Sony is bringing another of its long-running game franchises to iOS and Android in the shape of MLB The Show Mobile. This is a free-to-play "standalone experience built from the ground up to deliver realistic baseball gameplay on mobile devices." San Diego Studio, the developer of every MLB The Show game since the series debuted in 2006, is behind this mobile game as well.
Set during ancient China's Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (about 907 to 979 AD), the game is this fantastical amalgam of MMO, action-adventure, and RPG mechanics that seamlessly blends into an open-world environment you can play either in solo or multiplayer modes. There are epic sword fights with flashy combos, Tai Chi moves to basically force-throw animals and enemies, and bosses that rival a From Software game in size and difficulty.
It's a skateboarding game with a unique control scheme meant to replicate the feeling of skating more accurately than something as arcadey as the Tony Hawk Pro Skater series. Players use the analog sticks to control their feet and body, allowing them fine control over flipping the board under them, and pulling off other complex stunts. The result is a game that perfectly captures the expressive, at times, meditative side of the sport.
