It has finally happened, MLB The Show fans. Road to the Show has received a huge revamp, making the mode look brand-new and feel incredibly immersive.
You now start your journey to baseball stardom in High School, and you need to stand out to gain interest and ultimately be recruited by a College. While harder, going from High School directly to the big leagues is also possible.
Before being drafted to the MLB, you can participate in the Combine, which is making its return to the mode. The Combine allows you to participate in a series of minigames that can boost your draft stock.
But these are just a few of the many changes Road to the Show received. So, let's take an in-depth look at everything the mode has in store for us.
A Realistic Career Path
This year, you start your Road to the Show journey in High School. As you play games for your High School team, and hopefully impress along the way, College teams from all around the country will get interested in you.
Every College team offers a unique experience, as they have different goals, offer different perks, different exposure levels, and skill development. Exposure affects your draft stock and how much the MLB teams pay attention to you, and Colleges have different levels of exposure.
Skill development, as the name indicates, impacts how much you will be able to upgrade your skills, which is done with tokens. Colleges have different skill development levels, so a College with a higher one will provide you with more tokens to upgrade your player.
You will have to choose which one is more important to you. Both have their pros and cons and will impact the development and career of your player.
If you want to get drafted in the first round, a College with the maximum Exposure gives you the best chance. However, if improving your player as much as possible before entering the MLB is your main focus, choose a College with a good skill development level.
The option of skipping College and going directly to the MLB is also available, but you would be missing a big part of the Road to the Show experience in MLB The Show 25.
A Revamped Perk System
The Road to the Show perk system also underwent massive changes. Tokens have been introduced, and they allow you to upgrade a single or a group of attributes.
But tokens aren't only used to upgrade attributes, as you can also use them to unlock perks. Perks provide you with a significant boost to a certain skill, and once unlocked they are permanently active.
You will also be able to craft or change the perks by using tokens, which means you can pick and choose the perks that benefit your player the most. Furthermore, if you change your mind in the future, you can go back and revert those changes.
This gives you much more control over your archetype and allows you to focus on the attributes you want your player to excel at. It also means you have many new archetypes you can try out.
To Play The Part You Need to Dress The Part
In MLB The Show 25 Road to the Show, you can earn equipment and pair it with your perks to maximize the boost they provide.
Your choice of equipment is now much bigger than what looks better and needs to be a well-thought decision, as it impacts your perks potential, which means it has a direct impact on your game.
More Immersive Than Ever
Road to the Show is the most immersive it has ever been in MLB The Show 25. It now has a first-person fielding camera, which makes you feel like you are actually in the diamond.
Hot Shot quick-time events have been added and they make Road to the Show gameplay more realistic. They put you to the test in pressure situations that can turn the tide of a game.
If you fancy playing as a catcher, then you will be excited to know that you now have to manually block balls in the dirt. This might not seem like a game-changing feature, but it makes the experience more realistic and immersive.
A new baserunning control scheme has also been introduced. It's called Directional Analog and is based on the camera orientation, as you need to adjust the camera in the direction you want your player to run.
This is everything you need to know about the MLB The Show 25 Road to the Show mode. If you want to learn more about the game, check the Gameplay Update, the Editions and their perks, our Diamond Dynasty guide, as well as how to pre-order the game at a discount!