game. Still, it's not a deal breaker at all and it definitely reminds me of the good ol' days on the NES. Generally, I think its a good looking game, but I have major, major complaint: THE FUCKING MENUS. Holy shit are they convoluted and hard to use. The color contrasts, while nice and bright and consistent with the characters, really makes my eyes hurt. On top of that, the text is impossible to read. As far as the layout, my main complaint is that the layout is distinctly Japanese, with vertical columns and what I perceive to be as backwards layouts on some stuff.
Art: B (don't particularly care but would prefer realistic characters)
Graphics: B (stadiums look excellent)
Menus: D (horribly designed, hard to read, convoluted, and frustrating)
Text: D (slow, not completely skippable, illegible)
Announcing: F (would have been better with none at all)
Overall: C (not completely horrible, but still pretty bad. might stop me from playing.)
Depth / GM Mode
This is a deep ass game. Lots of shit to play with, alter, and upgrade. Perhaps even a little overwhelming. For what appears on the surface as an arcade MLB game, underneath is a very, very deep experience. I love all the different shit you can do: exhibition, league, season, success, GM Mode (w/e it's called), practice, HR derby, and buying baseball cards. A lot of crap to do. So what's my problem? Actually, I love depth, but the depth his hidden by the horrendous menus! Why do I have to do a "player search" when I am starting as a GM and want to do a draft? Why doesn't it pool all the players? Why do I have to minimize the number of players to 99 before players will show up? Why aren't they pre-ranked? My favorite thing in every game is the GM mode and the drafting REALLY pisses me off. I mean, REALLY BAD. Not impossible, but doesn't feel good at all. Why isn't there a big board where you can see what order each team went in? What players have already gone? For every stat that they give you (relevant or otherwise), they make it almost impossible to compare properly. This goes back to the presentation and the menu systems, but man it pisses me off.
The RPG-like qualities are actually very cool...but they should be skippable. COMPLETELY. I don't need a story for me as a GM. I like to make that up in my head. Once I finally got through the horrendous draft process, I was treated to almost 5 minutes of a story about what MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL IS. Apparently, ITS A SPORT IN NORTH AMERICA AND HAS TWO MAIN LEAGUES WITH 14 TEAMS IN ONE AND 16 IN THE OTHER. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE KIND FUCKING INSTRUCTION BUT WHY CANT I REALLY SKIP THIS? Oh, just hold down L? NO THANK YOU. I'M PLAYING GM MODE BECAUSE I KNOW WHAT BASEBALL IS. Please, if anybody is listening that is contributing to the sequel: cut that shit out of my baseball game or make it optional. Between the drafting process, the dumbass story, and the fucked up menus, by the time I get to actually "simulate season," I GET ANOTHER STORY ABOUT SOME POINT SYSTEM!!! AARRTRGHHTWTFJESUSFUCHS!!
I have zero doubt in my mind that there are people out there that would consider this god's gift to the baseball mind, but for me, holy jesus above, I can't kill this thing quick enough. I feel like I'm playing something that isn't really meant for me, like watching a movie full of cultural in-jokes that has been somewhat mistranslated into my current language. Not sure wtf is going on here.
Back to depth, though. It's deep, just so frustratingly convoluted with things I don't want in my MLB game that I never really have the desire to go any further and really test that depth. I never got past the May in GM mode, and its why I rented the game. Pretty disappointed.
Control/Gameplay
Ah, but MLB isn't MLB w/o pitching and batting, right?! I'm actually thoroughly impressed by the control in this game and have few complaints. I like the pitching setup, but am finding the control stick on the CC to not be exactly right. I also wish they would utilize the control pad for quicker pitch selection. I love the cursor-battle between the pitcher/batter (similar to 2k games in the past). Disappointed that a pitch count isn't readily viewable (anybody ever see it in game?).
I LOVE the batting, even if it feels a little easy (I know this can be changed). I really like moving the bat up and down and trying to chase the ball and have fun doing so. I got so good at it that I almost swing at every first pitch (knowing full well that this is against everything I hold dear in my MLB-strategic mind). The fielding is fine and is old school. As somebody else in this thread noted, the fielders feel VERY slow. Not sure why, it just doesn't feel exactly right. It might be the lack of legs, or they might actually be slow.
I'm extremely pleased they didn't make this "Wii Sports Baseball with Teams and Fielding" on the control front.
Overall
This is a game meant for hardcore (Japanese) MLB fans and it shows. Its very deep, has tons of modes, and a myriad of things to do other than actually play baseball. The control and actual play is top notch and could be used as a model for other games, with some slight tweaks to fielding and a couple better visual cues in place. Players that enjoy a little story will really LOVE this game. Lots to read, nice stories that fill in the gaps between games and practices. Guys that don't want this at all will be friggin pissed. The GM mode seems pretty deep but I simply don't have the patience because of the one thing that brings this game down: presentation. For me, it makes it unplayable outside of exhibition games...and I really just want to draft a fresh team for my pathetic (but rising!) Royals. The draft, the menus, the text, and the story are all horrible and detract from my personal experience.
All of that said, I KNOW some people will love this game; it's a great baseball game with some quirks and an appeal outside of what standard-fare MLB games will give. This just isn't for me at all. :|
(and it has nothing to do with the super-deformed characters--I love 'em)
