This is the worst launch of FM to date. I’ll start with the good first. The UI and match engine look incredibly slick compared to previous iterations. The in- and out-of-possession tactics are a great addition to the game, as that’s how real coaches set up their tactics. it’s a very useful improvement.

However, after 100 hours in, I noticed that more than half the goals come from wingers or wing-backs running down the sideline, cutting back to the middle, then tapping in. I also noticed that attacks from both sides are relatively hard to defend.

Now, for the bad. Essentially, FM is a spreadsheet simulator; unfortunately, they removed or broke multiple quality-of-life features. For example: the continue-game timeout doesn’t work when set to instant; the removal of the development list makes it more tedious to send young players on loan; the ability to reload skins is gone, meaning you must restart the game whenever you add graphics; you can’t adjust player prices and wages by scrolling; you can’t skip match previews; you can’t go outside during a match; the window size is fixed and can’t be scaled manually; relevant stats are missing from the penalty-taker selection screen; and importing staff search filters is gone. These are just what I can think of off the top of my head.

Moreover, there are multiple bugs: attribute colors display incorrectly, scaling issues, injured players not shown, the game freezes when clicking highlights on social media, freezes on second-half kick-off, and tactical changes don’t save during halftime.

In conclusion, this game feels like a hollow fragment of the soul of previous iterations—buggy and broken.

This is the worst launch of FM to date. I’ll start with the good first. The UI and match engine look incredibly slick compared to previous iterations. The in- and out-of-possession tactics are a great addition to the game, as that’s how real coaches set up their tactics. it’s a very useful improvement. However, after 100 hours in, I noticed that more than half the goals come from wingers or wing-backs running down the sideline, cutting back to the middle, then tapping in. I also noticed that attacks from both sides are relatively hard to defend. Now, for the bad. Essentially, FM is a spreadsheet simulator; unfortunately, they removed or broke multiple quality-of-life features. For example: the continue-game timeout doesn’t work when set to instant; the removal of the development list makes it more tedious to send young players on loan; the ability to reload skins is gone, meaning you must restart the game whenever you add graphics; you can’t adjust player prices and wages by scrolling; you can’t skip match previews; you can’t go outside during a match; the window size is fixed and can’t be scaled manually; relevant stats are missing from the penalty-taker selection screen; and importing staff search filters is gone. These are just what I can think of off the top of my head. Moreover, there are multiple bugs: attribute colors display incorrectly, scaling issues, injured players not shown, the game freezes when clicking highlights on social media, freezes on second-half kick-off, and tactical changes don’t save during halftime. In conclusion, this game feels like a hollow fragment of the soul of previous iterations—buggy and broken.