Review of MLB The Show 25

Stepping into its fourth year on the Switch, MLB The Show remains a standout sports game on Nintendo’s aging hybrid console. Its presence alone is an impressive feat, given the ambitious nature of the game. However, unless it’s your only option, recommending it without hesitation is becoming tricky. The game is packed with features, and in my years of reviewing MLB The Show for Nintendo World Report, this version is the most polished across all game modes. The developers have done a commendable job in consistently innovating and evolving these modes. It’s just unfortunate that everything is a bit bogged down by the limitations of the Switch’s dated technology.

This year’s update comes with a major improvement to the online-only Diamond Dynasty mode. For those unfamiliar, Diamond Dynasty lets you collect virtual cards to form your own team, competing in various modes. In the past, it got tangled in complexities with resets that diluted your progress. Thankfully, 2025 cuts those reset issues, though this makes assembling strong teams a slower grind. Overall, it’s a beneficial change for players.

Diamond Dynasty introduces a fresh twist with Diamond Quest, a roguelike board game mode. Players roll a die to navigate a grid, revealing challenges to complete. The concept is a blast, merging quick challenges—like striking out two batters—and longer ones, such as scoring runs over multiple innings. Despite its potential, the Switch version struggles with lengthy load times, making a snappy mode feel sluggish. This not only affects Diamond Quest, but it spills over into most of Diamond Dynasty, making an otherwise engaging mode feel cumbersome on this platform.

Road to the Show, where you create a player and guide them through their career, received a significant overhaul last year, which I found mostly impressive. This year, it’s even better with streamlining of the narrative elements and the addition of starting your journey in either high school or college. Previously, I didn’t think it was quite ready for primetime on the Switch, but it’s made strides forward, although some technical hurdles persist due to the console’s limitations.

Another returning feature is the Franchise mode, an area I’ve grown to enjoy in sports games. Historically, it hasn’t seen much change, but the latest version offers a substantial update. It’s transformed into a more immersive general manager experience, featuring deeper elements in free agency, drafts, and player contracts. If you’re into management and statistics, this might be dangerously captivating. However, the tutorials could use some work—I faced a tough first offseason despite my knowledge of the MLB’s free agency. Yet, once you grasp the mechanics, it’s incredibly rewarding to build and enhance your team as a manager.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the Storylines museum modes since their debut in 2023, though this year they seem to be reaching a plateau. Nevertheless, exploring the history of Negro League icons like Cool Papa Bell and Turkey Stearnes is fascinating. Sony plans to keep adding to these Storylines with free updates, but there doesn’t appear to be anything like last year’s Derek Jeter narrative, which is a bit of a letdown. Even if some of the content feels recycled, the Negro Leagues segments remain impressive.

For those keen on playing a licensed baseball game, and if the Switch is your only avenue, MLB The Show 25 will suffice. This edition holds up as a respectable rendition of the series’ excellent gameplay and diverse modes, though everything feels somewhat constrained on the Switch. With any luck, a future “Switch 2” will provide a better platform for MLB The Show 26 to shine.