No MAJOR improvements over last year but overall it's a fun game and the best in the series nonetheless.
There are a few annoying albeit minor quirks as well. For instance, when you make an interception the screen rotates to shift the other way for the team in possession of the ball now, the issue is when this happens the player that intercepted the ball runs backwards for a step THEN takes off in the direction you need them to. This might seem like nitpicking but it's an annoying flaw in the AI and gameplay mechanics that causes a lot of interceptions that could be returned for 6 end up with an immediate tackle by the offense. There are times when you're searching for a player online in MUT (Madden Ultimate Team) and it will just time out but instead of resetting the next time you search it keeps saying no players are online. You have to actually turn the game off and restart it to fix the issue. When all you're trying to do is play a game THAT can be annoying real fast.
Now, with that said there are some nuances this game has that weren't there last year. It is the best game in the series for what it's worth. The game moves a lot smoother. The animations look great. The addition of seasons to Ultimate Team is a great little addition. Owner mode is pretty cool (granted it's just franchise mode from a few years ago with price point setting and things put back in). Overall Madden 25 is a really fun game to play. If you enjoy football and enjoy football games it's the best one that's ever been made.
The only reason I struggle to give it higher than a 7 is because for the 25th year anniversary the game deserves more than a few load screens with screenshots of past Madden games and trivial facts thrown in. They had a chance to do so much with this game. I don't know if it's lazy programming, if they're busy gearing up for next gen or if the people they have on this title just aren't that creative anymore but there's so much they could have done.
For example, maybe give us a retro mode, same game but the option to turn the graphics to 16bit, 32bit etc. THAT would have been awesome! Give us the option to wager an Ultimate Team card on a game against someone else. Or at least wager coins for online match ups. Add in more commentary instead of lazily transferring the commentary from last year. (Sidenote: Phil Sims is just as annoying and clueless in this game as he is in real life sometimes. Saying things that make no sense with what happens on the field. I'm not sure if that was on purpose or a glitch in programming. I won a game with a last second field goal and he commented that it was a disappointing drive because we had to "settle for" a field goal. Nevermind the fact that I just won the Super Bowl the way the Patriots have won all of theirs.)
So yeah, Madden 25 is a great fun game to play. But after 25 years, Madden deserved more.To call this an anniversary edition is kind of sad. Hopefully they're saving more than just pretty graphical upgrades for next gen.