Category: FUT 24 FC 24

This will be an extensive read, and I’ve invested a considerable amount of time gathering these facts, numbers, and other information. Some of it is factual, and I believe there should be no argument about that. Some will be my opinion, so feel free to disagree and share your perspective.

Let’s dive in!

EA has indeed removed the fun for casual gamers, a sentiment I agree with 100%. I also acknowledge that they’ve diminished the enjoyment for some of the more competitive players, reducing the game to a monotonous, tedious playstyle necessary to combat the Defensive AI, which is my primary focus.

Before anyone asserts that 71 depth is ruining the game, it’s crucial to understand that this isn’t the magical number. The issue doesn’t solely revolve around 71 depth.

It’s more straightforward than that. Even with 60 depth, your team will still push higher up the field than it should, and I’ll explain why.

The problem lies in the implementation of what EA Sports has (re)named “Zonal Defense” in FC 24.

According to the Pitch notes on EA’s website:

Zonal Defense:
When using a depth higher than 45, players will attempt to mark opponents higher up the field and close to the ball possessor, cutting off possible passing lanes. This can open up gaps for the attacking team to exploit if the initial press is broken.

When the ball is close to the sideline, the defenders will attempt to close down the ball carrier to reduce their near-passing and support options. This can leave the far side of the pitch open to attacking opportunities.

Problems:

• They omitted from this segment that this “Zonal Defense” is not a new feature created for FC 24; rather, it’s a tactic they borrowed from the D-Pad that has existed for years. It’s called “OverLoad Ballside.”
• They omitted that it gets activated by raising your depth over 45, even on Balanced Defense Playstyle. This is not a feature incorporated into one of the pressure tactics, but the one where we expect to have the most manual control over our defense and mostly rely on the AI to stay in formation (user input & player instructions aside).
• They omitted that it does not impact stamina. FIFA 20 is a year to remember because it is when this feature was first abused in combination with High Depth. It created a similar atmosphere in the community where the gameplay felt one-dimensional with overbearing pressure, lackluster midfield options in build-up, and constant crossing (switch of play). EA patched it soon after to drain stamina 2.4 times faster, and since then, it just faded away and wasn’t used much.

Do I believe this specifically has made the game unenjoyable for casual players? In my opinion, yes. Here’s why:

Casual players historically tend to struggle against more skilled opponents who manually press with a high defensive line. It’s understandable. I have nothing against rewarding people who practice and put in the hours to master this defensive style.

But now, any opponents they face, whether they have 60, 65, or 75 depth, will be pressing them relentlessly in their own half. With the OverLoad Ballside active, they cannot resort to the usual methods of dealing with that pressure.

Involving the center-mids for triangle passing set-ups with the fullback and winger is just not possible. Their closest passing options in the midfield are cut off, and the attacking AI isn’t advanced enough to combat it, so they stand still behind the defenders.

This is a very frustrating experience for casual players who don’t use player lock, creative runs, and constant switch of play. It makes them feel like every match is an even more intense replica of last year’s friendlies cups during big promos. It’s like they’re constantly punching above their weight class against skilled opponents with constant pressure tactics.

Has it made the game unenjoyable even for more competitive players? For me – yes, including a few professional players I’ve spoken to recently.

Most chance creation results from tedious non-build-up that serves just to bait the overloading press so a switch of play can be executed and a push down the wing as a result. It sounds relatively harmless if you’re not the one doing it, so I’ll try to elaborate.

To put this in perspective, today was the FC Pro Open (Groups A & B). The format was 9 min halves and 1 match single knockout, compared to last year, where it was 6 min halves, 2 legs (matches), and the winner was determined by the aggregate score. So, 18 minutes compared to 24 last year.

In today’s group matches, the switch of play was executed anywhere from 60-90 times per match (not counting overtime). If we were to just split that down the middle for simplicity to 75, that would mean that roughly every 14 seconds, there would be a switch of play (cross from one side of the pitch to the other).

Those are the pros. People playing Rivals in Elite might play shorter matches, but the frequency is still there, if not amplified, especially if you’re up against someone in the lead. It is MIND-NUMBING. I digress…

In the FIFA 23 eWorld Cup – Grand Final (T.G Manu vs. Futwiz Mark11) over 2 legs, 24 minutes total, there were only 8 switch of play crosses.

Do you see the glaringly obvious now?

This is too long of a comment to go into some of the other numbers, such as how many passes the midfielders had, what the possession graph looks like, and many other statistics that are in stark contrast when comparing the two games. But by all standards, even though it’s a video game, FIFA 23 had a much closer resemblance to real football. By a very large margin.

The switch of play alone is alarming enough. It’s extremely boring to use this tool so repetitively in offense, especially since the last 2 patches reduced the speed and accuracy of both the driven pass and the crosses for players with the whipped pass playstyle. So, many counterattacks are a result of a slow or inaccurate cross. (It’s like they want us to be miserable.)

It’s also very boring to defend against it because no matter how hard you try, you will constantly be right stick switching and eventually running back manually to prevent that unmarked player receiving the cross from making a successful attack out of it. You will try to turn it into your counter, which will come eventually if you don’t.

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