FIFA 15 was a game with flaws, in fact my signature in the EA FIFA Forums is, and has been for quite some time,
'Better than 14, better than 13, more bugs and flaws than both put together.....FIFA 15 a glorious mess.'
Pre-patch the game was flawed in a few aspects, kick off positioning, high pressure/aggression in custom tactics, ice hockey tackles, zigzag dribbling and long through balls but it retained user input as they key to enjoyment.
Post-patch much of the freedom has gone, contain defending is back with a vengeance, possession play has been stifled hugely and defending manually has become an ungodly nightmare.
Add to that through balls being even more overpowered, zigzagging still a feature and kick and run with pace a key ingredient and you have a game that feels, plays and stinks like FIFA 14....oh and crossing is back.
FIFA 15 had many problems but it allowed any sort of player to play their style, if you play possession you could ping pong the ball around midfield nicely, if you defend to attack you could sit back and play counter, if you wanted to stream forward in numbers you could play that style and get yourself a high scoring game, you could play football even if the mechanics were often against you, there were fun matches even when you lost.
Post patch the mechanics are against you, the gameplay is against you and the AI is against you, the game is a dull, uninteresting, stifled sham. I started to learn how to adapt, midfield was a place of traffic so I chose the wings, goals, goals, goals, I had a few games of letting the AI do some of the work and I made sure I was keeping the ball, but I was always left thinking how the game used to play, and how pre-patch I was playing football, even if others were playing Ice hockey by knocking down all my players or American Football with a Hail Mary/punt return at every opportunity.
FIFA 15 is now FIFA 14 reincarnate, it gives very little and takes so much away, in my opinion the new patch needs to be removed with player positioning from kick off remaining; then they can work on the mechanics abuse.
The game is a glorious mess but it's not far from being a triumph, maybe they lack the flexibility to make changes that address certain problems but they need to at least return it to the freedom to play game it once was, perhaps then they can look at changing the zigzagging, long though ball and most importantly aggression/pressure abuse.
Make a game for football fans and not gamers, gamers have had too many editions modeled in their honour.
As a final mention I wanted to outline what I felt FIFA 15 should have worked on for this last patch, and what the new patch changed/how I think it has caused problems -
What they should have worked on
Kick off player positioning
Push/pull abuse
Players being knocked down
Referee's actually calling fouls against the super aggressive/push pull abusers
More stamina use for constant chasers
Real consequences for high aggression/pressure abusers or the removal of them as custom settings
Long through ball errors hugely increased/accuracy actually reduced
Player switching errors; they switch randomly and to the wrong player (on manual, air balls and auto)
What changed and it's potential consequences
From EA -
Issues Addressed
• Gameplay improvements to defensive positioning and lob through balls
My thoughts -
Dribbling/first touch -
As well as auto tackling and being much closer/rushing into the opposition defenders seem to affect the first touch, a little like high pressure/aggression does, so you can be left taking a rough first touch, turning slowly and moving into a defender. Face up players come right into you, especially AI ones and so clearly players defensive positioning is affecting the likelihood of a defender taking the ball.
Passing -
Short passing is much rougher now, I find it's better to look forward than at the play unfolding because you can't play tiki-taka, you have to plan the attack avoiding the AI. The first touch has changed as has dribbling so the best passer must play the perfect mechanical pass and not the one which works for your style. My Xavi has gone from a nippy pass master to child dodging traffic while bending a pass around a force-field.
Crossing is actually much improved, sadly at times to the point of FIFA 14; I had a game were I scored 5 headers, 2 with Higuain, 1 with Cerci and 2 with Dos Santos, attackers appear to make slightly better runs, or perhaps defenders take worse positions.
Long through balls are still useful but it seems the shorter chip ball is a fantastic choice and extremely accurate.
Attacking -
Well clearly the game now has a deep back line and solid AI predictor, play offline and you'll see AI really is the game's main problem and feature. Attacking has been stifled completely, you can get chances but patience isn't always worthwhile and most people use the AI to make a tackle in midfield and counter, ergo FIFA 14.
Defending -
Well I defend manually and am now having real problems making challenges, not entirely sure why, but when I do tackle it goes back to FIFA 14 where the ball is moved out of reach, or the opposition runs right through my player getting the ball back with ease. I did defend using contain, team mate press and doing nothing and I was pretty damned effective, I felt quite sorry for my opposition because I wasn't really thinking.
Hopefully we can get FIFA 15 back, I don't need FIFA 14 2.0. If the game remains as is it'll definitely find Pro Evo as a competitor in my gaming library, I hear it's a well rounded game this year.
Update -
There was a 120 page thread in the EA FIFA forums about the patch problems, with many people referring to the how's and why's. Sadly EA have ordered their Community Manager to close any threads relating to the patch and so it'll soon fade away as though there are no problems. It's a real shame that as a community we are treated this way, we are only here to buy their wares.
Here's the thread link for anyone seeking people in the same boat, it might make us feel better to see many thousands of others losing patience with EA and the FIFA Developers.
Sadder still, it was a community writer who started the thread but when the pressure became too great he switched sides as though he forget there was a thread.
http://forum.ea.com/uk/posts/list/2974308.page
This video by examples the largest problem with the patch update, pay attention to how little he actively defends, how often not selecting a player retains possession (even when the ball is bobbling between two players), and the opponent who does try to make tackles but continually fails.
• Gameplay improvements to defensive positioning and lob through balls
My thoughts -
Dribbling/first touch -
As well as auto tackling and being much closer/rushing into the opposition defenders seem to affect the first touch, a little like high pressure/aggression does, so you can be left taking a rough first touch, turning slowly and moving into a defender. Face up players come right into you, especially AI ones and so clearly players defensive positioning is affecting the likelihood of a defender taking the ball.
Passing -
Short passing is much rougher now, I find it's better to look forward than at the play unfolding because you can't play tiki-taka, you have to plan the attack avoiding the AI. The first touch has changed as has dribbling so the best passer must play the perfect mechanical pass and not the one which works for your style. My Xavi has gone from a nippy pass master to child dodging traffic while bending a pass around a force-field.
Crossing is actually much improved, sadly at times to the point of FIFA 14; I had a game were I scored 5 headers, 2 with Higuain, 1 with Cerci and 2 with Dos Santos, attackers appear to make slightly better runs, or perhaps defenders take worse positions.
Long through balls are still useful but it seems the shorter chip ball is a fantastic choice and extremely accurate.
Attacking -
Well clearly the game now has a deep back line and solid AI predictor, play offline and you'll see AI really is the game's main problem and feature. Attacking has been stifled completely, you can get chances but patience isn't always worthwhile and most people use the AI to make a tackle in midfield and counter, ergo FIFA 14.
Defending -
Well I defend manually and am now having real problems making challenges, not entirely sure why, but when I do tackle it goes back to FIFA 14 where the ball is moved out of reach, or the opposition runs right through my player getting the ball back with ease. I did defend using contain, team mate press and doing nothing and I was pretty damned effective, I felt quite sorry for my opposition because I wasn't really thinking.
Hopefully we can get FIFA 15 back, I don't need FIFA 14 2.0. If the game remains as is it'll definitely find Pro Evo as a competitor in my gaming library, I hear it's a well rounded game this year.
Update -
There was a 120 page thread in the EA FIFA forums about the patch problems, with many people referring to the how's and why's. Sadly EA have ordered their Community Manager to close any threads relating to the patch and so it'll soon fade away as though there are no problems. It's a real shame that as a community we are treated this way, we are only here to buy their wares.
Here's the thread link for anyone seeking people in the same boat, it might make us feel better to see many thousands of others losing patience with EA and the FIFA Developers.
Sadder still, it was a community writer who started the thread but when the pressure became too great he switched sides as though he forget there was a thread.
http://forum.ea.com/uk/posts/list/2974308.page
This video by examples the largest problem with the patch update, pay attention to how little he actively defends, how often not selecting a player retains possession (even when the ball is bobbling between two players), and the opponent who does try to make tackles but continually fails.
