FIFA 22 was my last FIFA. The niggles, the frustration, the grind – they were all getting too much. I threw in the towel and told my co-op partner I was done.
Then a few days ago, like clockwork, I fired up FIFA 23 for the first time. That’s what FIFA does to you. Every year you tell yourself it’s the same game with new kits and a few bits of spit and polish. No need.
Welcome to FIFA 23: exactly what you expect it to be. A soccer simulation that looks like you’re watching primetime coverage on Sky Sports. Full credit to EA Sports, building on the horsepower of next-gen consoles with HyperMotion2, visually it cannot be beaten. It’s a real shame that most of the pre-game animations will be skipped by most of the player base after they’ve seen them once or twice.
When you load in, try and play the same way you played FIFA 22. Like Bambi on ice, I was staggering and spluttering my way through the first few games, relying on old muscle memory which doesn’t match with the new installment. This signals that in fact, things have changed.
Gameplay – for now – is great. There’s less of a focus on pure pace merchants, with the addition of defensive archetypes allowing you to catch up with attackers more often than in FIFA 22. While clunky, lower-rated players can’t set the world on fire, they feel more useful than the SBC fodder they were once relegated to.
Running around with cover superstar Kylian Mbappé is joyous, as the best player in the game should feel. FIFA’s golden child is the only player I’ve managed to actually beam the new power shot (L1+R1+O or LB+RB+B) into the top corner with. It made me feel like a soccer player, being hunted down on the pitch and dancing past defenders like they weren’t there.
Where I feel more Sunday league than Champions League is the new set piece mechanics, which will definitely require more practice to nail down. You can’t seem to pick the spot in the box where the corner will go, which is weird.
While they’re alien at the moment, it makes for a nice change, and I’m hoping creators and pro players don’t beg for the old FIFA back, undoing all the hard work to combat monotonous metaplay in the process.
However, while the gameplay is solid, starting out in FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT) feels like a full-time job, and I continue to beg EA Sports for a ‘CLAIM ALL REWARDS’ option when the introductory cosmetics and packs ping after every game or minor action completes. Setting up to play that first game takes me a good 30 minutes, and that’s with the introductory work out of the way via the FUT Web App. The second you can start checking off objectives, milestones, and foundation rewards, expect to spend more time in the menu than in the game. Come on EA, we don’t need pack animations for Tifos. Please.
FUT Moments are fun little morsels, which are spot on for single-player aficionados, casuals still learning the FUT ropes, and for those 15 minutes where you want to pick up some quick and easy rewards offline.
There’s a huge range of stars to be earned in the base challenges, along with weekly tasks to complete and seasonal chapters that recreate historic soccer moments. FIFA 23 launches with the Rise of Mbappé and Klopp’s Journey career storylines, with each challenge repeatable as many times as required to earn stars. Even if you’re not convinced, it’s worth spending an hour blasting through for some early game rewards, swapping stars for packs. It’s definitely more satisfying than sinking 12 minutes into one Squad Battles round. I really hope the devs stick with this one – it could be even bigger when the FIFA World Cup swings around.
One of the other new changes, the all-new chemistry system, has caused some noise online. FIFA Creator Bateson87 has done a handy chemistry explainer, which I have put to use already. The new system is meant to give you more freedom than ever to form a World XI and link up players from across the globe, but the initial backlash is telling. For now, I’ll stick with the safety blanket of an all-Premier League team until I pack a star from another league that I need to shoehorn in.
Once I’d finally shuffled enough cards to build a team with some semblance of togetherness, it was time to face the sweat fest that is FUT Rivals. Online connection felt great during review access, as FIFA usually does without its entire player base online and grinding 24/7. Let’s see how the servers hold out. I must insist, Rivals is much more fun when played in co-op, as moments that would tilt you (I’m looking at you, cross-box passing) just turn into laughing fits.
Chugging through competitive Rivals games brings the promised land of FUT Champions qualification, and the biggest weekly rewards you can snag. The chance of packing an inform superstar is so minuscule, so inevitably the ragtag band of bang-average men I qualify with keep their positions for another week. In the words of Steven Gerard, “we go again.”
Of course… FUT is pay to win. Wherever you stand on the ethical boundary of loot boxes in titles adored by kids, it cannot be ignored in FIFA 23. I proudly didn’t spend a penny on FIFA Points last year other than the pre-order bonus, and I’ll do the same this year, but damn it would make this game a lot easier.
Nothing is more clear about P2W players than early-game stacked teams. Sure, you might have gotten lucky and packed a FUT Hero, a Team of the Week player or a meta superstar, but if your team is juiced with multiple 85+ rated cards, it’s clear someone’s whipped their credit card out already. As time goes on and free-to-play players grind their way through some half-decent picks, the game balances itself somewhat. While I waited for that to sort itself out, I thought I’d visit other game modes to see what they were offering.
Yes, EA Sports FIFA 23 has other game modes!
None excited me more than the idea of playing more purposeful women’s football. Chelsea superstar Sam Kerr graces the FIFA 23 cover too, so is women’s representation any better?
Almost. When EA Sports announced the Barclays Women’s Super League and Division 1 Arkema were coming to the game, fans were buzzed. As a kid playing FIFA 03 on the PS2 and kicking a ball around in my backyard, I never got to see myself in the players in my game. Now women’s club football joins the cast of the international stage, something which makes this FIFA the most inclusive and diverse title to date.
The women play like women thanks to HyperMotion2, instead of smaller faster men, and it feels even more authentic.
However, I was gutted to see that you can only run the women’s leagues through Tournament Mode, and not through a full manager or player Career Mode. Dreams of winning the WSL and then moving on to the Premier League have been dashed for another year. I hope next year we see this rectified – along with Liga F and Frauen-Bundesliga welcomed in. Further updates to women’s football, EA Sports promise, are coming in the following months, so we’ll see what that entails.
The crossover between Pro Clubs and VOLTA Football seems successful, but these modes are afterthoughts in the mind of a lot of players. I wish I had ten friends to play Pro Clubs properly with, to be honest. Expect quality of life updates but no 11v11 crossplay (yet).
Career Mode has had some attention – a bit more drama. Career Mode has always felt like the little sibling of Football Manager, NBA 2K or even Madden with a real Franchise Mode. It does get better every year though and I am looking forward to giving it more of my attention.
Testing Player Career Mode I did what any sensible person would do; build a 6-foot mustachioed attacking midfielder with a pink mullet. Who did I sign him for? Well, AFC Richmond of course, who replaced Crystal Palace in the Premier League (sorry, Eagles fans). While I’ve not watched Ted Lasso, this collab between FIFA and Apple TV has gone down well with its fans.
A few games in, playing for AFC Richmond is not for me. I didn’t enjoy having no connection to the teammates around me, so I’ll find some time between FUT rounds to rebuild my pink-haired hero into a new club. Maybe I’ll add Ryan Reynolds’ Wrexham AFC into League Two…
No matter if you’re running a player or manager career, all-new payable highlights are a lightning-fast way to progress through matches. While you’re subbing on as an early-career player, you won’t have enough time to influence the game (even with control of the full team), they’re almost too short. However, these flashes are going to be great for long-term save players. A tidy addition for those of us with short attention spans.
This is a massive season for soccer, with two FIFA World Cups coming up (which players will see a host of content for). EA Sports are clever in the timing of their developments for casual players. Their headline title has become a more friendly, pick-up-and-play title for those who will be totally new to the franchise after feeling inspired by the international tournaments. Quicker gameplay, simple, rewarding modes and a revamped training center are all there to get these new players hooked.
Picking up FIFA 23? Don’t expect a showstopper, it feels like EA Sports are holding back on the gas in preparation for a big launch on their high-risk rebrand EA Sports FC. FIFA 23 is great, but there’s no defining implementation that makes it stand out for returning players. If you’re already a regular player, does that matter?
This is my last FIFA, but it’s everyone’s last FIFA, so I’m going to enjoy it for as long as I can.
FIFA 23 Ultimate Edition, including 4600 FIFA Points, is out now on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia. The standard edition of the game launches worldwide on Sept. 30, 2022, including a legacy edition for Nintendo Switch.
Written by Alex Bugg on behalf of GLHF.