Why is this game so hard to play

Well stated bro and at 52 yrs old myself nothing, and I mean NOTHING feels better than smashing out a young mouthy punk on the gridiron 

I am with you on this one.  They made this game harder to win, and those who win are those who find some cheat blitzes or these long a$$ philly special bombs.  I used to win in prior years' games, but this year, I've never been so disgusted with a game as MUT25. 

If it wasn't for my son wanting to play this game, I would not pay one single dime on it but next year, we made a deal with him, I am only buying the game but not one single dime will be spent on packs because, no matter if you have a GOD squad or not, MUT is not like it used to be.  So, going NMS in MUT26, and that I can deal with :) As I don't have to pay EA any more than I have to on a game that John Madden would not be happy with at ALL

I doubt they will do that because it might decrease interest in purchasing '26.

I share your frustration. My perspective might help.

Firstly - not to offend - you're not a victim, because the game is the same for everybody; the good players face the same difficulty as you do. Ultimately, you just gotta adapt and get better through practice.

I understand your complaint that Madden changed how to be good, and it's a sidestep to what you were good at before.

I have 3 examples. My dad is about your age (grew up on all the old school Maddens - I remember watching him play Madden in the early 2000s as a kid with no clue what was going on), and he complains about the newer Maddens just like you. And, he was good - always knew football. Then I started playing Madden since the '09 installment, right about when I fell in love with football as a young teen. I attest that the newer ones are hard - annoyingly hard. You used to be able to hop on and beat people with the same handful of plays if they were amateurs that didn't know the proper play call to stop you. For example, if your opponent was in cover 2 - where the safety sits down in the flat - you could drop it between the corner and the safety with a streak route, and it would work every time, because that's the right play for that defense in basic football theory. But now, the A.I. is more elastic, and the corner will lurk with the receiver unless you force him to sit down via another receiver, making it seem almost impossible to rely on that read by itself. So, what used to be a perfect read against a less specific A.I. is now twice as complicated, as not only do you have to read cover 2; you have to read cover 2 and force the defender to obey his true zone. You'll also notice that linebackers trail receivers deep, almost to the deep secondary, even though their assignment is a shallow zone - again, they assist deep unless you make them sit down on a shallow pattern. This is a QB read nightmare, as you now can't tell who's man, who's zone, who's shallow or deep zone, etc.

Field goals used to be a boring chore in previous Maddens. Now, they're annoyingly serious and hard (who cares about the chip shot extra point??). The last 2 or 3 installments, I actually had to pause and contemplate the risk of trying the extra point to tie a game after a touchdown to go to overtime. It's like that old arcade game where you have to stop the spinning light on the dot. Why did they dig this up as a new challenge?

Defense is also harder. You used to be able to call a heavy blitz and stop a run play, as the resolution of strategy was "run or pass guess." Now, it depends. It depends on the gap & the blocking scheme your opponent wants to run. You might send an Engage 8, but if there's a blocking mismatch in a particular gap, your opponent will run through you like a hot knife through butter. It's really frustrating, as you think, "I sent the kitchen sink; can I stop anything at this point?"

My point is that EA tries to make the game more strategically challenging by complicating it. There's more CPU power, and therefore, there's more specificity afforded for the A.I. You might be used to the old Maddens where if your opponent called a certain defense, a particular route would be an easy read. But now, the A.I. is less robotic, and the amount of knowledge about offense and defense needed to not throw 7 picks a game is quite high. It's not necessarily that the game is petty or poor in gameplay; it might just be harder.

That's the problem with games in general. They have limits and errors in code that allow for exploitation, and as competitive as everyone is that plays this game, anyone that plays ranked modes competitively will have to deal with that. All the professionals and streamers know these things ahead of time and strategize around them while incorporating them into the META. That's why I HATE MUT! It's why I quit playing MTG as well.

The incorporation of new tech into the game has been the issue because none of it is really super fine tuned yet, and they just keep adding more each year without making sure it works to its best ability. The intro of all the new tech has caused a lot of bugs and a large increase in skill gap between older and younger players, as well as those with limited vs high knowledge of the X's and O's of the game. AI has also made gameplay more difficult, which has been both necessary and frustrating all the same with each Season bringing changes that require to adjust sliders and whatnot. Overall, things are just not well tuned right now in general right now. They way they do things, it would be better if they just came out with a live service "MADDEN" where it's just one game, not a yearly purchase, and we just pay for larger upgrades/expansions so they can take as much time as they need for bigger things they plan to add while having more time to fine tune what's already in game. I'm only 37, but I've had my fair share of time playing as well, and I feel the introduction of MUT ruined everything. It took the focus off Franchise, and ruined the integrity of the entire game. It became their cash cow that they put way more effort into for way too long and now they're about to lose the exclusivity license if they don't meet expectations this year. My suggestion to everyone, is don't buy M26. Pay for a month of EA Play in August, play the trial, and if it's trash you've saved at least $60.

Im 56 I have never played online always against the computer.  Went years ago to a Madden challenge at ebgames. I played lost by a couple of scores to what I was told later was the state champion for Colorado at that time. He also told me about the 4 cheats he used. I have found playing online kids cheat or they play the game 24x7 so whats the use?

I have come to this forum looking for help if possible to update pc roster to include recently drafted players.

Hey, I am 66 and I am enjoying the game. Take it easy on the controllers my friend. Keep that blood pressure in check. Like Burnzee said, it's just a game. At our ages, we have conquered more important issues in our lifetime than this game. Actually I stick with Off-line franchise all-madden mode. It's just a release for me and I love Football. I am an Amazon GovCloud Network Engineer. It's In The Game Baby!!!!

I'm 56, been playing Madden since it's 1st incarnation too. The reason we older players lose more is the younger players are more adept to it. Which is why, when I beat one, especially if it's a mouthy one, I feel good 😆 

Seriously though, don't let just one version of a franchise get you down if it has been only this one. Sometimes maybe it's just a moment to step back and take a break from it.  We're not getting any younger my friend. At the end of the day, it is just only a game. I've know friends who have let games affect their mental health without realising only too late. You sound grounded,so don't let it get to you 👍

Oh, And I get having a stressful job, I'm a dispatcher.