The Big 3: Must Haves for M27
Now that the NFL season is over, and all this years major updates to M26 are likely done and over, I would like to simply throw this out there and list 3 bare minimum things I'm going to absolutely need to see in the Trial of M27 on EA Play if I'm going to buy next year. Here we go!
- A Finished Product: Let me emphasize by saying, there needs to be a distinct difference in what is functional and what is optimal and working as intended. There are a lot of people with a lot of different problems being experienced across multiple gaming platforms every year. I understand that there are going to be bugs and glitches that need to be worked out every year, and I accept that. So what I mean by finished product, is I need every mode to be functioning optimally. Fine tuned. Gameplay affects everyone despite their choice of gaming platform and preferred game mode, and it really needs to be a good all around experience. From USER vs USER gameplay, to USER vs CPU gameplay, and CPU vs CPU gameplay even. I need to see things working as intended in each mode from MUT, to Franchise, to Superstar. Defense this year, especially in Franchise, USER vs CPU gameplay, was absolutely terrible. Guys just literally did not react or were uber slow to react to CPU. Sliders did not help. Coaching abilities barely helped. Blocking, though better than previous years, I still ultimatley felt left something to be desired in every mode after playing for some time. Superstar Mode was just trash. I really need to see these things balanced and working properly on release, and discernible within Trial if I'm going to buy. This should probably be a bare minimum for everyone at this point, despite their choice of gaming platform.
- Older Rosters/Draft Classes: There's literally just no excuse to keep not having these included for Franchise Players who have been left consistently unhappy for a number of years now. I'll say it again, if the modding community can do it, so can EA. They were in older titles, and if need be, put them up for purchase, but seriously just get these available in the Download Center in any which way you can. It's not only great for average Franchise players, but it would make excellent content for streamers on their respective platforms as well, and I think it's just a no brainer at this point to include them. It's going be a major factor on if I choose to buy after Trial at this point, and I really hope to see this brought up this summer during a reveal; this just needs to happen.
- Reintroduction: Again, let me emphasize. In the past couple years, we've seen Player Mode and Owner Mode both get chopped from Franchise, and even the ability to do something simple like edit uniform combinations was severely hindered. So here's my point: EA literally cannot afford to regress any further at this point. Period. I need to get "reintroduced" to some things. Maybe it's just the ability do edit uniforms how I want again. Maybe it's a newer version Player or Owner mode for Franchise...maybe it's Stadium Builder within Team Buidler. I don't know what it's going to include necessarily, but it absolutely needs to be something. I shouldn't even have to be begging to get reintroduced to things that Madden titles 20 years ago had, but literally if I see any other signs of regression without the inclusion of some pretty major progess in other areas, I'm simply not buying.
So that's my Big 3 I need to see if I'm going to buy come late summer again. Everyone else please feel free to include in the comments what you feel needs to be an absolute MUST if you're going to buy again later this year. They must know at this point that a ton of people aren't happy with the product, so at best, maybe this gets passed on by staff to create a sense of urgency within the company. Either way I look forward to seeing some opinions on what needs to change for people to buy.