There can be a divide between 'FIFA the core game' and 'FIFA the wider experience'. What looks like football doesn't always feel like football, and crafting a playable product from the world's most beloved sport is more complex than making sure Neymar's nose hairs are accurate. This year FIFA 16 pulls off a difficult trick. Not only is the game closer to a TV-style broadcast than ever, but the experience is better than FIFA's been in years.
What this means is that while there really haven't been that many improvements in terms of game modes, what was there originally is a lot more fun to play. Not since the days of Pro Evolution Soccer 5 has a football game been as genuinely challenging without being relentlessly unfair. You'll more than likely be participating in matches with low scorelines if you're playing on a difficulty level that's challenging to you, but there's always the chance that a match will turn into a real punch-for-punch goal-fest.
These possibilities keep things interesting and mirror the possibilities of real life football, to an extent. It terms of changes to the physics and in game animations, there are barely any that I can think of. I usually pick up all of the FIFA’s and can usually only tell fractional differences in how the players react to different situations and I think this part of the games changes is marketed far too heavily. Along the lines of other miscellaneous changes, there are some slight changes to the user interface, but as far as I can tell it is the same one from FIFA 16 with a new lick of paint.
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Let go of the virtual joystick at any point and the player on the ball will move automatically, freeing you up to make all the tactical designs. The moment you touch the virtual joystick you're right back in control though and it feels perfect. To counteract that, the FIFA 16 game is much more physical. There are more tussles for the ball. There’s more aerial battling. It's odd then, that the referees will blow up for even the tiniest amount of contact.
Perhaps your line-up has the top offense in the league and is going up against the one with the best defense. Or maybe your custom character was able to score a hat trick in the past game, and is looking to continue their score-streak. In my case, my mustached up-and-comer was getting recognition for his amount of assists. Whatever your story may be, FIFA 16 does a wonderful job of making each and every season feel unique and special. One of the many criticisms of FIFA has been that it always felt like attacking was the main focus, with little reason to keep possession across the back line or in the midfield.
Getting it to your strikers was always the priority and usually the best tactic, but this year things are a little more balanced across the pitch. Keeping the ball moving across midfield, while trying to draw out the opponents is a tactic that has served me well. Once a defender moves out of position, a gap usually appears and a well-timed through-ball (on the ground through-balls seem to be the way to go this year) or use of the new passing with purpose modifier that puts some serious pace on a pass to get it there quickly can often lead you through on goal.
With a refined gameplay that requires a more tactical approach to achieve success, fine tuning of numerous details, and deeper options for both online and offline play, FIFA 16 has proven yet again to be the quintessential title for fans of the beautiful game.
