Thoughts on best FIFA just on the field?

tinpanalley

tinpanalley

Premiership
15 May 2006
What is everyone's opinion of what the best FIFA is on PC, just on the pitch.
Not modes, not FUT, not career options, just the game on the pitch. Maybe one that works with certain sliders. Maybe give me your top 3 in order.
 
# 17 - some of the best attacking AI and the best Frostbite version without mods
# 12/13 - balanced but old school mechanics
# 19 - most balanced of the recent memory and it shows when you can apply a locale.ini mod only to fix small AI issues
 
paulv2k4 said:
# 17 - some of the best attacking AI and the best Frostbite version without mods
# 12/13 - balanced but old school mechanics
# 19 - most balanced of the recent memory and it shows when you can apply a locale.ini mod only to fix small AI issues
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I am literally still using your locale for 19. Amazing.
I wish you had something for 14. Trying to play the FIP mod on 14 and it's good but it needs paulv2k4 help. :)
 
FIFA 16 for best mechanics, dribbling, ball physics, gameplay, player individuality, animation and defensive AI
FIFA 14 for best inertia, physicality, team individuality
FIFA 17 for best frostbite game and team individuality
FIFA 2010 World cup for the best AI of a FIFA and team individuality game
 
Topaz said:
FIFA 16 for best mechanics, dribbling, ball physics, gameplay, player individuality, animation and defensive AI
FIFA 14 for best inertia, physicality, team individuality
FIFA 17 for best frostbite game and team individuality
FIFA 2010 World cup for the best AI of a FIFA and team individuality game
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I played 16 well after 2016 and remember liking it most of the time but I think a lot of the time spent with it was trying to get it to respond well to sliders the way 14 and 15 had. I should look for some 16 mods. Would be fun to play it again with up to date rosters.
Didn't know there was so much love for 17, I was certain that at the time it was considered a bit of a disappointment?
 
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millossobek said:
I've been quite enjoying FIFA 11 and 14 right now (14 with Operation Sports sliders), I think these are two of the most well-balanced and enjoyable installments out there on the field in terms of gameplay.
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Playing 14 or 11 with any updated mods? Or just on their own?
 
tinpanalley said:
I am literally still using your locale for 19. Amazing.
I wish you had something for 14. Trying to play the FIP mod on 14 and it's good but it needs paulv2k4 help. :)
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Probably 14 was good too, I had a seriously busy life since around 14/15 then so I might have forgotten which version is which haha. Its almost FIFA golden years!

However, I am one of the very few that think FIFA 16 has to be one of the worst of all. Its physics were so weird. Especially passing where the AI just hammered every single pass with full power and just couldnt fix it and the most OP GK due to OP passing and shooting.

FIFA 17 was a huge step up in all areas and it showed EA had actually put effort into the game because of the engine switch. A lot of the modding community just insta-hated it because of the switch and we couldnt mod it fully so it got a bad rep!

All FIFAs have my biggest pet hate in vanilla. No fouls... PES is significantly better in that area. Especially the ones that added elbows to the face and fouling GK. Flipping loved that.
 
paulv2k4 said:
FIFA 17 was a huge step up in all areas and it showed EA had actually put effort into the game
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I remember not understanding why everyone hated it so much. Didn't make sense.
I feel the same about 16, actually. Felt a bit like an action game version of FIFA and it's the game I spent most time with sliders desperately trying to make it work better.
You should play 14 a bit just to see how it feels. Raw, no mods, just straight up. Would be really interested in your thoughts on it.
(Which PES do you like?)
 
paulv2k4 said:
Probably 14 was good too, I had a seriously busy life since around 14/15 then so I might have forgotten which version is which haha. Its almost FIFA golden years!
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Great game. Teams with different star ratings are a completely different difficulty level, which was perhaps tha last time this was the case, so that's a huge plus. Try an international group with national teams where this is more apparent. (In the same league, clubs tend to be much closer in ratings). On the negative side, dribbling is kind of annoying (ball kind of glued to feet) and passing a bit too floaty making it feel a bit dated. And that's the pc version which was old gen. 14 on consoles was a different beast entirely, perhaps even better.

paulv2k4 said:
However, I am one of the very few that think FIFA 16 has to be one of the worst of all. Its physics were so weird. Especially passing where the AI just hammered every single pass with full power and just couldnt fix it and the most OP GK due to OP passing and shooting.
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It's a joy to play even when nothing exciting is happening. It's a first for driven passes though so that can be annoying. However it's miles better than any later implementation. Just try an overpowered driven pass, the ball will bounce up in the air as the receiver tries to control the ball, so there's a risk reward thing going on. This was removed later as the game was simply dumbed down for 5 year olds.

It's the game with the best default positioning/midfield, good attack/defence balance and great variety of possible outcomes. The most realistic EA allowed fifa to get IMHO. Although that doesn't mean everyone should like it for that. But if you haven't in recent years, try a single tourney season to see if you change your mind without bothering too much with settings!

paulv2k4 said:
FIFA 17 was a huge step up in all areas and it showed EA had actually put effort into the game because of the engine switch. A lot of the modding community just insta-hated it because of the switch and we couldnt mod it fully so it got a bad rep!
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It's a good game with great AI, probably just because it came just one year after 16, so EA didn't have enough time to completely transform a good game (16) into complete dogshit in just a few months. Took them another 2 years. 😅

Animations are kinda twitchy though and the ball is freaking tiny. How on earth did they mess that up in 17? Solid game in retrospect, because of everything that came after that... I'm not touching anything after 17 personally. It's a big shame, because if the ball was not tiny and animations a bit smoother it would be much more fun to play for me. I'm still waiting for a mesh import tool that can possibly fix the ball in this game!

So for me:
1: 16
2: 14
3: 17

But 15 & 11 are also still good fun today. 15 is basically 16 but player models and animations are kinda funny and the defensive line is a bit further back making it a bit less realistic, more counter attack oriented, but some may prefer that. And i'd still play it over any recent fifa.
 
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tinpanalley said:
I should look for some 16 mods. Would be fun to play it again with up to date rosters.
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Wander no more my friend: https://dl.fifa-infinity.com/fifa-16/fifa-infinity-patch-16-v6/
It's still the very first version of the patch so it may have some issues that would most likely be ironed out in future updates, but this is all you need to keep FIFA 16 up to date.
And FIP also has versions covering the previous seasons, should you prefer one of them (all the way back to 18/19 for sure, maybe even 17/18).
 
tinpanalley said:
I remember not understanding why everyone hated it so much. Didn't make sense.
I feel the same about 16, actually. Felt a bit like an action game version of FIFA and it's the game I spent most time with sliders desperately trying to make it work better.
You should play 14 a bit just to see how it feels. Raw, no mods, just straight up. Would be really interested in your thoughts on it.
(Which PES do you like?)
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If you have a console, play the vanilla with the very first OS sliders.

Its fantastic. Just the right balance between strategy and excitement.
 
1. FIFA 11 (Probably Unpopular but to me it's the game with the right feel on the ball when in build-up, midfield - only slightly wonky in attack)
2. FIFA 14 - All Around quite good
3. FIFA 16 - good but off sometimes

FIFA 15 is good too but not as polished as 16 and is fast unlike 16 which is balanced
Same thoughts on FIFA 17 as 15

Everything since 17.. piss
 
Thanks for all the replies, guys.
I've been playing FIFA since FIFA International Soccer, as most of you probably have as well. And despite the fact that we all actively compain about one thing or another with the series, I believe it's the only EA Sports property that has come to be a game that has improved over time and is still a strongly playable game, which I don't believe can be said of their other sports titles (small exception for Rugby which isn't around any longer but was always an amazing game).

14 - I've always loved 14, especially when that Classics Patch was made. But on a purely personal level it's also one of the only FIFAs where I haven't been able to create my mod that disables/turns off all injuries. The setting isn't in any ini file I've ever been able to find. So because I like to play with no fantasty injuries or transfers, 14 becomes a bit unplayable to me. The sliders as you surely all know have never turned them off only lessened them, even at 0.
16 - Bitter sweet situation with it, modding was -- I believe -- at its peak with 16. The MW mod made the game incredible. But I spent a long time struggling to get sliders to do good things for the game and it was starting to feel like being able to override default elements in the game was slipping away from our control. Not until @paulv2k4 's mods a couple of years later did FIFA become fully playable again. but 16 was excellent. I just feel the constant struggle with sliders is why I spent most of that year with PES 2016 instead.
19 - Again, with Paul's mod, this is probably in my opinion in the top 2 FIFAs.

The reason I was asking this is to know what others think to see if I've maybe missed something. I'm not surprised the number of people that like 16, it's a solid game. I'm surprised more people didn't mention 19. I think games are too subjective for their modes, which is why I was asking JUST about on the field action.
 
paulv2k4 said:
Probably 14 was good too, I had a seriously busy life since around 14/15 then so I might have forgotten which version is which haha. Its almost FIFA golden years!

However, I am one of the very few that think FIFA 16 has to be one of the worst of all. Its physics were so weird. Especially passing where the AI just hammered every single pass with full power and just couldnt fix it and the most OP GK due to OP passing and shooting.

FIFA 17 was a huge step up in all areas and it showed EA had actually put effort into the game because of the engine switch. A lot of the modding community just insta-hated it because of the switch and we couldnt mod it fully so it got a bad rep!

All FIFAs have my biggest pet hate in vanilla. No fouls... PES is significantly better in that area. Especially the ones that added elbows to the face and fouling GK. Flipping loved that.
Click to expand...

The passing error and passing physics in FIFA 16 is horrible. That's the only issue that prevents me from fully enjoying FIFA 16. But for some reason, I find FIFA 17 a bit too easy. Did you ever create a gameplay patch for FIFA 17?
 
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1. FIFA 12- Responsive dribbling, I feel at peace.
2. FIFA 16- Okayish kinda sluggish dribbling, AI positioning is so good.
3. FIFA World Cup 2006- Responsive dribbling, I feel at peace.
 
One thing I've noticed about FIFA 14 is that sliders have a good effect on the gameplay, I like how pass accuracy can be decreased in order to make assisted or semi with more errors, only decreasing/increasing one point has a noticeable effect. It's an enjoyable installment.
 
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Topaz said:
Lovely ball physics. Improves passing and shooting with unpredictable first touches. However I still wish there was a way to make Short Passing stat have more impact for CPU. That way players like De Bruyne or Modric stand out against players from Qatar when it comes to passing.
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Thanks! Yeah I agree about the stats impact. If we could get some more individuality for 16 it would be amazing.
 
paulv2k4 said:
# 17 - some of the best attacking AI and the best Frostbite version without mods
# 12/13 - balanced but old school mechanics
# 19 - most balanced of the recent memory and it shows when you can apply a locale.ini mod only to fix small AI issues
Click to expand...
I've just been digging through some old posts of mine for something totally unrelated, but I found some posts saying that I really enjoyed FIFA 19 at release, which surprised me quite a bit.

I remember thinking 18 was decent until you came up against a better team, at which point the AI started ping-ponging around like maniacs and it really spoilt the game - and I assumed from then on I didn't really enjoy any FIFAs, but I've misremembered that!

I might try to experiment with 19 - I wonder how easy it is to revert it to v1. Or were you enjoying it with all the updates?

EDIT: Never mind, turns out I didn't buy it on PC, only PlayStation... :TD:
 
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Chris Davies said:
I've just been digging through some old posts of mine for something totally unrelated, but I found some posts saying that I really enjoyed FIFA 19 at release, which surprised me quite a bit.

I remember thinking 18 was decent until you came up against a better team, at which point the AI started ping-ponging around like maniacs and it really spoilt the game - and I assumed from then on I didn't really enjoy any FIFAs, but I've misremembered that!

I might try to experiment with 19 - I wonder how easy it is to revert it to v1. Or were you enjoying it with all the updates?

EDIT: Never mind, turns out I didn't buy it on PC, only PlayStation... :TD:
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I felt like 1.0 of 19 (not that it helps because it's such a bugger to play these versions now anyway) was incredible and felt like the greatest FIFA we'd get on Frostbite after 16's near perfection that it makes it all the more heartbreaking and mind boggling that they went the cartoony route with FIFA 20 and then the spagehtti leg route with 21 after that.
 
Marlon Anthony said:
I felt like 1.0 of 19 (not that it helps because it's such a bugger to play these versions now anyway) was incredible and felt like the greatest FIFA we'd get on Frostbite after 16's near perfection that it makes it all the more heartbreaking and mind boggling that they went the cartoony route with FIFA 20 and then the spagehtti leg route with 21 after that.
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The cartoony route, in terms of graphics, colour grading and all that stuffs were started with FIFA 18 in my opinion. Even though, the gameplay of 18 and 19 were decent/okay-ish from what I remember (played properly before 2 years).

Edit : If we could port so many stuffs which were good from newer FIFAs to FIFA 14 or FIFA 16 like the Press Conference, Manager cutscenes and customization and all other "somewhat realistic in football" stuffs, it would be a paradise for the good old gameplay lovers though. :(
 
DevPlays said:
Edit : If we could port so many stuffs which were good from newer FIFAs to FIFA 14 or FIFA 16 like the Press Conference, Manager cutscenes and customization and all other "somewhat realistic in football" stuffs, it would be a paradise for the good old gameplay lovers though. :(
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Yeah tell me about it. I'm crossing my fingers thar PS4 emulation will one day allow us to play FIFA 14 PS4 on PC and in 4K as that was a football masterpiece that once again, is locked to one system and to limited visuals.
 
tinpanalley said:
I am literally still using your locale for 19. Amazing.
I wish you had something for 14. Trying to play the FIP mod on 14 and it's good but it needs paulv2k4 help. :)
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mate, I can only find v11 beta8 on Paul's homepage, can you upload the latest one (v11 beta9?) for me?
 
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