FIFA It is a historical saga in the video game industry. You may or may not like soccer games or the sports genre in general. You may or may not agree with the business model you have maintained Electronic Arts. But you can’t avoid the reality: millions of copies sold, billions of dollars in profits, and the almost exclusive dominance of professional football-inspired titles.
Precisely this economic benefit has been the object of a dispute between the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) and the publisher. The governing body has requested a larger payment to renew the contract for the use of its name, which EA objected to. For this reason, the divorce of both is a fact. FIFA 23 will be, barring a highly unlikely deal, the last game in the franchise before it changes its name to EA Sports FC.
Just this theme has returned to FIFA 23 in a title with wide expectations, especially for being a development that will mark the end of an era. Are you up to them? Will it be a worthy farewell before the brand passes into other hands after almost 30 years?
Success is not about wins and losses
At least in Mexico, the first thing we notice (and the most obvious) is that, after 19 years, there is no team of MX League in the club catalog. Not even organizations like the Guadalajara Sports Club or the UANL Tigers, who were under contract with EA Sports, are listed. This, of course, after the president of the League, Mikel Arriolawill negotiate an exclusivity with Konami to appear in EFootball.
This is pertinent to point out because, in recent years, the presence of Mexican clubs has been considered one of the reasons for the growth of the public in the local market. However, the licenses of the Aztec national teams for both women and men are maintained.
Women’s soccer is seeing significant growth. Especially in key markets like Europe and the United States. After years with only the national representatives in that category, the game now integrates the French and English leagues. Both considered, along with the United States, the most important on the planet. If that wasn’t enough he A.F.C. Richmondmain team of the television series ted lassoalso makes an appearance.
Beyond the news in terms of available teams, EA Sports has integrated news in terms of game dynamics. In the first instance we have Hypermotion 2. Basically, as its name indicates, it presents a very wide variety in terms of motion captures with the intention of providing more realistic movements. This, of course, is intended to move the game beyond running to cross or shoot.
The system provides a smoother transition between the player’s movement and their shooting action. In addition, the contacts between players derived from marking, or with the ball, offer more realistic and therefore unpredictable reactions. It’s still a more arcadey experience than a good part of its competitors, with possibilities for plays and spectacular shots. After all, FIFA has mostly been about playing to score goals. However, there are details that provide a more realistic action of the athletes.
The game now takes from other EA Sports franchises a key aspect such as archetypes. These define key characteristics of each player that can be exploited, making the game more balanced. You can have very fast players over short distances or athletes who can maintain a long run competing for the ball. To this detail, the AcceleRATE system can add aspects such as talents for long or short shots, as well as skills to dribble or defend. With this, each player can have unique characteristics to squeeze in competition.
They are aspects that, although they integrate new varieties to the games, do not break (or at least they have not done so for us so far) with the type of game that we expect from a FIFA. We can still score goals with some ease or make certain fantasy plays. But it is clear that EA will exploit learning in other fields to make a more competitive game and bet on that realism that it has always presumed but that is barely fulfilled in certain sections.
life is pure passion
If you were expecting World Cup content at the outset, then there isn’t. It is possible that a new patch with the stadiums and various contending teams in the World Cup will come towards the end of October. As for women’s soccer, you have an International Cup, making it almost very clear that they will not reach the rights to portray the major world championship of the category to be held in Australia and New Zealand next year.
As for the Ultimate Team mode, EA continues to take note of what works not only in other of its titles. Also in other sports games. Especially with challenges to get cards playing against Artificial Intelligence. This resource serves to remove the flavor of pay to win from said modality, but naturally it does not fully achieve it. You’re still dependent on investing real currency for a contending team, though you can find useful parts through these challenges. Especially if you are a novice or you are not very fond of spending.
Naturally, the online game is developed so that Ultimate Team has the main weight in the operation. After all, it is the strongest entry of money for Electronic Arts and its sports division. It overshadows other game modes such as Volta or Pro Clubs. Which, this time, have their key functions intact (as well as the aesthetic aspects), luxury scenarios and, of course, a very attractive online competitive component.
I’m so glad that Jürgen is a red…
Career Mode is naturally back and implements details to bring the new dynamics to the experience. Now, through challenges, your in-game performance, and decision-making, you can gain a particular speed archetype. In addition, with the already classic skill points you can define your possibilities as a player.
In this modality, obviously, everything revolves around you and your performance within the team. You have goals to meet to earn the coach’s trust. You will be able to score many goals, but if your position is defensive and you don’t carry it out, it will be difficult for you to find a place in the starting eleven. You can even choose whether you control the team or just your avatar, but you will always have the responsibility of fulfilling the tasks assigned to your character. Add to this that you can invest your game money in other businesses, among other aspects, it becomes an interesting challenge, although nothing revolutionary.
As a coach, of course, the scheme is more traditional. Seek to take your team to the championship or, if it is a modest one, to survive in the competition. Although this time you have scouts to search in different leagues for talent suitable to take your squad to the next level, as well as a deeper handling of the daily administration of the team. FootballManager, Naturally, it is the game that inspires these changes, although clearly EA does not intend to be as intense in this section as a full-fledged sports management simulator.
You can even get exclusive personality archetypes for career mode. Said characteristic has a lot to do with the way you will have chemistry with your teammates. It ends up being an interesting addition, as it gives more weight to off-court decisions. Unfortunately, apart from some dialog boxes, it does not give much in a section where NBA 2K continues to show signs that it is beyond the avant-garde.
party and carnival
FIFA 23 continues to recreate the stadiums of various clubs, both real and fictional, in a very spectacular way. However, this section still has within EA Sports a Madden as its main representative, especially since the number of scenarios to portray is smaller. But this does not mean that both the exteriors and the interiors cease to be attractive to the eye.
In the same way, the game reflects in the audio the sound of the stands, the one that was silenced during the pandemic, in an intense way. You can recognize the characteristic songs of each fan… as long as it can be recreated before minors. The Liverpool He doesn’t walk alone West Ham raises bubbles into the air St Pauli from Hamburg has antisocial fleas in the stands. In the graphic section, the animations have clearly improved and, of course, the modeling depends a lot on whether the team has an agreement with EA to scan the players.
This is important because when this agreement doesn’t exist, generic modeling is mostly awful. In addition, as always, there are animation bugs that have been repeated for decades. We’ve already seen more than one player go through the post or static advertising as if they didn’t exist. In the same way that we have pointed out before, the fact that it is an old problem does not mean that it is not, well, a problem.
Believe
Yes, FIFA 23 is a good soccer game. A delivery worthy of being the most recent, although not for that reason a revolutionary. The game options are interesting, attractive and enjoyable. Even the additions to the available club catalog are attractive to any player, especially fans of both the game and football in general.
Hypermotion 2 and AcceleRATE are two game dynamics that work well, although they don’t end up being factors that radically transform the experience. Added to which the title, for the most part, looks good visually and makes for an engaging experience.
The game, however, bets on not being revolutionized and offering a sure winning option. He succeeds, but with the flats of him. There are still (few) graphical and animation bugs, while the Ultimate Team mode is still a peculiar money machine. Many of the complaints have been constant for years, which indicates that the efforts to polish them have been scarce or have not been among the priorities.
It is not clear what will happen to the FIFA brand. But the last installment that EA will apparently provide in the saga complies, going little further than that. It is true that you will no longer be able to play Chivas-America for a while, but it is still a valid soccer title. It will depend on your personal tastes and demands if that is enough.
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