So many people won't get near EAFC for the 'skating'/foot planting etc - and I understand. It's definitely a weak point in the game and it's even worse when you watch videos of it as opposed to playing. It can look ugly and horrible. No argument. Until EA prioritise their animation system to be more physics based it is what it is. We can and have improved it, but it can't be eliminated fully- believe me I've tried.
However, my strong feeling is that it shouldn't be the only measuring stick for gameplay quality or realism. I feel people write off FC24 without giving it a proper go purely for that reason alone. PES 2021 seems to get a pass on an incredibly one dimensional, rigid gameplay experience pretty much purely because it has more grounded movement (and amazing graphical mods, patches etc). It gets labelled as the 'best football simulation ever' by some...but I honestly struggle to see why? The CPU plays the same way every match regardless of what you do. The goals, the patterns, the shots, the players.... they're virtually all the same. For me, this is very much outside my scope for 'realism' and even enjoyment.
It's a game I've tried to love and I can go and play it in small doses and enjoy it, but as an offline experience vs the CPU I just can't hang around for long at all as I find I really just can't 'play football'.
To be clear - I love PES, I just don't love PES 2021. Thinking back, PES 2020 was pretty much hated for being this way, yet PES 2021 came around as a season update with maybe minor adjustments in fludity and then it suddenly got labelled the best thing ever.
There's so many things that makes FC24 a much more deep experience once it's modded (I'm talking about mods here, not default - and I know I'm biased because it's my mod, but I've spent so long with the files that I know what the engine is capable of). PES 2021 is talked about in such a great light as a modded product, so I think it's only fair to do so with FC as well.
I genuinely feel like people who judge the game based on a video or a past perception alone are missing out on an experience that they would thoroughly enjoy much more than they think when looking at a video of it. Also, no-one hates 1v1 more than me (actually maybe
@papinho81 
), however credit where it's due to EA as they did listen to various elements in FC24 that may not have made the biggest difference in the world to the default game, however it did massively help what was possible to achieve when modding.
I can safely say that I'm enjoying modded FC24 from a gameplay perspective more than I have any football game since FIFA 16. For me, not even close. The depth, variety, indvidiuality and expression makes it a no-brainer for me.
Those who think I'm just advertising my mod - you're welcome to think that, but I'm only spending the time on fleshing out the mod, because I actually enjoy the game. I've always been critical of areas that needed work. If you don't believe me, go look at comments on FIFA 20 onwards (especially 21 haha).