EA SPORTS FC 26

I get the impression that the authentic gameplay in this latest update has undergone a lot of adjustments, particularly regarding contact, acceleration and movement. Any thoughts?
You’re right, it’s got better. It’s less jerky.

HOWEVER, they haven’t changed, to any great degree, the two fundamental problems. And that is, ball behaviour; and the fact that players can turn their bodies in any way they like at a hyper speed. This makes defending a joke because your AI opposition can do anything at anytime.
 
I get where you are coming from. But im 100% sure if (for example) 2K develops a super realistic and fun football game - all the casuals will move there eventually.
It's nearly impossible to make a game realistic and fun at the same time. Because a realistic game means hard to play. Hard to play means no fun for most of the gamers. If it was easy, licensing stuff apart we would have already a 2k game
 
It's nearly impossible to make a game realistic and fun at the same time. Because a realistic game means hard to play. Hard to play means no fun for most of the gamers. If it was easy, licensing stuff apart we would have already a 2k game
thats why we have EA and efootball, the third serious competitor entering should be focusing more on realism and target a certain audience, and in football im sure theres quite a few out there that would support a realistic football game, problem is the casuals jump in find it too hard start complaining and in the game is broken end no ones happy. NBA2k26 one of the best examples, casuals complained shooting has always bee too hard and now shooting has been nerfed significantly in this years version, its a major turn off.
 
thats why we have EA and efootball, the third serious competitor entering should be focusing more on realism and target a certain audience, and in football im sure theres quite a few out there that would support a realistic football game, problem is the casuals jump in find it too hard start complaining and in the game is broken end no ones happy. NBA2k26 one of the best examples, casuals complained shooting has always bee too hard and now shooting has been nerfed significantly in this years version, its a major turn off.

So, sorry for just one offtopic question - which one of NBA (as you think) are good playable and have a good balance ?
 
NBA2k26 one of the best examples, casuals complained shooting has always bee too hard and now shooting has been nerfed significantly in this years version, its a major turn off.
I partially agree. While I also believe that 2k26 shooting has been significantly nerfed, I don't believe the others (apart from 2k25) were too hard. Thinking about it, the problem with 2k25 wasn't even the shooting difficulty per se, it was the absurdly low amount of shot meters to pick from.

which one of NBA (as you think) are good playable and have a good balance ?
That's a difficult question... From this and the past generation? None. Maybe 2k23...? But I don't believe you'll find up to date rosters, and updated modded assets (faces, courts, etc.) for it. From the seventh generation I'd say 2k11 and 2k14. But again, I'm not sure how's the mod scene nowadays...

About 2k26, I believe all the years of microtransactions associated with multiplayer pay-to-win / casino tactics contaminated the single-player "scene". Roughly 90% of the mods are paid... And the prices are absurd. It literally became a disease... I'll just stop it here, since it's a topic that really pisses me off, and to make matters worse, it's an OFF-topic (not for this thread). As Sany023, I also apologize for it.
 
I partially agree. While I also believe that 2k26 shooting has been significantly nerfed, I don't believe the others (apart from 2k25) were too hard. Thinking about it, the problem with 2k25 wasn't even the shooting difficulty per se, it was the absurdly low amount of shot meters to pick from.


That's a difficult question... From this and the past generation? None. Maybe 2k23...? But I don't believe you'll find up to date rosters, and updated modded assets (faces, courts, etc.) for it. From the seventh generation I'd say 2k11 and 2k14. But again, I'm not sure how's the mod scene nowadays...

About 2k26, I believe all the years of microtransactions associated with multiplayer pay-to-win / casino tactics contaminated the single-player "scene". Roughly 90% of the mods are paid... And the prices are absurd. It literally became a disease... I'll just stop it here, since it's a topic that really pisses me off, and to make matters worse, it's an OFF-topic (not for this thread). As Sany023, I also apologize for it.
did you ever play 2k20, for me that version i found shooting very brutal and rewarding at the same time.
 
did you ever play 2k20, for me that version i found shooting very brutal and rewarding at the same time.
I did. I bought at a sale price on steam at the time (probably paid 10 or 15 dollars). After a few weeks, the game started to crash after I picked teams for quick play. I opened a support ticket with 2k, they couldn't find a solution to the problem. I downloaded the cracked/pirated version. Game didn't crash at all. That's 2k for ya... ; ) Again, I think we should stay on topic (FC 26).
 
It's nearly impossible to make a game realistic and fun at the same time. Because a realistic game means hard to play. Hard to play means no fun for most of the gamers. If it was easy, licensing stuff apart we would have already a 2k game
For me and for players who prefer career mode, it's not about a football simulator. It's about a football game that retains the fundamentals of a football match. We all know that video games have to make some compromises to maintain fun. But breaking the basic elements of football or defying the laws of physics isn't a compromise. There are probably many younger players who enjoy scoring a few goals easily in every match. I understand that; I used to enjoy it too, when i was a kid. But that's what the difficulty level should be about, not tampering with game elements or mechanics. For me, the highest difficulty level should be difficult, and that's what I expect. Leaving aside all the pros and cons and the realism of today's football games (because everything has already been written about that, and I could go on and on :)), I don't understand one thing: why is the CPU so passive in attack, why doesn't it want to press, create chances, and score goals ? And I'm talking about both FIFA and PES. Without mods, once we learn the basic controls in each of these games, in most matches, even against strong teams on the highest difficulty level, we'll be able to take 2-3 times more shots than the CPU.
 
To be fair, modern games can be pretty hard to play as well imho. Between the micro managing of the defense and the unnatural boosts I find ultimate level a very frustrating experience on many Fifas/EA FC of the new course (I was revisiting some 20 lately... true stuff of the nightmares, but in my memory 22 and 23, although I played this last way less, were pretty cursed too even if a bit less so).

I don't think difficulty on his own has much to do with how games currently are.
 
I’ve played a few matches in Career Mode and, for me, this update is quite positive.
The game feels improved in several areas and I’ve noticed more physicality compared to before.
Defending is “easier”, but in a good way — I’ve scored goals in full manual that I couldn’t pull off before, yet the number of goals scored/conceded is pretty much the same as before.

As for fouls, I don’t see any real change. Some matches I get 5 fouls, others only 1–2. I’m learning to dribble using the lateral dribble command (I have it on LT) combined with sprint, and that helps me draw more fouls — but unfortunately only in 1v1 situations.

I still find it difficult to understand the tactical sliders.
I played the same match twice against the same opponent: once with the sliders I’ve been using for a while, and once with the tactical sliders.

I focused only on the two values that influence the CPU’s pace of play: build‑up speed and first‑time passing. In my custom setup, build‑up speed is 69 and first‑time passing 35. The in‑game result is good, and I feel that different tactics and philosophies are respected fairly well, although not as distinctly as I’d like. Still, with this setup the CPU built up patiently without constantly passing backwards.

In the test with tactical sliders, the CPU had everything at 50 except skill moves 29. But in‑game they were much slower in their build‑up, with many more backward passes. This makes things a bit confusing, because it makes me think that the values shown in the tactical sliders might not reflect what actually happens in gameplay.

Here’s an example of a goal I really liked.



Rapid vs Salisburgo (CPU)
1000107668.png
 
pes definitely relies on actual player physics, which is far different from fifa, correct me if im wrong
Honestly, you're incredibly wrong about that. The PES animation system works the same way as in FC, it's just way more sluggish in terms of animation canceling. PES is notorious for not having real time physics even for shooting and passing. Every ball trajectory is predetermined there.

What is the consensus "best" defending mode? Currently trying to learn tactical, usually go legacy. Im having a very hard time preventing the cpu from playing keep-ball all the time. World Class diff
Tactical, play around with the CPU sliders to make the AI play more directly.
 
@Chris Davies @Mathgamer
I’m quoting you, but anyone can reply.
Do you know how the tactical sliders actually work? During a match you can see which parameters the CPU has adjusted for that specific game, but often only 2–3 values are shown as changed.
However, when playing, it feels like the other parameters are being modified as well.
What do you think?
 
I see this (and replies to it) are going viral (well, 7k+ likes so far).

Every time I see gameplay from this era, I'm so sad. The ball seems truly like a separate entity, with players desperately lunging to reach it and control it - instead of what we have now, where everything is instant, on-rails and entirely predictable.

Everything "organic" has gone and it's so depressing. Even the FUT players are wishing for this gameplay back - because it's still fast, it's still fluid, but it makes sense (and isn't forced using magic physics).





@Bale_86 In response to your question, all I can do is quote EA's FC25 Pitch Notes:

Located in Game Settings > CPU Sliders:

Tactical
CPU decision making varies based on opposing team’s style of play

Note - Tactical CPU sliders are overwritten at the start of every match

Dynamic
Similar to Tactical CPU sliders, but slider values will fluctuate slightly from their Tactical values

This can allow for more CPU AI behavior variety when playing the same opponents multiple times
 
I see this (and replies to it) are going viral (well, 7k+ likes so far).

Every time I see gameplay from this era, I'm so sad. The ball seems truly like a separate entity, with players desperately lunging to reach it and control it - instead of what we have now, where everything is instant, on-rails and entirely predictable.

Everything "organic" has gone and it's so depressing. Even the FUT players are wishing for this gameplay back - because it's still fast, it's still fluid, but it makes sense (and isn't forced using magic physics).





@Bale_86 In response to your question, all I can do is quote EA's FC25 Pitch Notes:

Located in Game Settings > CPU Sliders:

Tactical
CPU decision making varies based on opposing team’s style of play

Note - Tactical CPU sliders are overwritten at the start of every match

Dynamic
Similar to Tactical CPU sliders, but slider values will fluctuate slightly from their Tactical values

This can allow for more CPU AI behavior variety when playing the same opponents multiple times

Show them a FIFA 14 clip and that will really blow their mind. Talk about a detached ball - it will roll right off your feet if you aren’t paying attention.

Coincidentally, FIFA 17 is when they invented the magic physics. It’s subtle - you can see it on shots and short passes. The ball will move in an unnatural way sometimes. You’ll also see the occasional cheater animation where a player gets to the spot they have no business getting to.
 
Coincidentally, FIFA 17 is when they invented the magic physics. It’s subtle - you can see it on shots and short passes. The ball will move in an unnatural way sometimes. You’ll also see the occasional cheater animation where a player gets to the spot they have no business getting to.
I agree with this. It's subtle, yet noticeable if you are actually concentrating onto it, yeah.
 
I see this (and replies to it) are going viral (well, 7k+ likes so far).

Every time I see gameplay from this era, I'm so sad. The ball seems truly like a separate entity, with players desperately lunging to reach it and control it - instead of what we have now, where everything is instant, on-rails and entirely predictable.

Everything "organic" has gone and it's so depressing. Even the FUT players are wishing for this gameplay back - because it's still fast, it's still fluid, but it makes sense (and isn't forced using magic physics).





@Bale_86 In response to your question, all I can do is quote EA's FC25 Pitch Notes:

Located in Game Settings > CPU Sliders:

Tactical
CPU decision making varies based on opposing team’s style of play

Note - Tactical CPU sliders are overwritten at the start of every match

Dynamic
Similar to Tactical CPU sliders, but slider values will fluctuate slightly from their Tactical values

This can allow for more CPU AI behavior variety when playing the same opponents multiple times

so how am i wrong that PES doesnt have this on rails mechanic? to me its very obvious in FIFA. yet people here reply PES is the same? when i see ball move with real calculated physics as it bounces off players
 
so how am i wrong that PES doesnt have this on rails mechanic? to me its very obvious in FIFA. yet people here reply PES is the same? when i see ball move with real calculated physics as it bounces off players
i cant fathom why PES fanboys see fit to constantly justify how good PES is compared to FIFA/FC but wont just play PES and keep coming back to complain to us.

i was a proper PES fanboy back in the PS2 era but if you cant see how on rails that game is you are seriously misleading yourself.

the most on rails "features" of PES are the dribbling and shooting. especially shooting. every goal is exactly the same (in the bottom corner), especially when performed by an AI. dribbling, they all dribble like they are doing maradonas famous warm up. tiny steps.

if players had "true physics" in a football game, they would hate it. the reason why is because players prefer pressing the button and something happening. Imagine your player missing it because you pressed the button fractionally too late. i think the only ball games that kind of do it better is REMATCH and Rocket League. Although i can see theres some bullshit mechanics in both of them too.

sports games have always had simulated physics, some better than others sure. but none have done it "perfectly". and you are kidding yourself if you think otherwise.
 
I see this (and replies to it) are going viral (well, 7k+ likes so far).

Every time I see gameplay from this era, I'm so sad. The ball seems truly like a separate entity, with players desperately lunging to reach it and control it - instead of what we have now, where everything is instant, on-rails and entirely predictable.

Everything "organic" has gone and it's so depressing. Even the FUT players are wishing for this gameplay back - because it's still fast, it's still fluid, but it makes sense (and isn't forced using magic physics).





@Bale_86 In response to your question, all I can do is quote EA's FC25 Pitch Notes:

Located in Game Settings > CPU Sliders:

Tactical
CPU decision making varies based on opposing team’s style of play

Note - Tactical CPU sliders are overwritten at the start of every match

Dynamic
Similar to Tactical CPU sliders, but slider values will fluctuate slightly from their Tactical values

This can allow for more CPU AI behavior variety when playing the same opponents multiple times

I think FIFA 17 was the perfect blend of old and new. Essentially FIFA 16 in a new graphics engine (which looks good even now) with some subtle improvements.
 
I agree with this. It's subtle, yet noticeable if you are actually concentrating onto it, yeah.
I can confirm that when switching from FIFA 16 to FIFA 17, it initially feels like passes and shots are being played on a string. You get used to it quickly, and it's not as noticeable as in newer EA games.

@Paul-v I think it's because most PES 21 fanboys completely forget how to play it out of the box without tons of mods. They compare heavily modded PES with standard FIFA gameplay. I also considered PES 21 the number one game until recently, but it only became playable with more gameplay mods and AI tweaks. After a year of playing FIFA 16, I loaded up PES 21 with mods and found it wasn't as great as I thought, although it's still a great game (with mods).
 
i cant fathom why PES fanboys see fit to constantly justify how good PES is compared to FIFA/FC but wont just play PES and keep coming back to complain to us.

i was a proper PES fanboy back in the PS2 era but if you cant see how on rails that game is you are seriously misleading yourself.

the most on rails "features" of PES are the dribbling and shooting. especially shooting. every goal is exactly the same (in the bottom corner), especially when performed by an AI. dribbling, they all dribble like they are doing maradonas famous warm up. tiny steps.

if players had "true physics" in a football game, they would hate it. the reason why is because players prefer pressing the button and something happening. Imagine your player missing it because you pressed the button fractionally too late. i think the only ball games that kind of do it better is REMATCH and Rocket League. Although i can see theres some bullshit mechanics in both of them too.

sports games have always had simulated physics, some better than others sure. but none have done it "perfectly". and you are kidding yourself if you think otherwise.
Most of us do play PES. The few that don't probably got tired of replaying the same games over and over again, and left with only FC 26 as the modern alternative they're probably frustrated with the state of modern football gaming, rightfully so in my opinion.

For what it's worth, I think one of PES' strengths is its varied singleplayer gameplay.
 
I finally treated myself to a PS5 2 weeks ago.

Picked up FC24 & 25. Both I've played a fair bit, tweaked sliders etc... and tried to be objective. I'll be honest, I'd say on the whole I've quite enjoyed the games I've played, mainly doing friendlies.

However, last night I thought I'd start a Career on FC25.

There is just too much stuff on it for me now. All the training stuff, player roles etc... I spent the best part of 2 hours trying to work it all out.

Maybe it is my age, but I don't have the time for all that stuff. I found the interface a bit of a mess, I nearly quit the thing 5 times because I couldn't fathom what page I was on or what I wanted to look at and it came up saying you sure you want to exit - no, I was trying to view other Leagues but I'm having a small brain seizure doing so.

I've installed FIFA 14, 16 & 17 and I just enjoy them old titles so much more. I will say that the atmosphere and overall presentation on the new titles is excellent and immersive but I can't see me having a career mode out with all them things on it.

I also noticed the player role thing means you can't manually move players on the tactics screen. They seem stuck in position and I've noticed that when playing, it's like they reach a pre-defined edge of a grid and run back to the middle of it. On FIFA 14 I got about 30 custom tactics setup for all matter of scenarios, the freedom it allows is what I want.

Oh well, I did try to drag myself into the new era but them older games are just much more fun on the pitch.
 
I finally treated myself to a PS5 2 weeks ago.

Picked up FC24 & 25. Both I've played a fair bit, tweaked sliders etc... and tried to be objective. I'll be honest, I'd say on the whole I've quite enjoyed the games I've played, mainly doing friendlies.

However, last night I thought I'd start a Career on FC25.

There is just too much stuff on it for me now. All the training stuff, player roles etc... I spent the best part of 2 hours trying to work it all out.

Maybe it is my age, but I don't have the time for all that stuff. I found the interface a bit of a mess, I nearly quit the thing 5 times because I couldn't fathom what page I was on or what I wanted to look at and it came up saying you sure you want to exit - no, I was trying to view other Leagues but I'm having a small brain seizure doing so.

I've installed FIFA 14, 16 & 17 and I just enjoy them old titles so much more. I will say that the atmosphere and overall presentation on the new titles is excellent and immersive but I can't see me having a career mode out with all them things on it.

I also noticed the player role thing means you can't manually move players on the tactics screen. They seem stuck in position and I've noticed that when playing, it's like they reach a pre-defined edge of a grid and run back to the middle of it. On FIFA 14 I got about 30 custom tactics setup for all matter of scenarios, the freedom it allows is what I want.

Oh well, I did try to drag myself into the new era but them older games are just much more fun on the pitch.

I agree, I find some of the additional options and features quite useful but I turn the majority of them off or strip them back.

Personally, I don’t want to spend 5-10 minutes before every game going through training, player development or repetitive press conferences - I’ll play FM for that kind of kick.
 
i cant fathom why PES fanboys see fit to constantly justify how good PES is compared to FIFA/FC but wont just play PES and keep coming back to complain to us.
1000% agree, it's the weirdest thing! If you have a go at PES 2021 though, god help you - they play victim super fast.

the most on rails "features" of PES are the dribbling and shooting. especially shooting. every goal is exactly the same (in the bottom corner), especially when performed by an AI. dribbling, they all dribble like they are doing maradonas famous warm up. tiny steps.

if players had "true physics" in a football game, they would hate it. the reason why is because players prefer pressing the button and something happening. Imagine your player missing it because you pressed the button fractionally too late.
Exactly right. If the ball was truly so free in PES 2021, we would see different types of goals all the time - different patterns, different outcomes and importantly - different SPEEDS. Every pass and shot is virtually the exact same speed in that game.
 
It's about how well you manage to hide repetetive things to not make it boring. Older pes is extremely "on rails" and "repetetive", but there are so many small details in animations and what not, that just makes it feel unique everytime you pass, shoot, dribble or score a goal. It's not even about player individuality, you could play with 22 players on the pitch with the exact same stats and still enjoy it. Trying to mimic real physics also helped. You can't blame game engines anymore since they managed to create that feeling almost 30 years ago.

It's about attention to detail in every part of the game, or the code. And passion. I can still play pes 5 or 6 and still get that adrenaline rush when scoring a late winner, because those games are so damn well made. I can still enjoy modern football games, but it's like trying to climax on antidepressive medicine. I don't feel anything even if I score the world cup final winner in the last second. Well, that's how I view the old vs the modern football games anyway.
 
I just had the single worst footy match I ever played on any game just now on this. I don't feel the need to regurgitate What's been said already. But I experience all the bad parts PLUS I found out that the scripting can get to insane levels on this.
Honestly an atrocious and utterly bizarre experience. This will not get another second of playtime from me. They somehow made the worst parts even worse for me with this last update.

Back to PES21 modded as soon as a full season patch arrives. That is not perfect by any means but my lord...
 
I just had the single worst footy match I ever played on any game just now on this. I don't feel the need to regurgitate What's been said already. But I experience all the bad parts PLUS I found out that the scripting can get to insane levels on this.
Honestly an atrocious and utterly bizarre experience. This will not get another second of playtime from me. They somehow made the worst parts even worse for me with this last update.

Back to PES21 modded as soon as a full season patch arrives. That is not perfect by any means but my lord...
I agree with you. I gave the game a try at a friend's house after seeing people here praise it, but it really is horrible. The players are still as twitchy as ever, they can do a full 180 degree turn in a matter of milliseconds. The sliding issue is still present. Passing still feels unnatural. Shooting is probably the only thing I like about the game and even it is sometimes bad.

I can see the improvements but they're so few and far between the game is still unplayable, just like every FIFA released in the last couple years. I know some people like the game so it's not like the game is universally disliked but I just can't see EA ever releasing a new football game as good as pre 2019 FIFAs, if the rate of improvement is this glacial.
 
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