Football Games: Your 3 "Must-Haves" & "Can't-Haves"

Chris Davies

Chris Davies

Chief PESsimist
Staff
14 May 2003
UK
Tranmere Rovers
When discussing football games - FIFA/FC in-particular - we can often see just how good a game is, and how much it's improved year-on-year, but still find it unenjoyable because of just one major bugbear we can't look past.

I thought it would be interesting to post our 3 "must-haves" and 3 "can't-haves", to see if we all have similar thoughts, or if we're all completely different.

I'll try and keep mine gameplay-related, but you don't have to - it's all about whatever's most important to you.

@Emroth has mentioned in the past that if a game doesn't have fouls (which is an entire part of football, including set pieces, that goes missing)... He can't enjoy it. Even though I would rather fouls were in the game, though, fouls wouldn't be in my top three.

In the early 2000s, my PES bugbear was AI cheating, where (after beating the last defender) your player would often knock the ball ahead just far enough that the keeper could claim it easily, and no matter how many 1-on-1s you created, you'd either do that, or your shot would be straight at him.

Now, in 2024, it's 1v1 defending (or passive defensive AI) that you can see isn't "allowed" to stop you. It takes all satisfaction away from making chances, let alone scoring. Isn't it weird how football games have gone from cheating, to not trying?

So, here's my list...

Must-Haves
  1. Realistic game speed (not pinball)
  2. Varied shot physics (including body-position-based error)
  3. A free ball (loose balls that can deflect into space)

Can't-Haves
  1. 1v1 defending / passive defensive AI
  2. Faked / forced physics for pass accuracy (e.g. FC's headers that ignore physics)
  3. Glue boots

How about you?
 
Must haves...

1. A feeling of weight to players, if I wanted to see things floating about I'd play Fishing Simulator.

2. Unpredictable/Varied AI.

3. Stats instead of overall. If I want a player to excel in a specific role, I ignore their overall & focus on their stats for the role I want them to play. This shines through on PES and I've had several examples on my saves through the years.

Can't haves...

1. Ping Pong, lightspeed passing.

2. Ridiculous physics. Players contorting their feet 360 degrees to make a shot or making impossible turns in a second.

3. Lack of fouls.

The above 3 is why I can't play the FIFA/EAFC games since around FIFA 19.
 
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SP83 said:
Must haves...

1. A feeling of weight to players, if I wanted to see things floating about I'd play Fishing Simulator.

2. Unpredictable/Varied AI.

3. Stats instead of overall. If I want a player to excel in a specific role, I ignore their overall & focus on their stats for the role I want them to play. This shines through on PES and I've had several examples on my saves through the years.

Can't haves...

1. Ping Pong, lightspeed passing.

2. Ridiculous physics. Players contorting their feet 360 degrees to make a shot or making impossible turns in a second.

3. Lack of fouls.

The above 3 is why I can't play the FIFA/EAFC games since around FIFA 19.
Click to expand...
Good call on the varied AI, I should have gone with that. In fairness, I think FC25 is there on that front - difficulty level plays a part though.

How do you balance a difficulty level and make it play realistic football, when - if it does - the game becomes easy as a result (forcing itself to make short passes instead of simply exploiting the engine's weak spots)?

Physics is interesting - you know what, I've been waiting so long to love a football game, I can actually look past the level of skating that's in FC25 now, personally. I'd rather it was footplanting-first, but, I can live with it. It's the impossible ball physics that dumb down passing (to ensure a high enough accuracy that games have plenty of shots) that I can't deal with - particularly on headers.
 
Must Haves:-
1. Accurate footplanting.
2. Body position and angle when passing shooting should make a difference.
3. Free ball so there is no glue to passes.
4. Stats that matter - an Exeter City player can't do a pinpoint crossfield pass.
5. Varied AI when playing against CPU - not every team plays tika-taka (gameplay should also allow varied approaches).
6. Full mod support so the community can add old teams and players.

Career mode should also be realistic and not fantasy football manager.
Sorry this list could be huge - which shows the massive failing of recent games.

Can't Haves:-
1. Skill moves should be removed.
2. AI should position itself correctly not run away because the attackers need to through ball.
3. Keepers being absolute shite - they are allowed to save the ball now and again.
 
Must have

1/ Real nice animations : inertia, footplating
2/ Nice CPU variations
3/ Different styles of goals for me and the CPU

Can't have :
1/ CPU didn't have team spirit with only skills moves
2/ Crazy overall speed
3/Lack of fouls
 
Just the first things on top of my head.
Must have:

- First touch control, and ball control in general. EA completely forgot about it when they implemented the Hypermotion thing, but having players perfectly controlling the ball and turning with it at the speed of light it's such a huge turn off, both visually but mostly as a gameplay thing, as having the ball not always being perfectly glued to the feet leeds to a lot more interesting situations arising in literally every imaginable play. If you look at the highest, real life professional play, good or bad touches can make or break games. It's a shame cause I think we had it down to an at least decent level until the latest frostbites.

- Stats based. Stats need to matter. There needs to be a very good difference and sense of progression when you go from bad, to medium, to good players.

- Good defenses. In an ideal world, I'd love to have tactical variety. If it's not possible, I'll somewhat settle for good defenses. If a game doesn't make me feel I earn most of the goals I score, I can't find joy in playing it.

Can't have:


Bad Keepers. Tying with the defenses, I'd rather have a keeper a bit too much on the stronger side than the opposite, since the latter totally deprives me of satisfaction.

No Variety. I need the game to produce different situations on the field and have me scoring/taking varied goals (at the very least the scoring part) in a natural way.. sameness is the death of a football game, to me.

Bad AI. I need the teams in the field to look as humans in movements, positions and so on, at least to some degree. Seeing them making robot movements/stops is such an immense immersion breaking, to me.
 
Chris Davies said:
@Emroth has mentioned in the past that if a game doesn't have fouls (which is an entire part of football, including set pieces, that goes missing)... He can't enjoy it
Click to expand...
It's not even fouls.. it's more about physicality. Let's take EAFC25 for example. I'm happy with the way it is there. Obviously - I would like AI to be more clever and have tactical fouls, but Im still happy.
I'm getting free kicks and collisions are one of the best I have seen in years. I constantly see players colliding and being taken down on various ways with various animations.
When a game is soft, nobody falls and I don't see people being taken down - that's when I can't stand it (PES2018, Fifa19)

So I suppose that would be one of my top 3 must have's.

Disclaimer: I won't mention AI. That it has to be challenging and varied. It's common sense really. Without good AI there is nothing to discuss, so I won't state the obvious.

1. Physicality. See above.

2. Randomness - by randomness I mean free ball, deflections, miss kicks, chaos.
If after 100 hours I can still score new goals and see new situations - great. If the goals are samey and AI plays samey - not great.

3. Good defending. And I'm not only talking about AI positioning, team mates being smart and all that jazz. I mainly mean that I need to have tools and feel like I have power to defend.
If I can time my sliding tackle and take somebody out without this being a foul, or block their shot with last second lounge - this feels so satisfying!!! Probably more than having a good shot on goal for me.
EAFC is quite good on this department. We have a lot of tools, but unfortunately our team mates are ruining it. You can't possibly do everything and at the moment you have to.
Also - skating and glitchy twitchy dribbling making defending difficult.
It should be more grounded and more physical, where I can feel the weight of my tackles.

Can't have:

1. Ping pong passing from AI. If they don't play football, if they don't hold the ball, or play to the back, just ping pong forward - I'm out.

2. Unnatural fast gameplay speed. Self explanatory.

3. High scores / easy goals. Goals have to be rewarding, scoring goals have to be challenging. I'd rather have most matches ending up 0:0, while punching the air with every goal, then have matches ending with 6:4.
Few of those and the entire experience becomes meaningless.
 
Emroth said:
It's not even fouls.. it's more about physicality. Let's take EAFC25 for example. I'm happy with the way it is there. Obviously - I would like AI to be more clever and have tactical fouls, but Im still happy.
I'm getting free kicks and collisions are one of the best I have seen in years. I constantly see players colliding and being taken down on various ways with various animations.
When a game is soft, nobody falls and I don't see people being taken down - that's when I can't stand it (PES2018, Fifa19)

So I suppose that would be one of my top 3 must have's.

Disclaimer: I won't mention AI. That it has to be challenging and varied. It's common sense really. Without good AI there is nothing to discuss, so I won't state the obvious.

1. Physicality. See above.

2. Randomness - by randomness I mean free ball, deflections, miss kicks, chaos.
If after 100 hours I can still score new goals and see new situations - great. If the goals are samey and AI plays samey - not great.

3. Good defending. And I'm not only talking about AI positioning, team mates being smart and all that jazz. I mainly mean that I need to have tools and feel like I have power to defend.
If I can time my sliding tackle and take somebody out without this being a foul, or block their shot with last second lounge - this feels so satisfying!!! Probably more than having a good shot on goal for me.
EAFC is quite good on this department. We have a lot of tools, but unfortunately our team mates are ruining it. You can't possibly do everything and at the moment you have to.
Also - skating and glitchy twitchy dribbling making defending difficult.
It should be more grounded and more physical, where I can feel the weight of my tackles.

Can't have:

1. Ping pong passing from AI. If they don't play football, if they don't hold the ball, or play to the back, just ping pong forward - I'm out.

2. Unnatural fast gameplay speed. Self explanatory.

3. High scores / easy goals. Goals have to be rewarding, scoring goals have to be challenging. I'd rather have most matches ending up 0:0, while punching the air with every goal, then have matches ending with 6:4.
Few of those and the entire experience becomes meaningless.
Click to expand...


I am really totally with you.
From my must have i want to add "players individuality" : stats have to matters. I like when you feel and you have to play different because the players you are controlling.
Old PS2 Pes were amazing at this .
 
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Some very simple things to kick-off from me, as I can see myself re-visiting this thread!

Must-Haves (No particular order)
  1. *FULLY* adjustable turf colour. ALL THE TIME. It should be considered an accessability option now. Don't you just hate how these games are becomming SLAVE to authentic 'as captured' lighting? I don't care how accurate they have captured the light in a real life stadium, as if the turf colour is too bright as a result it makes *so many* stadiums in these games unplayable. I don't ever want to but if I did go mad and wanted to play on pitch black turf, then what any business is it of yours EA/Konami?

  2. Simply a different set of demands from these games. Yeah, keep the basic face button actions (and the modifoers) if you want but I am tired of how the art of dribbling is realised in these games. Do we really need a sprint button in an analogue stick age? Keep it in online modes if you want, but elsewhere allow the user to opt for a more precision based dribbling/movement speed system exclusively via the left stick. I'd also like a simple button prompt that allows me to change foot. I'd like Super-Cancel to be a thing no longer necessary. Maybe all this makes the ball feel free-er?

  3. eFootball (for all it's flaws) has a REALLY good variance in game tempo, second to second, and the AI on Legendary can properly get in your grill to the point you sort of don't see/sense how bloody frantic it can be, but you *can* reach a wee zen-like status and start bossing. However, eFootball has big flaws (mostly animation/physics/final third based). A greater sense of urgency/threat/variance that doesn't feel scripted but just *demanding* and requires focus, regardless of opposition, would be great regards difficulty curve.

Can't-Haves
  1. A game that ignores what a single player gamer wants (Kudos to EA has to be given for FC25 this year) as for all as you can have what eFootball *can* offer v. AI, whats the bloody point if there is nothing to do? EA don't get away lightly here, though. They have opened the door a wee bit with simulation sliders - now they need design a bespoke single player gameplay experience, that involves my 'must haves' as they have the resources and apparently some among the development team who want to make that happen. You can't have no single player modes of depth!

  2. A lack of fouls. In both titles available currently you *can win* fouls, once you learn a few nuances of control, but this needs addrerssing, BIG TIME. It needs to be so much more organic and just par for the course for any match you play. Should not be locked behind learning controls/little tricks.

  3. Mentioned by others but ping-pong passing friendly gameplay. I'm not a against ease of access to any game, but there has to be not only punishment for trying to play blind passes and the likes, but simple steer novices can learn from. What I would therefore suggest is guidance. Right now, FC25 has wee tactical tips when things are not 'going well' etc. Why not therefore teach users how to play the game, and how body position is important, instead of just going "Oh well! They've picked FULLY ASSISTED, so they can do whatever!". Why not have wee prompts for folks (optional, obviously) to steer them towards the demands of the game? It's weird because other sports titles don't have a problem with gently tutoring newcomers.
 
Madmac79 said:
Just the first things on top of my head.
Must have:

- First touch control, and ball control in general. EA completely forgot about it when they implemented the Hypermotion thing, but having players perfectly controlling the ball and turning with it at the speed of light it's such a huge turn off, both visually but mostly as a gameplay thing, as having the ball not always being perfectly glued to the feet leeds to a lot more interesting situations arising in literally every imaginable play. If you look at the highest, real life professional play, good or bad touches can make or break games. It's a shame cause I think we had it down to an at least decent level until the latest frostbites.

- Stats based. Stats need to matter. There needs to be a very good difference and sense of progression when you go from bad, to medium, to good players.

- Good defenses. In an ideal world, I'd love to have tactical variety. If it's not possible, I'll somewhat settle for good defenses. If a game doesn't make me feel I earn most of the goals I score, I can't find joy in playing it.

Can't have:


Bad Keepers. Tying with the defenses, I'd rather have a keeper a bit too much on the stronger side than the opposite, since the latter totally deprives me of satisfaction.

No Variety. I need the game to produce different situations on the field and have me scoring/taking varied goals (at the very least the scoring part) in a natural way.. sameness is the death of a football game, to me.

Bad AI. I need the teams in the field to look as humans in movements, positions and so on, at least to some degree. Seeing them making robot movements/stops is such an immense immersion breaking, to me.
Click to expand...

Exactly the same as him plus i would like to add "difficulty" into the mix. At the end of the day, it's a video game and video games needs to be challenging to keep my interest. I find PES 5 checking all of my boxes but it's a bit too easy.
 
I try my best to writing down my 3 things twice.

Must-haves
  1. All gameplay facts that are posted yet in here.
  2. A nice varied and realistic SP carreer ML/CM (or which name it could have) mode.
  3. A live broadcast package with original scoreboards with team line-up with interviews and talking (not only texts like in Fifa/EA FC) about the up to date situation in your SP carrer or (when you play other SP modes about real life storys) commentary with mananger and/or players from home and away teams pre match & after match like it is in NBA 2K***.
  4. and full licensed or full mod able.
Can't-haves

  1. Arcade rocket speed passes with 100% accuracy, animations and movements.
  2. No fakking scripting/momentum in SP matches
  3. Lack of fouls, 1v1 no player and CPU AI.
  4. MP online only FUT or MyClub or other card collecting wanna be football modes.
Ah sorry a bit more than just 3 things for both.

But If there would be a Football game with my Must-haves and not the can't-haves, I would pre-order and pray the devs for sure! :PRAY:
 
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