With the European domestic campaigns heating up, the race for the annual football crown is well underway. As FIFA 23 launched, the folks over at Konami were busy updating eFootball 2023 with some key additions and gameplay updates. Before we get into how the game has changed, we’ll first go over what’s new with this eFootball 2023 V2 update.
What’s New With eFootball 2023 V2?
Well, for starters, eFootball 2023 has finally released the much anticipated Friend Match mode.
📢We have launched the v2.1.0 update📢
The much-anticipated "Friend Match" mode is now available on console 🤝 pic.twitter.com/ymugJmpKJx
— eFootball (@play_eFootball) October 6, 2022
Finally, a year after the release of eFootball, we have a way to play matches against our friends that doesn’t involve trying to time up button presses with your mate in hopes of matching up. Seriously, read that last statement again. After a year, we FINALLY can play with friends — well those who haven’t migrated over to FIFA 23. Along with the generic name for this mode, it’s still only limited to playing with your Dream Team and not the teams available through the Demo Match. Let’s not even get into the fact that you’re still excluded from playing with the great majority of available teams offline and are forced to play random clubs in AI-based Events.
Furthermore, in true Konami fashion the interface for creating a Match Room is extremely basic and not intuitive. Instead of being able to use the PlayStation “invite” feature, you literally have to tell your friend the room number as if this were a Hilton. Again, just an extremely poor rollout for what is a limited mode that actually makes it harder to connect with your friends.
Updated Kits For The 2022-23 Season
When a new game is released, you update the kits for the most recent season. In years past we’ve seen Konami completely fumble the bag when it comes to kits and transfers, but since there is no Master League updating transfers is a bit of a meaningless task. Thankfully the following kits have been updated:
- Serie B (Italy)
- Eredivisie (Holland)
- Jupiler League (Belgian)
- Ligue 1 (France)
- Ligue 2 (France)
- Scottish Premiership (Scotland)
- Swiss Super League (Switzerland)
- 3F Superliga (Denmark)
Premium Ambassador Pack – Bruno Fernandes
A Premium Ambassador Pack for the big moments ⭐
The latest update to #eFootball2023 brings us a new pack with our new ambassador: @ManUtd's midfield superstar Bruno Fernandes pic.twitter.com/GVjGUdj4rI
— eFootball (@play_eFootball) October 6, 2022
Last month the Premium Ambassador Pack was Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold. Shortly after that was announced his form fell off a cliff so for all the United fans out there, I’m sure you’re hoping this isn’t the footy version of the Madden curse.
New Club Packs – Manchester United, Arsenal, FC Barcelona, Bayern Munich
A Premium Ambassador Pack for the big moments ⭐
The latest update to #eFootball2023 brings us a new pack with our new ambassador: @ManUtd's midfield superstar Bruno Fernandes pic.twitter.com/GVjGUdj4rI
— eFootball (@play_eFootball) October 6, 2022
Gameplay Changes
In their most recent post regarding update 2.1, Konami states the following gameplay changes have been made:
- Made adjustments to where through balls are played towards when there are several opposition players nearby
- Fixed the issue where players do not move accordingly to positional inputs while performing a Match-up command
- Made adjustments to the positioning of players when performing Call for Pressure against an opponent that is keeping the ball in the flanks. Players will now position themselves in a way that will allow them to intercept passes with greater ease
- Made adjustments so that players will defend oncoming midair balls, such as lofted passes and crosses, in a more adequate manner
- Fixed the issue where after appointing a fullback player to be “Defensive” under “Individual Instructions” the player may stay in an excessively deep position
- A variety of minor adjustments have been made to each mode and to matches with the aim of improving the overall gaming experience
So how is the gameplay after this most recent update you ask? Well, for starters the same awareness issues that have plagued eFootball — and to a larger extent PES — are still existent:
Why this is extremely problematic ties back to Konami’s first fix, which helps to improve the placement of through balls:
“Made adjustments to where through balls are played towards when there are several opposition players nearby”
For far too long, AI players in PES/eFootball have not reacted to the ball. Instead, they run back to their positions or adhere to their individual instructions when common sense logic should prevail. The dumbing down of the AI in these scenarios contributed to the headless chicken mantra that at times can result in some entirely avoidable goals. Even reaction times, which are tied into these scenarios, are delayed and that means you have to be ready on the sticks in order to ensure that you’re the first to a 50-50 ball.
Player movement, which was one of the best things about the game in its earlier stages, has been slowed down with agile players like Neymar turning much slower than you would anticipate. While I don’t expect FIFA levels of inertia and movement, I do expect players to turn and accelerate quickly if they have the stats for it. With the second man press — one of the biggest meta’s online — the only way to beat the press the now is through quick 1-2 passes, while previous builds allowed you to shield the ball and use your dribbling skills to beat defenders. So instead of being able to wiggle out of these situations, you’re left watching players tackle the ball from each other with regularity because of the slight delay after you win the ball.
Speaking of defending, the shoulder barge, which was a good addition to the game, has been tuned to become way too effective because the referring logic is so poor. Fouls and overaggressive tackling seem to have such a small impact on the game that the once solid risk/reward factor of putting in challenges has gone bye bye.
Bottom Line For eFootball 2023 V2
After it’s all said and done, eFootball 2023 is in a bad place. With little new content, Konami is in the dangerous place of not having enough content to keep players engaged while also not offering those coming over from FIFA enough to pull them away from a game that offers so many different modes. Overall, it’s just a boring game, and only those who truly relish the grind can appreciate it. From the meta formations used in head-to-head modes to the lack of Player ID that ends up making players feel similar, eFootball 2023 is in dire need of an adrenaline shot.
