Now that the beta is over and I'm suffering from depression as a result of having FIFA 19 yanked violently from me, I thought I'd give folks a little view behind the scenes of what people were saying in the beta forum, since that could indicate some of the changes that might happen between now and release.
When it comes to gameplay, two complaints stand out and I expect that the full release will address these issues in some way. First has to do with pace, with just about everyone and their mother complaining that defenders can catch pacey dribblers from behind. I actually argued hard against this in the beta forums, though this was more out of fear of EA going too far in its correction than out of my belief that pace is fine - because it isn't.
There is an issue and something needs tweaking, though I'm not sure it's entirely a pace issue. There seems like a delay of animations when an attacker receives the ball. I also don't think people use knock-ons correctly, while I'm also operating under the assumption - which I admit could be wrong - that at least some of these complaints are coming from people who are simply used to pace being an easy exploit.
In any case, I do expect changes for this in the final version. I enjoyed pace in the beta compared to 18, where pace (especially on the flanks) was a ridiculous easy exploit, and I hope EA don't go too far with a fix for this. But pace could be an area that I could see being quite different in the full release.
The other biggest complaint was about the improvements to the AI defending. Heaps and heaps of complaints about the AI doing too much when defending, whether it be interceptions, blocking shots, or marking the dribbler. This is a complicated issue, not only because there are different factions arguing here, all with different priorities, but also because how you view the issue can depend on what mode you play.
This is my take: AI defending is much improved from 18 and you can honestly depend on your team to defend and keep their shape (mostly) like you'd expect. In CM, this for me was fantastic, a revelation.
I crushed FIFA 18 on Legendary difficulty but I'd almost always concede a goal or two. I'd run away with the league but only have a mid-table defense. Now you can truly count on your squad to defend as a unit, and no longer do you have to constantly go back n forth between trying to mark the dribbler and trying to keep your shape. This for me was actually the biggest change in the beta, especially in CM.
The flip side to this is FUT multiplayer matches could get frustrating and sloppy, and I do understand where the complaints are coming from. Build up play and creating chances is more difficult than ever before, while some of the gameplay mechanics, like passing, felt unfinished and rough, which contributed to the attacking difficulties. This is all compounded by the lag of online play. And while I love the addition of the new pressing tactics, it could very well be a go to exploit unless EA incorporates more risk in using it.
So the CM fan in me hopes they don’t change defending. I still found CM too easy, so breaking down teams wasn’t an issue, while I loved how much more competent I felt defending against the CPU. But the multiplayer in me could see the need for tweaks.
This is all complicated by the fact that there are now three factions arguing. It used to be those of us interested in a more sim experience against those who wanted more of an arcade experience. But now we’ve got people whose first priority is the game being built for competitive play. They care less about what’s fun and what’s real, and care more about removing as much assistance and AI influence as possible and making the game entirely dependent on skill of the user.
While I’m all about increasing the skill gap and eliminating all the cheese and exploits and cheap goals, I’m definitely not for taking away the AI. I want footballers to behave like footballers, even if that means the AI plays a larger role in the outcomes of matches. As long as the AI doesn’t do anything unrealistic, I’m good with it. The way I look at it, if I make a pass and it’s intercepted by a defender, that’s on me for making a bad pass. Personally, with 10 outfield players, I don’t see how you can have a defensive system that isn’t heavily reliant on AI without drastically undermining the balance between attacking and defensive play (and I'd argue that 18 was extremely unbalanced).
So I found myself in a lot of debates with those who weren’t happy with how much more challenging attacking play is in the beta, as well as with those who weren’t happy with how much more the AI plays a role in defending. Because of EA’s history with giving in to those who moan when the game takes a step toward realism at the expense of easy attacking play, I’d be shocked (but elated!) if the defensive AI isn’t toned down.
Pace being nerfed and the beefed-up defending were by far the most common general complaints in the beta forum, but there were a few other things that regularly popped up.
In the CM forum, there were two main complaints: the lack of new additions and the lack of a challenge, even on the new Ultimate difficulty level. Obviously we now know that no new additions are coming, but at least an EA rep said they’d look into the difficulty levels.
In the main FUT forum – which was the most active by far – there were lots of complaints about some more minor issues. Probably the biggest of these, and I’m not sure it really counts as minor, but tackling still results in the ball going back to attackers far too often. Honestly, it’s pretty fucking inexcusable that this is still a thing.
Some of the other more popular minor complaints were about agile players being too sluggish; problems with passing (there was an issue with passes going to wrong players that had to be a beta thing); crosses being OP; bicycle kicks being OP; and issues with first touch. Keepers were again a topic, with the biggest complaint that they’d stop shots from crazy close range but whiff on long shots.
Personally I think many of the complaints were about issues that were down to it being a beta, and many things – like the passing issue and bicycle kicks – I’d expect to be fixed or tweaked for the final release.
It’s going to be interesting to see how EA reacts to the beta impressions. For me, the defensive improvements are the biggest change from 18, despite it hardly being mentioned in the marketing, and it’s going to be interesting to see if it’s changed for the final release.
(without using cheat engine) and than there is stupid AI transfers, arcade gameplay etc.
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