FIFA is back for the first time in a year, but jokes about the surprising inevitability of the game’s soccer-sim behemoth should be made in a soft tone. Not because EA doesn’t deserve flak due to its piecemeal iteration, but because FIFA 23 will be the series’ final hoopla ahead of its shocking rebranding to EA Sports FC in 2023.
The end of such a historic licensing deal has created a dark atmosphere around games this year, but EA is determined to make the end of an era feel jubilant. With the addition of football and two FIFA World Cup release windows, FIFA 23 is poised to be a huge success. Having spent an entire weekend building the game in progress, the revised gameplay feels appropriately theatrical.
Final FIFA-ntasy
FIFA 23’s most notable gameplay change comes thanks to the addition of power shots. This is a new way to hit the ball by holding both bumpers and pressing the shoot button. Like Final Fantasy’s Limit Break, the controlling player’s camera bulges out as he tries to KO the Keeper by gearing up and trying to hit the ball. The trade-off is that the slower the windup, the more likely it is to be undone, making it easier to mess up. This system (which doesn’t look out of place in Mario Strikers) disrupts the defense he plays that plagues FIFA 22. In FIFA 22 Penalty he tends to be an impenetrable can of sardines with boxes full of defenders ready to poop on all the most exciting occasions.
Sure, I was playing offline, but Power Shots gave me more creative shooting opportunities both in the air and on the ground. They find it rewarding to pull off well, so trying to perfect analog stick precision to drive a composed volley into the net can be a distraction. The addition to the FIFA meta feels controversial in that players may ignore it in favor of easier scoring methods, but it’s a perfect vehicle for creating memorable moments. It works for
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Power shots are complemented by a series of aesthetic changes to perpetuate the drama of FIFA.If you manage to win the screamer, the game rewards you with woodwork and net sound effects blaring from the PlayStation 5’s DualSense controller, as well as slow-motion augmented reality replays that overlay stats like distance, power, and ball speed – Take a page out of Madden’s next-gen stats playbook
The new replays look really cool, but the implementation is inconsistent. Sometimes an unintentional walk-in is overly shiny and you get nothing but an incredible finish, but when it’s done well, great goals get cut out and shared. The puzzling part is that once the match is over, it feels like an oversight.
In that case, keepers are tested more often, but the good news is that shotstoppers have also gotten some key improvements. It sounds silly, but the individual finger physics capsules really kept me from getting upset during a tense match. The shot still seems to cause too many problems.
When it comes to fidelity, we haven’t seen much of a visual leap from last year’s games on current-gen consoles. The fan-favorite player looks way better than the rest of the team, as evidenced by Jack Grealish’s incredibly bouncy cartoon hero hairstyle. The focus is on improving, and it will wear out forever on your knee slides. The addition of the 3D net is a nice touch too, but the spooky crowd still feels as far removed from humans as it has been talked about for its liveliness. “He likes to run at them” still drops brain-sticky lines, but the good news is you can drown them out and hit your goals this year. EA Trax will undoubtedly be as eclectic and fun as previous years.
Hypermotion 2: Electric Boogaloo
Elsewhere, Hypermotion 2, an evolution of FIFA’s player physics system, promises deeper confidence in player movement on current-gen consoles in FIFA 23, and for the most part delivers on that. Enhanced motion capture brings women’s soccer to life with purpose-built animations, and applied machine learning adds fluidity to FIFA 23’s defensive gameplay. Players slide their hands back in the box, causing their legs and thighs to wobble on impact, sending the ball in a more realistic direction during deflection. Jockeys also feel very powerful in FIFA 23. With the button held down, Double Foot Clearance can now add a career-ending blockbuster of momentum to his tackle.
The most significant change I’ve noticed is that when challenging a forward to stop a deadly header, the goalie no longer phases into his body to create a Cronenberg monster on his thigh. Thanks to a physics body that acts like two repelling magnets, it keeps the limbs firmly on the outside of the sternum, removing frustrating unpredictability from 1v1s. It’s still a little too close to comfort and doesn’t play well on power shots, but it’s much better than last year’s game. much lower. That means you can quickly change direction and send defenders in the wrong direction without looking like a greased octopus on an ice rink.
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The only part of the game that seems to conflict with the rest of EA’s additions is the new set piece system. This is clearly old school and overly complicated. Now you can control the trajectory of all free kicks and corners with the left stick while setting the curl and elevation with the right stick, so you don’t have to train his muscle memory to resist the pull of the orb. No more. It’s pretty nostalgic, and getting used to this significant change will take far more than a few days in FIFA 23.
Penalties feel even more confusing as they are more about power and timing than aiming the reticle. Tap the shoot button for a contracting “composuring” beat. You have to consciously learn the muscle memory to hold on to. poor man’s face. Broadly speaking, I think these changes encourage players to practice set-piece strategies. If you don’t, you’ll face getting caught by more scholars after an unfortunate foul. This is a direct counterpoint to the more accessible and action-packed changes coming in FIFA 23, a controversial pivot away from casual his play.
Revised FIFA 23’s theatrical gameplay is shaping up to be an exciting and slightly streamlined game of virtual football that favors late drama. It feels like a fitting finale for EA. Big match moments, shocking comebacks, jaw-dropping goals that evoke derision and emotion in bedrooms around the world are what FIFA has always strived for. I can’t wait to see how EA’s swan song online performs against the real players who will inevitably shape this year’s meta in the weeks following its September 30th release. Let’s hope we can achieve a power shot of .
Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer. Follow him on Twitter.
