Recent reviews by sesbian lex

pretty game

good game :)

TL;DR Online modes are rinse-and-repeat of previous installations. Too many bugs/recycles that cause soft locks or diminish overall experience during career mode. Most of the new mechanics are either inconsequential or contribute to the issues plaguing career modes...
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First things first, the parts of this game that function are nothing too special. FUT and Volta are decent but only because EA can dig deeper into consumers' pockets with these modes. Haven't had a chance to try out Pro Clubs or any online friendlies since my friends respect their time and money but nothing seems changed about these modes at face value.

The vast majority of problems are in career mode. The new coaching system on manager career soft locks when you go to fire a coach. Player career contract is hit or miss whether it'll actually allow you to renew or force you to settle for signing somewhere else. The required and optional objectives for contract negotiation are a welcome addition if they actually worked... Tackling rate contract objective doesn't seem to track correctly if your player doesn't take on any defensive duels to update the state beyond 0%. And the continued existence of the team possession match objective is pretty lame. Why should I be punished if the opponent AI is playing it safe with possession or my own team's AI doesn't properly mark or clear in a meaningful way to reestablish possession?

But if I want to nitpick the lack of UX consideration on EA's part a little more, I'd say the completely unchanged pool of press conference dialogues and news articles is still a big thumbs down even with a few new cutscenes for Player of the Season, Ballon d'Or, and winning leagues/cups. Is there a shortage of creative talent in Canada and Romania I don't know about that means this game has to keep all text-based interaction at a 2nd grade reading level?

And lastly, the new mechanics just don't feel impactful in a good way. PlayStyles feel like nothing more than traits under a different name. The manager career coaching helps keep players in-form but it would be nice to be able to fire a 2- or 3-star coach for a 5-star without the game freezing up. It would also be nice to experience contract negotiation as a player in a similar manner to the manager career counterpart... "Signing" a 1-year each season doesn't feel as authentic as being offered a long-term contract or putting a release clause in your own contract during negotiation. Plus what good does a contract system do when certain teams flatout refuse to sign you for not making enough sliding tackles as a CM or CAM?

I've been picking up FIFA almost every year since 2011 and I genuinely hope EA can address the issues with their undercooked rebrand from FIFA to EA FC. Unfortunately it's more likely that they'll find a way to butcher the series just like Sim City and the Sims. Alright, meandering review turned rant is over. To the readers, thank you for your time and I hope your eyes meet my vitriol again the next time I have another first-world-problem conniption over some EA shenanigans.

this game made me realize that humanity killing 100 million sharks annually is a good start but we could do better

the pinnacle of gaming

Although the core mechanic of the game is relatively simple (fill canister and backpack -> dump resources at base -> repeat), the beautiful art style and vast amount of caverns, forests, and other landscapes to explore keeps gameplay entertaining. Plus, it's even better with friends.

Fun to shoot the ones you love straight through the head with no remorse :)