Gaming FIFA 21

Ludens the Red

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Playing with Dan James in career mode feels like cheating to the point where I'm trying to sell him.

The AI teams don't know what a low block is. They play so open but also if you get too close one on one they auto-take the ball from you.
:lol: Indeed. Suddenly becomes undroppable when I pick united .
 

Adcuth

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Right so just got the game. Can someone tell me is formation key? Do I not know something new about the game? Cause I seem to not be able to tackle yet get tackled a lot. Players aren't making runs yet my defence is wide open. Adama gets knocked off the ball by some bronze level player like he's fecking Dan James. What's going on? I'm not shit a Fifa yet I win 1 of my owning games and get pumped the other 5 and can't dribble or tackle or shoot. Help please

Edit. Fut btw
 

RonaldoVII

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If Rivals wasn't already objectives mode, it now is. There's no point to playing it if you play the weekend league. What a joke.

 

AaronRedDevil

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Lads need a formation. Won 4 in a row to losing 3 in a row. Seriously feck this game! Was using 352. I prefer an attacking style with 2 strikers. 41212 isn’t working for me either and that’s my go to.
 

RonaldoVII

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Lads need a formation. Won 4 in a row to losing 3 in a row. Seriously feck this game! Was using 352. I prefer an attacking style with 2 strikers. 41212 isn’t working for me either and that’s my go to.
Rivals/Champs/Seasons?

I play 433(4) but then again I like wingers. I have Salah on RW and tell him to stay forward so it acts like I've two up front. One CM to stay back when attacking and the other to be box to box. Full backs to stay back.
 

mazhar13

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Lads need a formation. Won 4 in a row to losing 3 in a row. Seriously feck this game! Was using 352. I prefer an attacking style with 2 strikers. 41212 isn’t working for me either and that’s my go to.
Try 4-2-2-2. It can offer you width, some bodies in the middle, and lots of attacking variety.
 

shabz

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Lads need a formation. Won 4 in a row to losing 3 in a row. Seriously feck this game! Was using 352. I prefer an attacking style with 2 strikers. 41212 isn’t working for me either and that’s my go to.
4231 wide
Keep you cam on stay forward will act as a second striker.
ST - stay central - get in behind
Wingers - get into box for crosses
CDM x 2 - stay back, cut passing lanes, cover centre
Full backs - stay back

Defence - 5 depth and 5 width - pressure on heavy touch
Offense - 5 width and 5 players in the box
Corners and free kick - 2 - long ball

That should give you a good balance off attack and defense and not leave to many gaps.

I'm 10-3 right now in weekend league with those tactics and I'm not a special player.
 

TrustInJanuzaj

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4-4-2 is the best formation on the game this year. With some tactical tweaks but it’s amazing.
 

FrankDrebin

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So I've played a few games of this and, primarily being a PES gamer, this just does nothing for me. It feels so hollow and weightless in comparison.

A clear lack of player identity in the game is (also) still telling, with every player from to team to team seemingly making making the same individual movements.
When Martial is making the same off-the-ball movements as Vardy you know EA haven't developed this side to their game.
Whereas on PES you get a clear sense of individualism with every top player and its something PES has, even in its bad days, got down to a T.

But that's EA. You can see why it's such a successful gaming series because it practically does everything for you on the pitch. Every player makes same the perfect run on the attack.
I don't want that. I want a challenge. I want there to be a contrast between my style and my team when I'm in the early stages of a FIFA career mode. I want there to be a clear contrast on the individuals I pick, other than it sorely be down to who's the quickest. There needs to be a need/reason for me to buy and sell certain players.

Visually it looks dated too. Probably the ugliest football sim I've played from this series, which is odd considering the previous titles ,minor last year, looked nice on the eye.
PES in comparison can be beautiful and realistic at times, especially with its in-game weather development. Where the weather changes within the match.

The only plus point FIFA has, other than the numerous licenses, is its content outside of gameplay. The options in career mode still far surpass anything KONAMI have been doing with PES, so much so that its actually embarrassing on KONAMI's part.

But, in short, FIFA 21 and FIFA 20 seem like a big step back for the series. They've now got content and lazy, especially with FUT being the ultimate selling point where the game heavily relies upon star names, stupid skill moves and pace ! pace ! pace !
But, hey, its got the content off the pitch and flashing menus.

In short :
Gameplay - PES
Content (off the pitch) - FIFA
 
Last edited:

WR

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Why does UT have no fun game modes other than draft? Quick style tournament modes where you don’t have to grind for hours and hours to get some basic rewards. I had 30k coins and no team and decided just to spend it on draft rather than building a team because it’s more fun than getting hammered on division rivals with a basic team when every wanker has a meta pace team already.
 

Golden Nugget

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I got sick of 19 pretty quickly and skipped 20. Decided to buy 21and I’ve found it awful so far. I usually just play career mode - and have always played legendary - I can’t seem to defend at all.

I’ve never been a player that uses skills - more of a pass and move type - is this now completely useless? Passing seems so much harder now - what used to be a simple pass is always cut out or mis-hit; half the shots are blocked.

What’s worse is the opposition can pretty much score when he wants. Every single player does stepovers and drag backs all the way to my box - and when they’re in the box - just hold me off and pick out a free man. I know I haven’t played fifa for 1.5 years but what on earth has happened to it?
 

do.ob

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Why does UT have no fun game modes other than draft? Quick style tournament modes where you don’t have to grind for hours and hours to get some basic rewards. I had 30k coins and no team and decided just to spend it on draft rather than building a team because it’s more fun than getting hammered on division rivals with a basic team when every wanker has a meta pace team already.
The friendly sections offer some game variations and by now I'm sure you can buy a decent pace meta team for 30k.
 

P-Nut

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So I've played a few games of this and, primarily being a PES gamer, this just does nothing for me. It feels so hollow and weightless in comparison.

A clear lack of player identity in the game is (also) still telling, with every player from to team to team seemingly making making the same individual movements.
When Martial is making the same off-the-ball movements as Vardy you know EA haven't developed this side to their game.
Whereas on PES you get a clear sense of individualism with every top player and its something PES has, even in its bad days, got down to a T.

But that's EA. You can see why it's such a successful gaming series because it practically does everything for you on the pitch. Every player makes same the perfect run on the attack.
I don't want that. I want a challenge. I want there to be a contrast between my style and my team when I'm in the early stages of a FIFA career mode. I want there to be a clear contrast on the individuals I pick, other than it sorely be down to who's the quickest. There needs to be a need/reason for me to buy and sell certain players.

Visually it looks dated too. Probably the ugliest football sim I've played from this series, which is odd considering the previous titles ,minor last year, looked nice on the eye.
PES in comparison can be beautiful and realistic at times, especially with its in-game weather development. Where the weather changes within the match.

The only plus point FIFA has, other than the numerous licenses, is its content outside of gameplay. The options in career mode still far surpass anything KONAMI have been doing with PES, so much so that its actually embarrassing on KONAMI's part.

But, in short, FIFA 21 and FIFA 20 seem like a big step back for the series. They've now got content and lazy, especially with FUT being the ultimate selling point where the game heavily relies upon star names, stupid skill moves and pace ! pace ! pace !
But, hey, its got the content off the pitch and flashing menus.

In short :
Gameplay - PES
Content (off the pitch) - FIFA
I'm close to giving this a try due to the cheap price point, and not getting fifa until I can get my hands on a PS5.

How is the offline play? I know the online modes have been poor for a long while, but if career or master league is enjoyable I might try it out for a bit.

P.s is there anyway to install option files on xbox?
 

Berbasbullet

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So I've played a few games of this and, primarily being a PES gamer, this just does nothing for me. It feels so hollow and weightless in comparison.

A clear lack of player identity in the game is (also) still telling, with every player from to team to team seemingly making making the same individual movements.
When Martial is making the same off-the-ball movements as Vardy you know EA haven't developed this side to their game.
Whereas on PES you get a clear sense of individualism with every top player and its something PES has, even in its bad days, got down to a T.

But that's EA. You can see why it's such a successful gaming series because it practically does everything for you on the pitch. Every player makes same the perfect run on the attack.
I don't want that. I want a challenge. I want there to be a contrast between my style and my team when I'm in the early stages of a FIFA career mode. I want there to be a clear contrast on the individuals I pick, other than it sorely be down to who's the quickest. There needs to be a need/reason for me to buy and sell certain players.

Visually it looks dated too. Probably the ugliest football sim I've played from this series, which is odd considering the previous titles ,minor last year, looked nice on the eye.
PES in comparison can be beautiful and realistic at times, especially with its in-game weather development. Where the weather changes within the match.

The only plus point FIFA has, other than the numerous licenses, is its content outside of gameplay. The options in career mode still far surpass anything KONAMI have been doing with PES, so much so that its actually embarrassing on KONAMI's part.

But, in short, FIFA 21 and FIFA 20 seem like a big step back for the series. They've now got content and lazy, especially with FUT being the ultimate selling point where the game heavily relies upon star names, stupid skill moves and pace ! pace ! pace !
But, hey, its got the content off the pitch and flashing menus.

In short :
Gameplay - PES
Content (off the pitch) - FIFA
To be fair since the dawn of time PES was the gameplay king and fifa was king of cosmetics.

PES has loads of problems still but it’s still a brilliant football game.
 

FrankDrebin

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To be fair since the dawn of time PES was the gameplay king and fifa was king of cosmetics.

PES has loads of problems still but it’s still a brilliant football game.
Yes. Fundamentally PES is the closest of the two for a better interpretation of the Beautiful Game. FIFA is neither here of there. I wouldn't class it as arcade ,because I've played some soccer/football games in arcades with more gameplay depth than FIFA. Its like Basketball but with Football and the masses love it.
 

wr8_utd

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They've kind of fixed the crosses that they completely broke in Fifa 20. Yay!

Why do the opposition AI never cross btw? They'd rather pass it back to their own half than cross, so dumb.
Sounds like the final 2-3 years of Antonio Valencia's United career.
 

mazhar13

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They've kind of fixed the crosses that they completely broke in Fifa 20. Yay!

Why do the opposition AI never cross btw? They'd rather pass it back to their own half than cross, so dumb.
They cross quite often for me. It depends on the team that's playing, though; some will cross more than others.
 

Brophs

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Have to admire the keeper cleaning house around 12 times, without ever touching the ball.
 

mazhar13

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One thing that I failed to notice for Career Mode is that it only gives us an option to disable the first summer transfer window at the start. Whilst this works for most of the leagues, this screws up leagues like MLS, which has the January transfer window as the first one. Basically, I'm unable to meet some of my objectives because I can't sell anyone during the summer transfer window.
 

Chief123

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I've been playing it since 1993 and this year is the shittest yet
Completely disagree. There have been several terrible versions. This is not one of them. Each to their own.

If you master defending in Fifa 21, it’s a joy to play.
 

UnrelatedPsuedo

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To be fair since the dawn of time PES was the gameplay king and fifa was king of cosmetics.

PES has loads of problems still but it’s still a brilliant football game.
It’s not been true every year, but certainly most years...

If you stripped both games back to 11 vs 11 generic players in blue and red kits, just to play your mates, nobody would play FIFA.
 

AaronRedDevil

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Yeah this is my last FIFA for a very long time. Just can’t get a win to save my life and I’m a pretty good player. Problem is, I’m too good. I tackle well, it rebounds and falls back to him and leaves him open. It’s the same damn game somehow. Even the goals I concede are all rebounds or pure dumbassery from the AI. I swear I’m tempting to upload every match, goal and show you what I mean. Don’t think I’ve had a FIFA match in years where a player just simply runs through my defence and scores. Yet I’ve no problem doing it. And the Tackling is STILL POINTLESS!
 

Jam

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Right, Ultimate Team is an absolute bag of shite.

But a lot of friends play it so I'm going to give it a crack again this year, barely touched in for the last 6 years or something. How do I get going with it? I truly cannot be arsed throwing money at it, and I truly can't be arsed spending 50 games with a shite team getting spanked with every 7 year old having teams with Ronaldo/Pele/Messi up top.

So how do I get going? What league/hybrid should I aim for first, what should I be doing/playing? I'm generally a Div 1/2 player on normal online seasons but UT feels like it plays totally different.
 

do.ob

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Right, Ultimate Team is an absolute bag of shite.

But a lot of friends play it so I'm going to give it a crack again this year, barely touched in for the last 6 years or something. How do I get going with it? I truly cannot be arsed throwing money at it, and I truly can't be arsed spending 50 games with a shite team getting spanked with every 7 year old having teams with Ronaldo/Pele/Messi up top.

So how do I get going? What league/hybrid should I aim for first, what should I be doing/playing? I'm generally a Div 1/2 player on normal online seasons but UT feels like it plays totally different.
https://www.futbin.com/21/squad/1544659

Something like that would probably a cheap meta starter squad these days. If you go something like Akanji and Arias you can shave off another ~10k+.
 

Carlsen19

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I would do a Brazil/CSL hybrid. That was my starter squad and had great success with it. Something like:

 

Acole9

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What have they done to crossing?! Every time I attempt one it gets kicked out of play :lol:.
 

Jam

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https://www.futbin.com/21/squad/1544659

Something like that would probably a cheap meta starter squad these days. If you go something like Akanji and Arias you can shave off another ~10k+.
I would do a Brazil/CSL hybrid. That was my starter squad and had great success with it. Something like:

Cheers lads, think I'm going to go with a slightly modified version of the bundesliga one, 4-2-3-1, because there's more room to grow with that team.

Do you recommend just caning squad battles at first?
 

bosnian_red

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Just got Son, Bale and Eder Militao untradeable (among random others) in an objectives pack (score 100 finesse shots). Slightly annoyed as I always go for Martial and Rashford in my front 3... so now I'll probably long term move Son to the right as he's too good not to use.
 

Spiersey

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The actual gameplay is really good this year, probably the best of the previous few years for me. However the button delay and the tackling is the worst I've seen on any FIFA, it's basically unplayable for me as it's impossible to dribble or defend properly (I'm Division 1 FUT incase anyone thinks its a case of me being bad). Will stop playing if its the same over the next few days. Having to tackle players 5 times to get the ball back still.
 

NotoriousISSY

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The actual gameplay is really good this year, probably the best of the previous few years for me. However the button delay and the tackling is the worst I've seen on any FIFA, it's basically unplayable for me as it's impossible to dribble or defend properly (I'm Division 1 FUT incase anyone thinks its a case of me being bad). Will stop playing if its the same over the next few days. Having to tackle players 5 times to get the ball back still.
I play seasons - and routine won Div 1 on all previous gens of Fifa on PS3 and PS4 - but I can't play this! Defending isn't right - every game is 4-3, 5-4, 7-6....just stupid because no one can defend properly.
 

sewey89

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Anyone else getting much better packs this year?

I’ve got Haaland, Sancho, Van Dijk, Oblak, Bruno, Bale all in packs