EA SPORTS FC 27

[Ezequiel Vanzin]

Right, the analysis I would use is compare it to even something like FC24 where the ball was a bit looser, the physicality was there, the positioning was decent. The player models were questionable, at the time, but they were passable. However if the gameplay is the focus, then that is where I'd start.



I always respect your thoughts, mate, and I can see the glass full approach - been there before. However, and I can't stress this enough, EA have a group of individuals that are actually listening to feedback. I think we as a community, and especially those who spend time modifying the game in whatever capacity they do, are responsible to provide feedback that holds accountability.

Holding others accountable means we have to be accountable to ourselves first. As in, would you truly accept certain moments in the match you played?

------------------

Here are my thoughts when I hold myself accountable to what I'm playing or watching the beta/game:

- Shots, do they look realistic enough in the sense that there is some error in contacting the ball? Is there enough trajectory variety? Side-footed low finishes? Logical shooting from the CPU that follows shooting scenario rules (near post high, far post low)? Are shots in general happening too "face on" as in you or the CPU can just face forward the entire time vs 1 center back and have a shot? Does that happen THAT often in real matches to you?

- Positioning, anticipation and reading the game. Do all the players look prepared to receive the ball? Is their body profile open to receive a pass and move forward with a half-turn? Or are they taking 3-5 touches after receiving the ball to do what they could've done in 2 touches if their body profile was correct?

See here, from the actual beta and I recreated on my tactical board. Body profile indicated by the black line.

- Is that even remotely constructive to the player with the ball? This happens in every single game.

- Are they letting the ball do the work, as in go past their bodies so they continue to be open with their body angle and profile to make a pass? Is that feedback too hardcore footy realism vs video game? I don't think so, because when a player takes 3-5 touches in the video game it breaks immersion. It breaks functionality too because in the amount of time those 3-5 touches were taken the body profile of surrounding teammates have already reverted to being closed.

Why do they have to take those 3-5 touches in the first place? Because in practically every single receiving animation, the ball is either A) not passed to the receiver's back foot or B) the ball is absorbed UNDERNEATH the player's body. Just imagine as an experienced footy player, the ball isn't passed to your foot, it's passed consistently BETWEEN your feet. Can you imagine how frustrating that would be? This alone breaks all immersion for me.

- Random play - is there enough error under pressure? Are there moments where the CPU has to hoof it like we do to respond to the pressure? A low level team being pressured should feel that and choose to hoof it down the sidelines. Are passes made into space? Out of bounds? Is crossing hitting row Z?

- Movement off the ball? Are players checking away and checking to the ball? Are they backpedaling or are they sprinting towards the ball carrier instead? Are they running in a direction then gradually turning their body profile to be an option? On corners are the players in the attack instantly retreating at the sight of a 50/50 ball?

And all that is in just analyzing 5 minutes of a game I played.

Literally just saw this on my timeline.



Receiving count - from first pass to last: every single pass to the backfoot.

It looks like we won't be getting your sliders this year; are you as disillusioned with EA FC as I am? I don't know which platform you play on, but I ended up going back to FIFA 16 and 17. I'd like to get your opinion on Ant James's gameplay mods for EA FC—do they make the game better than FIFA 16 and 17?

 

[Matt10]

It looks like we won't be getting your sliders this year; are you as disillusioned with EA FC as I am? I don't know which platform you play on, but I ended up going back to FIFA 16 and 17. I'd like to get your opinion on Ant James's gameplay mods for EA FC—do they make the game better than FIFA 16 and 17?

I think we'll probably still give it a go, although yeah - I just don't feel optimistic, especially coming of of 26 where I logged so little hours in actually playing the game - the same was for 25.

I think anything @Anth James produces is top quality. 16 and 17 were great games, but there's a reason I can't play them anymore in the same way some people can't play PES21 anymore. However Anth's mods for the current games transform them and makes elements that should be familiar - are now dynamic and unpredictable - the way every game should make you feel.

 

[Topaz]

I think we'll probably still give it a go, although yeah - I just don't feel optimistic, especially coming of of 26 where I logged so little hours in actually playing the game - the same was for 25.

I think anything @Anth James produces is top quality. 16 and 17 were great games, but there's a reason I can't play them anymore in the same way some people can't play PES21 anymore. However Anth's mods for the current games transform them and makes elements that should be familiar - are now dynamic and unpredictable - the way every game should make you feel.

Just out of curiosity, what did you think about FC 24 or even FIFA 23? I don't think it was that bad when it comes to positioning. The CPU AI was a bit bland on that game with the lack of crossing but positioning wasn't as awful.

 

[Matt10]

Just out of curiosity, what did you think about FC 24 or even FIFA 23? I don't think it was that bad when it comes to positioning. The CPU AI was a bit bland on that game with the lack of crossing but positioning wasn't as awful.

If I had to pick one of my favorite FC's it would be FC24. I just feel like it had so much more freedom positionally. It understood how to shift/slide, how to compress the field and how to decompress it to let it breathe. It had so much random amazing moments that made you want to play another match.

Look at the center backs for example in the radar below, well past the halfway point and now in position to support the attack and transition.

Look at how alive this cross is and the ball - the goal, that sequence is brilliant to me. And in the radar...the center backs again...past the halfway mark.


More crossing chaos into the box


Goals felt so rewarding, like the small touch from the keeper on the way in


I never got this feeling with 26, let alone 27. I genuinely hope that changes, because I could post my FC24 goals all day.

 

[saturator]

I always respect your thoughts, mate, and I can see the glass full approach - been there before. However, and I can't stress this enough, EA have a group of individuals that are actually listening to feedback. I think we as a community, and especially those who spend time modifying the game in whatever capacity they do, are responsible to provide feedback that holds accountability.

Holding others accountable means we have to be accountable to ourselves first. As in, would you truly accept certain moments in the match you played?

------------------

Here are my thoughts when I hold myself accountable to what I'm playing or watching the beta/game:

- Shots, do they look realistic enough in the sense that there is some error in contacting the ball? Is there enough trajectory variety? Side-footed low finishes? Logical shooting from the CPU that follows shooting scenario rules (near post high, far post low)? Are shots in general happening too "face on" as in you or the CPU can just face forward the entire time vs 1 center back and have a shot? Does that happen THAT often in real matches to you?

- Positioning, anticipation and reading the game. Do all the players look prepared to receive the ball? Is their body profile open to receive a pass and move forward with a half-turn? Or are they taking 3-5 touches after receiving the ball to do what they could've done in 2 touches if their body profile was correct?

See here, from the actual beta and I recreated on my tactical board. Body profile indicated by the black line.

- Is that even remotely constructive to the player with the ball? This happens in every single game.

- Are they letting the ball do the work, as in go past their bodies so they continue to be open with their body angle and profile to make a pass? Is that feedback too hardcore footy realism vs video game? I don't think so, because when a player takes 3-5 touches in the video game it breaks immersion. It breaks functionality too because in the amount of time those 3-5 touches were taken the body profile of surrounding teammates have already reverted to being closed.

Why do they have to take those 3-5 touches in the first place? Because in practically every single receiving animation, the ball is either A) not passed to the receiver's back foot or B) the ball is absorbed UNDERNEATH the player's body. Just imagine as an experienced footy player, the ball isn't passed to your foot, it's passed consistently BETWEEN your feet. Can you imagine how frustrating that would be? This alone breaks all immersion for me.

- Random play - is there enough error under pressure? Are there moments where the CPU has to hoof it like we do to respond to the pressure? A low level team being pressured should feel that and choose to hoof it down the sidelines. Are passes made into space? Out of bounds? Is crossing hitting row Z?

- Movement off the ball? Are players checking away and checking to the ball? Are they backpedaling or are they sprinting towards the ball carrier instead? Are they running in a direction then gradually turning their body profile to be an option? On corners are the players in the attack instantly retreating at the sight of a 50/50 ball?

And all that is in just analyzing 5 minutes of a game I played.

Literally just saw this on my timeline.



Receiving count - from first pass to last: every single pass to the backfoot.

Matt, I understand what you mean, but I have another point of view.
First, FC 24 was good at start but patch after patch, the gameplay was not good as it should be.

I'm nobody in the community, so my opinion didn't count.

But my feeling of the beta, with total honesty from my point of view, was very good.
Better than FC 24/25/26.

But to be clear, some details hurt me on vanila :

- pass speed on Authentic mode was far too high.
- When the ball is too high, CPU made 2-3 controls before taking control of the ball .
- The defensive line on vanilla is too high and the fullback are stick to their middle line --> the game is compact, the action took only 20% of the pitch.
-Shot error is too low : it's too easy to score

What I have done with sliders :
- Reduced pass speed : it's change the overall feeling and calm dowm the tempo.
- Changed the 3 lines to have a wild game with more crosses and better variation from CPU
- Increased shot error and passes, and I have seen more difference between a star and a average player

The option "difficulty based on player" is a good option to have a harder game without having an unplayable CPU.

Your clips of FC 24 are nice but I see more sliding than FC 26/27, the defender are far too passiv, you can cross too easily without opposition. Not enough pression on the players.
The same action in FC 27, will be sometimes a cross behind the goal or a yellow card for a strong sliding tackle.

That is for me the big step in the good direction in this FC 27 : you need to be focused to beat the CPU, it didn't give up and I'm looking for this feeling for years, it changes many things on your strategy on the pitch.
The physicality in FC24/FC25/26 are too poor, that didn't represent actual football.

 

[Matt10]

Matt, I understand what you mean, but I have another point of view.
First, FC 24 was good at start but patch after patch, the gameplay was not good as it should be.

I'm nobody in the community, so my opinion didn't count.

But my feeling of the beta, with total honesty from my point of view, was very good.
Better than FC 24/25/26.

But to be clear, some details hurt me on vanila :

- pass speed on Authentic mode was far too high.
- When the ball is too high, CPU made 2-3 controls before taking control of the ball .
- The defensive line on vanilla is too high and the fullback are stick to their middle line --> the game is compact, the action took only 20% of the pitch.
-Shot error is too low : it's too easy to score

What I have done with sliders :
- Reduced pass speed : it's change the overall feeling and calm dowm the tempo.
- Changed the 3 lines to have a wild game with more crosses and better variation from CPU
- Increased shot error and passes, and I have seen more difference between a star and a average player

The option "difficulty based on player" is a good option to have a harder game without having an unplayable CPU.

Your clips of FC 24 are nice but I see more sliding than FC 26/27, the defender are far too passiv, you can cross too easily without opposition. Not enough pression on the players.
The same action in FC 27, will be sometimes a cross behind the goal or a yellow card for a strong sliding tackle.

That is for me the big step in the good direction in this FC 27 : you need to be focused to beat the CPU, it didn't give up and I'm looking for this feeling for years, it changes many things on your strategy on the pitch.
The physicality in FC24/FC25/26 are too poor, that didn't represent actual football.

Of course your opinion counts - everyone's opinion counts here. I had to stress that as well. I'm not giving feedback to make friends with devs, gain followers or be a gamechanger/creator. I'm giving honest feedback that makes it uncomfortably accountable. Change doesn't happen in comfort zones - and what I experienced from the beta, and what I've watched, should produce immediate change.

You can't have your centerbacks or fullbacks not join the support or attack. We are in a modern football world with modern advanced tactics - so the bare minimum is to get the fundamentals right. The same fundamentals of first touch, turn, passing, receiving that I coach my U13 boys are not being achieved - let alone what you see in actual professional football match.

If you're saying we have to nerf down the ball speed for the sake of less touches, yet we want to compress the lines even more - how could that ever look natural or functional? Watch any match on TV, the pace of the ball is what is most challenging. When I transitioned from high school to college footy, the very first thing I noticed was just how much faster the ball moved. How much more solid the contact had to be. I understand this is a solution of your sliders, but that's not a solution I want to feedback to dev team that seems to take things too literally as it is.

Tempo isn't the issue with the beta, far from it, it's the logic and the lack of freedom. The tactical adherence is at 100% and the irony is the defensive approach is too perfect from the CPU. It's not human-like. The lack of support from the defensive line in attack prevents these complex tactics that EA wants to boast about knowing from even happening in the first place. You can't have a rest defense of Pep Guardiola if your defensive line is sitting at the halfway mark, and you can't have any living modern tactic without fullbacks that don't go past the center circle, overlap, underlap or invert.

I like FC24 and play the nostalgia game because it represents a better direction of football fundamentals that they had already achieved - and now have regressed in the most recent iterations of the game. I'm not saying the game as a whole. I'm showing evidence that there was a time, not too long ago, that the EA gameplay team managed to get close to representing the fundamentals of the sport itself - so why are we giving them excuses and not holding them accountable to something they had already accomplished?

 

[Jowson]

Of course your opinion counts - everyone's opinion counts here. I had to stress that as well. I'm not giving feedback to make friends with devs, gain followers or be a gamechanger/creator. I'm giving honest feedback that makes it uncomfortably accountable. Change doesn't happen in comfort zones - and what I experienced from the beta, and what I've watched, should produce immediate change.

You can't have your centerbacks or fullbacks not join the support or attack. We are in a modern football world with modern advanced tactics - so the bare minimum is to get the fundamentals right. The same fundamentals of first touch, turn, passing, receiving that I coach my U13 boys are not being achieved - let alone what you see in actual professional football match.

If you're saying we have to nerf down the ball speed for the sake of less touches, yet we want to compress the lines even more - how could that ever look natural or functional? Watch any match on TV, the pace of the ball is what is most challenging. When I transitioned from high school to college footy, the very first thing I noticed was just how much faster the ball moved. How much more solid the contact had to be. I understand this is a solution of your sliders, but that's not a solution I want to feedback to dev team that seems to take things too literally as it is.

Tempo isn't the issue with the beta, far from it, it's the logic and the lack of freedom. The tactical adherence is at 100% and the irony is the defensive approach is too perfect from the CPU. It's not human-like. The lack of support from the defensive line in attack prevents these complex tactics that EA wants to boast about knowing from even happening in the first place. You can't have a rest defense of Pep Guardiola if your defensive line is sitting at the halfway mark, and you can't have any living modern tactic without fullbacks that don't go past the center circle, overlap, underlap or invert.

I like FC24 and play the nostalgia game because it represents a better direction of football fundamentals that they had already achieved - and now have regressed in the most recent iterations of the game. I'm not saying the game as a whole. I'm showing evidence that there was a time, not too long ago, that the EA gameplay team managed to get close to representing the fundamentals of the sport itself - so why are we giving them excuses and not holding them accountable to something they had already accomplished?

Tempted to go back and have a game, was just so annoyed they got rid of the intros in that version.

Are there good sliders for this on PS5?

 

[philla]

Seems like everyone has his individual red lines in soccer gaming. Personally i can acceot positioning issues, but i get freaky about a defensive CPU watching me talking a sunday walk on the sidelines to the box.

 

[Anth James]

Seems like everyone has his individual red lines in soccer gaming. Personally i can acceot positioning issues, but i get freaky about a defensive CPU watching me talking a sunday walk on the sidelines to the box.

Definitely agree this is extremely annoying and it’s also a positioning issue as well. It’s something I worked on heavily and finally had success with in fc26. Definitely not trying to make this about modding or anything, but the video shows the differences (proper examples start at 2:20):

 

[philla]

Definitely agree this is extremely annoying and it’s also a positioning issue as well. It’s something I worked on heavily and finally had success with in fc26. Definitely not trying to make this about modding or anything, but the video shows the differences (proper examples start at 2:20):

Thats fascinating and more than all it shows that this problem is accessible for devs if they would see the priority. Unfortunatly i am on PS5, but it is great to see what you do.

Someone said the general aggression silders in FC27 Beta more or less solve this as well?

 

[saturator]

Of course your opinion counts - everyone's opinion counts here. I had to stress that as well. I'm not giving feedback to make friends with devs, gain followers or be a gamechanger/creator. I'm giving honest feedback that makes it uncomfortably accountable. Change doesn't happen in comfort zones - and what I experienced from the beta, and what I've watched, should produce immediate change.

You can't have your centerbacks or fullbacks not join the support or attack. We are in a modern football world with modern advanced tactics - so the bare minimum is to get the fundamentals right. The same fundamentals of first touch, turn, passing, receiving that I coach my U13 boys are not being achieved - let alone what you see in actual professional football match.

If you're saying we have to nerf down the ball speed for the sake of less touches, yet we want to compress the lines even more - how could that ever look natural or functional? Watch any match on TV, the pace of the ball is what is most challenging. When I transitioned from high school to college footy, the very first thing I noticed was just how much faster the ball moved. How much more solid the contact had to be. I understand this is a solution of your sliders, but that's not a solution I want to feedback to dev team that seems to take things too literally as it is.

Tempo isn't the issue with the beta, far from it, it's the logic and the lack of freedom. The tactical adherence is at 100% and the irony is the defensive approach is too perfect from the CPU. It's not human-like. The lack of support from the defensive line in attack prevents these complex tactics that EA wants to boast about knowing from even happening in the first place. You can't have a rest defense of Pep Guardiola if your defensive line is sitting at the halfway mark, and you can't have any living modern tactic without fullbacks that don't go past the center circle, overlap, underlap or invert.

I like FC24 and play the nostalgia game because it represents a better direction of football fundamentals that they had already achieved - and now have regressed in the most recent iterations of the game. I'm not saying the game as a whole. I'm showing evidence that there was a time, not too long ago, that the EA gameplay team managed to get close to representing the fundamentals of the sport itself - so why are we giving them excuses and not holding them accountable to something they had already accomplished?

I trust you mate, no problem with that.
Gameplay in FC is always a mystery.
People could have sometimes great matchs, others don't.

I know that fondamentals should be always the priority of the developpers.

I like variety in my games so if the CPU always plays with the same tactic, it will be boring.
I like closed lines for more physicality and more challenges. But I like seeing teams playing with more space too.

I'm not a fan at all of very low speed games but I hate so much fastpace games. I want to think my passes, my strategy, try hard to shot, etc...

I have started 3 careers in FC 27. I used to play 4-2-3-1 // 4-2-4 and 4-3-2-1.
When I used United, the best player like in real life was Bruno Fernandes. The creativity and his skill passes were so great. I scores many freekicks with him. The fullbacks gave support when I was on the CPU area. Dorgu is insane in the game.

They fixed fullbacks support in FC 26 in a patch in march. So i'm surprised that you still have this problem.

I played with a friend vs CPU to have a different point of view. Playing a game and watching a game are two different things.
When you're playing, you are focus on the pitch, your game. Where you're watching, you take attention to the interaction between the player and the CPU, the visual problems like skating/sliding.

But if you have issues like FB didn't go forward, the lack of differents strategies, let a comment on the beta forum.
I have made my feeling, it's important .

Maybe because I used the same strategies in FC 26 to have a better CPU and teamates support, I don't know. Its work fine in the beta.

I would like to be more critical about the game to fixed the gameplay. The big problem is the physical engine.

Footplating is still bad, you see a player made the same step twice like left foot right right foot and it's horrible. When players like Osimhen are running, their legs are strange, their steps are too small.
In a strong contact, sometimes the player looks like he as no weight, it's weird

The big issues are visual for me now more than the AI of the CPU .
TRACAB will syncronised the speed with the right mouv. That's a big issue. Perfect synchronisation will erased bad footplating, sliding, and many little things.

I think FC 26 was a start of something but with many issues. Having two gameplays for offline is good but for me, Authentic gameplay should be the only one. Why Authentic gameplay is not in Club pro??

Fouls are so important in modern football, I don't understand why it's only in FC 27 there are coming back to the game.

l will made many videos on September 18th. It hard to speak about a game without showing proofs. Videos don't lie.
Even with all these issues, it's one on my favorite game for years. The feeling was what I was expecting from FC26 : a modern footy game, with nice animations and a CPU like old games.

FIFA 14/FIFA 17 are still the best but FC 27 has the potential if they listen to the community to be a very nice game.

Continue our feedback, it's not the time to give up.

 

[Sany023]

Of course your opinion counts - everyone's opinion counts here.

Cool words. When we can understand as a users of forum, that we can have set of different opinions. But talk about this opinions with respect to each other and choosing correct words by protecting own positions and be as a adult at the same time, "not a childs, that didn't share the scoops in the sandbox".

 

[Allekss]

I thought fc 26's cloth physics was bad. The cloth bouncing is completely gone here. i guess when PS6 will release they will bring back the cloth physics for 1 game and call it a new feature and then downgrade it again until PS7?

How dare your reveal EA's secrets ?

 

[saturator]

Cool words. When we can understand as a users of forum, that we can have set of different opinions. But talk about this opinions with respect to each other and choosing correct words by protecting own positions and be as a adult at the same time, "not a childs, that didn't share the scoops in the sandbox".

Of course, we are adults and I have so much respect for all the members of Evoweb.
We have different opinions but we have the same passion for football.

This year, there will be a demo at launch for FC 27 with some teams. It's nice to test before buying a product.

 

[Emroth]

I have played a lot of Fifa 14 and FC26 side by side over the last week to get some proper comparison. I wanted to really see the direction they are going with 'authentic' gameplay. I wanted to give it a fair shot.

There was this strange familiar feeling I had when playing FC. It felt particularly strong coming from Fifa 14. I couldn't put my finger on it. I knew I've experienced this long time ago and then it hit me.

Im writing this in FC27 thread, as this element of their new games relates to all new titles.

This is the modern EA ball physics. This is how the ball sticks to players. This is exactly the same feeling while playing modern FC26.


They literally reversed football games evolution.

Back then, apart from SNES, I had gaming PC and Fifa's was all I was playing from 97 onwards.

When I eventually played first Pro Evolution Soccer at friends house I was shocked that the ball can go into space. That it can deflect from a player when passed with too much power. That it can roll away after a tackle and that it doesnt stick automatically to the defender. It was strange, unfamiliar and almost frustrating. It took a long time to learn. But when I learned it - I couldnt go back to playing Fifa.
Year after year football games started evolving, giving the ball more freedom, more physics, making it separate entity. It took about a decade to polish it and really make it feel real.
From a quick Google search I read that FIFA 14 was the game where EA specifically reworked the ball's aerodynamics (drag coefficient, Magnus force/spin) to stop it floating unrealistically and behave like a real projectile — a University of Virginia physicist worked with EA to fix the drag coefficient, which had been miscalculated in previous versions, giving the ball far more realistic spin and curve behavior.

And now we made a full circle and we are back to the roots of Fifa. The game is arcade, unrealistic and pretends to be football. Back then I needed Pro Evo to show me that football game can be more.
Now I know it can, they know it can, and yet they deliberately are choosing this.

 

[Madmac79]

I have played a lot of Fifa 14 and FC26 side by side over the last week to get some proper comparison. I wanted to really see the direction they are going with 'authentic' gameplay. I wanted to give it a fair shot.

There was this strange familiar feeling I had when playing FC. It felt particularly strong coming from Fifa 14. I couldn't put my finger on it. I knew I've experienced this long time ago and then it hit me.

Im writing this in FC27 thread, as this element of their new games relates to all new titles.

This is the modern EA ball physics. This is how the ball sticks to players. This is exactly the same feeling while playing modern FC26.


They literally reversed football games evolution.

Back then, apart from SNES, I had gaming PC and Fifa's was all I was playing from 97 onwards.

When I eventually played first Pro Evolution Soccer at friends house I was shocked that the ball can go into space. That it can deflect from a player when passed with too much power. That it can roll away after a tackle and that it doesnt stick automatically to the defender. It was strange, unfamiliar and almost frustrating. It took a long time to learn. But when I learned it - I couldnt go back to playing Fifa.
Year after year football games started evolving, giving the ball more freedom, more physics, making it separate entity. It took about a decade to polish it and really make it feel real.
From a quick Google search I read that FIFA 14 was the game where EA specifically reworked the ball's aerodynamics (drag coefficient, Magnus force/spin) to stop it floating unrealistically and behave like a real projectile — a University of Virginia physicist worked with EA to fix the drag coefficient, which had been miscalculated in previous versions, giving the ball far more realistic spin and curve behavior.

And now we made a full circle and we are back to the roots of Fifa. The game is arcade, unrealistic and pretends to be football. Back then I needed Pro Evo to show me that football game can be more.
Now I know it can, they know it can, and yet they deliberately are choosing this.

That's what I've been thinking since at least Fifa 22 (have not played 21). The way the ball reacts to the feet, be it a control, a turn or a pass, is to me perhaps the biggest assassination to this game togheter with the 1 vs 1 "feature" and the rest of the AI dumbing. Seeing all those perfect, ball glued turns and controls makes me feel like i'm playing a very flat, lifeless thing.

 

[Sami 1999]

I have played a lot of Fifa 14 and FC26 side by side over the last week to get some proper comparison. I wanted to really see the direction they are going with 'authentic' gameplay. I wanted to give it a fair shot.

There was this strange familiar feeling I had when playing FC. It felt particularly strong coming from Fifa 14. I couldn't put my finger on it. I knew I've experienced this long time ago and then it hit me.

Im writing this in FC27 thread, as this element of their new games relates to all new titles.

This is the modern EA ball physics. This is how the ball sticks to players. This is exactly the same feeling while playing modern FC26.


They literally reversed football games evolution.

Back then, apart from SNES, I had gaming PC and Fifa's was all I was playing from 97 onwards.

When I eventually played first Pro Evolution Soccer at friends house I was shocked that the ball can go into space. That it can deflect from a player when passed with too much power. That it can roll away after a tackle and that it doesnt stick automatically to the defender. It was strange, unfamiliar and almost frustrating. It took a long time to learn. But when I learned it - I couldnt go back to playing Fifa.
Year after year football games started evolving, giving the ball more freedom, more physics, making it separate entity. It took about a decade to polish it and really make it feel real.
From a quick Google search I read that FIFA 14 was the game where EA specifically reworked the ball's aerodynamics (drag coefficient, Magnus force/spin) to stop it floating unrealistically and behave like a real projectile — a University of Virginia physicist worked with EA to fix the drag coefficient, which had been miscalculated in previous versions, giving the ball far more realistic spin and curve behavior.

And now we made a full circle and we are back to the roots of Fifa. The game is arcade, unrealistic and pretends to be football. Back then I needed Pro Evo to show me that football game can be more.
Now I know it can, they know it can, and yet they deliberately are choosing this.

EA had to make FIFA better because of PES. Now that PES is no longer a thing, EA doesn't have any incentive to make their game feel better than PES.

Speaking of 14, regular FIFA 14 old gen was acceptable although I hated how unresponsive the dribbling felt. Regardless, I thought World Cup 2014 would be just like FIFA 14 and the dribbling and unresponsiveness is just like regular 14 but good lord, the AI is bad. Every single pass forward results in offside and ref keeps interrupting the ball too frequently, players disengage from the ball randomly and loosing possession, no one can make normal shots. The whole game is a mess. It makes for funny moments when playing with friends but playing this game solo is a complete frustration and not what I expected after playing regular fifa 14.

 

[dontellmama]

I have played a lot of Fifa 14 and FC26 side by side over the last week to get some proper comparison. I wanted to really see the direction they are going with 'authentic' gameplay. I wanted to give it a fair shot.

There was this strange familiar feeling I had when playing FC. It felt particularly strong coming from Fifa 14. I couldn't put my finger on it. I knew I've experienced this long time ago and then it hit me.

Im writing this in FC27 thread, as this element of their new games relates to all new titles.

This is the modern EA ball physics. This is how the ball sticks to players. This is exactly the same feeling while playing modern FC26.


They literally reversed football games evolution.

Back then, apart from SNES, I had gaming PC and Fifa's was all I was playing from 97 onwards.

When I eventually played first Pro Evolution Soccer at friends house I was shocked that the ball can go into space. That it can deflect from a player when passed with too much power. That it can roll away after a tackle and that it doesnt stick automatically to the defender. It was strange, unfamiliar and almost frustrating. It took a long time to learn. But when I learned it - I couldnt go back to playing Fifa.
Year after year football games started evolving, giving the ball more freedom, more physics, making it separate entity. It took about a decade to polish it and really make it feel real.
From a quick Google search I read that FIFA 14 was the game where EA specifically reworked the ball's aerodynamics (drag coefficient, Magnus force/spin) to stop it floating unrealistically and behave like a real projectile — a University of Virginia physicist worked with EA to fix the drag coefficient, which had been miscalculated in previous versions, giving the ball far more realistic spin and curve behavior.

And now we made a full circle and we are back to the roots of Fifa. The game is arcade, unrealistic and pretends to be football. Back then I needed Pro Evo to show me that football game can be more.
Now I know it can, they know it can, and yet they deliberately are choosing this.

Do you miss this guy?

 

[Emroth]

Do you miss this guy?

View attachment 443350

Dont know the guy. I wasnt really looking under the bonnet back then, I was just enjoying football games.

One more thing I wanted to add - before anybody jumps in and says FUMA and magic sliders can fix this and making FC26/27 good - No, they cant. Im a FUMA player since 2018. Manual passing does not add randomness to this game and does not turn it into organic and unpredictable football spectacle. Neither FUMA, nor sliders can take the ball off its rails, patterns and magnetic player feet.

 

[Emroth]

One last thing, sorry.
I wanted to illustrate what I mean, so its not just me waffling without any examples.

Here's my short clip from Fifa14.
Its only 15 seconds and it can be split into few clear stages.



1. My player crosses the ball with too much power
2. As a result of too powerful cross - the receiver has a bad first touch and cannot control the ball (ball DOES NOT glue to his feet)
3. AI player intercepts (but the ball is still NOT glued to his feet)
4. My player attempts a tackle (which DOES NOT result with the ball being glued to his feet)
5. The ball goes into space, another player takes opportunity and shoots

Thats it. This 15 seconds has more physics than entire FC26/FC27 matches Ive seen, or played
. Show me anything like this from modern FC game.

But this clip should not even be called "Randomness". Its just physics.
Are we insane to be asking for an actual ball physics in a football game?
Ball physics that was better over 10 years ago?

Seriously..

 

[Chris Davies]

One last thing, sorry.
I wanted to illustrate what I mean, so its not just me waffling without any examples.

Here's my short clip from Fifa14.
Its only 15 seconds and it can be split into few clear stages.



1. My player crosses the ball with too much power
2. As a result of too powerful cross - the receiver has a bad first touch and cannot control the ball (ball DOES NOT glue to his feet)
3. AI player intercepts (but the ball is still NOT glued to his feet)
4. My player attempts a tackle (which DOES NOT result with the ball being glued to his feet)
5. The ball goes into space, another player takes opportunity and shoots

Thats it. This 15 seconds has more physics than entire FC26/FC27 matches Ive seen, or played
. Show me anything like this from modern FC game.

But this clip should not even be called "Randomness". Its just physics.
Are we insane to be asking for an actual ball physics in a football game?
Ball physics that was better over 10 years ago?

Seriously..

This is perfect and it's the bottom line for me.

It feels like EA don't see this, cannot be made to see it, and don't care about it.

Their motto is "responsiveness". That's all they want to deliver. At all costs.

When it comes to feedback, it's like talking two different languages - like the belief is that this game just needs tweaks, not fundamental shifts.

For some that may be true, but I would argue those people are positive people who are making the best of an objectively and proveably (see clip above) less realistic, less free and simply worse game.

I have struggled for the last few weeks to retain any hope because EA just aren't interested in making games like this any more. I tell myself some things have improved - but it's all off-pitch stuff.

"Nostalgia" isn't part of it, because I can no longer play the older games - the AI and patterns of play become predictable after so many years.

If EA built on this, it could be incredible. But they're building on a simplified, magnetised "Competitive" game. That will never result in a realistic experience. It's not possible.

Everything is back on rails with remote-controlled balls and magic limbs, like the worst days of PS2 football game rip-offs that couldn't touch PES.

It's a new low for me. It may be improved over 26, but not in any way that makes it an enjoyable experience for me personally.

It's a new low, because the gameplay just isn't going anywhere good, and this is the last nail in the coffin for me - even if they started the game again from scratch, the priority wouldn't be a simulation, so how could it beat games that were designed to beat PES??

EA are the only ones with an "Authentic" mode and yet, it's the least authentic football experience you can currently buy/download, and it's so depressing that I feel like selling my consoles. Football games are all I really care about in gaming, and they're going nowhere.

 

[Jowson]

Dont know the guy. I wasnt really looking under the bonnet back then, I was just enjoying football games.

One more thing I wanted to add - before anybody jumps in and says FUMA and magic sliders can fix this and making FC26/27 good - No, they cant. Im a FUMA player since 2018. Manual passing does not add randomness to this game and does not turn it into organic and unpredictable football spectacle. Neither FUMA, nor sliders can take the ball off its rails, patterns and magnetic player feet.

Manual isn't even manual now, to be honest. I had to keep checking I wasn't on assisted on FC26.

 

[Emroth]

Manual isn't even manual now, to be honest. I had to keep checking I wasn't on assisted on FC26.

This is so true!

When it comes to "randomness" - I played FC with custom-authentic sliders and I had everything error-related set to 99, including pass error. I havent seen a single missed pass, or bad first touch, or deflection.
Played it on both Semi and Manual settings.
And Full Manual was more assisted then Semi on Fifa14, which is insane.

 

[philla]

Manual isn't even manual now, to be honest. I had to keep checking I wasn't on assisted on FC26.

What makes you think so? The only time i feel difference from my input is when i pass or shoot at first touch, which is quite extreme because if my high error settings.

 

[philla]

This is so true!

When it comes to "randomness" - I played FC with custom-authentic sliders and I had everything error-related set to 99, including pass error. I havent seen a single missed pass, or bad first touch, or deflection.
Played it on both Semi and Manual settings.
And Full Manual was more assisted then Semi on Fifa14, which is insane.

As far as i have seen (not playing EA FC for so long, have been stuck on PES21 until June), the First Touch Error slider doesn't adress ball control, just direct passing or shooting. Ball control seems to be triggered by the respective player stat, but without delivering the impact we hope for.

 

[Chris Davies]

What makes you think so? The only time i feel difference from my input is when i pass or shoot at first touch, which is quite extreme because if my high error settings.

I found manual passing incredibly difficult to master in PES games and in FIFA games (before it became FC). Now, I feel virtually no difference from fully assisted passing unless my aim is maybe 45° off, in which case it "unlocks" the ball from the rail (but with no benefit to me).

Same with semi, which used to be my preference, but now (without exaggeration) I feel zero difference from fully assisted passing.

 

[Chris Davies]

I read this and just think of all the defensive AI we've lost, and just want to bury my head in my hands.

 

[Emroth]

As far as i have seen (not playing EA FC for so long, have been stuck on PES21 until June), the First Touch Error slider doesn't adress ball control, just direct passing or shooting.

Thats interesting. But even with that taken into account - as far as I have seen - First Touch Error doesnt adress anything.. I saw no difference in passing/shooting, or anything ball control related. I havent had a single misplaced pass and I could ping the ball around like it was on a string.

 

[Emroth]

I read this and just think of all the defensive AI we've lost, and just want to bury my head in my hands.

Ive seen some YouTuber saying that AI defending support is now nerfed. When you press R1 your defender will put pressure but wont take the ball. Won't tackle. You need to switch to him manually to tackle.
So after years of trying to explain to them that football is a team sport and not one man+10 traffic cones - they added AI team mate support and then took it away year later.

Game that should be tactical and should feel like chess, with outsmarting your opponent, predicting their moves, cutting passing lanes and work as a team while defending, is yet again downgraded to quick fingers.

I never understood these complaints from online players about AI defending. Both players have same tools. If you get a better defender with better stats - should you not benefit from better AI support? Is that not the point of building better team?
Do online players give out about AI defending because they dont want to play tactically and dont want to think while defending? Im honestly baffled.

 

[Eb.bela1125]

Fundamentally, EA are still catering to the competitive / online crowd. Randomness and RNG underpin all of their complaints. As long as they press the right button combinations in the right moment, they want to ‘win’ the situation. Natural randomness that adheres to physics simply doesn’t allow for that. As long as the game is made with that design philosophy, we won’t have a decent football game.

Authentic and sliders can help but the core design is the true limitation. When you combine this with lack of active animations (again a decision to reduce rng), the shocking lack of AI movement and tactical fluidity, the weird hunchback models, the lack of inertia, the saturated cartoony graphics. It’s genuinely a poor representation of football.