On this subject, I wish (so desperately wish) there was an "AI control assistance" level.
I've just tried the latest FIFA 23 update, and
strictly when I'm on the ball, it feels good (with heavy slider changes obviously - sprint speed 22, pass speed 30 etc. to make it human).
However, as soon as the AI have it, no matter the opponent - three passes and they're in on goal, over and over again, due to A) their pass accuracy, B) their pass directness and C) most importantly, the complete and total lack of midfield / marking / tracking-back (because of the 1v1 shit). Something that is so obvious,
I pointed out in the trailer on August 1st.
(This is on World Class difficulty - on Professional they don't even try to score, and on Legendary without even enabling the absolutely horrendous eSports-switch they added, every team plays like aliens.)
Now the biggest issue by far is the total lack of midfielders/defenders actually defending, marking players and cutting out passing lanes without you controlling them (i.e. the 1v1 shit). Without an "enable AI player defending" option, where every single player plays as if they are controlled by a competent human footballer rather than a mannequin, I can't play this game.
However, I was thinking... I wonder how much of this could be solved if the game "mirrored" your control settings for the AI.
I use semi-assisted controls, purely to introduce passing errors (not the "total misses" of manual, but just some underpowered/overpowered passes, poorer aimed passes that need the recipient to take more time to control the pass, etc.)... Assisted is absolutely ridiculous - it's simply impossible to misplace a pass.
Anyway - the error that manual or semi-assisted controls introduces, means that you have to play a
slower and more careful game. If you try and just spam passes to the striker all the time, you'll give the ball away.
I realised that the AI is essentially playing on "fully assisted" controls all the time, which is a big part of the reason they have a shooting opportunity once every three passes, and why they play as if there's no midfield in the game.
The "pass error" and "shot error" sliders don't seem to affect them - they're not having to hit less risky passes. I find that when I up the AI pass error slider, rather than every pass being a bit "shakey", they hit 19/20 absolutely perfect passes, and 1 weird glitchy pass. Also, it's well-known that if you up the pass error slider beyond about 55, it screws up the AI's crossing so badly that they just kick the ball out of play.
So to be able to change the AI's "controls" to mimic mine, and add actual error to their play (and as a result, make attributes way more important - which, as a result, makes it much more of a simulation)... I'd love that.
Hope you're out there, EA...
EDIT 1: It would also be handy if half-length had any impact at all on accuracy... Right now, a 10-minute match and a 20-minute match have the same gameplay, so you get a 5-0 game and a 10-0 game respectively. Should it not be the case that a longer match changes the accuracy ratio, making defences stronger and pass/shot accuracy lower so that the scorelines stay realistic? And more importantly, so that we have another factor to change in order to make the game feel more realistic / enjoyable?
EDIT 2: Oh, and an "animation speed lock" option. Oh my God, this could solve so many issues I have with the game.
So many.
There are a constant stream of Hypermotion moments (in every match) where a player's feet/legs will slide from one position to another within half a second in order for them to instantly respond to the input (player's input or AI's input), usually to shoot in a position that is physically impossible for them to get to due to their body position.
If we could
just select "animation speed lock", or even "animation sliding lock", then the player (human or AI) wouldn't be able to magically and instantly do the impossible and would instead have to watch the ball bounce past them, or at least have to control it first, and it would be glorious.
To think of how incredible this game could be with some realism switches absolutely breaks my heart.