Nicely put. I think that's where we are - FIFA has made a decision as to their gameplay focus. I've said it a million times this past few years, but you can't please sim gamers, casual gamers and eSports pros with the same game (without creating three distinctly different separate gameplay experiences in the same package, with as much innovation apparent in each).
Part of me agrees. I've never been keen on the idea of splitting gameplay between multiplayer and single player, but I can definitely see why now more than ever that seems like the only solution.
But I'm not sure it really needs all that much tweaking. I'm a big realism guy, but I also agreed that defending was way too assisted in the past, and that's not rewarding (or good for a competitive game). I just think they went too far.
And I actually think that in the vast majority of cases, realism and skill-gap can work together. Think about for example some of the biggest complaints last year: high accuracy of certain finesse shots, full back positioning, OP timed finishing, balls bouncing back to attackers, OP skill moves, bad keepers, OP headers/volleys/first time shots.
With the exception of balls bouncing to attackers and keepers at the near post, they've pretty much fixed all of that, and in all cases it's improved both realism and the skill-gap.
It's really just the AI that's gotta get figured out. If they approach the challenge as in "how can we make the AI more realistic but not have it be as impactful as before," then I think they can make one gameplay suitable for both.
This year feels like the biggest leap towards pleasing online players that they've ever made - if this game had a development motto, it could be input is all. Screw momentum, and who cares if one leg passes through another - if someone pushes a button, don't frustrate them for the sake of realism, because people will be happier with a responsive game than they will an unresponsive, realistic one. Make the balance more fun. Grow the skill gap.
Hard to argue with that. But those in the "realism is my priority" pot (subtitled "realism is better than a skill gap, this is supposed to be a football game") could be left bitterly disappointed. Especially if they don't really like the other game either (and look at its title, "eFootball" - in the end, they both want to sell the game to the same pot of people, because it's the biggest pot of people).
IMO, they've really smoothed out and improved animations this year, and I'm not seeing players do things they shouldn't be able to. At least not like before. I provided feedback of so many bullshit animation fails last year, and I've hardly seen any this year. I've also been impressed that this year when I try things I shouldn't be able to do, it more often than not fails. So I gotta disagree about them choosing responsiveness over realism, especially or at least compared with last year and before. Not saying there isn't work still to do, but for me this has been a subtle but noticeable improved in 20.
Put it like this - if I buy a £100m defender in Career Mode, and he stands and watches someone go past him unless I babysit him, then in the context of a Career Mode (where transfers and simulation are an integral part of the thing), it's at best a bit pointless, and at worst simply a bad game. In my opinion.
But against friends or online - the context is different. Your £100m defender is stood watching because of the skill gap equation, the person with the better skill is winning rather than the person with the better players.
I agree and disagree. I get why you'd want that, especially when we're used to past approaches to gameplay. The counter to that is that if you watched an attacker go by your $100m defender, then you screwed up by not selecting him and marking the attacker yourself. This year's gameplay is all about predicting the attacks, choosing the correct defender to control, and then being able to mark him manually.
IMO, this is actually working fairly well... except when it doesn't. That's what's most frustrating to me - sometimes your AI teammates just fail at being where they need to be. If the AI were more consistent and reliable, with better positioning in certain circumstances, then I think it'd be fine.
Right now, that "attributes/don't help" balance is so far on the "don't help" side that they are purposefully - as you say - walking away from realism. I can't accept that. It's why I started playing PES, it's why I joined Evo-Web, it's why I'm still here. It's also why I've played more FIFA in the last few years than I have PES. But this marks a turning point in FIFA's direction.
I keep wondering if a PC modder can save it, for guys like me, but the intelligence they've "cut out" of the game can't be put back in. That intelligence isn't a value that can be buffed or nerfed, it's not a single line of code and a number, it's whole chunks of game analysis that's been deleted out of AI players' heads. So I'm feeling a bit bereft.
This is where I disagree. I don't think they're going away from realism. Hard to say that when pretty much every change but to the AI has made the game more realistic. I mean, dribbling/skill moves alone are
so much more realistic now, which is the complete opposite from what the FUT skillers want. One of their biggest complaints is the removal of chain skilling.
And it's not the intelligence that's been cut out. When your teammates are "turned on" to the play around them, they can be quite good. Their positioning is far improved from last year. And I've been really impressed at times with the CPU defending. I posted a video yesterday of a CPU defender who I beat, rush back and then stop me. That pretty much never would happen before.
It's not the intelligence they've removed; they're just not always active to the play around them, or not active quick enough. This is something they've hardcoded under the hood, and I'd be shocked if you could fix it with sliders. I mean, I posted a video (I think in here) where my CDM was passive, but then tracked a midfielder run... it's just he was too late to see the run. That's the problem for me - it can be just so inconsistent when your AI teammates are "on or off."
But I think we have to remember that almost always new features and mechanics suck at first in FIFA. Remember how long it took shielding to get to a good place? Remember the same with driven passes. Also see Timed Finishing last year compared to this year.
But now we're talking about a total overhaul to defending. It might just be that this is a growing pains year in this area.
So while I agree there's definitely stuff to be frustrated by, I could see what we have now as a pretty solid platform going forward into next gen as they evolve and improve what they've now started. I feel like this year's game has a
far higher learning curve than any FIFA before, so I'm not yet ready to say it's amazing or broken. But I don't think it's a coincidence that the Pros and other influencers who've been singing the game's praise, or also those who've been playing the game the longest.