Last week, EA FC 25 announced a massive patch that promised overhauls to several mechanics in the game in the hopes of providing players with a better, more rewarding experience. And thus far, EA Sports seems to have made good on that promise with most of the feedback from prominent players being overwhelmingly positive. But this latest patch still poses one main issue: EA FC 25 players who don’t play Ultimate Team still feel alienated.
Getting into every nook and cranny as it pertains to the “Gameplay Overhaul” patch would take quite a bit of time. To summarize, EA Sports has overhauled several mechanics as it pertains to defending, attacking positioning, faster passing, and more effective shooting among many other changes. And to the developer’s credit, Ultimate Team players are loving it. NickRTFM — a prevalent voice in the EA FC Ultimate Team community — praised the patch, claiming that it “saved” the game. Inception FC, another prominent Ultimate Team YouTuber, also heaped praise upon the latest update.
But the latest patch hasn’t resonated with every EA FC 25 player. In fact, in the Operation Sports forums, several people have openly loathed the latest update to the game. According to OS user MiracleMet718, any semblance of midfield play that was present at the beginning of the game’s cycle has all but been eliminated by the patch. Another user, Mr. Face, said that EA FC 25 was now “unfathomably worse than it was pre-patch.” And those are just a few of the complaints.
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From the looks of it, the latest gameplay patch was targeted towards one group of players: Ultimate Team players. And to be fair to EA Sports, that’s their core audience, for better or worse. So it’s understandable that the developer would tailor most, if not all, of its gameplay changes to cater to that demographic. But it still feels wrong to leave players who mostly play offline wanting. After all, they’re paying full price for the game too. And to see these changes have a detrimental effect on those players is disappointing.
And if I can be frank, I’m not even a big fan of these changes myself. For the most part, I’m a Pro Clubs guy as most of my enjoyment from the EA FC product is gained from 11v11 competition. That said, I do play Ultimate Team from time to time and I am decent at it. As of writing this article, I’m 54-3-21 (W-D-L) in UT. I’m not an elite player by any means, but I do win win far more often than I lose. And even for me, the game feels like a mess.
Too often, my defenders are lackadaisical in transition. If I’m trying to mark someone in the midfield, I have to control a DM in order to close space. But by the time I’m able to do that, my opponent has already played a low-driven ball into the feet of one of their strikers and, with my center back being completely flat-footed, they blow past me with one touch. Now, I have to control my CB and try to make a recovery challenge. But because they’ve nerfed the catch-up mechanics (which I’ll admit is a decent change), the opposing player is already long gone. So now I have to switch over to my other CB in an effort to cut out their run on goal. But now, the CB I’m no longer controlling has reduced their sprint to a flat-out jog, so it’s all to easy to just crack a shot on goal and either score or play for a rebound.
And like how some OS forums users pointed out earlier, the midfield play is just… gone. They don’t know how to move off the ball, and they don’t show for options unless triggered to do so. Even after tinkering with tons of tactics to better combat all of these new gameplay changes, I still find myself being killed by whatever new meta is prevalent. Basically, the only viable option I’ve found is to try to play tiki-taka and keep a low block. It hasn’t been fun.
Obviously, a huge portion of the Ultimate Team community seems to enjoy EA FC when it’s a more arcade-y experience. But where does that leave people who play Career mode? Or who play Clubs looking for a more authentic team-based experience? I much prefer these games where it’s my football knowledge against someone else’s, and whoever is the most crafty and deliberate gets the win on that day. If I win, great. If I lose, it’s whatever. So long as I don’t feel cheated.
Instead, EA Sports is dedicated to providing an experience at a break-neck pace — to people who use the terms “jank” and “responsiveness” way too flippantly. And maybe that’s the feasible option with the community being what it is. But is it wrong to want more as a football fan?
Published: Jan 21, 2025 01:27 pm