♦♦♦ Goal: There is A LOT of good in FIFA 22, especially on nexgen with Hypermotion, but with those improvements there are some areas that still need attention, in particular the deep defensive line that happens on nexgen. Regardless, there is nothing significantly game-breaking this year, and we wanted to focus on just tightening up the midfield, but not to the point the game can't breathe the way it does in FIFA 22. ♦♦♦
♦♦♦ Notes and Caution: While not consistent, I do have to stress the importance of paying attention if you play on SLOW versus NORMAL game speed. I know there are a lot who want to play SLOW and love it, but I'm afraid that the same issues that plagued 21 are still there where the defenders lose track of runs - making it incredibly easy to find an open player in the box on counters, etc. I'm not saying this is 100% going to happen, but I just wanted to bring that up as transparently as possible. ♦♦♦
If the value is the same for all difficulties, it will be listed once. Please refer to posted image of slider set as well.
Sprint - 5/5
► The focus here is to get less slidey, less hyper animations that just make it an eyesore to play or watch FIFA. No, there's no instant foot-planting, but there is a more "solid" feel and heaviness of the players that allows momentum based issues not to stand out as much - such as switching to a defender and being exposed, etc. The feel of players as they've gone on full sprints is a much better one as well, with still plenty of room to have a speed differential.
Acceleration - 49/49
► This is to contribute to the feel, but also bring a bit more opportunity to get players to gradually move into position rather than sprint and overcommit. As always, lowering acceleration will reduce the impact of fatigue, so this is more user preference. Feel free to use 50 if you'd like as that has been tested just as much.
Shot Error - 70/70
► I was afraid that the lack of shooting in obvious positions from the beta would carry over - it has not and the CPU shoots whenever it likes, something that can't be talked about enough. However, their accuracy is scary good. As a result, we've raised this value quite a bit - and as always it has great outcomes - and potential for great strikes on goal too. Pair that up with an increase in shot speed, a lowered GK (that can locate the ball), and goals are rewarding all around.
Pass Error - 55/55 | 58/58
► Happy to be able to keep this at a relatively low value. The concept is to get the passer to ask the question "Can I make this pass?" or "Should I make this pass?". The CPU tries many types of passes, and with this set up - paired up with a lower pass speed - they are forced to try other passes. Something as simple as a pass inside when pressure is on versus a pass backwards or a long ball forward to relieve pressure - it's all there.
Shot Speed - 51/51
► The purpose of this adjustment is to accompany the increase in shot error, but also to help the keepers that struggle to find the ball in the air at times. The adjustment also helps those slight deflections for corners, but the keepers are good this year that sometimes they will accidentally deflect the ball in front of them or not far enough away. In the end, we wanted to make sure that the scoring interactions were as organic as possible.
Pass Speed - 40/30
► It's always a balance in getting the lower pass error, but not wanting that to result in constant driven passes from the CPU. As a result, the slightly higher pass error is accompanied by the lower pass speed. This forces the CPU to use driven passes contextually, where if they need to pass 30 yards away, they actually use driven pass at a more realistic speed. The same goes for the user where if there is space to switch the field - they still need decide if it's going to be a driven pass or a high quality long ball that they can trust. These types of adjustments brings in decision making and less mindless passing that FIFA on default is known for - although FIFA 22 has done a great job in improving its base.
Injury Frequency - 50/50
► This hasn't been tested yet. There is a good mix of injuries as fatigue increases, but even at random times too. TBD.
Injury Severity - 50/50
► This hasn't been tested yet. There is a good mix of injuries as fatigue increases, but even at random times too. TBD.
GK Ability - 45/45
► As mentioned previously, the keepers need some help in finding the ball at times. It's not necessarily all the time, considering they make some incredible saves no matter how low GK ability is dropped, but more so that their reactions would be suspect. That's not to say this won't happen anymore, but at least with the combo of the previous settings, there's more of an organic look to how they make or miss saves.
Marking - 52/50
► As will be explained in the line length, the importance with marking is to get players in position a bit sooner. The user is always at a disadvantage because of how easily the CPU can move and stop abruptly. All the other values such as Sprint/Acc have helped this, but marking just brings the final bit of hesitancy from the CPU's passing decisions that look less automatic as a result. Have to be very careful with marking as it affects so much, from crosses to the CPU switching to get a loose ball rather than teleport towards an oncoming attacker. We definitely explored the full scope of marking, and how it relates to the set posted.
Run Frequency - 1/1
► Look, it'd be great to put this at 50, but as it stands the 1v1 design of this game means players will get out of position - and more so when those runs turn into 5 or 6 at a time, it just makes things worse and chaotic. As always, FIFA doesn't change the RF value - putting it at 1 creates just as many runs as before, but brings a bit more calmness (as much as FIFA can) to the field.
● The Height, Length, Width (often referred as "HLW") are quite important to consider for each slider set. [/color]
Height - 100/100
► I've spoken about this elsewhere, but there is a big issue with the defensive line in FIFA 22, and much more in nexgen than in lastgen. While Hypermotion is well received, it is poorly designed in relation to the defensive line. The defenders tend to back off attackers significantly, especially in the box. The bad news is that the height value doesn't do anything relative to moving the unit forwards, the good news is there is very tiny amount of legacy animation where defenders do step forward - but they do it individually - similar to how a midfield would defend relative to the ball's location. With that said, this isn't a gamebreaker, but it can hurt the immersion when you see it. This is why the next value was the final piece of the puzzle, which is line length.
Length - 15/20
► Every year I say it that if you could modify one slider value, it would be line length. It is what controls the compression and the "meeting" of the midfield. When we go lower in length, the compression remains, but the chance of meeting, and blocking passing lanes, decreases when the values are equal. As a result, there is a discrepancy to place bodies in the passing lanes accordingly. This is another reason why marking is faced with a discrepancy as well because the length discrepancy creates that marking look on its own.[/i]
Width - 50/50
► We spent a long time with width above 50, sometimes even as high as 100. This was trying to figure out the defensive line and how to spread out the line enough that when they do step to the ball carrier, there's enough space so the defender does not get distracted by other runners in the box, etc. The issue with raising width was that it actually pulled the defenders to go further backwards, making crosses the same tone of closer to the endline than whipped in with pace in the middle of the box. Just like IRL modern game, the wings do have space, but again that's where the passing decisions come into play - and the sliders are built for those decisions.
FB Pos - 50/50
► No changes here because the team tactics will take over anyways. Works really well and good to have instructions actually listened to this year.
FT Control - 85/85
► The control is too silky smooth on default, so a significant bump was needed. We usually don't want to raise FT so high with a low pass - but because the driven pass still exists, it should be built as a risk/reward, and that's exactly what this does. It also makes for some great sloppy play as well.