Just popping my head in here out of curiosity really. My football gaming history goes:
- Italia '90
- FIFA '96
- Actua Soccer 2
- Actua Soccer 3
- This is Football
- This is Football 2
- ISS Pro Evolution 2
...Pro Evo ever since.
My feeling with Pro Evo was that it was absolutely brilliant back on 6th Gen consoles (PS2 for me), dreadful through 7th (PS3), and has gone a long way towards repairing it's reputation on the 8th (PS4). The next gen games will be a big moment for the series I think - either they deliver, and the 'game' rewards everyone's loyalty, or they drop the ball again and it could be curtains. Pro Evo can't really get away with being alright, due to the glaring absence of some major licenses.
What's FIFA's story? Seems to me like the series' was at its peak on the 7th gen consoles.
This is Football brings back memories.. underrated game but ISS 2 was the game back in the PS2 era. PES has always been my favourite really, and though I've dipped in and out in recent years, there's still never been a Fifa, in my mind, that's as satisfying and as good as peak era PES, say Pro Evo 4/5 maybe being the high point?
For me though, Fifa now has it's place because I like playing with the licenced lower league clubs and building a manager career with different narratives applied. It's just about good enough to keep me coming back most years, for my sins (I skipped 18 and 19).
When I was younger, despite the licences, Fifa was trash. We're talking 2002 - 2007 being borderline unplayable in my book, with awful spin offs that were just money grabbing efforts and no real focus on what's happening on the pitch. It also started to look really dated and ugly. I'm not sure if 2008 heralded the move to Frostbite, but this, on the PS3 and 360 was where Fifa made me sit up and take notice.
I'd not bought a Fifa in about 5 years prior to 2008, but when that came it was better looking, weightier and more difficult than any before it (in my time). It felt more real, scoring was harder and felt an achievement when it happened. There had also been the spin off Champions League game around a similar time where they introduced the concept of player cards that eventually became Ultimate Team. This was actually a fun enough if shallow game. 2009 and 2010 brought more changes, as the game got that bit quicker and more attack focused and Ultimate Team started to be a niche mode within the game that was growing attention.
Really, for me, 2011-2014 was the peak era of Fifa where the games were decent to very good (2013 nailed it) and Ultimate Team was still fun, still accessible for those with not that much time (or money) and didn't form the entire basis of EA's thinking when it came to updates. 15 and 16 were poor in my book, treading water between generations and then I gave up with them until 20 came out.
And now... It's ok. It's too focused on Ultimate Team at the detriment of other modes and it absolutely has stagnated and needs a huge UI overhaul, a graphical update and just more love all round. You don't get the feeling that Fifa recently has ever been the labour of love that PES has at times felt, nor do they have the impetus to beat their rival because they haven't really been actual rivals in so long.
The best thing that could happen really would be EA losing the licences for a time and a new developer taking them on, or Konami be given more time and money to really showcase what they can do, because from the bits I've seen they could be on the way to something special and not releasing a new full fledged release this year shows a real pro-consumer, pro-quality of product approach.
Fifa is currently tired and about 5-6 years past it's peak. It needs revolution now.
