Out of the Park Baseball 25
- March 15, 2024
- Out of the Park Developments
- 55h median play time
Get on Steam"Out of the Park Baseball 25" is an anniversary edition of the award-winning baseball strategy series, offering a complete baseball simulation experience. Manage your team's lineups, pitching staffs, and in-game strategies, or play out each game in the 3D game mode. The new Player Development Lab allows you to shape the future of your upcoming stars, adding a new layer to the player development system. This immersive game offers a vast array of features for both casual and hardcore baseball fans.
Mac OS
PC
Windows
Linux
Reviews
- OOTP 25 is the best baseball simulation available, offering incredible depth and customization for fans and aspiring GMs.
- The new Player Development Lab feature allows for more control over player growth and development, enhancing the overall gameplay experience.
- The game has improved graphics and animations, making the simulation feel more engaging and realistic.
- The game suffers from frequent bugs and crashes, leading to corrupted save files and frustrating gameplay experiences.
- The trading AI is often unrealistic, making it difficult to execute fair trades, which can detract from the overall management experience.
- The Perfect Team mode has been criticized for being pay-to-win, making it less accessible for casual players who do not wish to spend extra money.
- gameplay20 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 55 % neutral mentions
- 15 % negative mentions
Gameplay in the latest iteration of the game features numerous small improvements and a deep, customizable experience that appeals to fans of the genre, though it presents a steep learning curve for newcomers. While the depth of statistics and mechanics is praised, some players express frustration over a lack of clear tooltips and guidance, leading to reliance on community forums for understanding. Overall, the game is highly addictive and offers significant enhancements, making it a recommended choice for those who enjoy a detailed management simulation.
“You will find hundreds of small improvements and adjustments to gameplay.”
“The detail and data as well as gameplay and depth are just amazing.”
“The amount of settings available to customize the gameplay to every player's liking is staggering, something I've never seen before with hundreds of options.”
“I spent over 200 hours staring at statistics on a screen with no actual gameplay.”
“I shouldn't have to play in commissioner mode to force proper game mechanics.”
“On the negative end, I'd say that there's a general lack of tooltips, and you're very reliant on hypotheses from other players on forums for what certain mechanics even do.”
- graphics19 mentions
- 16 % positive mentions
- 68 % neutral mentions
- 16 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some users criticizing them as crude and outdated, while others acknowledge significant improvements over previous iterations, particularly in 3D visuals and stadium portrayals. While many players prioritize gameplay over graphics, there is a consensus that the animations and overall visual quality still require further refinement. Despite the graphical shortcomings, the game remains enjoyable for those deeply engaged in its core mechanics.
“There have been major graphical improvements with each year's OOTP for those players who want visuals during gameplay that far outshine any other realistic GM-sim on the market (not counting The Show, of course, but that's not for PC, anyway).”
“The day-to-night sky backgrounds as games progress, and especially the modern stadium portrayals that come with the game, make for some gorgeous graphics for what ostensibly is a GM sim.”
“Also want to mention that the 3D graphics are improving each year and this year is no exception.”
“Hideous graphics made on crack and animations made on PCP, but great game; kind of like an ugly woman who is nice and cooks really well.”
“The graphics suck.”
“3D graphics still need work.”
- story10 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The storylines in the game are highlighted as one of its best features, providing engaging narratives that enhance the overall experience. However, players also express frustration with various gameplay issues, such as AI problems and contract options, which can detract from the enjoyment of the story elements. Overall, while the story aspect is well-received, it exists alongside several gameplay challenges that impact player satisfaction.
“Storylines are actually one of the best features in the game.”
“It's so easy to create an engaging storyline in your head for all your players.”
“They have almost perfected the perfect points with a lot of missions that adds some fun for an old card collector.”
“I got this year's the day it released and have spent countless hours every day on Twitch getting drops and spending every piece of in-game cash on finishing missions to get the cards just to be grossly outpaced by a lot of the pack.”
“But that’s another story from 1000s of hours across a dozen versions that could equivocate to anyone’s particular gaming oeuvre.”
“To be fair, story, Casas, and Devers usually make at least one error a game, so that is realistic.”
- stability5 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's stability has been criticized for being plagued with bugs, particularly in the 3D view, which can obscure problematic geometry. Despite the absence of crashes and major graphical glitches, many users feel the game is released in a beta state, with persistent issues that detract from the overall experience.
“As cool as the 3D view is, maybe don't implement it always if your stadiums are hiding so much buggy geometry.”
“I haven't owned a game in decades that was this buggy.”
“Every year, the game ships as a buggy beta.”
- humor4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is subtle and often arises from the absurdity of its bridge-building concept, which can lead to amusing moments as players navigate initial challenges. However, some users find the interface's overly wordy and small navigation icons to be unintentionally funny, adding a layer of frustration to the experience. Overall, while the humor is present, it may not be consistently effective or intentional.
“Can be a little funny to work out the kinks at first, but after you do, the game flows very well.”
“Which is hilarious as a bridge building concept.”
- monetization3 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- -33 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization practices in the game have drawn mixed reactions, with some players criticizing it as a cash grab, while others note improvements in accessibility and reduced predatory tactics compared to previous iterations. However, concerns remain about certain features resembling pay-to-win mechanics seen in other games, such as Lost Ark. Overall, the monetization strategy appears to be a contentious topic among users.
“Perfect Team seems much more accessible and less predatory in terms of monetization than the last time I played, making free-to-play possible (although I have no idea if it will be able to compete at the top leagues).”
“If I was in the stands at a real baseball game, and this game's devs were pitching this, I would be booing this cash grab nonsense!”
“Combinators are akin to the monetization practices in the game Lost Ark, which is infamous for being one of the most pay-to-win games in existence.”
“Perfect Team seems much more accessible and less predatory monetization-wise than the last time I played, making free-to-play possible (although no idea if it will be able to compete at the top leagues).”
- grinding2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be a mixed experience; while some features, like the player development lab, initially seem promising, they often become tedious and time-consuming with minimal rewards. However, improvements in recent versions have alleviated some of the previous tedium associated with grinding.
“The player development lab feature sounded awesome on paper, but I found it to be really tedious and time-consuming in reality for little development gain.”
“In previous versions, this could sometimes get tedious; in v25, that wasn't the case at all.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- -150 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
The optimization of the game has been praised for its smooth release, with users reporting no bugs or performance issues since launch. Extensive beta testing has contributed to a well-functioning historical simulation and improved rating system, enhancing overall player satisfaction.
“This has been a really smooth release - I haven't seen any bugs or performance impacts since release day.”
“As someone who put in months of testing, running and rerunning the historical simulations in beta testing, I could not be happier with how the historic part of the game turned out. The new rating system effectively addresses statistical outlier seasons and aligns each player to their historic performance.”
“The game is riddled with optimization issues that make it nearly unplayable at times.”
“I constantly experience frame drops and stuttering, which ruins the overall experience.”
“Despite the potential, the lack of optimization leads to frustrating gameplay and frequent crashes.”
- music1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The music in the game features ballpark tunes and crowd sounds, though some users have noted occasional sound bugs that can disrupt the experience. Overall, these issues are minor and do not significantly detract from the enjoyment of the game's audio.
“There are some sound bugs during play-by-play, such as crowd sounds and ballpark music, which can be distracting.”
“The music feels repetitive and lacks variety, making it hard to stay engaged.”
“The audio mixing is off, with the music often drowning out important sound effects.”
