FIFA 23 Discussion Thread (Console Versions)

I don't often say "looks exactly the same" but seriously, all of the actual gameplay clips... All the same issues. Most glaringly, skating and limbs going through limbs (which just doesn't seem to matter cos it's "only a game" and responsiveness is all that matters). Plus, defenders doing nothing, and literally turning away to walk off during certain dangerous moments.

Plus, all the goals they showed actual footage of, strikers were casually jogging through a chasm of space to score. We have that already. I don't see any difference, other than it being even easier to score with the new "power shot" bullshit.

I was desperately hoping for the "defending changes" section to have something about marking or positioning, but no. Plenty of new sexy attacking changes, and there's two defensive changes? A "next gen" machine-learning jockey (why the fuck do you need machine-learning to make a defender block a lane?), and... trumpets please... a harder tackle?! Whatever.

In a sentence:
Absolutley agree Chris.
 
I like this one :

Referee Strictness Setting
This is a new setting for offline modes that allows players to define how strict the referees will be during a match.
The options included are very lenient, lenient, default, strict or very strict.
Online matches use the default referee strictness.

And this article on AI

CPU AI
Our efforts to improve the match experience against the CPU AI continue, and this year we are excited to share several updates.

Tactical Awareness

CPU AI opponents can now better react to on-pitch situations, both tactically and in terms of subs, updating their formation and their playing style during the match. The AI will analyze the match difficulty, score, match type, match time, and the players available on the bench, to change their approach like a real world manager would. The CPU AI will also take into account the preferred positions of their players outside of their main role as well as their preferred playing side.

We expect that this will have a significant impact on matches you play against AI across the game, from Career Mode to FUT, as the CPU might, for example, bring on more attacking players if they need to score, changing to a more offensive formation to try to snatch an equalizer.

New CPU AI Only Traits

Round the Keeper - A player with this Trait tends to dribble around the keeper when in one on one situations, and is more effective at this behavior than players without this Trait.
First Time Shots - A player with this Trait has a preference for taking shots immediately when receiving the ball, and their shot accuracy is improved when doing so. Note that this Trait does not guarantee that a player will always attempt a first time shot.
General CPU AI Updates

Here are some of the most impactful CPU AI updates we’ve made in FIFA 23 with the aim of creating a more fluid and lifelike experience when playing against them.

The CPU AI can be more willing to commit riskier fouls, crosses, and counter attacks.
The CPU AI is less likely to rely on backwards dribbles and can make more use of the sidelines and generally smoother dribbling transitions.
The CPU AI is more likely to consider a variety of passes and rely less on first time passing.
New playstyles for teams - Teams can now focus on the more physical aspects of defending or play more conservatively.
Player Based Difficulty now works on Legendary/Ultimate difficulty.
Players affected by Player Based Difficulty get a +10 boost on all Attributes when on the ball.
If not already enabled, Player Based Difficulty now turns on Competitor Mode
 
I like this one :

Referee Strictness Setting
This is a new setting for offline modes that allows players to define how strict the referees will be during a match.
The options included are very lenient, lenient, default, strict or very strict.
Online matches use the default referee strictness.
If this option will count for both (CPU-AI and player team) it would be a positiv thing.
 
I like this one :

Referee Strictness Setting
This is a new setting for offline modes that allows players to define how strict the referees will be during a match.
The options included are very lenient, lenient, default, strict or very strict.
Online matches use the default referee strictness.

And this article on AI

CPU AI
Our efforts to improve the match experience against the CPU AI continue, and this year we are excited to share several updates.

Tactical Awareness

CPU AI opponents can now better react to on-pitch situations, both tactically and in terms of subs, updating their formation and their playing style during the match. The AI will analyze the match difficulty, score, match type, match time, and the players available on the bench, to change their approach like a real world manager would. The CPU AI will also take into account the preferred positions of their players outside of their main role as well as their preferred playing side.

We expect that this will have a significant impact on matches you play against AI across the game, from Career Mode to FUT, as the CPU might, for example, bring on more attacking players if they need to score, changing to a more offensive formation to try to snatch an equalizer.

New CPU AI Only Traits

Round the Keeper - A player with this Trait tends to dribble around the keeper when in one on one situations, and is more effective at this behavior than players without this Trait.
First Time Shots - A player with this Trait has a preference for taking shots immediately when receiving the ball, and their shot accuracy is improved when doing so. Note that this Trait does not guarantee that a player will always attempt a first time shot.
General CPU AI Updates

Here are some of the most impactful CPU AI updates we’ve made in FIFA 23 with the aim of creating a more fluid and lifelike experience when playing against them.

The CPU AI can be more willing to commit riskier fouls, crosses, and counter attacks.
The CPU AI is less likely to rely on backwards dribbles and can make more use of the sidelines and generally smoother dribbling transitions.
The CPU AI is more likely to consider a variety of passes and rely less on first time passing.
New playstyles for teams - Teams can now focus on the more physical aspects of defending or play more conservatively.
Player Based Difficulty now works on Legendary/Ultimate difficulty.
Players affected by Player Based Difficulty get a +10 boost on all Attributes when on the ball.
If not already enabled, Player Based Difficulty now turns on Competitor Mode

What about the option that disables Norwich playing like Prime Barca?
 
I've always thought that fifa as they 'iterate' on it year by year under the hood is moving more towards fifa streets 3 and away from a sports sim (if it ever was that).

With skill moves being the most exciting announcement for them. No real defending or mechanics for actual defending or tactically defending. Plus with them emphasizing what the elite players can do (like a nobody outside of the elite can't fake a shot) and with a lot players looking more like a caricature of the real player in essence its fifa street on a full size pitch.

Even the language they use around the star players and how FUT is used to hype up the top players and legends.

I wish that someone would make a sim that showed the human element of football because at the end of the day we love watching football because its 22 humans on the pitch and they can do things ranging from the sublime to the god awful to the most boring.
 
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I too think it looks very similar. However i know im going to buy like i do every year so hopefully it feels different.
 
Tactical Awareness

CPU AI opponents can now better react to on-pitch situations, both tactically and in terms of subs, updating their formation and their playing style during the match. The AI will analyze the match difficulty, score, match type, match time, and the players available on the bench, to change their approach like a real world manager would. The CPU AI will also take into account the preferred positions of their players outside of their main role as well as their preferred playing side.

Yeah I saw this and I can honestly say it's the only thing I saw that I consider a big positive.

It always amazed me how anyone could play this braindead game when the cpu doesn't even give a fuck about the scoreline. That's every fifa after 18 btw.

What a time to be alive, we get something that was in the game 5 & 10 years ago. Now it only needs AI defending & a midfield and we could be back to where we were in 2016!
 
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Yeah I saw this and I can honestly say it's the only thing I saw that I consider a big positive.

It always amazed me how anyone could play this braindead game when the cpu doesn't even give a fuck about the scoreline. That's every fifa after 18 btw.

What a time to be alive, we get something that was in the game 5 & 10 years ago. Now it only needs AI defending & a midfield and we could be back to where we were in 2016!
Exactly. Features we have on PS3 ou 360 are now nextgen features😅
But the game clearly need that.
All these little adjustments could change the feeling of the game.
On paper, I'm hyped. With my pad in my hand, I don't know😅
 
to be honest, i expected something worse ...

All changes are football and gameplay related, there is no stupidity i expected ... maybe that power shot, but it depends how it is implemented. And maybe that touch and shot thing if it is too easy to perform.
 
Every actual gameplay footage was a hope killer as far I was concerned. And it cost me to say it but I was remotely hyped about the first video and the words of the I can't remember how to call them. I was probably mostly hyped about the possibility to edit the next gen gameplay on pc, but when I see how zonal and passive are the midfielders in defence, it just kills it. Unfortunately I don't have as much time anymore, to try to turn a yellowish liquid shit into a brownish and remotely solid shit. Sad times...
 
I think you all have been too harsh but I also have super low expectations. I saw more foot planting and less sliding, but it would be hard to make it even worse in this game.

One real positive I saw, no CPU jockey in situations that it would happen all time. Saw Casemiro do it slightly, but for the most part defenders were sprinting back. I will say, WHY IS THE DEFENSIVE LINE SO DEEP??! Lol, there's parking a bus and then there's anchoring down a yacht 😅
 
Is it me or is every "fix" to every gameplay issue needlessly "gamified" to avoid the obvious fix?

What I mean is... For example, to make defending stronger, they are suggesting non-AI blocks are a stronger tool, cos you can now perform manual blocks using a button-combo.

There are so many elements like this where, instead of taking the realism route, they add a stupid gimmick that requires you to remember yet another fucking combination.

Just let my player block the ball for me if I position him well enough, using his attributes, and let the deflection be based on physics, NOT my button timing. (But apply this to SO MANY other things - e.g. when you win a tackle, whether you keep the ball or not should be physics-based, not simply "you won a tackle and it would be unfair if you didn't keep the ball, don't cry". It's pathetic.)

As always, I've dropped a tweet to try and give EA the slightest bit of awareness of what Career Mode players want.



Also...

In the build-up to these videos, didn't they say Hypermotion footage was now taken from real-life matches to increase the realism? But these promotional videos all suggest they've recorded more amateur matches, right? Or have I missed something?
 
Also...

In the build-up to these videos, didn't they say Hypermotion footage was now taken from real-life matches to increase the realism? But these promotional videos all suggest they've recorded more amateur matches, right? Or have I missed something?

I couldn't quite follow it either. They keep citing professionals in competitive matches. To me, that's professionals in a full league or cup game - I doubt that happened.
 
In the build-up to these videos, didn't they say Hypermotion footage was now taken from real-life matches to increase the realism? But these promotional videos all suggest they've recorded more amateur matches, right? Or have I missed something?

They said they captured a lot of shooting animations in practice sessions / training because in a real-life match these type of shots could be limited in number or not occur at all. Makes sense, there's a lot of football in a real-life match that doesn't involve shots & goals. Sometimes a team may not even have a single shot on target in a whole half ... in contrast with a 12 minute fifa match which is normally just a shooting contest / training session. 😅

"We thought capturing real-life matches was a good idea, but there were all sorts of things in it we didn't need... things like fouls, build up, passing the ball backwards, defending, it looked nothing like a highlight reel which is what our game strives to be. So we had to arrange special shooting sessions", said the gameplay producer (ok, I made that up).
 
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I think the new sliding tackle and new jockey can be positives if they work well for defending, meaning if they are useful tools against skillmoves and the AI also uses them to position the players right and if it means we see more real life challenges.

A good sliding tackle that clears a ball and better positioning through more real life like jockeying would be fixing some of the defensive problems.


For the rest it is hard to judge. Usually trailers are shot on lower difficulties so that the spectacular action can more easily be shown, so it is hard to judge defensive lines and so on from this. We will see in the beta how it looks.
 
It definitely looks pretty similar to '22, graphics improved a tad but besides that pretty much looks the same as this year. All the talk about animations and it still looks the same to me, and in the clips you can see some weird movements by the players (example @ 9:15 the goalkeeper does like a moonwalk to move towards the ball in the crossing....), small things like this that I dont know if its limitation of the engine, but movements in FIFA have always been kinda weird.

As always hard to judge by these videos as someone above said with controller in hand you will see if there is a difference or not... but yeah seems they focus on attack attack attack and defense is an afterthought.

Still, looking forward to release date/demo to read impressions... remember boys and girls never pre-order games.
 
Is it me or is every "fix" to every gameplay issue needlessly "gamified" to avoid the obvious fix?

What I mean is... For example, to make defending stronger, they are suggesting non-AI blocks are a stronger tool, cos you can now perform manual blocks using a button-combo.

There are so many elements like this where, instead of taking the realism route, they add a stupid gimmick that requires you to remember yet another fucking combination.

Just let my player block the ball for me if I position him well enough, using his attributes, and let the deflection be based on physics, NOT my button timing. (But apply this to SO MANY other things - e.g. when you win a tackle, whether you keep the ball or not should be physics-based, not simply "you won a tackle and it would be unfair if you didn't keep the ball, don't cry". It's pathetic.)

As always, I've dropped a tweet to try and give EA the slightest bit of awareness of what Career Mode players want.



Also...

In the build-up to these videos, didn't they say Hypermotion footage was now taken from real-life matches to increase the realism? But these promotional videos all suggest they've recorded more amateur matches, right? Or have I missed something?
I'm sure they will finally listen to you if you just write enough tweets!
 
I also noticed I wasn’t feeling as crowded in the box by the computer opponents. When I ask about this, Rivera attributes it to smarter AI. “With the position changes that we’re doing this year – they weren’t even mentioned in the presentation – we are making the defensive positioning a bit wider and we are creating a lot more runs in the box, because it was too crowded,” he says.

...

One thing I wanted to ask Rivera more about was longevity – keeping players interested in the game long-term, instead of burning out long before soccer season finishes in May.

Playing the same games over and over again is frustrating, especially in online games like FUT. That’s meta play and meta squads for you. Was that change a priority?

“That’s the goal,” he says. “We’re planning to achieve that with the gameplay live team that we created for 22. So now we have dedicated people just looking at gameplay balance all year round.

“And that, combined with the features that we’re introducing this year in HyperMotion, is what we’re thinking will cause a more refreshed experience where it’s not just the same meta.”


SOURCE: USA Today

The guy who wrote the article even ends it by saying he can imagine half the benefits being patched away before long.

Read it and weep at the absolute absurdity of this situation.
 
Some of the pitch notes sound a lot more promising than what I saw in that awful video.

I do like the idea of the partial team press...and I'd like it a lot more if it's also something that the CPU will use as well?

I also like this line -

Tactical Changes - Depth Tactics
  • We’ve set greater differentiation between both extremes of tactical depth.
    • Higher Depth teams will hold the defensive line high and be quicker to push up the field when the opponent retreats.
Are they actually going to 'hold their line' though? Or will they hold it until a striker decides he wants to push them back to the 6 yard box by just running in a straight line?

The fact they've mentioned deflections is also positive, as the ball needs to be much more alive and deflections were severely lacking in 22. Why 'deflections' need to even be mentioned as a feature of a football game in the first place is ridiculous, but I guess if you take them away you should mention when they're back haha.

I think gameplay modding possibilities on PC for NG is also a positive as I think the 1v1 feature isn't as bad on NG (especially on release). Hopefully that could unlock the door for some improvements too - but it could be a bumpy ride!

Overall, I didn't particularly like anything I saw in the video, but to be fair we couldn't see all that much. I did like some of the things I read, but until we see how they're implemented it's very difficult to know..
 
Lads - all this stuff about better AI tactical awareness are the same lies they've been telling us for years. Nothing will be left there after a patch or two. Nothing.
Referee strictness? If AI doesnt slide or tackle - it will just be ridiculous. Ref will be whistling every time you touch another player. There wont be any realism, just artificially created ridiculous scenarios.
There is literally no point of fooling yourself that this year it will be any different.
Fifa is finished.
Football games are finished.
Its not pessimism anymore. Its realism.
 
These are amazing quotes!

I also noticed I wasn’t feeling as crowded in the box by the computer opponents. When I ask about this, Rivera attributes it to smarter AI. “With the position changes that we’re doing this year – they weren’t even mentioned in the presentation – we are making the defensive positioning a bit wider and we are creating a lot more runs in the box, because it was too crowded,” he says.

Last year Rivera said that midfielders don't defend cause then it's too crowded and there are not many goals, this year it's the defenders who are too crowded and there are not many goals. And the wider defending positioning is called "smarter AI". Amazing! Next year it will be the goal that's too crowed, so the smarter GK AI will just walk around the corner flag maybe.

One thing I wanted to ask Rivera more about was longevity – keeping players interested in the game long-term, instead of burning out long before soccer season finishes in May.

“That’s the goal,” he says. “We’re planning to achieve that with the gameplay live team that we created for 22. So now we have dedicated people just looking at gameplay balance all year round.

After dumbing down the game before release, because "it's too crowded" you then further dumb it down after release in order to keep you interested and not bored! Hahahaha.

They really have to believe their userbase are basically idiots to say stuff like this. And you know what, they're not wrong.
 
and... trumpets please... a harder tackle?!
I was hoping for the harder/intentional tackle that was in older FIFA titles like FIFA 98 and 99 (the one that would let you go directly for the man, completely ignoring the ball and earning a straight red more often than not) to come back, but I see that I've been let down again.
 
Lads - all this stuff about better AI tactical awareness are the same lies they've been telling us for years. Nothing will be left there after a patch or two. Nothing.
Referee strictness? If AI doesnt slide or tackle - it will just be ridiculous. Ref will be whistling every time you touch another player. There wont be any realism, just artificially created ridiculous scenarios.
There is literally no point of fooling yourself that this year it will be any different.
Fifa is finished.
Football games are finished.
Its not pessimism anymore. Its realism.
Football games have been on the slide since online play became the primary focus. Throw E-Sports and micro-transactions into the mix and these games became even more of a low-effort, yearly cash-grab than they were before.

I agree; football games are finished as *we* knew them. There's no money in trying to create a faithful simulation of the world's leading sport. It's sad.
 
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