As far as AFL video games come, It's definitely not the worst out there. The new patch is exactly what it needed (although delay the game an extra few weeks and release the game like that) but it means they're listening to the community and what features they want added.
However there are still a few complaints I have about the game:
Firstly, the players need to have some type of skill variability. I understand that there is a difficulty system, but I mean not every player plays there best every week. Easiest example is Patrick Cripps, in the top tier for players in the league, but it doesn't mean he has weeks where he doesn't have 25 touches, 5 clearances, a few tackles and a goal. One week he'll have 40, 8, 6 tackles and a goal, next week he'll have 22, 4, 7 and kicked 0.2. That's just how footy is. PGA 2k23, and I assume 25, both have features where the golfers score differently from round to round, and i think there should be that in this game, so upsets are can be more likely, instead of having every player rated in the 80's to try and make the competition more even.
Following on from this, why are the second tier teams rated higher than their AFL affiliates. When you go to start a manager career mode, some teams are rated an 82-84, whilst their second team is rated 84-85. Why wouldn't I just play the entire second team if it's so much better? It doesn't make sense and I get the feeling the developers have done this so players and teams don't take offence to ratings. My example for this is FIFA/FUT, the teams and players that play in the bigger leagues like Europe, are all rated around 80-99, compared the players in smaller leagues like the A-League, who are all 50-65 rated. This is the difference needed not just between the AFL and state leagues, but also some of the AFL players too. Currently Miles Bergman, who is probably one of Port Adelaide's best defenders, is rated an 80 OVR, I'm not saying he's the best ever but Port's second year player Logan Evans, is rated just 2 lower at a 78. Other names to also be rated 80 OVR, Brayden Maynard, Isaac Quaynor, Mitch McGovern, Bodhi Uwland, Lachie Bramble, and Ryan Burton. Now for all of those players to an 80, some of these players are absolute game changers for clubs, vital pieces to systems, to be 2 higher than a 19 year old, who did have a good end to last season, but isn't near that calibre of payer yet, is shocking. Also the fact Lawson Humphries is a 76, I go for Port Adelaide, I love my club even though we're terrible, but besides Lawson Humphries is definitely better than Logan Evans, and the skill gap between Evans and Humphries (if we're to say Evans is better) Is not the same gap between Evans and the list I mentioned at 80 OVR.
Thirdly, something needs to be done about how tackles in general. I just played a game in my player career mode, I kicked 8.3, the rest of my team combined for 8.3, and we scored a solid 102 points from 22 scoring shots. The Bulldogs, kicked 24 goals, and 0 behinds, to win by 38 points. Now I do play on the Hardest difficulty, and I don't take that for granted, but for the opposition half way to the ground, then when they kick it the ball is spinning the wrong way for where it's bending and goes straight through the middle of the goal, it gets quite frustrating. Also, the fact players tend to teleport/jump forward to tackle only the controlled character is also quite frustrating, as it means you'll get done for incorrect disposal a lot if you don't immediately hand pass it. It also feels as though the Ai get lost if the ball isn't in someones hands and they weren't the intended target. I don't know what other players think, but it seems as if some players just stand there or run in the same direction they were until there's an opponents hands on the footy. The amount of times at stoppage Bailey Smith (79 OVR!!!) stood there after the ruck tap as it went right past him, to lose his player immediately, and have the ball end up in that free players hand after a few hand passes for it to turn into a goal was downright stupid.
Finally, I haven't seen this be mentioned anywhere, but when the player gets taken to the interchange bench, and the game has to sim, it completely over calculates the stats. I had a game where I maybe would've had 35 touched and 6 Goals, which turned into 114 touches and 6 goals after i got taken to the bench a few times. My player got injured early in the season, he was taken off for 3 quarters of the game, my player ended up with 650+ disposals, and that wasn't even best on ground. Some players were looking at 700+ nearly 800. It's the smaller things like this that don't make the game as fun, at least not for me. The beauty of having a belter in knowing I had those 35 touches and 6 goals, when I look at the end of the game, and I have 114 disposals, I don't feel anything. If anything i feel disappointed due to the fact I cant actually figure out what my stats were, and it feels less fun. If i stink it up I want to know i played stinky, not see i had 50 touches even though I couldn't get near it and kept getting taken off.
Again however, like I said in the beginning, it's still a good start, way better than AFL 23, and is at least already at the level of that game, it's also AFL, it's one of the most chatoic sports ever invented, and has about 1000 moving parts more than you'd imagine at any given moment. But please developers, fix the tackling, don't let me have outrageous stat lines, and screw the players, let them have good and bad games, because I don't want to see the same 2 players running it out of the midfield 20 times in a row, whilst i start at FF and can do absolutely nothing to stop the Dogs kicking 24 straight.
izigame.me
It may take some time when the page for viewing is loaded for the first time...