It’s official. Bryce Harper is signing with the Philadelphia Phillies, and he’s wearing the team’s uniform in the new and now final cover of MLB The Show 19. You can see it in the featured image above.
The reveal video was shown during Sony San Diego Studio’s Twitch stream:
An #MLBTheShow exclusive! @BHarper3407 chose his colors with the @Phillies, now choose yours: https://t.co/c1vYWCZuaW pic.twitter.com/H5DxWMy7Cc
— MLB The Show (@MLBTheShow) February 28, 2019
That piece of info was the biggest news but it was widely expected around the baseball world.
Four New Legends
Mark Prior and Kerry Wood will be Legends in MLB The Show 19 pic.twitter.com/djoSE4L1WT
— Operation Sports (@OperationSports) February 28, 2019
Thursday’s stream also revealed four new legends, and as a Chicago Cubs fan, I was thrilled for two of them. Kerry Wood and Mark Prior will be included as legends in the game when it releases. Also, Cy Young and Rogers Hornsby are included as well.
Moments Mode
Aside from the Harper reveal, the major focus of the stream was the new Moments mode. This new feature challenges you to relive some of the most iconic moments from the careers of legends like Babe Ruth, Ken Griffey Jr., and Willie Mays. There are also team Moments for the Chicago Cubs and some cool overlap with Diamond Dynasty, but I’ll get to more of that in a second.
What I like about Moments in MLB The Show is that it is playable within and outside of Diamond Dynasty. I also like some of the presentation wrinkles added to the retro moments like the black-and-white TV filter for Ruth’s sequences.
That said, I think a little more could have been done to make those moments more immersive. The uniform fit isn’t authentic and neither is the ballpark. When Babe Ruth calls his shot, it’s in today’s Wrigley Field equipped with huge outfield TV monitors, etc. Obviously, this is all cosmetic, but if you’re going to go through the trouble of having the scene play out in black and white, it would have been great to see an older render of Wrigley Field.
I also like that there will be new Moments from the current season added during the year. This will keep things fresh. However, the retro options seem a little sparse as I watched the stream. Perhaps it won’t seem as empty once you’re playing through them, but I was a little let down as I was hoping for more player careers and teams to control.
Another positive with Moments is that there are both player-lock and full-team-control segments. The variety will serve to keep the experience fun.
Diamond Dynasty
My major takeaway from Thursday’s stream, as it pertains to Diamond Dynasty, is flexibility. Again this year, Sony is allowing you to progress through the mode playing the aspects of it that you enjoy. Unlike other collector’s modes in the sports video game genre that pigeonhole you into certain aspects just to receive specific rewards, Diamond Dynasty will allow you to exclusively play any aspect of the feature without missing out on the benefits.
MLB The Show 19 Diamond Dynasty home menu, missions, bosses and other screenshots pic.twitter.com/rh0qKElXEf
— Operation Sports (@OperationSports) February 28, 2019
On the stream, the developers also announced the removal of souvenirs, immortal cards and the ticket counter for this year’s game. They promised there would be more top-level players, so perhaps there was no longer a need to distinguish immortal players from the other legends.
A small tidbit seemed to have leaked during the stream, and that’s the ability to have multiple Diamond Dynasty squads. It hadn’t been mentioned previously in the earlier streams, though this was the first to put any major focus on Diamond Dynasty.
We’ll need to wait for confirmation as to what that means exactly. Lastly, there are a number of over-the-top bat skins that can be used in Road to the Show or on your Diamond Dynasty team. They range from hot dog stickers to bombers and ice monsters.
Some new bats in MLB The Show 19 – 8-bit bat, ICE bat and bomber bat pic.twitter.com/7888qbdTsy
— Operation Sports (@OperationSports) February 28, 2019
Looking ahead to next week’s stream, Sony will delve into their other new mode, March to October. It might incorporate some franchise mode concepts, so that’s a reveal fans aren’t likely to want to miss.
