3 issues I really like and hate about ‘School Soccer 26’

EA Sports activities’ sophomore return to the school gridiron is right here, and after every week with School Soccer 26, the decision is evident: it is wonderful. Not nice. Not horrible. Simply… wonderful. A wonderfully okay follow-up to final 12 months’s triumphant but turbulent reboot.

When CFB 25 dropped, the fanfare was large. After a decade-long hiatus and a authorized gauntlet, the franchise got here roaring again, solely to right away journey over its personal cleats. Lacking options, buggy simulations, anemic commentary, and undercooked sport modes rapidly cooled the hype.

I used to be one of many many caught within the hype. I reviewed CFB 25 final 12 months and confidently claimed it was “better than Madden.” And hey, I stand by that — however let’s not faux that’s a excessive bar to clear. Highway to Glory mode felt like a placeholder, and Dynasty lacked even fundamental quality-of-life instruments. Sim stats broke immersion. Chris Fowler’s voiceover — regardless of his public pleasure — sounded prefer it was phoned in from a bunker. The hype of a franchise revival couldn’t masks the cracks in its basis.

School Soccer 26 is a greater sport than its predecessor, nevertheless it’s additionally nonetheless deeply flawed. The core expertise has potential, and the enjoyable is actual, however EA continues to deal with the franchise like an annual obligation reasonably than a flagship alternative.

With that in thoughts, listed below are three issues I really like — and three issues I can’t stand — about CFB 26.

Love: Highschool in RTG is again

A protracted-requested function from NCAA Soccer 14 lastly makes its return in School Soccer 26: highschool soccer in Highway to Glory. The idea stays simple — gamers start their profession beneath the Friday night time lights, the place their efficiency earns them recruiting stars and scholarship provides. Rack up sufficient stars, and top-tier applications will come calling, with a beginning job probably ready. Fall quick, and you may nonetheless stroll on at your dream college — however you may must grind your manner up the depth chart by means of practices and place battles.

It’s a strong basis, and seeing highschool return to the mode is genuinely thrilling. However even this addition comes with a catch.

Hate: Highschool RTG is half-baked

For all of the reward I simply gave about highschool lastly making its manner again into Highway to Glory, what we really bought is an enormous downgrade in comparison with what we used to have.

In earlier entries — particularly NCAA Soccer 12 — gamers may play by means of a full highschool season earlier than committing to a school. It began small in NCAA 08 with simply the state championship playoffs, however rapidly advanced into one thing rather more immersive. Now, in CFB 26, it has been diminished to only 4 video games—and never even full ones. You’re solely taking part in remoted “highlight moments.”

Earlier than every sport, you decide from a handful of pre-set eventualities — issues like a “2-Minute Drill” or “Red Zone Threat” — with particular targets tied to them. Succeed, and also you earn factors towards your recruiting star ranking. Fail, and your inventory drops. As you acquire curiosity from faculties, some eventualities turn into school-specific, supplying you with further probabilities to impress a program with a spotlight tailored for his or her scouts.

It’s an honest idea in idea, however in execution, it’s clunky and needlessly restrictive. A few of the targets are outright damaged—like a “scramble for 50+ yards” problem that doesn’t register should you additionally rating a landing on the play.

This stripped-down, gamified model of highschool feels arbitrary and disconnected. No one requested for this chopped-up method. Gamers simply wished the complete highschool season again. What we bought as a substitute looks like a rushed compromise.

Mashable Prime Tales

Love: Historic knowledge/Trophy Room

Certainly one of my nerdiest gaming obsessions is the Soccer Supervisor sequence. I’ve sunk 1000’s of hours into its glorified spreadsheets, poring over knowledge, charts, and graphs as I information some no-name Scottish membership to Champions League glory. There’s one thing deeply satisfying about monitoring each milestone, each stat, each tiny piece of historical past your workforce creates.

That’s precisely what was lacking from CFB 25. For on a regular basis I spent in Highway to Glory or Dynasty, there was no solution to look again on the legacy I used to be constructing. No archive of previous champions, no report of bowl sport winners, no hall-of-fame second to revisit the legendary 2027 Nationwide Championship between Clemson and North Texas. I couldn’t even mournfully revisit the Independence Bowl trophy I fought tooth and nail to win.

Fortunately, CFB 26 fixes this. EA introduced again historic data and made some extent to spotlight it—and for good purpose. Immersion has at all times been one of many defining strengths of this sequence, and options like these matter. These little particulars aren’t simply fluff; they’re how gamers join with the tales they create.

Hate: RTG’s operating again AI nonetheless sucks

This is likely to be a distinct segment gripe, nevertheless it drove me loopy in CFB 25 and it’s nonetheless an issue in CFB 26: the pathfinding logic for AI operating backs in Highway to Glory is genuinely migraine-inducing.

Take a easy inside handoff out of a pistol formation. The offensive line opens up a clear hole up the center—however as a substitute of hitting the outlet, the operating again bounces the play huge, drifting towards the sideline like he’s allergic to constructive yardage. It’s not a scores subject, both. This occurs whether or not you’re taking part in for a bottom-tier college or a Energy 4 powerhouse.

It’s a constant, irritating quirk that turns fundamental operating performs into unpredictable messes, and after two straight years of it, it is sporting skinny.

Love: Dynamic subs

A number of this quasi-review has centered on the options round CFB 26 reasonably than the gameplay itself — and that’s largely as a result of the gameplay remains to be rock strong, identical to it was final 12 months. EA has lastly nailed down a basis that’s genuinely enjoyable, so the year-to-year enhancements are going to be marginal at greatest. When the muse is powerful, you don’t must tear the entire thing down simply to make progress. (That mentioned, I’ll most likely by no means personal a home on my wage, so what do I find out about foundations anyway?)

I name this a “quasi-review” as a result of most of what I mentioned about CFB 25 nonetheless applies right here. Doing a full, conventional overview once more would really feel redundant. That mentioned, one gameplay function did stand out sufficient to enhance the expertise meaningfully: dynamic subs.

Substitutions have at all times been a clunky afterthought in sports activities video games — both buried in menus or too gradual to matter mid-drive. However CFB 26 streamlines it utterly. With a fast press of the D-pad, you possibly can immediately view who’s on the sector, cycle gamers out and in by tapping left or proper, and your adjustments stick while not having to dig again into the depth chart. It’s fast, it’s intuitive, and most significantly, it’s deliberate — your choices now matter within the second.

It goes a step additional with tailor-made sub-filters, letting you handle your complete protection or offense in logical teams. Wish to swap simply your linebackers or talent gamers? Straightforward. Wish to reset all the things again to your starters after giving backups some reps? One button press (Sq. on PlayStation, X on Xbox) and also you’re good. It’s small on paper however makes in-game technique smoother and extra responsive, particularly in Dynasty or Highway to Glory when fatigue and matchup administration really matter.

Dynamic subs don’t reinvent the wheel — however they don’t must. They lastly make roster administration really feel like a part of the on-field motion as a substitute of a separate chore, and that’s an enormous win for gameplay movement.

Hate: Final Group

The inclusion of Final Group in any sports activities sport is already a blight—however what actually grinds me down in CFB 26 is its creep into the coaching mode.

One of many largest hurdles in trendy sports activities video games is how advanced they’ve turn into. Ten years in the past, passing was simple. Now there’s “placement + accuracy” mechanics, or bizarre finger-twister combos like holding L1 whereas flicking the fitting persist with correctly execute a excessive lob fade. I’m solely 26, however generally it actually does really feel like I’m yelling at clouds. Sports activities video games was once accessible. Now they demand some understanding of programs layered on prime of programs.

Which might be wonderful — if studying these programs didn’t funnel you into EA’s glorified slot machine. If you wish to learn to cross, learn protection, or execute an RPO correctly, you’re doing it inside Final Group beneath the mode’s Challenges part. That’s the one place the place the tutorials and talent challenges stay. So should you’re a father or mother with a full-time job and barely an hour of free time to be taught a sport like this, you are pressured to do it inside a digital on line casino full of microtransactions, pretend foreign money, and card packs.

There may be nothing redeemable about Final Group. Not right here, not in Madden, not in FIFA, not wherever. It’s a hole, predatory mode — and the truth that CFB 26 ties its fundamental coaching instruments to it’s a good instance of how cynical trendy sports activities gaming could be.

And if I’m doing a love/hate record for CFB 27 subsequent 12 months? Spoiler alert: this part’s coming again.

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Video Video games