Thoughts on Longshot Story Mode?

[Datninja619]

I want to finish the story before giving my full thoughts, but in general I think of this as a good starting point for future madden story modes.

How about you?

[cquigley]

Haven't finished it yet but man just the parts I've played have been good and fun. And also I'm not an emotional guy but I'd be lying if some parts didn't make me crazy sad

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[extremeskins04]

So far Longshot is great. Really enjoying it.

[SyncereBlackout]

I hate Rex and EA for making my love a mode I promised myself I would hate.

I hate that my wife asked for "next" because I was answering the questions "wrong"

The writing is probably the weakest link. There are a lot of opportunities to make this mode really deep and seamlessly integrate into CFM as a player or coach. There are aspects of this I would love to see in CFMs off-season.

Overall

The story was solid. To be clear when I say story I mean the idea of a kid quitting, the circumstances that led to him quitting, and him getting drafted. Colt was also well done and integrated. The decisions are essentially pointless as we are force fed a script as good as Sharknado 2. Despite all of the promise the game could show the writing held it back. The insistence that they drag us through Devins backstory and flashbacks in an attempt to be deep only frustrated me more and more as I realized no matter what decision I mad or pass I threw they would make me restart the scene. The biggest take away for the story is that all decisions need to matter and if "re-dos" can be limited to 0 that would be ideal.

Mechanics/Features/QTE

EA please kill the Jedi Football Mind Trick. I could not think of a positive thing about this experience. Worst of all. You can't fail.

Again, every choice should matter and have an impact on my ratings, character, draft position, and grade. If this mode will ever flow into another mode, decisions need to be tied to attributes more than draft grade. I'm not adverse to scouting reports, but underlying the note "spends too much time on social media" should be a bump to something like Personality.

Combine

Thank you for the combine montage. I have complained about EA removing features in the past but here I am so happy they did not force back the old combine mini-games (such as the button mashing for the 40 or weight lifting).
Physical attributes can be determined by decisions, but the drills and interviews are more interesting. I can't imagine a fake reality where that tv show would be a thing. The drills could've happened at a pro day, at one of those draft prep facilities, super regional combine, individual team workouts etc.

The QTE would've been significantly more interesting if there were degrees of success. (I.e. If the buttons were in quadrants the first would give the highest grade and the lowest would give a marginal bump.)

TV producer

If there's no way to skip scenes or cinematic moments then at least throw me a bone to keep me engaged. A decision, retort, something that is entertaining or has an impact on the actual game (like the choice to sing along in the car, but make it mean something) I've played through twice and while I would like to see alternate endings I can't suffer through any more unskippable cinematic scenes. It's just not worth it. It's not all cinematic scenes, just most of them. The producer is so annoying I can only sit through the temper tantrum once.

Longshot Show Drills

CFM / Superstar mode could be amazing with the qb club kind of skill drills. The drills felt like the old tiger woods skill drills but instead of actually practicing skills that translate to playing madden you play irreverent whimsical games. When I thought I would get a target passing drill, I ended up with something else. I wish there was a drill where I can show I know how to play under center if I was seen as a spread qb.

Absolutely love the play calling session. This is the kind of non-football gameplay drill that should be in the game. Fundamentally, if it's related to gameplay it should be able to be used in the game. If it's cerebral or an attempt to teach casuals intricacies of football, this and the film room are how it's done. Or the cam newton drills. As far as the pacing of it goes, the pauses between selections were cumbersome.

Football iq assessment-- amazing. As someone else said later in the thread, I need more of this and the questions need to get progressively more difficult and vary based on position.

Bravo subtly teaching casual players the fundamentals of football. There should be more of this teaching and testing for every position. This is a way more engaging way to complete skills trainer. Loved the situational questions and tests.

7 on 7 and Flashback games

The 7-7 were very fun. Give me these drills in CFM for OTAs!

Love the idea of playing both sides of the ball. Why couldn't this have happened sooner. What is unfortunate is we are kind of just thrown in at safety yet we have so many new DB interactions and moves. None of these are even hinted at.

Clarity of decisions

Interviews and dialogue options are not clear. If I select "deflect" then I expect to deflect. What I get is something else. Devin doesn't deflect but who knows what. During the longshot interview there was an option to "shout". I selected it because I was curious and confused. I was sure it wasn't screaming "loud noises" a la anchorman, but Devin didn't shout. He was snappy but he definitely didn't shout.

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[roadman]

We'll, if it's ok to admit to it, and if I enjoy it, I might chime in after Friday.

[extremeskins04]

The only problem is during interviews when I think I'm making the right answers and being humble, but I ended up answering wrong. Ugh.

[authentic]

I actually really enjoyed it. I just finished it. I enjoyed the connection to Friday Night Lights and some of the characters. I enjoyed the whole TV series and the decisions you had to make. Overall, it has been a long time since I've been so hooked on a console game where I couldn't stop playing, but this game wouldn't let me put the controller down until the story was over. Well done.

[NDAlum]

I watched some youtube clips by Chris Smoove and words can't express how disappointed I am this is in the game.