Recently Sony San Diego Studios released the details of the latest Custom Leagues feature in the MLB The Show 20. Although there are some clearly evident positives in the new feature, there are certain negatives too which might not go down too well with the Show users.
Furthermore, it’s worth highlighting that as per a December 2019 press release, Sony will be publishing ‘MLB The Show’ to other gaming consoles besides PlayStation by 2021. Here’s a quick look at the best and worst of the Custom Leagues in MLB The Show 20.
The Best
That it’s there – Getting the ability to play against your friends online is something that the fans have always wanted ever since the online franchise was withdrawn some years ago. In fact, such has been the popularity of the game that fans would rather use some tips to keep their eyes healthy than not enjoy the non-stop gaming action! Even though this is different, it’s nevertheless the return of the online leagues concept, and is something to be happy about.
Tying in of the Diamond Dynasty – You can play Custom Leagues with either the 40-man MLB rosters or even with your Diamond Dynasty collections. As has been found, the latter is quite unique and intriguing. In the event that you have Custom League with Diamond Dynasty rosters, the addition of new players to the collection is reflected in your league roster.
Fluctuation of ratings in 40-man Roster Leagues – If you opt for 40- man roster, the roster updates will impact the ratings in the Custom League. The game welcomes the connection between your Custom League players and the MLB action in real life.
The league structure customisation – Commissioners are allowed to customise almost all the league aspects right from the beginning, including the number of innings per game, DH rule inclusion, the length of postseason as well as regular season series, difficulty levels in pitching and hitting, apart from various other things. The customisation options can be said to be quite on point from the purely structure perspective.
The Worst
- No offseason – It’s evident why the new future hasn’t been named Online Franchise, as that would have required some similarity with the offseason structure, comprising of new schedules, free agency and other tasks related to a normal sports franchise. Custom Leagues is purely about gameplay and it might not appeal to all players.
- Lack of fantasy drafts – The ‘Custom’ word in the feature might make many expect start of the league with fantasy draft. However, no such capability is offered by the Custom Leagues, which could be bad news for some.
- No Minor Leagues – You cannot contemplate managing a baseball team in the absence of a farm system. There are no minor leagues involved in the Custom Leagues, and that’s not good news considering that it’s the first year when there will be full minors rosters in the series.
- No player creation option – Yet another unfortunate omission in the Custom Leagues is that of player creation feature. There is a solid player creation tool in The Show which delivers another level of enjoyment when it comes to the overall experience. The players won’t be able to benefit from this in the Custom Leagues.