Soccer Gaming Catch-All

Godzilla Blitz wrote:
Clusks wrote:
Godzilla Blitz wrote:

My son pretty much plays FIFA exclusively, and so we had FIFA 16 delivered yesterday. He played a couple of hours last night, and gives it a preliminary thumbs up. I watched him play for a bit, and they definitely seem to have fixed the overpowered pace issue. He couldn't score at all using the same offensive tactics he used with FIFA 15. In general defenders look a lot less clueless than they did in FIFA 15. Specifically, they seem better at anticipating through balls and balls over the top.

Finally, after about an hour and a half, he started scoring. Basically, he said he started to move the ball around when he got about 2/3 of the way to the opposing team's goal, then looked for opportunities or defensive mistakes. Oddly enough, this sounds like ... real soccer. *gasp*

I read a review that said crosses were still underpowered, but for what it's worth he didn't think so, at least based on what he encountered last night. He scored a few goals on crosses, and felt they are better than they were in FIFA 15.

I've found one of the most underrated parts of FIFA is how it allows for different play styles. Too many people think it's all about pace and it isn't. I always play with a big team and trying to bully my way to victories, with long balls and 5 defenders, and it never lets me down. I've also played people who are really good at possession football and it's always a nice surprise, the thing I find is that a lot of people, because they are all drawn to pace, can't handle different styles as well.

Also, check out Metacritic now - PES is above FIFA in the averages! Nice to see it up there, it may be a future purchase for me to return to my former love.

The wild card, as well, is players. My son's players are all pretty much junk right now. It's hard to play with pace with a really slow team.

That's interesting about PES. I haven't played that game for ages.

If i had a XBONE or a PS4, I'd probably go for PES right now. There are plenty of places where you can download fan-made edit files to fix the licensing issues, and I remember Kotaku's review touched on something very important to me, that there were a wide variety of goals scored in PES, whereas in FIFA, it felt like there were only a few. And, in the process of watching a BUNCH of FIFA "Let's Play" videos, I'm noticing that yeah, a lot of the ways to score in FIFA feel kinda samey sometimes.

Also, I remain shocked at how popular some FIFA players channels are. Like, millions of views for a video of a player opening a pack of FUT cards. But then again, I have on interest in FUT and little understanding of how YouTube celebrity works, so whatever.

Prederick wrote:
Godzilla Blitz wrote:
Clusks wrote:
Godzilla Blitz wrote:

My son pretty much plays FIFA exclusively, and so we had FIFA 16 delivered yesterday. He played a couple of hours last night, and gives it a preliminary thumbs up. I watched him play for a bit, and they definitely seem to have fixed the overpowered pace issue. He couldn't score at all using the same offensive tactics he used with FIFA 15. In general defenders look a lot less clueless than they did in FIFA 15. Specifically, they seem better at anticipating through balls and balls over the top.

Finally, after about an hour and a half, he started scoring. Basically, he said he started to move the ball around when he got about 2/3 of the way to the opposing team's goal, then looked for opportunities or defensive mistakes. Oddly enough, this sounds like ... real soccer. *gasp*

I read a review that said crosses were still underpowered, but for what it's worth he didn't think so, at least based on what he encountered last night. He scored a few goals on crosses, and felt they are better than they were in FIFA 15.

I've found one of the most underrated parts of FIFA is how it allows for different play styles. Too many people think it's all about pace and it isn't. I always play with a big team and trying to bully my way to victories, with long balls and 5 defenders, and it never lets me down. I've also played people who are really good at possession football and it's always a nice surprise, the thing I find is that a lot of people, because they are all drawn to pace, can't handle different styles as well.

Also, check out Metacritic now - PES is above FIFA in the averages! Nice to see it up there, it may be a future purchase for me to return to my former love.

The wild card, as well, is players. My son's players are all pretty much junk right now. It's hard to play with pace with a really slow team.

That's interesting about PES. I haven't played that game for ages.

If i had a XBONE or a PS4, I'd probably go for PES right now. There are plenty of places where you can download fan-made edit files to fix the licensing issues, and I remember Kotaku's review touched on something very important to me, that there were a wide variety of goals scored in PES, whereas in FIFA, it felt like there were only a few. And, in the process of watching a BUNCH of FIFA "Let's Play" videos, I'm noticing that yeah, a lot of the ways to score in FIFA feel kinda samey sometimes.

Also, I remain shocked at how popular some FIFA players channels are. Like, millions of views for a video of a player opening a pack of FUT cards. But then again, I have on interest in FUT and little understanding of how YouTube celebrity works, so whatever.

I'm similar, I'm not really sure why people watch them all. I like watching videos by Robbaz, but he plays a lot of games, is funny and does fun things in them. There just seems to be a factory of the same FIFA Youtubers out there.

I finally got the game yesterday and I was very impressed with how stable the servers were on opening day for a change! I won all four games of the draft mode and got the main prize (a mega pack and premium player pack.)

It's a shame you have to pay 15k coins (or 300 FIFA points, if you like) for draft mode, as it's so fun, I only actually played one game with my real UT squad.

My impressions of this one is that it really doesn't allow you to just bomb past people with pace. I am finding the shooting a little weird though, some of my shots seems to cannon over from 3 yards out often and others seem to be determined to hit the woodwork.

I got it yesterday as well (PC version). Finding it pretty tough, even with Man City, though I am rubbish at the game, which might explain things. The defending seems a lot tougher than in previous years - I've won my 4 games in career mode, but definitely been hanging on in 3 of them (2-1's and 3-2's), and I only beat Reading 2-1 after extra time.

This draft mode - where is it ? I must admit to finding the Ultimate Team stuff very confusing all round.

Question about FIFA and the MyCareer part: have they added anything new to that? Like, have they changed it so that you're not getting offers from Chelsea or Barcelona after only playing a half season? Any other changes?

davet010 wrote:

I got it yesterday as well (PC version). Finding it pretty tough, even with Man City, though I am rubbish at the game, which might explain things. The defending seems a lot tougher than in previous years - I've won my 4 games in career mode, but definitely been hanging on in 3 of them (2-1's and 3-2's), and I only beat Reading 2-1 after extra time.

This draft mode - where is it ? I must admit to finding the Ultimate Team stuff very confusing all round.

The draft mode is within Ultimate Team, it's like normal Ultimate Team, although you build a one off squad in which you get five options for each position from the entire database of players. You do have to be into Ultimate Team to play it though, as it costs currency to play (although you get a free token at the start, I believe.)

mwdowns wrote:

Question about FIFA and the MyCareer part: have they added anything new to that? Like, have they changed it so that you're not getting offers from Chelsea or Barcelona after only playing a half season? Any other changes?

Not sure, I don't ever really touch the single player mode, I only play FIFA online. When I used to play career mode, I found it quite buggy every season.

mwdowns wrote:

Question about FIFA and the MyCareer part: have they added anything new to that? Like, have they changed it so that you're not getting offers from Chelsea or Barcelona after only playing a half season? Any other changes?

I haven't tried '16 yet, but I have '15. I started a career with a CAM at Aresenal Tula in the Russian League. First year they loaned me out to Morcambe in England League Two. Just finished up season two for Arsenal Tula. Have yet to be called up for U.S. national team, and have not had a single offer presented to me in two seasons, despite being player of the year and golden boot. They might have gone the other extreme.

Other than that -- pretty much the same as always. In '15 pace is king and you have to crank the difficulty up so that defenders don't just stand by and Ole' you through. Midfield is better than previous years. Sounds like the rejiggered for '16.

Haven't played the latest versions, but I own both FIFA 15 and PES 2015 on PS4.

I bought PES during a sale based on raving reviews and because FIFA was getting stale since the major updates of version 12. And yes, the soccer game itself feels much closer to the real game. I especially like PES' passing: in FIFA you have either automatic passing, which often results in the ball going nowhere near your intended path, or fully manual passing which is above my skill level. PES hits that sweet spot where you feel in control, and actually responsible if it goes wrong.

The thing with PES though: every aspect of the game seems to have its own annoying mistake. Take the career mode: great in every way, but when you're benched or injured you can't play as the entire team or simulate the match. No, you have to watch the AI play the entire game. Which makes the entire mode useless of course. PES 2015 also tried to make refereeing more realistic, so you often get yellow for standing tackles for which you would get carded IRL as well. You do often get away with horrible sliding tackles though, and of course the AI knows how to game the system much better. It almost killed the game for me.

tl;dr version: PES 15 is way better on the field, FIFA has better game modes + licenses, and PES can't help but screw up in annoying little ways.

Prederick wrote:

If i had a XBONE or a PS4, I'd probably go for PES right now. There are plenty of places where you can download fan-made edit files to fix the licensing issues.

There's a way to import fan-made edits on PS4? Do tell!

dejanzie wrote:

There's a way to import fan-made edits on PS4? Do tell!

I haven't picked it up, but I can corroborate that I did read a review that briefly mentioned this. No idea how it would work though.

Spikeout, has PES 2016 and with a quick download to a USB flash drive, followed by some fiddling around in edit mode, he now has Premier League kits.

I enjoyed PES 2015 and with FIFA 16 looking like another disappointment (different strokes and all that) I may pick up PES 2016.

RnRClown wrote:

Spikeout, has PES 2016 and with a quick download to a USB flash drive, followed by some fiddling around in edit mode, he now has Premier League kits.

I enjoyed PES 2015 and with FIFA 16 looking like another disappointment (different strokes and all that) I may pick up PES 2016.

Did some googling, and it appears that yes Konami re-introduced a way to import option files etc. in PES 2016. No such luck for PES 2015 owners.

Gamefly sent me FIFA 16 and I booted it up yesterday on the old XBO. I hate soccer IRL, but this was pretty fun! The controls are spot on so I might just hang onto this one for awhile before sending it back.

Coolbeans wrote:

Gamefly sent me FIFA 16 and I booted it up yesterday on the old XBO. I hate soccer IRL, but this was pretty fun! The controls are spot on so I might just hang onto this one for awhile before sending it back.

ONE OF US! ONE OF US!

Main difference I can tell with 16 compared to 15 is the passing. It is a lot less forgiving and you need to be more accurate with power and direction.

Shame they haven't sorted out the soft penalties and fouls from 15, in fact it looks like they're even worse. I was given a foul against for a diving header.

Was Martin Atkinson officiating?

Were you playing against Man U ?

To jump in on the PES v FIFA discussion I was PES all of the PSone & PS2 era, they were brilliant & addictive games that required a good 3-4 weeks to start to master, we all sunk untold hours in from one version to the next. The PES games far surpassed FIFA on those consoles, the change happened when the PS3/360 generation came about.

I switched to FIFA 10 which was the first really good FIFA in a long time, the passing felt really good, the animations looked amazing, it was a very good game. I bought 11 & 12, one of them was hands down the most boring football game I've ever played. You had to break teams down like a puzzle & they were all really defensive, me & RNRClown finished play sessions pure frustrated after results reading like:

0-0
1-0
1-0
0-0
2-0
1-0
0-0

I think we went 8 games without scoring once. The teams all played the same, matches just descended into passing teams to death looking for an opening.

The best out of all this was World Cup 2012, it was exciting & Captain Your Country co-op was absolute joy.

I bought a good lot of PES's during this time but they were always disappointing & I brought them back to the store to either change game or get a refund. PES 2015 was the first true return to form since the glory PS2 days, it had that addictive quality that made you wanna play one more game & the trump card that has made PES so special team & player individuality.

Players have always felt unique in PES be it skillful players like Zidane, Batistuta with his strength & clinical power shots, Desailly being a rock at the back, Laudrup's acceleration & dribbling etc

Teams both in terms of play style & ability were Everton would have 10 men behind the ball as Spurs would attack you. You would play some lower division team in the cup & hammer them, really feeling the gulf in class between your team & theirs.

For my money PES 2016 is probably the best football game I've ever played, the passing, physical battles & tackling being massively improved from last year, the dribbling feeling as good as ever with some amazing variations in animations & situations that develop on the pitch. The Master League has improved a lot & getting the official kits into the game via USB is a great bonus. I'd encourage anyone who has been let down by PES in recent years or has just tired of FIFA to try PES 2016 this time around.

What are the improvements to ML this year compared to 2015?

I haven't played ML enough to thoroughly judge it but in layout alone it's miles better. Deeper transfer system, players needing to adapt to formations & team instructions (some players will prefer a short passing game to a long or a counter attacking game to a possession based one). The other really cool feature is player roles which this article explains really well http://segmentnext.com/2015/09/09/pe...

Just over three weeks until FM2016 drops. Went to the Steam page to look at what's new, and saw this.

Manager on the Touchline
Get closer to the action than ever before with your own customisable character to bark out instructions and join the celebrations from the touchline.

Not sure how I feel about this, let's look at the screenshots and see if they feature it.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/oaq0IEY.png)

Okay, that's definitely an option I'll be disabling, if possible.

That's some major feature creep, but I feel like that's been a problem for a while now. If it's something that can be disabled and doesn't add clicks then I don't mind (I do like facegen for the players, as creepy as it generally looks a lot of the time).

I know I tend to blaze through seasons, vacationing between games and the like but I feel that stuff like tutoring/preferred move training/private chats/press conferences/board requests (especially feeder clubs where you have to wait for a response) could all be streamlined to get rid of a lot of superfluous clicking.

All that said I think there's a good chance I'll be taking a pass again because my PC's really getting up there in age. I might have to wait to see how the demo runs.

RE Pro Evo Master League:
if you're playing starting as a second division club and expect to get promoted, hold off on any transfers...when my season in the premier league started, somehow my youth players jumped up in quality (on the top end, the guys I'd actually think about bringing onto my team, by an average overall rating difference of about 5 points), making some of the shortlisted transfers I was looking at completely unnecessary.

Also keep an eye on the free agents there can be some ridic deals there. I was able to pick up this guy (21 yr old DMF with marking and one touch pass?!? yes please) on a free.

Mind you, I skipped (at least) the last edition of the game, but one thing I LOVE about master league in this edition is that your players can actually learn those skills (like one-touch shot etc.) as your game progresses. The last time I played, that was definitely not a thing; what skills your players had to begin with is what they were stuck with and only their stat ratings would change.

I don't know if this is just confirmation bias or what, but I suspect it might actually have to do with how you use them when playing. One guy I was using as a sub all the time picked up the super sub skill. All my forwards ended up with one-touch shot.

I haven't played more than four seasons last year, but I think this might be a new addition.

Dimmerswitch wrote:

Just over three weeks until FM2016 drops. Went to the Steam page to look at what's new, and saw this.

Manager on the Touchline
Get closer to the action than ever before with your own customisable character to bark out instructions and join the celebrations from the touchline.

Not sure how I feel about this, let's look at the screenshots and see if they feature it.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/oaq0IEY.png)

Okay, that's definitely an option I'll be disabling, if possible.

That must mean the beta is next week.

I remember someone on Twitter describing their manager creator feature looking like a bit of a "fat Kaka who has had a breakdown".

I got into it a lot more last season after many years out. FM will always have a strong fanbase, but I do think they feel the pressure from the likes of FIFA which is easier to just pick up and play a quick game. I think they need to attract a lot of the younger crowd who maybe we more drawn to FIFA, as it isn't as easy for their long time fans who are older and now have jobs. I've got plenty of mates who were FM fanatics who just admit that they're not interested in buying it this year as they just don't play it, whereas they all play FIFA. It's probably why they're so keen to offer the watered down versions with the main game.

I'm still interested in getting it though, I put over 100 hours into it last year, I think my big mistake was staying away for so long and getting straight into a game in the Turkish 4th division. After getting to grips with the game a lot more (which took quite a while with a lower league team in Italy) I got a good understanding.

Also, the beta comes with network play, and I usually like to use it as a chance to familiarise myself with the game, so if anyone is up for a season on network play I'd be happy to play!

I agree, Clusks - it took me a while to get round to FM 15, but ended up with 115 hours in it. I play very slowly, though - probably took me 100 hours to get through 5 (really 6) seasons, though I did take a side route as I had 3 major job offers after the end of season 4, and did a season at one.

FM 16 Beta is LIVE!

Haven't gotten a lot of time with it, but my biggest worry right now is figuring out tactics. Initially it seems the have reduced the OP nature of the 4-2-3-1, so I need to tweak things until I find out some things that work.

There have been a lot of changes, so it will take some time to sort through everything.

Psych wrote:

FM 16 Beta is LIVE!

Haven't gotten a lot of time with it, but my biggest worry right now is figuring out tactics. Initially it seems the have reduced the OP nature of the 4-2-3-1, so I need to tweak things until I find out some things that work.

There have been a lot of changes, so it will take some time to sort through everything.

Still undecided if I want to jump on board with the beta. I had fun with it last year giving it a quick test season with AC Milan, but there's so many games I want to play at the moment that I'm not sure it'll be worth having that quick test.

Psych, I haven't played since FM 2014. I care about tactics and building up teams from zero over multiple seasons. Is this one for me?

UCRC wrote:

Psych, I haven't played since FM 2014. I care about tactics and building up teams from zero over multiple seasons. Is this one for me?

I already answered the most important question.

Apparently you can disable the monstrous quasi-human coach you've created, though.

Baffles me why on earth they would add this, and not allow for cool options. If I'm going to have to be represented in game, I want to be an eight-foot tall albino who wears sombreros, chaps, and nothing else.

I was disappointed with the manager creator. There were just so few options it seems better to leave it out. JUST LET ME HAVE A GLORIOUS BEARD, SI!

UCRC, I have liked what I have seen so far from the tactics and the team building, but I am just barely out of preseason so far. So I can't really say how easy/difficult it is to build a team from the ground up. I do know that i fired it up as soon as it finished downloading, then got to drinking. At that point I made some very rash decisions with my coaching staff. I stand by those decisions, though.

They have, perhaps overly-so, simplified the tactics. I know a few people here were upset when they removed the sliders, and they have gone further away from that, in my opinion.

FM 14 was perhaps my most successful campaign where running a club was concerned. I found it easy to identify talent, bring it in and develop it, then either using the players or selling for a tidy profit. FM 15 I was not as successful.

In FM 16, at this point, I am just hoping to figure out what tactics work best with my players, and to actually survive a season with Everton.

What kind of simplifications are we talking about here? On screenshots it did seem to have all the same pulls and levers.