Over the past 10 years, sports game developers have struggled with how to make compelling single-player content. Of course, franchise modes where players can simulate seasons as their favorite teams are a big draw, but the biggest names in the genre also want to offer something other than endless simulation. While mods like FIFA’s The Journey and Madden’s Longshot offer unique and highly narrative representations of the idea, MLB Show 23’s Storylines mode is the best look at compelling single player sports games yet.
MLB Show 23 – Stories: The Negro Leagues Season 1 | Games for PS5 and PS4
The latest edition of Sony San Diego’s annual baseball game features a new mode called Storylines: The Negro Leagues Season 1. Players can work their way through challenges based on “Negro League Legends,” such as Leroy “Satchel” Page and Jackie Robinson, learning more about them in the process through informative videos made in collaboration with the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. By combining these small challenges with interesting educational stories and event recreations, Storylines stands out as a great example of what a great single player sports story looks like.
Contextualizing the basics
Storylines is a simple way to work. It features eight different stories centered around Paige, Robinson, Andrew “Rube” Foster, Hilton Smith, Hank Thompson, John Donaldson, Martin Dihig, and John Jordan “Buck” O’Neil. After choosing one of these athletes, players progress through eight episodes, each with unique challenges, such as pitching for one inning without giving up a run. However, what makes it special is how everything is packaged together.
Challenges are presented with videos hosted by Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, which provides educational context and backstory for the players, and sometimes even a specific gameplay challenge to complete. These documentary-like videos are effectively scripted, using their short lengths to tell tight stories, and are presented with stylish and colorful art.
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I learned a lot about the greatest baseball players of all time that I didn’t know about, like Paige, and I’ll probably be going back to watch these videos periodically long after I finish Season 1. The stories also allow me to play Negro American League teams that have historically not been represented in baseball simulation games, such as the Kansas City Monarchs and Chicago American Giants.
The experience of playing a good innings pitch is no different from what I do in Road to the Show or March to October, however, the way Storylines recontextualizes the core gameplay makes it new. One particularly memorable challenge in Paige’s story tasks players with pitching a no-hitter while other players on the field kneel next to Paige, something that happened in real life.
The small nature of each episode makes Storylines a great way to start when I only have a few minutes to play MLB Show 23, and completing the story rewards me with a player card for that athlete that I can bring to Diamond Dynasty. While mods like Madden NFL 18 Longshot tried to be cinematic and focused on gameplay, they felt disconnected from the rest of the experience. After that, players could only bring protagonist Devin Wade into franchise mode and use him in the deliberately repetitive simulation mode that they avoided playing Longshot. There’s a reason why such narrative content has completely disappeared from Madden games.
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Ultimate Team modes are mocked and I don’t like them either, but they can charm people by quickly giving them small challenges and tangible rewards. MLB Show 23’s Storylines does something similar with a single-player experience that’s fun and educational and respects the history of the sport, rather than just being about player engagement filled with microtransactions.
Big sports game franchises can’t change much from year to year. The same applies to MLB Show 23, which, while a solid simulation, isn’t much of a departure from what came before. This is what makes the introduction of stories in this game compelling and devastating. It offers something fresh without the need to radically change the basics of gameplay. If you pick up MLB Show 23be sure to check out Storylines: The Negro Leagues Season 1.
MLB Show 23 is now available for PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch. It is also available on Xbox Game Pass.
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Categories: GAMING
Source: newstars.edu.vn