Games Dynamics

On March 18, 2025, MLB The Show 25, as a benchmark for baseball simulation games, officially landed on PS5 platform, and simultaneously covered platforms such as Xbox Series and Switch. The game not only took a bold step in its distribution strategy, but also redefined the immersion and freedom of baseball games through technological innovation and gameplay upgrades.

New Mode

MLB announced before MLB The Show 25 was launched that college baseball would be included in Major League Baseball (MLB The Show) for the first time. Let more student players start their careers from high school until they enter college and aspire to join MLB. And in the new mode of the game, I believe players will definitely have a different gaming experience and earn more MLB The Show 25 stubs and rare player cards.

This move improves Road to the Show mode, providing fans and gamers with a more immersive experience. For example, in the game, players can customize the player's physique, body shape and even personal character, and then attract more students to create their own virtual life. And the newly introduced attributes of the game make the player's improvement no longer confined to the traditional linear improvement. For example, completing a difficult catch can unlock exclusive defensive skills.

According to previous promotional materials, in simple terms, players can start your professional journey by playing two or three games in high school, and complete three or four games in the amateur stage, and finally complete the college stage with the clanging of metal bats.

The game features eight notable NCAA Division I programs:

• LSU Tigers
• Texas Longhorns
• UCLA Bruins
• Vanderbilt Commodores
• Tennessee Volunteers
• South Carolina Gamecocks
• TCU Horned Frogs
• Cal State Fullerton Titans

These teams have long been renowned in baseball circles for their rich history and for producing generations of great baseball players for MLB.

Tennessee was favored to win the first national championship in program history, so it only made sense to have the defending national champions participate in the first-ever MLB The Show game featuring a college program.

EA's College Baseball Experience Gives The New Mode A New Direction In The Game

College baseball has a long history of appearing in games. As a developer of sports games, EA has a high reputation in this field. With rich technical experience, it has opened up its own path and occupied its own place. It is precisely because of these experiences that the addition of the college baseball mode to MLB 25 is more logical and more popular, because there have been predecessors who have demonstrated and laid a certain market foundation long before.

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, college baseball accounted for a large part of the sports video game genre. At first, EA's historical journey in college baseball video games was not smooth, but it also had satisfactory results.

From the mid-1990s to the early 2000s, Triple Play Series was mainly dedicated to creating and providing players with arcade-style games with real MLB teams and players.

During the two-year period of 2003-2005, MVP Baseball 2005 was praised for its realistic gameplay and depth, and is often considered one of the best baseball video games ever.

MVP 06 and 07 NCAA Baseball, these games focus on college baseball, feature real NCAA teams, and provide a unique experience different from MLB games.

EA's college sports games were suddenly discontinued mainly due to legal issues such as name and image deals with players.

EA's college baseball video game history has allowed MLB 25 to learn how to operate better and how to avoid these risks. On the other hand, with the recent changes to the name, image and likeness (NIL) regulations, college players are allowed to return to video games. This may mean that with the inclusion of college baseball, people's interest in college sports games is gradually reviving.

Quite a number of players believe that with the continuous development of NIL and licensing agreements, dedicated college baseball games may return, and perhaps MLB The Show 25 will lead the industry and create a new landscape for baseball games.

Recently, the first crossover between Diablo 4 and Berserk has finally been launched. This is the dark fantasy-style anime and comic series - Berserk. This is a classic work created by the late Kentaro Miura, with Black Swordsman Guts as the core, who finally ruled the world after many hardships. The game style of this comic series is very similar to that of Diablo 4, which also attracted the attention of a large number of loyal fans when the developers announced the crossover.

In fact, this is not the first crossover event of Diablo 4. Last year, the game was linked with World of Warcraft under the same company, but the effect was very general, because the two games did not have more cooperation except for the introduction of some new weapons and accessories, which also disappointed many players who were eager to see the new content of Diablo 4.

But this time, Diablo 4 and Berserk are not just on the surface. They not only bring a new Berserk-themed event, but also provide players with new cosmetics and transmogrifications inspired by Guts, Griffith, and Skull Knight in the comics. In addition, players have the opportunity to win Skull Behelit Mount Trophy by participating in Streamer Twitch campaign!

Currently, this Diablo 4 x Berserk crossover event has officially started and will last until June 3. Players who want to get various limited-time unique sets should join in quickly!

What Does Berserk Crossover Event Offer?

During this event, players can obtain a new event currency, Behelits. But it works differently from regular Diablo 4 Gold, which can only be used to redeem some unique cosmetics at Berserk Reliquary during the event, such as:

• Hawks Destiny Back Trophy
• Skull Knight’s Heraldry Mount Armor
• Brand of Sacrifice Marking
• Foretold Eclipse Headstone

Therefore, if you want to get all the linkage items as soon as possible, then focusing on collecting Behelits during the event is your main goal. Farming this currency is also relatively simple, as long as you kill elite enemies, they will drop them, and usually these currencies and loot drops will scale with the difficulty level you challenge, so please challenge higher difficulties within your ability!

It is worth noting that before the end of the event at 10 am Pacific Time on June 3, players who collect all the items in Berserk Reliquary can also get an additional reward, Od of the Berserker Emblem, so please seize all opportunities to earn Behelits!

Berserk Event Rewards

In-game Event (until June 3 at 10 AM PT)

During the event, players can obtain exclusive rewards from Berserk Reliquary, including:

• Hawks Destiny Back Trophy
• Skull Knight’s Heraldry Mount Armor
• Brand of Sacrifice Marking
• Foretold Eclipse Headstone
• Od of the Berserker Emblem

Cash Shop Bundles (until June 5 at 12 PM PT)

Barbarian

• The Berserker Armor - 2800 Platinum

Rogue

• The Struggler - 2800 Platinum
• The Hawk of Light - 2800 Platinum

Necromancer

• The Skull Knight - 2800 Platinum

Other

The Schnoz Pet Bundle - 2800 Platinum

• Schnoz Pet
• Mask Rakshas Mount Trophy
• Chimimoryo’s Resemblance Emblem

Warhorse of Light Mount Bundle - 2800 Platinum

• Fantasia Mount
• Fantasia’s Bridle
• Reborn Band of the Hawk Mount Trophy
• God Hand’s Gift Mount Trophy

In addition, this event also prepared more exquisite cosmetics for players who want to explore Diablo 4 more deeply. Now players only need to spend 2800 Platinum to dress up your character in the cash shop. These decorations are available for a limited time and will be removed from the shelves on June 5 at 12 PM PT. Please pay attention to the time!

During the game event, if players want to get Skull Behelit Mount Trophy, they only need to support the anchor on Twitch, that is, subscribe to the eligible Diablo 4 channel. It should be noted that players can also get Marrow of the Brute Two-Handed Sword by watching a live broadcast of a similar category for three hours before May 10th.

This collaboration with Berserk will undoubtedly bring players more exciting content that is different from the previous Diablo 4. According to the news, at least one IP will soon be linked with Diablo 4 Season 10, so players can look forward to it.

EA Sports FC 25 launched a paid pass for the first time, aiming to enrich the game content and allow us to get a better gaming experience. Prior to this, all passes in the game were free. The launch of this season pass is likely to indicate that the game is transitioning to a paid model. Next, this article will introduce you to the content included in newly launched Premium Pass and the views of developers and fans.

The launch of paid passes in video games has become a common phenomenon. This phenomenon means that developers allow players to experience all the free content in the game and still enjoy some exclusive game content by paying. This model has been adopted by many games including Fortnite and Call of Duty Warzone. Paying players can enjoy more exciting and unique content.

Premium Pass Content

Premium Pass will be released on April 24, the developer announced. The price of Premium Pass is 500,000 UT Coins or 1,000 FC Points worth $9.9. It rewards include Season Points for in-game rewards, Tradeable Packs, EA Sports FC 25 Team of Season Retro and PlayStyle+ Evolution Upgrades, and TOTS Flashback cards and TOTS Honourable Mentions based on the 2024/25 season.

Premium Pass owners can also unlock Franck Ribery’s Immortal Icon card with a 96 OVR rating, as well as some TOTS Retro Cosmetic Evolutions.

We can choose to purchase FC 25 Premium Pass at any time during Season 7, and we can choose to experience the free content before deciding whether to purchase it.

Fans’ Views

Currently, the relevant game communities and forums are full of fans discussing this matter. Many fans are dissatisfied with this, believing that FC 25 is already a paid game, and the introduction of Premium Pass is tantamount to an additional charge and a tool to make money.

You still need to upgrade to unlock most of the rewards in the game, and you will also need a lot of FC 25 Coins to get some guaranteed cards in the game. The appearance of Premium Pass is tantamount to guiding players to spend directly.

But there are also some fans who are looking forward to getting the rewards of the premium pass and experiencing richer, more exciting and more unique game content.

Clarification From The Developer

The developer stated in its blog that Premium Pass is only an additional feature and will not affect the standard-level rewards in the game, nor will the standard-level rewards be transferred to the paid pass. Players who choose free can still get continuously growing rewards in the game.

The introduction of the paid pass is to provide some players who are worth investing with additional carefully planned content, so that they can experience more exciting features than the standard version. In order to be fair, we can choose the free standard version pass to get those exciting rewards. Premium Pass is an option rather than a necessity to stay competitive.

The developer also emphasized that both passes are designed to provide more complete content for game’s Ultimate Team, Clubs, and Career Mode. And it is guaranteed that the appearance of Premium Pass will not affect the overall gaming experience of standard version players.

While the world is focusing on the countdown to the release of Pokémon Legends: Z-A in 2025, an indie game called Monsterpatch unexpectedly topped my list of anticipated games of the year. Although I am curious about Pokémon’s latest open-world attempt, Monsterpatch, a traditional Pokémon sequel built with pixel art and innovative mechanisms, does have its own unique charm.

In general, games like Pokémon always find it difficult to get rid of the label of poor imitators. Even the popular work Palworld, its core appeal comes more from the visual impact of Pokémon holding guns than from deep gameplay.

But Monsterpatch is completely different. It caters to players’ desire for classic monster-collecting RPGs, while also being full of farm simulation game gameplay. People can’t help but be attracted by its warm game style and fall into nostalgia. This is probably why it surpassed Hollow Knight: Silksong’s campaign on Kickstarter.

Entering Monsterpatch is like opening up your childhood handheld, and while it may seem like a Pokémon Red/Blue clone on the surface, it has its own unique features when you look deeper.

First, the game allows you to customize your character, so you can freely combine classic looks like Red or Brendan. Second, the dynamic weather system in the game makes every encounter in the grass full of variables. From these aspects, we can clearly see that this game is paying homage to the classic Pokémon games.

But it also has its own charm. The most exciting change comes from its combat mechanism - unlike the traditional 1v1 turn-based battle of Pokémon, Monsterpatch adopts Final Fantasy-style full-member coordinated combat. In the trailer, we can see that area skills such as Leaf Blade can hit all enemy units at the same time. This design forces players to think carefully about attribute restraint and team composition strategies.

What's even more surprising is that the developer of this game will also release two versions like Pokémon games, but the difference is that players do not need to buy both versions. Just choose the version you want to play when starting a save file to experience completely different game content. This design not only retains the fun of collecting dual versions but also avoids the controversy of repeated consumption, which is my favorite innovation.

If the battle system shows its innovation, then the farm simulation gameplay brings unexpected surprises to players. Players can run farming and customizing your hometown in between adventures. This warm design, similar to Stardew Valley, creates a unique rhythm change for this game. Imagine that after you finish the tense battle, you can go back to the farm you built to have a good rest and experience a comfortable farm life. This is simply wonderful.

Although the mention of farming sims will make people think of Stardew Valley, farming is not its main content in Monsterpatch, so it still attracts many players, including me, relying on this point.

Even if the content Monsterpatch has shown us is amazing enough, there are still uncertainties in the development cycle management and QA testing of independent teams. In comparison, Pokémon Legends: Z-A is indeed more reliable, and I am also looking forward to it.

However, I am still optimistic about Monsterpatch and hope to experience different fun in these two games.