Managed to get off the fut addiction, feel fitter, happier and more productive 
Never going back

The only time in decades of gaming where I stopped to think “why am I doing this?”

regmcfly wrote:

Think I'll try a few hours of eFootball over the Christmas break, get that PES spark back.

If you ignore the bad press, and concentrate on the game / matches, it's very good.
You've reminded me to download the update.

afgavinstan wrote:

Got into the EAFC 24 beta yee ha. There's a lot of gameplay changes I'm interested in seeing in regards to controls and types of passing & shooting you can do, but it really is just more iteration. Heh, will be fun to test out mixed sex teams in Ultimate Team to see that no in fact the world doesn't end because women are here, like half of fucking fifa/football twitter will tell you. Literally the most toxic player base in all of gaming, I feel. Yet here I am. Sigh. Excite! I think!

How do you get on to the beta?
Not doing any UT this time round - it's a fucking horrible hamster wheel

had a few goes on the latest (last!) fifa since it's on gamepass now, but just find it all so boring and clunky. I'm sure part of the problem is that i'm locked into the way i've always played footy games, so don't really pick up on any real changes or improvements but for all the incremental updates each year it still just feels like pretty much the same game as 10 years ago...but somehow less fun.

The main thing ea need to sort out is the god awful restrictions on local multiplayer where unless you each have a linked profile to a xbox live account, you can't change any of the control preferences.
Well you can change them but it resets back to default immediately

There's bugs in fifa that have been there for years that either stay or get patched out then come back after another patch. The sooner frostbite is dropped for sports games, the better. Will never happen though.

i didn't realise 24 was due, i decided to try it a week or so ago and had to download a huge 23 update!

I loved PES back in the day, but i thought this was shite and gave up almost immediately. I can't imagine they've improved it much by 24.
To be fair, i was finding fifa 23 pretty shite too, hence trying efootball.

and by shite i mean 'not enjoying it how i want/used to', not in the 'come at me fifa fans you're all wrong!' sense!

Early impressions of NOT FIFA 24 from EA Sports, anyone? Do you care? Will I talk as if you're ball deep in the meta, or a newb that just wants a bit of current kit fitba?

Well, here we are. Once again, all it took was cdkeys flashing a ultimo moran edition at 75 quid and that was me hook, line and sinker. I was having loads of fun with the old one since they decided fuck it with the pack weight. You could go pack multiple 95+ cards with ease and just have a bit of fun trying out multiple cracked players at a time. But, all my yt subs were moving on, half my twitter feed is accounts posting pulls, the fomo got me. Yes, that's on me and I know I'm just a dirty whore for it all, regardless of how much I complain or think EA are an abusive partner. I always go back, don't I?

So, on the pitch then.
I've described before about how, given Frostbite's tumultuous history with anything that isn't a gritty FPS, fifa almost feels like a old, shaky, towering jenga that each year has blocks removed either via mass community outrage on something gameplay related, and blocks added on with their yearly bullet-pointed "hey guys look at this new REVOLUTIONARY feature!" type marketing splaff. This year is no different.

But, I will say, there are a couple of additions that right now seem beneficial to the community.
Traits are out of the window for a new, expanded PlayStyles system. Basically modifiers that certain players have, some better than others though the differences are felt.
New through ball mechanics take a while to get used to but overall give more of a manual feel, which leads to a skill gap as people get better at it, so that's nice. No more spamming rb+y everywhere.
New first touch system is a godsend. Rb+right stick flick upon receiving makes you take a touch to open it out and carry on sprinting. Feels so good pulling it off with a cultured midfielder getting pressed as they receive.
New "controlled sprint" (hold RB while dribbling) may end up being a doozy. With the right player & PlayStyles, it can feel extremely OP, and this is just day one where the general power curve is at its lowest. As new promo cards come out through the year, this may become something that gets patched to buggery and back.

Best thing is the new Evolutions system. It's where you basically choose a player within certain stat parameters EA set, do some challenges with them and they get stat boosts and a nice special card design. It means you can really personalise your team and mould it in your vision, instead of just finding out which cards are cracked and aiming for them. Make your own meta, I call it. Jesper Karlsson left winger from Bologna, never heard of him, but when I saw the "Relentless Winger" evolution gave him insane stats upon completion, and a weak foot upgrade, well, he's now the main man. My captain. My mate. Love you Jessy lad.

Biggest news in the lead up was of course the addition of female players to the player pool, and the ability to have mixed gender teams in Ultimate Team. And low and behold, it's.... Not an issue? Used a few myself. Yeah, the pixels on screen give me a different body type so yeah I guess that means I'm part of the secret woke agenda. Only issue for me is further dilution of the player pool when you open a pack, thus likely lowering your chances of a Mbappe. But I'm never packing him anyway so who gives a fuck?

So, for those like me deep in the trenches, is it worth it? Probably. Evolutions is a genuinely great addition. The gameplay feels good (for now), and there's Ibrox.

A newcomer? Well, that's a tough one. You can go get last year's off GamePass and have a whale of a time with 99 rated Mbappe or Messi quite easily. Career mode and volta look unchanged, so overall the 60 quid package may not do it for you.

Anyway, I'll be back in a couple weeks slating the lot of it after their first patch presumably breaks everything and I'm watching formation and tactics tutorials again. LET'S PLAY BALL.

I've been playing golazo and super soccer blast...much better than fifa for some fun local multiplayer i reckon, especially if not all involved are fifa experts

Efootball or fifa 23 was a close call for me....they're both really cumbersome and crap imo

DrewMerson wrote:

On the pitch, it plays a much more enjoyable game, imho. The minute-to-minute is more satisfying.

One could argue that it’s a more barebones game than FIFA but, given EA Sports’ neglect of the non-FUT elements, it’s not really offering more value, especially considering the price.

Pay a fortune for a neglected, broken SP package, and a further fortune for a broken, miserly online component, or pay next to nothing for a more rewarding experience? It’s not even a close call for me.

Fair. Ymmv, etc.

I did give the new eFootball a good blast over the course of a few days when it got it's recent update. And yeah, plays a decent enough game, for free. Menus, modes, tactics, levelling up system, though all absolute garbage, imo.

afgavinstan wrote:

DrewMerson wrote:

On the pitch, it plays a much more enjoyable game, imho. The minute-to-minute is more satisfying. One could argue that it’s a more barebones game than FIFA but, given EA Sports’ neglect of the non-FUT elements, it’s not really offering more value, especially considering the price. Pay a fortune for a neglected, broken SP package, and a further fortune for a broken, miserly online component, or pay next to nothing for a more rewarding experience? It’s not even a close call for me.

Fair. Ymmv, etc. I did give the new eFootball a good blast over the course of a few days when it got it's recent update. And yeah, plays a decent enough game, for free. Menus, modes, tactics, levelling up system, though all absolute garbage, imo.

For me, i'm done with FIFA, as my interest is Career Mode and on FIFA i've been burned too many times to ever go back. 

Which leaves me waiting for the eFootball Master League content which was promised a while back and should be just around the corner, right...? Right!?

If only you'd all played 'the beautiful game' when you had the chance then the footy game of choice would have been clear!

The new Fifa is as bad as you expect it to be, and more. I paid just over £30 and I feel utterly ripped off. God knows how people that paid nearly triple that feel.