Thanks for the review. I've bought FIFA every year running since I think 2014 but am still pretty entertained with the '20 version so haven't made the plunge yet. I also confess to never having played FUT as I heard it was mainly a money grab where the best teams were made by people who used real money to buy FUT packs or whatever they're called. No thanks if that's the case. I spend my time entirely in online seasons but maybe I'll give FUT a chance this year depending on how much influence real money has on the game. I had never really gotten into a bunch of other modes on NHL either but really liked World of Chel this year.
EA's ability to make terrible soundtracks is beyond reproach. They are the GOAT at awful music and that premise was reinforced after I bought Tony Hawk and remembered how many fire jams are on that soundtrack. Not sure there's ever been a better video game / song fit than Goldfinger - Superman and Tony Hawk.
The best soundtrack for any sports game ever:
Madden NFL 10
Whoever got away with THAT was clearly new and probably fired soon afterward.
Raik is the FUT expert here so he can give the best advice for online play. I only play offline so I don't run into the pay-to-play problem, but I've heard there are people who show up on day 1 with fully formed megateams they've purchased. I understand there are other tiers/modes that try to mitigate this.
For me it's about doing the challenges and building a team, sort of like an adventure game where you increase levels, build your party, etc., then beating better squads. There are weekly pack/coin rewards depending on how you do in your offline Squad Battles, and you can solve squad building challenges for further rewards (special augmented players, coins, packs). Sometimes I'll just spend time f***ing around with the roster or transfer market or squad building puzzles instead of playing a match.
To get the most points/coins as you go through Squad Battles I've found it's better to beat the shit out of a bad team than take the difficulty multiplier and barely win 1-0 against a tougher team. But you can really cash in if you can up the difficulty just enough and still win 5-1 or whatever. Look for shit teams with bad chemistry and not too many hidden stars on the bench, especially if they have players out of position (like a RM playing GK....those teams are ripe for jacking up the difficulty). Get a big lead early on teams with good players waiting to sub in, especially at a high difficulty because they can blow you up at that level.
FUT is very dependent on chemistry, as that greatly impacts your player's stats, so be aware of that. Pace is king but this year supposedly all sorts of stats factor much more into player performance.
Navigating the interface is daunting at first but after a while you get used to it. Finding where everything is and knowing what to do next is the big first hurdle.