When comparing MLB The Show 18 vs Dark Souls III, the Slant community recommends Dark Souls III for most people. In the question“What are the best single player games on PS4?” Dark Souls III is ranked 50th while MLB The Show 18 is ranked 108th. The most important reason people chose Dark Souls III is:
There's tons of lore everywhere for you to discover, but it isn't necessarily told through a conventional story. Weapons, armor, spells, and items you acquire have descriptions on them that tell you where in the game world they came from, any prominent characters they're associated with, and a bunch of other relevant and interesting information. So when you find examples of the lore scattered around the game, like bosses wearing a style of armor you read about, or an obscure NPC mentioned in a sword's description, you know the history behind the design and their purpose without that boss or character needing to explain anything to you. Even though the actual story in Dark Souls III is very thin, there's a lot to find under the surface if you're willing to look for it.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Great handling in the gameplay systems such as hitting and catching
While the baseball ruleset has been kept intact perfectly, the most noteworthy aspect is how well the player characters control and handle. Whether you're hitting a homerun, pitching a curveball, or making a diving save in the outfield, the input feels great and responsive. Hitting feels natural and challenging, without being easy enough to feel cheap. A feedback system allows you keep an eye on your swing timing and contact. Connecting just right and watching the ball soar is one of the game's biggest thrills.
In the field, players move realistically in terms of speed thanks to the redesigned physics engine. To catch the ball, you'll have to pay attention and time your movements so you can be in the right place at the right time. If you miss the catch and the ball goes bouncing off a wall or tumbling through the field, you'll need to react fast so baserunners don't get extra time.
The great handling comes together in an exciting and realistic way that makes MLB 18 one of the best representations of baseball in video games to date.
Pro Highly enjoyable and rewarding Road to the Show mode
One of the most fun and interactive modes is Road to the Show. After creating and customizing your own character, you'll start out as an underdog in the AA and AAA leagues.
Skill are handled in an RPG style where your skills improve or decline based on your performance. Hit too many foul balls or accumulate too many strikeouts, and your batting performance will suffer. Failing to catch balls in the outfield or throwing them your infielders will further damage your abilities. On the flip side, hit enough home runs or make some incredible plays and you'll start to get noticed by scouts. Since it's incredibly challenging to get noticed by a scout and drafted into the big leagues, there's a distinct sense of accomplishment when you finally go pro. This makes it a very satisfying mode to play.
Besides the onfield action, you'll also have talks with your manager from time to time. These talks include dialogue choices that may effect your career. For example, you may be asked to switch from infielder to outfielder. You can agree and attempt to build your skills in the new area, or you can outright refuse. If you constantly decline or give your coaches a hard time, you may be benched or even traded.
Between improving your abilities through skillful play, watching your career evolve over time, and playing your heart out to get drafted into the big leagues, Road to the Show mode is a highly enjoyable and rewarding experience.
Pro Great variety in the play modes
There are 3 game modes, tackling various aspects of baseball. Franchise mode allows you to make all the managerial decisions that go into making a team such as trading players. Diamond Dynasty mode allows you to earn collectibles such as cards by playing ranked head to head matches online or a draft based multiplayer ladder. Road to the Show is a career mode that has you playing as a character in his attempt to rise to the top.
Pro Extremely polished baseball experience
It's easy to get into the action when everything looks and sounds incredible, down to the smallest detail. The graphics are breathtaking, with a photo-realism in the field and players that's hard to find in other baseball games. Uniforms have more textures and the numbers on the back have a defined shine to them.
The animations of players hitting with a bat, pitching, and throwing are smooth and consistent. Ball physics are spot on, and the camera and replay shots look beautiful. Even the number of attendees in the crowd change based on your wins, losses, and day of the week.
The commentary is also excellent, featuring popular commentators. They recorded the dialogue together in the studio, so that when played out in-game, comes off as real and organic banter instead of copy and pasted lines.
Pro Extensive lore that's presented in unconventional ways
There's tons of lore everywhere for you to discover, but it isn't necessarily told through a conventional story.
Weapons, armor, spells, and items you acquire have descriptions on them that tell you where in the game world they came from, any prominent characters they're associated with, and a bunch of other relevant and interesting information. So when you find examples of the lore scattered around the game, like bosses wearing a style of armor you read about, or an obscure NPC mentioned in a sword's description, you know the history behind the design and their purpose without that boss or character needing to explain anything to you.
Even though the actual story in Dark Souls III is very thin, there's a lot to find under the surface if you're willing to look for it.
Pro Stunning environments
The world of Dark Souls 3 looks amazing, so you may often feel the need to stop and take in the beautiful sights. This can be the sheer size of structures, mountains, or caves. It can also be the decorations, inscriptions, or details in a room. There's always so much to look at, allowing you to truly immerse yourself in its world.
Pro Can give a great feeling of accomplishment
The Dark Souls series is known for its difficulty and Dark Souls 3 is no exception. It's filled with difficult enemies and tough boss battles, able to cause you grief on more than one occasion. However, every time you progress to the next safe spot or defeat a boss you'll often be filled with a mix of joy and relief. Beating this game will almost certainly feel like an achievement.
Pro Unpredictable boss battles
The boss battles in Dark Souls 3 consist of several phases, changing up how the bosses fight over the course of the battle. They will gain new abilities, become more aggressive, or reveal various nasty surprises. This creates an enjoyable experience that is different from most modern games where bosses are just glorified pincushions.
Pro A great variety of equipment for almost any playstyle
You'll be finding new pieces of equipment quite often, giving you many options to choose from. Each one has its strengths and weaknesses, allowing you to pick the equipment that best suits your playstyle.
For example, heavy armor will make you move slower, but you'll be better protected. Greatswords have a wide reach, but you swing them really slow. Conversely a dagger is very fast but it has a horrible reach.
Pro Solid controls
This game feels and plays really well. Your character responds to button inputs immediately and it almost never feels like you're losing control over it. The control scheme can also be customized, giving you the option of a more personalized experience.
Pro Great combat system
Dark Souls 3 is a very fast-paced game but it's not just about having quick reflexes. A lot of the combat comes down to exploiting your enemies. To do that, you have to learn their patterns and attack the moment they pause or perform a telegraphed attack. This creates a combat system, which rewards awareness and patience, and is satisfying to master, even if you don't have extraordinary reflexes.
Cons
Con Online play is laggy
The online play is plagued by input issues and lag. There is sometimes a delay between the pitcher winding up to throw the ball and when the ball actually leaves his hand. There's also some lag between the batter's swing and connecting with the ball. This can make pitching and hitting an exercise in frustration. Input delay persists in other cases as well, such as when throwing the ball from the outfield to tag out a base runner. All of these issues add up, making MLB 18's online play a sloppy experience.
Con Poor support for mouse+keyboard control
The default DS3 key/button bindings actually prevent full use of certain weapons by requiring the shift key to be pressed and not-pressed simultaneously. Rebinding is possible, but limited by issues like the left mouse button overriding all others and certain bindings not actually working in game (e.g. Shift+MiddleClick).
Con It's hard
You should try avoiding the trap of great review scores since most of them fail to mention the difficulty. It's simply put - hard. A lot of the combat requires quick reflexes, good mechanics, and the mental fortitude to carry on after failing for hours. If you're new to the Souls-like genre or simply want to enjoy a relaxing evening playing a video game, you most likely won't enjoy Dark Souls III.
Con Poorly tuned dynamic visiblity
You may notice some texture pop in while sharply turning the camera. It can be somewhat distracting if you notice it, but most of the time you won't because it happens in the distance.
Con Occasional performance issues
There are portions of the game that will have noticeable framerate drops, which can negatively affect the gameplay. Most of the fault lies with the game engine, so getting better hardware won't help that much.