Introduction
Due to the (company) FIFA demanding an insane amount of money to renew the license, FIFA 23 marks the end of an era, and EA plans on renaming the game "EA Sports FC". That sounds a very lame name, so we will see if they actually use that.
People say “It's the same game every year, just with updated squads” which has varying degrees of truth with each installment: FIFA 20 didn’t even launch with the updated squads; FIFA 21 didn't have Leeds United’s Elland Road stadium even though they were a Premier League team. So sometimes EA don't even deliver the changes to the teams on time. I didn't play FIFA 22, and I felt it was too tempting to take advantage of the “Xbox Series S with FIFA 23 for free” deal, especially when I heard the PC version was suffering issues, partially due to the anti-cheat program that stopped some people from playing the game.
What’s New?
In terms of main gameplay, things feel very similar to the previous games. There's a new game engine which you occasionally notice when players collide and less predictable results happen like the ball bouncing away, leading to more goal-mouth scrambles. This new engine was hyped up as “HyperMotion2”, which was created by motion capturing (both men's and women's) players during actual matches, resulting in more realistic movement, collisions, and transitions between animations. They also hyped up the grass, and it does look very impressive to be fair. Details like cutting up the grass during aggressive slide tackles makes the game feel more realistic. Another feature is what EA calls "AcceleRATE", and now they classify running styles as "controlled", "explosive", "lengthy" which should change how the player moves with and without the ball.
There's a new "Power Shot" which features a longer "wind-up" before the player unleashes a powerful shot which can lead to spectacular goals. By default the camera zooms in slightly to illustrate when someone is doing this (it can be disabled), and gives you an opportunity to slide in for the block. There's "outside foot" variants for passes, crosses, and shots which are very useful. If you like cutting inside with wingers, you normally find you have the wrong angle to shoot or cross, but now the outside foot variant will give you an advantageous trajectory. No longer do you need to hit the ball with your strong foot and curl it away from goal, or curl it towards goal with your weaker foot. The outside foot shot has a straighter trajectory, often slightly curling in towards your target; curling the ball around the goalkeeper's outstretched hands, or arcing that cross right towards the penalty spot.
Set pieces have been changed, and I am sure EA just cycle through the implementations - every revamp is just the system from the game several years prior. For free kicks and corners, you choose a direction, then can choose a spot on the ball which determines the curl and lift. Placing it central is called "knuckleball" which has a more unpredictable flight. Power is determined by holding the button. For penalties, you hold a direction to choose a spot but you don't have a visual reticule. Power is determined by holding the button. Then there is a timing aspect with a pulsating sphere shown under the ball which represents "composure" and is linked to the player's ability. I think I preferred these systems compared to previous installments but it's quite rare to get free kicks and penalties when playing on “World Class” diffuiculty or above.
EA managed to secure the license for Juventus, rather than using the fictional name “Piemonte Calcio”. They released a World Cup mode which was fully licensed and had specific cutscenes, logos etc. It's nice to see the women's game having larger representation and now you can play domestic teams from the English WSL and French league. They are only available in Friendlies and Tournament mode, so don't expect a multi-season Career mode. As a bit of a gimmick, Richmond FC are here from the TV show with Ted Lasso appearing on the sidelines. You can use them in career mode, but they have a small squad.
Modes
In recent years, fans have moaned at EA for only caring about the Ultimate Team mode which is their massive money-maker. Career mode has been neglected for years, showing little improvement year on year. One of the new features though is the option to only play in the highlights, so it is partially simulated. I didn't notice game-breaking bugs this time around. There were a few visual bugs though, so some text showed as the variable name instead of the actual text (that is such a basic programming error), player-signing cutscenes were repeated in the next transfer window, and commentary claimed my player had scored on his debut after scoring in the first game of his 3rd season.
Navigating through the menus can be quite cumbersome, like having to find players in one menu, but having to go into another menu to actually bid on them. Finding players to possibly sign can be quite difficult due to the teams not having enough players in that position, player "unwilling to relocate", and other many excuses. Trying to search for Transfer listed players doesn't seem to show all transfer listed players (maybe it's based on scouting knowledge? But aspects like this just aren't clear to the user). Given how easy it is to sign fictional players via your Youth Scouting/Academy, it often seemed better just to churn out youngsters and develop them, occasionally picking up an extravagant free signing. With League 2's Crewe, I managed to sign Jack Butland, Marcus Alonso, and a couple of decent players for free after the first season. After being promoted to League 1, at the start of the third season, I managed to get Aubameyang on loan. It's not realistic, but it's funny.
As the days are simulated, your players will train. You have 3 chosen activities which require a set number of players. You can actually play the drill or just simulate it, which just gives you your best result. Training impacts your player’s fatigue and match sharpness.
Ultimate Team is a good mode in theory, and many people spend their time (and money) there. You buy card packs to acquire players and items like attribute boosts, contract renewals etc. A few years ago, they added “Legend” cards, so you can play with retired players like Zidane and Beckham. The chemistry system encourages you to match players of the same nationality/team/league. This system is still here, but you no longer have to have adjacent players in the line-up, and there’s less punishment for low chemistry. Even though you can play Ultimate Team in single-player against AI-controlled teams using real player's squads, if you lose connection; you are kicked out of the game with a 3-0 loss. It's a brutal punishment, because maybe you were on track to earn 500 coins, but then end up with nothing, a loss against you, and all your squad's contracts are 1 game closer to expiring. For that reason, it's no good to me, so I stuck with Tournaments and Career mode. The Achievements list is heavily geared towards this mode.
A few years ago, EA introduced Volta, a 5-a-side mode. Well, there's are 3 on 3 option, then variations using a "rush" goalkeeper. The pitches are small, some having walls, leading to fluid and action-packed matches. Playing with no goalkeeper just often leads to cheap goals from long range though. There's a Pro Clubs mode where you can play multiplayer online, or like Ultimate Team - single-player but get booted out of the game if you lose the connection to the server.
Match Engine
Here’s a few thoughts on the general gameplay/match engine:
I didn't score many goals from crosses since defenders seem to easily win headers, and crossing often seems inaccurate. With the various options of crossing, passing and through-balls, it seems that whatever you try - it is somehow the wrong option. For example, I break down the wing, ahead of the defenders, and see a speedy teammate about to run past the defenders, so I whip a low cross to him but it decides to run right past it.
In today’s game, many teams utilise a “sweeper keeper” so often pass to the keeper. This does happen in this game, but there’s plenty of silly pass-backs from risky situations. I suppose I question the utility of this tactic in real life anyway.
Goalkeepers sometimes concede easy goals by diving backwards, so don't cover much area.
I think the referees are quite lenient. There were plenty of times where I aggressively flew into tackles and didn’t receive a card. You can also adjust the leniency in the options menu.
The biggest problem with the match engine is that many players are reluctant to make forward runs. Sometimes you can have the ball in midfield and stand still, and your surrounding players will also stand still - rather than making a forward run, anticipating the pass/through-ball. I think you can partially alleviate this somewhat by changing your tactics, but most teams have this problem by default.
The AI seems very good at running towards the byline then cutting a pass back to an unmarked attacker to slot it in. I was often seeing the same types of goals, and sometimes it seemed like some crazy misfortune when you try and do something more unpredictable to trick the AI - but they still get some insanely lucky bounces to score anyway. In these scenarios, it's easy to see why a number of players accuse the game of "scripting" - it can seem very determined to score, particularly at the end of matches where the referee decides to play-on, even though the allotted stoppage time was up 30 seconds ago. I'm sure I would complain if the referee did blow bang on time when I'm through on goal, but I think the current system EA has been using for years is too lenient. The game should end if the opposition touches the ball, rather than having to clear it towards the half way line.
Once I got used to the game, I thought Professional difficulty was way too easy, but then World Class often feels a little too difficult, mainly because the AI improves significantly in defence. I think the general play seems to be more balanced: maybe I will have more possession, but then the opposition keepers seem to save most shots, whilst they seem very efficient at scoring against mine. There’s a fair few options to customise your experience, so you can adjust the keeper ability if you wish.
I do think EA have been a bit slow to implement noticeable changes to the game, and with the same type of presentation in career mode that was there years ago, I feel like I am losing enthusiasm for the franchise. It is understandable that EA just cares about Ultimate Team because they make millions from it, and the likes of Konami don’t seem to be making a worthy competitor.