*I play Franchise on PS3*
I am not pleased:
- Baserunners can no longer be controlled in between pitches; they stand on the bag until the game "resets" for the next pitch. This is new this year. (Obviously a casualty of the new between-pitch cutscenes.)
- You still have to fucking manually, individually, simulate all the other games first if you want the in-game ticker to work properly.
- The stat overlays are pretty glitchy. I have Prince Fielder leading the league in HRs and RBI, neither are highlighted when he bats. When players come to bat for the first time, the secondary statistical line has never stopped thinking it's talking about last year's stats (saying "105 games" under the main statline, eg, when I'm only 35 games deep).
- They really need to get that motherfucking goddamned pitch repertoire/confidence/energy/button-hitting-configuration-reminder icon off my fucking screen. Why is that shit not tied to turning Guess Pitch off? When I'm pitching, fine, whatever. But when I'm batting? Why the fuck is it there?! I have NO REASON AT ALL to look at it, it's just a big, huge eyesore, bigger than any minimap, that does NOTHING for the game or its presentation. Fine if you're in love with it for some odd reason, but where in the FUCK is my
option to
shut it off?
I am very pleased:
- The new "whip" arm-motions they put into a lot of the pitching deliveries are, to me, right there with the new ball physics in terms of making the game feel very fresh.
- They've clearly upgraded the pixel-count in pitchers' hands and the ball itself. Take a close look next time, it's beautiful. And they grip the ball properly according to pitch type; the ball spins with appropriate, context-sensitive behavior as well. It did this in 11 too, but it's really well-drawn and well-lit now.
- The new bat & ball sounds! Overall, the game still sounds pretty much the same, which is a shame. It sounds
okay, but I don't know that the audio really captures MLB sound like it could (even with the commentary turned off). That said, the work they did on the bat and ball sounds is obvious and wonderful.
CANNOT FUCKING WAIT for April, May and June to roll around so I can get my hands on some serious roster files. And that's
My biggest complaint:
Coming from "final installment" roster projects in MLB 11, where every fucking player has been tweaked and fine-tuned in ability and aesthetics alike (not to mention hundreds or thousands of my own tweaks), to this horseshit default roster, is ... not fucking cool man.
Cheers, dudes. Keep swingin'.
edit: Meanwhile, just batted around. Suck it, Whitesox. 7-0 top 4.