Recent reviews by Tap.Water

I was going to leave a mostly negative review of the game, with praise towards the modeling and design aspects of the game that kept me coming back despite the clunky and painful campaign mode with game design choices that were confusing or even contradictory. Then I noticed I was not playing Automation on the beta patch version--and let me tell you, the Al Rilma version of the game has solved, addressed, or at least nullified any issue I might have with the game. There are some bugs, for sure, but the core gameplay loop in the Al Rilma Beta is so much better than the base game's offering to an exponential degree. It's a simple thing, really, but I think the change I enjoyed most is the change from what I would call a "paradox grand strategy" pause-play time progression mechanic towards a "Football Manager Continue" button time progression mechanic. It makes the campaign feel smooth, and makes a lot more sense given the rather detail-dense gameplay that was discordant with the pause-play option.

Very fine base concept but really just shows how successful a more detailed Football Manager-like League of Legends management game could be. Lots of great things being shown--and though it's missing a couple core concepts that I'd like to see in this kind of game and the underlying logic behind systems like the patches or player morale seems to be more RNG than I'd like--it does show a development team that's got a ton of great ideas and desire to see them through.

Worth waiting in server queues for

A pretty good deck building game, though the AI isn't particularly intelligent or competitive.

The English translation isn't awful, but it's not good either. It needs a lot more polish.

AI-generated athlete portraits are their own issue entirely. The assortment they've curated isn't really that bad, but it still comes with all the implication that AI art comes with.

Finally, while it's not the developers' fault, this game fails to capture what I was really looking for. In doing so, it makes me realize just how much I want a much deeper and more simulation-focused Football Manager-like game with League of Legends as its subject. It's a good enough deck builder that I'll probably play the full release, but I will continue to wallow in my lack of League Manager.

This is pretty much everything I've ever wanted from a Contemporary/Pseudo-Sci-Fi Grand Strategy game for a very long time. The only thing I'll say against it is that the resource management and protection of your control points (and councilors, by extension), has so far been very difficult to keep perfect attention on, and fairly sudden or frustrating losses have plagued my first campaign. However, the game seems incredibly extensive, and even in its current state is something I'm certain to play enough to at least experience the late game with every different faction. I'm in love with it already, and as if that wasn't enough, I'm sure there will be improvements down the line as development occurs. I cannot wait to see how far this game goes!!

Best match engine to date, worth updating from FM21 for.

UI needs some fixing, but the match engine this year is AMAZING. The mods and further designs have been great, if you're wanting to buy FM21 I suggest it.

This is a very enjoyable FPS with an entirely unique gimmick and comfortable gun play. It needs a fair bit of polish, but it's alright.

PES is objectively better than FIFA, but that's not a high bar to clear and it's no excuse for how awful this game can be. If there was a "neutral" recommendation, that would be where I'd rate PES.

When PES works, it's amazing. I'm going to keep playing this for a long time even though it can be extremely infuriating. The worst thing is that PES is inconsistent: sometimes it is the best game ever made. It feels real, it looks real, the controls are natural, and even if you lose it feels amazing--it feels like you're actually playing or watching a football match.

Then, for some inexplicable reason, the very next match it will feel like the game is fighting against you, the players will look like clay dolls, and it feels like Konami WANT PES to be a bad game. The scripting becomes unbearable, the players stop doing what you tell them to, and the controls decline horribly. Even at max stamina, your players will move like they are running at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, shoot like they have tripped on the ball, and pass like they are playing for the other team. Your defenders will stop marking, and the referee will give away free kicks for so much as looking at the ball.

I want to love this game, because the beta was amazing, the gameplay can be perfect, and it can make you feel like Messi, or Ronaldo, or whoever it is you want to feel like, but it only does it in spells. Consistency is the killer of what could be among the best sports games ever made. At the very least it's not consistently bad, I suppose.

I much prefer myClub over FUT, though that's more of a personal preference. The scout system is somewhat clever, and makes me fell good when I find a diamond in the rough (V. Fernandez is extremely underappreciated). Yet the actual matches fall into the same issues I've mentioned above, mixed with a small playerbase. Even if I do connect to another player, (it doesn't happen often,) they're usually so far away that the lag becomes worse than the scripting, until one of us ends up disconnecting.

There are massive issues that probably won't ever get fixed, but if someone has a gun to your head, telling you that you HAVE to buy a football game of this kind, I have to recommend it over FIFA. If you're asking me, do yourself a favor and buy Football Manager instead. RimWorld's also not a bad option, though it's quite obviously not in the genre of football.

Played during the open beta, and I have to say that it's a very addictive, very good game. I think it's got a lot of potential, it just needs some polish, and probably a few extra features.