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EA SPORTS FC 26

Fifa 17, i remind that i really liked the feeling, but there was at least for me a game breaker : the L2+X laser pass. It worked too well, there wasn't a time to charge the pass and didn't affected that much the ball control.
That's what pushed me to stop quickly to play. Even now i still hate that move, even if i remember it was far less effective in Fifa 19
 
The game is so easy, I am kind of getting bored and my trial isn't even up. The build up is so good this year but the attacking third for both team is kinda stale. It's all about making 50 passes around the box looking for an opening. AI is either too perfect in positioning or completely brain dead regardless of the defender's attributes. And you have to select very specific player roles otherwise you barely get any players making attacking runs. They all just kinda stand around on the attacking third. CPU in attack is also the same problem. They are obsessed with keeping possession rather than progressing to attack. Eventually for both human and CPU, you pass around the box like 20 times and eventually the CB will part away like the red sea and you get an easy 1 on 1 goal. And it doesn't help how much the CPU likes to back off instead of closing down.

And against players like Salah, Saka, etc, you can easily tackle them since they will run straight on without protecting the ball or trying to avoid your tackle.
 
Tried a match on Legendary after losing 5-0 to Monaco as Real Madrid in a UCL kick off match. Finished 3-3. I'm not sure what to make of it tbh. I felt before UCL upgrades to a higher level of difficulty from what plays in a normal match. Might have to try a UCL match on Legendary to see how it goes. I'm a bit lost at the difficulty I should be at. Professional seems to easy for me from that first match auto difficulty thing
 
I use custom because the CPU AI is extremely bad in attack.
Do you use some specific values? At the moment I'm using tactical but it's way too easy to defend.

One more thing: the update definitively changed something in competitive gameplay. It's easier to break the defence now, my games are ending 4-1, 4-2, 6-1 etc. at ultimate difficulty so I had to switch back to authentic gameplay. Now my games are ending mostly 1-0 but the AI attacking is not dangerous enough. To find the sweet spot this year is really difficult but the base is better than the last years.
 
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Difficulty balance is off imo. The difference between professional and world class is an almighty chasm. Given it’s one step up in the difficulty ladder it should reflect that but instead it feels like 3 steps up. On the whole I’m enjoying it but the animation flow between running and shooting is broken….there seems to be a complete break which results in the twitch then skate movement rather than letting them flow through. This is what you get when you code in over responsive behaviours. The button press dictates the flow of the animation therefore breaking steps in mid flight.

As Chris et Al have already eluded to, the headers are utterly archaic. In some instances it’s like the ball suddenly hits an unknown velocity after contact with a forehead!

Overall I’m enjoying it for what it is, I’ve had some really great moments and great games.
 
Here are some more random old gen clips from the 10 hour trial.
A small detail but I don't think I've seen it before

A nice pass from Trossard to Gyokeres (I'm not using manual passing btw so it was nice to see) EDIT: actually I have manual lobbed through pass on *facepalm*

An awful corner kick routine

Arteta raging on the sidelines after Madueke gets tackled

Not gameplay related but 'Humble Gabriel' gave me flashbacks to the MCI 2-2 ARS game at the Etihad last season lol

An awful free kick
 
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Decided to try it on EA trial and well... it's better than 25 and 24. I guess it could be a somewhat entertaining game, but it definitely is a pretty shitty football game.

I tried playing default competitive and it seemed everyone was on crack, pretty much 3 passes to cover the entire field, shoot on goal, miss, the other team does the same rinse and repeat at 100km/h. so that is a no-go.

Authentic played better but I felt AI was for me a bit too robotic and sometimes too perfect, I would get close to them and they would start doing skills and perfectly ping pong passing the ball. It seems they make mistakes/ lose the ball only when they are close to my box.

The big problem I have with the latest games and maybe its a skill issue but 75% of the goals they scored on me was because my AI defender would prefer to go and mark another attacker that is not even involved in the play or he would just be daydreaming while an attacker just waltzes in. As always its Moses parting the Red Sea when an attacker with the ball comes. Defensive AI is extremely poor.

Played around an hr and a half, In that period I didn't see 1 foul.

On the positive side I think the colors look better and not so saturated and animations are smoother than before (although Fifa still has weird unnatural movements, players are kinda hunched over, some movements look like there are missing a few Frames).

I kept thinking to myself: is this the best footy game I can play now, or am I forcing myself to find positives and enjoy it because it's new? Heck I even enjoy Fifa 22 more even with its hypermotion and 1v1 junk so I don't know if they are getting worse or Im getting old.

I didn't use all my 10hr trial in FC25 and Im not really urging to play this tomorrow so it'll probably be the same...

TL;DR Same ol fifa but with mascots
 
Finished the trial. Not one foul. I play slow too and use the sprint button sparingly, so there’s plenty of opportunity for the cpu to clip my ankles. A football game without fouls is bizarre and not very authentic. EA have had years to improve this. Anyway, overall it’s a little bit better than FC 25 in some areas but that doesn’t mean it’s very good overall. Can’t imagine paying anywhere near full price for this.
 
The game Is good. Very good. They splitted the gameplay as community asked, of course they are gonna improve it as time pass as it is a refactory of code that cannot be done in just one year.

I know it is very hard to create a gameplay that looks realistic but is not very boring on lower levels.

A full, realistic, gameplay is boring for the average user. Think about a real football match between two low table teams, and try to think a game that follow that realism.
It will be hard to do a pass straight if the body is not in the right position, facing straight t the receiver, and it will go wrong the player does not see the receiver, and you're pressed, .. you press the button to do a long pass, and the over realistic gameplay takes a more than couple of seconds to do a long pass, because the player have to "see" the receiver, then have to "charge" the pass.

This is the best hybrid approach that they could come up, at least we know they are putting effort.

Having a ball totally "free" comes with a price. Make the flow of the game slow, crappy, with the player trying to control the ball only to see the other player take it from him easily. "Magnetize" it make the flow fluid, with a better enjoyment of the game. In the future we will have a checkbox " free ball", it will be done when they have a set of animations ready to respond to every situation.
 
The game Is good. Very good. They splitted the gameplay as community asked, of course they are gonna improve it as time pass as it is a refactory of code that cannot be done in just one year.

I know it is very hard to create a gameplay that looks realistic but is not very boring on lower levels.

A full, realistic, gameplay is boring for the average user. Think about a real football match between two low table teams, and try to think a game that follow that realism.
It will be hard to do a pass straight if the body is not in the right position, facing straight t the receiver, and it will go wrong the player does not see the receiver, and you're pressed, .. you press the button to do a long pass, and the over realistic gameplay takes a more than couple of seconds to do a long pass, because the player have to "see" the receiver, then have to "charge" the pass.

This is the best hybrid approach that they could come up, at least we know they are putting effort.

Having a ball totally "free" comes with a price. Make the flow of the game slow, crappy, with the player trying to control the ball only to see the other player take it from him easily. "Magnetize" it make the flow fluid, with a better enjoyment of the game. In the future we will have a checkbox " free ball", it will be done when they have a set of animations ready to respond to every situation.
how do you know this ?
 
Finished the trial. Not one foul. I play slow too and use the sprint button sparingly, so there’s plenty of opportunity for the cpu to clip my ankles. A football game without fouls is bizarre and not very authentic. EA have had years to improve this. Anyway, overall it’s a little bit better than FC 25 in some areas but that doesn’t mean it’s very good overall. Can’t imagine paying anywhere near full price for this.


Usually I try to make a sub around 60 mins but it happens at the 80th coz there was no stoppage in play, No fouls, No misplaced passes, All shots are on target :DD
 
FUT needs to be a separate game, you physically can not satisfy a community that thinks this gameplay is good and people that want realism at the same time


These people are cretins. Symbols of how social media slowly ruins every element of popular culture that ever had any depth, originality or mark of individuality, or pushes those things to the margins.

These abysmal opnions would previously go unheard, or just ignored, filtered out in the normal marketplace of ideas. 15 years ago this guy would realise he's a moron from other people's in-person reactions so he'd either keep shut or educate himself.

Now he just blares his bullshit to the world and a load of programmers spend their lives indulging him and everyone ends up in the mud with him.
 
how do you know this ?
i'm a software developer, i like to do my experiments on gameplayfootball, having the ability to mess with the source code.
Also when i watch a football match on tv i try to visualize it as if i have a gamepad on me. Try to do that and you'll see a bit about my POV.
If, for some reason, decide to go that way, the community will scream:
- My player needs 5 seconds just to turn 90 degrees
- Too much pressing on me after I pass the mid of the field.
- Can't do a pass right. Too much time to charge a shot, only half baked attemps.
- My players doesn't have any stamina.
- I get and do a foul every 2 mins.
After this, someone will think why they do this kind of compromise. Why they put a magnet on the ball, and make players be like a feather. Thinko f all the people that run the game after work, and then don't want to put the same effort in a match as you could do in football manager (that is also a simplified version of a manager game)

Now we have 2 gameplays. A Rush mode for the fools that likes Kings League. Player roles and IQ. Visual realism with lots, lots of real life 3d faces and kits.
I liked a lots PES in old times, now eFootball is an empty shell. It's ok to laugh on me (i see the reactions).
If someone can do better, just apply to EA on GP team. If you ever seen the code, what is behind all of that.

What I want EA to change? Make attributes not tied to overall rating. The way it is now make the players too flat.
Not that makes a difference now, they need to really make the sliders work.
Having the possibility to get/do fouls also when a player is not in contact with the ball.
 
After a few games I have positive feel about it. It will never be realistic football sim and if you're ok with that you can enjoy it for what it is. Only issue I have is that somehow my defenders are slower to cover spaces and block opposition attackers when they recieve the ball, I guess defenders are not positioning properly. Hope this is fixable and not some hypermotion issue.
 
i'm a software developer, i like to do my experiments on gameplayfootball, having the ability to mess with the source code.
Also when i watch a football match on tv i try to visualize it as if i have a gamepad on me. Try to do that and you'll see a bit about my POV.
If, for some reason, decide to go that way, the community will scream:
- My player needs 5 seconds just to turn 90 degrees
- Too much pressing on me after I pass the mid of the field.
- Can't do a pass right. Too much time to charge a shot, only half baked attemps.
- My players doesn't have any stamina.
- I get and do a foul every 2 mins.
After this, someone will think why they do this kind of compromise. Why they put a magnet on the ball, and make players be like a feather. Thinko f all the people that run the game after work, and then don't want to put the same effort in a match as you could do in football manager (that is also a simplified version of a manager game)

Now we have 2 gameplays. A Rush mode for the fools that likes Kings League. Player roles and IQ. Visual realism with lots, lots of real life 3d faces and kits.
I liked a lots PES in old times, now eFootball is an empty shell. It's ok to laugh on me (i see the reactions).
If someone can do better, just apply to EA on GP team. If you ever seen the code, what is behind all of that.

What I want EA to change? Make attributes not tied to overall rating. The way it is now make the players too flat.
Not that makes a difference now, they need to really make the sliders work.
Having the possibility to get/do fouls also when a player is not in contact with the ball.
That's what I said here on this forum a while ago, people are used to the old PES and think that the reference is that game, but they have never played soccer in their lives, those old games were very fun but honestly very far from the movement and weight of the soccer ball, the speed at which you touched the soccer ball and it instantly went to your teammate has nothing real, besides that you ran like crazy to the sides, as if a soccer player was from another planet and without gravity, but I'm not going to get into trouble anymore, people really like PES 5, 6, 2008 anyway, those games too but saying I love the simulation of that time represents more soccer than today's and stuff, but everyone has an opinion so that's okay! Unfortunately the game is quite messy, with hilarious crashes, there are no fouls, and some grotesque animations, those who have a PC can still fix this a lot with mods, but it still needs a lot of fixing in general!
 
Arteta raging on the sidelines after Madueke gets tackled
Oh, how cute! These twins are abso-f*ck!ng-lutely adorable!
1758991294259.png

Too bad they're also absolutely not impressed by the missed chance (and, by looking at their face, I'd say they're not impressed by the entire matchday experience either).
And by the way why is the third twin sitting in the row behind and not beside the other two?
 
i'm a software developer, i like to do my experiments on gameplayfootball, having the ability to mess with the source code.
Also when i watch a football match on tv i try to visualize it as if i have a gamepad on me. Try to do that and you'll see a bit about my POV.
If, for some reason, decide to go that way, the community will scream:
- My player needs 5 seconds just to turn 90 degrees
- Too much pressing on me after I pass the mid of the field.
- Can't do a pass right. Too much time to charge a shot, only half baked attemps.
- My players doesn't have any stamina.
- I get and do a foul every 2 mins.
After this, someone will think why they do this kind of compromise. Why they put a magnet on the ball, and make players be like a feather. Thinko f all the people that run the game after work, and then don't want to put the same effort in a match as you could do in football manager (that is also a simplified version of a manager game)

Now we have 2 gameplays. A Rush mode for the fools that likes Kings League. Player roles and IQ. Visual realism with lots, lots of real life 3d faces and kits.
I liked a lots PES in old times, now eFootball is an empty shell. It's ok to laugh on me (i see the reactions).
If someone can do better, just apply to EA on GP team. If you ever seen the code, what is behind all of that.

What I want EA to change? Make attributes not tied to overall rating. The way it is now make the players too flat.
Not that makes a difference now, they need to really make the sliders work.
Having the possibility to get/do fouls also when a player is not in contact with the ball.
I think PES 5 almost got the balance right but because of how free the game is, it also makes the game easy. You can easily win the league with default master league players in your first season because the CPU struggles a bit too much with how free and physics driven the game is. I also know the cost of having free gameplay is that you get less decisive CPU. I have personally accepted a lot of what FC games does(like magnetizing ball, passes being more straight forward, tackling being a boolean logic and even header being a boolean logic(even though they should be more physics driven)). However I do not accept the state of Player IQ and player positioning. My FBs are constrained to the backline when I am on attack. Especially if i am attacking right, my left fullback will always be stuck on back line. And how the CM's never track like they are bolted on a specific small part of the zone. It's extremely static and boring and I very much prefer the tactical/positioning system of FIFA 17. As a video game that's meant to have a balance between fun and realism, FC IQ accomplish none of those.
 
That's what I said here on this forum a while ago, people are used to the old PES and think that the reference is that game, but they have never played soccer in their lives, those old games were very fun but honestly very far from the movement and weight of the soccer ball, the speed at which you touched the soccer ball and it instantly went to your teammate has nothing real, besides that you ran like crazy to the sides, as if a soccer player was from another planet and without gravity, but I'm not going to get into trouble anymore, people really like PES 5, 6, 2008 anyway, those games too but saying I love the simulation of that time represents more soccer than today's and stuff, but everyone has an opinion so that's okay! Unfortunately the game is quite messy, with hilarious crashes, there are no fouls, and some grotesque animations, those who have a PC can still fix this a lot with mods, but it still needs a lot of fixing in general!


Old Pes are great games not because they were full SIM. Their hardware limitations can't reproduce a good Amount of animation or 360 degrees movement, but it's not all a matter of speed or responsivness when it comes to football videogame.
Old Pes get good a lot of stuff while be fast paced (and still have more inertia and physicalty than FC) and responsive. They are fun to play as a game but they still provide sim simulation bits despite be fast, because fundamentals were there.
FC is advanced, have a lot of animation but is an arcade too,not less than these old gems and be responsive is not the problem....is the way It Is which is bad, the totally lack of physics and a.i: all this provide a dull experience on pad.
On other side Pes2021 Is praised to be realistic only because is super unrersponsive, heavy and has a good ball physics when it comes to passing (ignoring how much bad is at shooting). But still it has a horrible collision detection and physicalty, dull a.i and variety. It is not realistic too, more than FC yes, but still not a good sim. But at least is a more consistent experience at pad, and get football's fundamentals better than fifa.

I think that the problem who many have here with Fc is not that it is not the "No compromise" SIM we are dreaming, but a dull arcade which does not get right any football's fundamentals, and this hurts in 2025.
It, simply, Is not a football videogame.
 
Old Pes are great games not because they were full SIM. Their hardware limitations can't reproduce a good Amount of animation or 360 degrees movement, but it's not all a matter of speed or responsivness when it comes to football videogame.
Old Pes get good a lot of stuff while be fast paced (and still have more inertia and physicalty than FC) and responsive. They are fun to play as a game but they still provide sim simulation bits despite be fast, because fundamentals were there.
FC is advanced, have a lot of animation but is an arcade too,not less than these old gems and be responsive is not the problem....is the way It Is which is bad, the totally lack of physics and a.i: all this provide a dull experience on pad.
On other side Pes2021 Is praised to be realistic only because is super unrersponsive, heavy and has a good ball physics when it comes to passing (ignoring how much bad is at shooting). But still it has a horrible collision detection and physicalty, dull a.i and variety. It is not realistic too, more than FC yes, but still not a good sim. But at least is a more consistent experience at pad, and get football's fundamentals better than fifa.

I think that the problem who many have here with Fc is not that it is not the "No compromise" SIM we are dreaming, but a dull arcade which does not get right any football's fundamentals, and this hurts in 2025.
It, simply, Is not a football videogame.
Well, at least they are trying and haven't left out people who enjoy a more simulator-like game, last year with the simulation mode and this year dividing the gameplay, I believe that a lot of this is also due to the limitations of the outdated engine, who knows, maybe in the future they will release the game for Frostbite and it can improve a lot!
 
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