I'd agree. A lot of people still prefer 16 and given the overall balance, I get why. I think 16 plus the tactics and the freedom of the ball of 19 would probably be a better game (I don't like Frostbite even though the potential is clear).
However, as a gameplay package, I much prefer 19. The scale of variance is much bigger in my experience.
Literally every game I play has something new - and it's easy to miss without slowing it down.
I played for 15 minutes before work this morning, and edited the following clip for 30 minutes...
Please take a look at this clip of just 15 seconds of action to see why I love the game.
My big, hard, slow but solid defender gives the ball away (as his attributes would dictate), then stretches desperately and
just barely wins the ball back - shielding himself from flying feet - then prioritises holding off the attacker, allowing the midfielder to start a counter.
As the ball gets to the midfield, there's a pass to the striker and he has to stretch his body to reach it, because it was an awkward pass and an inaccurate pass. That could have killed the move, but it didn't. He manages to lay it off to the playmaker.
Watch the playmaker's head movements. He's looking at the winger I've just brought in on a free transfer, making a run - then looking at the space. With a manual pass, knowing that it's raining and knowing I can hit the ball harder than usual, I play
the best pass I've ever hit in my life.
Watch the winger,
pounding the pitch to try and get there ahead of the defender. Watch his head movement - this is my favourite bit -
desperately looking at the defender, then the ball, then for cross targets, then the ball again.
At which point, his first touch - and my lack of willingness to let go of the sprint button - completely wastes it all. But I don't care, because it felt great.
It's a cup game. It's 1-1. It's the dying moments. Both teams are pushing forward.
Then...
One last counter attempt. Listen to the commentary at the 22 second mark - that intensity was exactly what I was feeling, given what happens.
I could list plenty of things that are wrong with the game, including gameplay stuff (like the fact that
Joe Allen is a wizard who can defy gravity). But there's more good in this game than any other football game I've played.