Next-Gen FIFA 21 - What Can the Previous Next-Gen Launches Tell Us?

[Steve_OS]

During the next couple weeks leading up to the launches of the PS5 and Xbox Series X, we’ll be...

Written By: Kevin Groves

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[Ac3way]

FIFA 14 on PS4 was so great, big jump on gameplay from Xbox 360 version when everything else was same. After that FIFA went worse year after year. Hopefully they bounce back someday (gameplay).*

26 years football games, so many different games and almost endless amount of hours. It has been one big journey this far, hopefully it goes on and experiences become a even better!*

[CarryTheWeight]

I remember playing an early version of PS4's FIFA 14 at a Sony Store kiosk in Niagara Falls, Ontario. I'd never seen a sports game present nearly everything in real-time before. It was a pretty impressive accomplishment. It wasn't anything mind-blowing or game-changing, mind you, but it *felt*, to me, like a next-gen game.

Happy to say that I still own 14 and may even play a few games on the PS5 once it arrives. It doesn't have the weight that a few of the post-Frostbite FIFA games have, but it may just be the best FIFA of the generation. I put a ton of time into FIFA 08-13 and the World Cups on 360/PS3...the leap in 14 felt great to me.

FIFA 06 Road To World Cup on 360, though, woof. It's almost as big a letdown as Madden 06 on 360. SO many missing teams and leagues. It wasn't until FIFA 08 that most of the leagues of the PS2/Xbox/Gamecube era returned. While I enjoyed World Cup 06, 10 and 14, the series never really got going until 08 and soon became one of the best football titles out there (10 and 12 were especially great, IMO).

If anything, I think this generation had some pretty amazing FIFAs until the last few years. The addition of women's teams, The Journey, UEFA Champions League integration and real-time presentation were great. Frostbite, scripting and the rise of FUT were largely hit and miss, and while Volta seems like the spiritual successor to FIFA Street, its own microtransactions are a huge disappointment.

I'm not sure what to think about FIFA 21+ on next gen. The initial trailer was...pretty cool? But if last gen (and the awful Madden 06 trailer) is anything to go by, there's no sign any of what was shown is actually in the game.

While the exterior shots of stadiums and detailed fans (seem to) look really nice, I'm not sure if there's any major leap in the player models we were shown.

Improved load times are super nice, as is the possibility of ray tracing, adaptive triggers, haptic feedback and high FPS. But I'm not sure if anything will be improved in actual gameplay. This will likely be more about refinement than revolution. Hopefully they improve on the awesome real-time presentation of 14 (that they've sadly seemed to move away from in recent years).

I hope EA takes next-gen seriously enough. I'm not expecting a leap on the level of Madden and FIFA 2001 on PS2, but it'll be inexcusable if they repeat the mistakes from their awful initial showing on 360/PS3.

[BSDShoes]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ac3way

FIFA 14 on PS4 was so great, big jump on gameplay from Xbox 360 version when everything else was same. After that FIFA went worse year after year. Hopefully they bounce back someday (gameplay).* 26 years football games, so many different games and almost endless amount of hours. It has been one big journey this far, hopefully it goes on and experiences become a even better!*

FIFA 14, Thief and Madden 25 were among my first games I got when I bought the PS4, FIFA 14 was decent fun but not at the level FIFA 10 was. FIFA 15 was amazing aside at how Usain Bolt fast paced it was, if FIFA 15 had a slower pace it would've been the perfect game on the pitch.