FIFA 15 Demo Available Now on Xbox One, 360, PC, PS3, PS4

[drunkenferret]

Quote: Originally Posted by orion523

Some new impressions from PS4, at the default settings this is an arcade game, nothing more nothing less. It's fun in its own way I guess, but it's not for me. After making a few slight alterations though the demo quickly becomes more representative of what I feel a football game should be. I've been seeing a lot of complaints about the defending, and IMO this stems from several things: #1 At default the defending logic is pretty poor, allowing for unlimited offense. On WC though it definitely tightens up nicely. #2 Having watched replays, marking is simply too loose overall, a bump to 52 worked well. #3 Whereas last year lines needed to be stretched a bit in order to encourage the CPU to actually attack, this year they may need tightening. At 49/49/49/50 it felt great overall. #4 And finally, since the introduction of the controversial jockey/teammate jockey buttons in FIFA 12, defending has become IMO a mindless button press. Thankfully that doesn't work this year, jockeying still has it's place, but now it's just a tool rather than the whole tool box if you catch my drift. Like I mentioned earlier, I don't want to get caught up with sliders and stuff with a demo, and I won't go further than this with it, but default just wasn't cutting it lol.

I think you highlight my thoughts above in regards to marking. Haven't looked at lines yet, because as you say it is only a demo. Curious as to what you're seeing from the CPU as far as pass%, because I've already highlighted mine is insane, especially 2nd half cpu play.

[japsubie]

Quote: Originally Posted by drunkenferret

I think you highlight my thoughts above in regards to marking. Haven't looked at lines yet, because as you say it is only a demo. Curious as to what you're seeing from the CPU as far as pass%, because I've already highlighted mine is insane, especially 2nd half cpu play.

if it helps, in mine, ive been seeing a steady 84-90% passing rating.

[drunkenferret]

Quote: Originally Posted by iaxy

Because the game has made such a stride forward in mimicking the real sport, any bad decision you make this year will be more noticeable because the CPU will punish you more than previous years! In other words you need to understand the game of football to play this game successfully and having fun. The first 10 games I played I kept on playing like in FIFA 14, i.e. press the ball carrier way up the pitch. Needless to say, I got murdered - not just in possession but also in giving away a ton of scoring chances against me. Unlike FIFA 14 (and previous versions of FIFA), this year the CPU takes advantage of your midfielder being out of position to devastating effect . But the real question is - why did you choose to put your MF in that position? If the CPU beats your MF with a move, they have all the space to drive towards goal, which accentuates the feeling of "where has my midfield gone". In real life any coach will tell you that it is criminal to take a midfielder way out on his own to push the opponent and sacrifice the team shape. People noticing a gap in midfield - do you take notice of the fact that you take your midfielders forward to challenge the CPU ball carrier? Do you also notice that your forwards are way up the pitch doing nothing? This is not what you see in real life, where forward press the ball carrier and the midfielders manage space, close passing lanes and keep the shape of the team. The beauty of FIFA 15 is that it requires you to think like in real life. No longer can you afford to push up and take unnecessary risks. This year you loose shape and the CPU burns you. You take a MF out of position at your peril. Of course there are situations where you can chase the CPU with a MF and even double up on them, but you need to choose the location of your battles and apply logic according to the context. In my limited time with the demo I have come to realise that you need to press with your forwards much more whilst you leave your MFs to keep the shape. When the CPU enters your half your press with your wingers (not with the central MFs). In real life you will see wingers helping full backs all the time, the same logic applies here, because if you take a winger out of position that does not have such a dramatic devastating effect on your shape compared to when you take a central MF out of position. The conundrum with newer games is that for the first time, you need to change your mindset and actually understand the sport you're playing. That is why I feel the game would not appeal to people who have the older FIFA way of playing ingrained in them. Also, I don't think the game would appeal to people who do not understand football strategies. It is for that reason that I don't play basketball games. I know NBA 2k15 is supposed to be stunningly accurate of the sport it reflects, but that is also my problem in that I don't understand basketball strategies and as such the beauty of game is "lost on me". More and more games have lost the appeal for casual gamers because of this, but it is inevitable as developers are really pushing the boundaries of gaming. In fact the only way to implement appeal for the casual games is for the CPU not to punish your mistakes and sloppiness. You will notice that on lower difficulty levels the CPU will miss easy chances and put the ball wide when it is much easier to score - that's a mechanic which I hate and it's only there to compensate for your inability to close the CPU down successfully and make you feel like you are actually a contender... True, the CPU has an abnormal pass success % and a way to keep the ball which is very unpredictable, but with the aid of sliders I think you can tone this down. FIFA 15 rewards players who are patient, keep the team shape and only take risks in areas which do not lead to direct scoring chances. Naturally not everything is great. On way too many occasions your AI controlled full backs do absolutely nothing when the ball is away from their zone. They are literally a waste of space. In an ideal world when the play is away from their zone they should be pushing up field and alleviating the pressure off of the MFs's shoulders. Then they can easily return to their position if the ball starts moving towards their side of the pitch. But I am hopeful this can be adjusted in the strategy screen.

I agree completely, but at times you get caught based upon who you are given control of when you switch players. Mine is on manual so that I control completely, but sometimes you have to move with the one you're given especially on a break. I do agree completely that losing shape is immediate death to your team in this year's demo, especially as the cpu now has players who make intelligent runs into the box.

[irrelevant]

Not sure I have much to add, other than I am ecstatic with this year's iteration of FIFA. I played three games last night and had so much fun. There was a yellow card against the CPU, a penalty called in my favor (not a handball) and I had an amazing back heel between two defenders that was slotted home for a goal.

The crowd, atmosphere and player models (though a bit pasty) were all fantastic. The dribbling is a huge improvement and the goalies! The goalies are superbly rendered and I felt there was much more variety with deflected balls coming back into play for second chance goals. I can't wait for the full version.

[iaxy]

Quote: Originally Posted by drunkenferret

I agree completely, but at times you get caught based upon who you are given control of when you switch players. Mine is on manual so that I control completely, but sometimes you have to move with the one you're given especially on a break. I do agree completely that losing shape is immediate death to your team in this year's demo, especially as the cpu now has players who make intelligent runs into the box.

You are absolutely right about the player switching. That is one area which is problematic in FIFA (and PES too to be fair) because of the lag between the switch and the time it takes the newly selected player to accelerate.

As for counters, you can still use "teammate support" when being on the receiving end of a brake. You close the passing lane controlling one player (normally a defender) and simultaneously you call for team support by getting a midfielder (or better striker) to chase the ball carrier like a doberman

[Brahvocado]

Not going to mess with it on a demo because it also requires tweaking of gk ability, but shot power is like it was in 13. Definitely will need to be toned down if it stays this way on release.

[Hutton]

One small thing that I forgot to mention that I don't recall being in previous FIFA's was the clock running during a late game substitution.

I was down 2-1 and chelski made a sub in the 87', the announcer even made mention about how this may be a time wasting tactic, and I noticed that the clock was progressively running during the substitution cut scene!

[Resurrection403]

What else can I add? This demo is making it hard to wait for the main course. I think this will be an amazing year of soccer.

One thing I thought it tho it may be hard to use a non epl team. The atmosphere in the Liverpool Manchester City match was remarkable.