Sports video games like baseball’s MLB The Show 25 often feature a wide variety of difficulty settings to make things fun for a larger audience of players who come to the game with different ability levels and knowledge. Whether someone is picking up a controller for the first time or has been a longtime player of MLB The Show games, this video game series has skill levels to meet players where they are. Each complexity level offers plenty to entertain players and can provide goals for people to work toward improving their skills to move up to the next tier.

As a yearly game release, MLB The Show 25 continues to evolve and grow with each new title based on what seemed to work or not work in previous entries in the series. Changes this year include a revamped Franchise mode, a new offseason experience, and an entirely new difficulty level called GOAT. While the GOAT setting will certainly not be for everyone, in fact it is aimed at a very small percentage of players, there are plenty of other options available which still include new features to make this year’s experience feel fresh and new.

Every Difficulty In MLB The Show 25

10 Levels Of Difficulty Allow For A Range Of Abilities

First, it is important to note that Gameplay Style is a separate setting from Difficulty. This can be changed in the Settings menu and is often automatically set to Competitive for many of the game modes in MLB The Show 25, although there are also Casual and Simulation settings that players can try.

When it comes to the difficulty settings, there are now ten options available, including the Dynamic Difficulty and the new GOAT level. By choosing Dynamic, the game is designed to start at the lowest difficulty setting and then automatically provide gradual increases in difficulty to see what skill the player is at. This is a good way to get a basic idea of where someone should fall in the large variety of settings. In the following table, we show a very basic breakdown of each of the settings.

All difficulties are said to include the new Ambush Hitting setting. This new system builds off the zone hitting setting and allows players to get a bit of a boost if they correctly guess which area of the plate the ball will be thrown to by the pitcher. This seemingly small feature can add a good strategic advantage for those who know players or can read the pitcher well, or even just have really good luck.

MLB The Show’s New GOAT Difficulty Explained

The Hardest Gameplay Experience Yet, Designed For The Best In The World

In past years, players who were able to play even better than the Legend difficulty setting, reaching a 1000+ level in Ranked play, weren’t rewarded with much beyond a sense of satisfaction and maybe a cosmetic item. Now, with MLB The Show 25, a new GOAT difficulty setting comes in above Legend for the top tier players. This setting is not going to be for most players, although it certainly gives an interesting goal to strive for.

Defining GOAT difficulty is an emphasis on the word difficult. The setting features faster fastball pitches, bigger breaks on off-screen pitches, tighter swing timing windows, and batter PCIs are smaller. Additionally, the inputs for Pinpoint pitching are made harder and pitcher PARs are larger. Put simply, this skill level is truly designed to test the limits of the greatest players of all time, while the majority of players will not even see it.

Which MLB 25 Difficulty Is Right For You & Why

Choose Your Level Of Pain

Deciding what difficulty setting is right to start on will come down to a personal choice. If you prefer difficult challenges, Veteran could be perfect for you. If you have never played a baseball video game before, perhaps Beginner is a smarter choice. The Dynamic difficulty mode is supposed to help a person discover their perfect fit and scale accordingly, although previous years have shown the mechanics to not always stop scaling when the player is having difficulty, resulting in some players feeling frustrated with the game. It is yet to be determined if this has been corrected.

The table listed above gives a very basic rundown of each of the settings. In order to prevent becoming too frustrated with the game, it is recommended to start out at the easier side of things and then work up to greater challenges. Like baseball in the physical world, MLB The Show 25 has many intricate gameplay mechanics that can make the strategy of the game incredibly involved, but also make for a very rewarding experience for those who stick with it.