BASIC GAMEPLAY TIPS

BATTING TIPS:

The image shown above was taken in Training Mode. You'll want to spend some time in batting practice (especially honing your power swing.) Note the meter shown on the top left, it displays your swing data. My last swing was slightly early and I hit the ball 87 meters to the left fielder for an out.

Because the Japanese baseball league started using a heavy ball 2 years ago to reduce offense, hitters in Power Pro 2013 generally have lower contact and power, while pitchers have higher attributes compared to Power Pro games in the past. As a result, I find contact hitting to be much more useful than power hitting. With contact swing you can still slash doubles into the gap and get extra base hits.

If you are a new Power Pro player, I would initially recommend setting the batting lock-on assist to level 1 or 2. Pick your spots to use power swing. For example, if the opposing pitcher is rattled, change to power swing and just leave the cursor in the middle of the zone and see if the pitcher will throw a mistake meatball down the middle. If you miss with the power swing it's very easy to hit an infield pop up or something weak like that, so again go into batting practice to hone your skills.

Don't get into the habit of swinging the same way with every batter. Think about what each players strength & weaknesses are, and know their special skills. For example, a low power spray hitter with opposite field skill should look to slap pitches to to the opposite field. If he has the "Good Eye" green special skill (CPU tendency), you should mostly look to be patient and look for a walk. Those who use the various tools available at their disposal to scrap out a victory will get maximum enjoyment from the game.

PITCHING TIPS:

Don't forget to keep fast baserunners in check with pitchouts, if you don't they will steal bases with ease.

Pitching low in the zone is your key to success, the CPU will smash anything up high so don't miss your spot if you're trying to blow a high one by him.

New this year is the full-power fastball (zenryoku pitching), which is selected by pressing Up. It takes way more energy to throw than a regular fastball (which is the default pitch when you don't select anything) but is faster and it's a great strike-out pitch.

Check our Pitch Types page, it includes individual fatigue for each pitch that's thrown.

DEFENSIVE TIPS:

As always in Konami games, defense rating is very important. Definitely sub in your defensive specialist late in the game because the fielder's faster reaction time and movement will save you crucial runs.

When a ball is just out of reach, try pressing The Direction of the Ball + Square to do a dive/jump/stab.

Don't forget you can change throw or cancel throw (L button) mid-animation.

BASERUNNING TIPS:

To get the most speed out of your base runners, repeatedly press R & L buttons to get a boost in speed. This is crucial for getting triples, stolen bases, and sac flies.

A very important note about baserunning is that, unfortunately, this year's game does not do a very good job of sending your runners back for you on an infield pop-up and other flyballs. If you know you just hit a ball in the air and it will be caught, you better start pressing O immediately to make the runners go back or they will get doubled up. You can also try pressing O+Triangle instead to freeze the runner just in case the ball drops for an error or something but I usually send them back ASAP. This is not an issue with auto-baserunning enabled.