Ι know this is a very cliche and eternal question , but how do you find the "stas matter" ?
In this and 2020 i am ok with PA1+Superstar, but i am in thoughts of going FuMa and TopPlayer in 2018 & 2019 , cause ML is unplayable on superstar in that games.
This has been a question of mine for years as well. And after a couple of years trying manual, and finally getting the "click" this year, I can tell that yes, they do have an impact. I can´t show it or "prove" it because it´s almost subtle, but playing a Master League for about 7 seasons now, and being on several teams ranking from PSV, Rangers, Benfica, Man City, I´ve used/played with very diferent players along the way. I can really feel there´s a diference in accuracy while passing and shooting with better players. But what's more important than stats, is actually player traits and special abilities. This game plays like almost a RPG, where you´re decisions have diferent impact, depending on the player you're using.
To me, it doesn´t feel organic because I know it´s the programming working under the hood, that decides that a through ball is sucessfull because you used Pogba. What happens sometimes is that the pass isn´t that good, but because it was made with a "special player", suddenly the CPU can´t defend it. And so on and on with other abilities. For example, a "normal" player gets contact all the time and the referee plays on. But if a player with "malicia" is touched, it´s almost always a foul. So in other words, it wasn´t about the contact, instead it was about the fact that your player is better and falling or even pretend that he got fouled. It works like this for pretty much any ability. So the game is kind of a "puzzle", where you have to create a team with special abilities, almost like special cards that give you the advantage over the opponent.
On shooting, yeah, totally see it. I´ve had clumsy shots but they still go on target and result in a goal because I was using Ronaldo for example. I´ve played enought to realise that a better shot at target just wouldn´t go in just because my Forward didn´t have any special trait.
Crossing is another very easy to spot ability. I played with teams where goals from crossing were a rarity, but if I bring in a player with "pinpoint crossing" and a forward with "heading" abilities, suddenly pretty much all my crosses are causing havoc on the CPU box.
If it's good or not, that's each one's opinion. I find it interesting and mostly satisfying. But sometimes, like I said, I realise that I´m not playing better, but instead it's the CPU playing worse just because I used a specific player.
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