After seeing this thread, I decided to give FIFA 23 another try, and I realized it’s actually really fun again after FIFA 21 (in fact, it’s the one I’ve ended up spending the most hours on). I don’t consider myself one of the core players here—I’m more of a casual user (manual controls are impossible for me, lol). That said, I’ve still put in a decent amount of playtime since FIFA 20, lol.
This time, when I went back to play, I basically used a combination of EEP and eSIM (for the first time ever, I didn’t use FIFER!). For gameplay, I tried the
InnFormation PFIFA23 Standard Gameplay Mod for the first time (back then, Paulv2k4 was my favorite!).
By the way, personally, out of everything since FIFA 20, I think the best overall experience has been FC25 with Anth’s gameplay (amazing!) built on top of FIFER—it’s the best I’ve ever played, though it does require a subscription. I see FC25 as the version where I want to feel more realism, while FIFA 23—even though it’s a bit less realistic—feels incredibly fun and dynamic when I just want that sense of enjoyment.
For reference, here are my settings:

World Class, Assisted, Normal game speed, match length anywhere from 3 to 8 minutes depending on opponent/division,
shot and pass speed adjusted to my liking (I make them slower),
and most importantly,
Speed Hack 0.975.
If you’re like me and want to prioritize “fun feel” over realism, I think you might enjoy it too.
Honestly, I never thought I’d end up playing FIFA 23 again. Of course, I’ll be buying FC26!
I’m not a native speaker, so I hope my English doesn’t come across as strange
