My first time with "FIFA 23"
30.9.2022
Translation: machine translated
I neither play sports games nor watch sports on TV. The only exception is FC Winterthur. Because they actually made it into the Super League and thus into "FIFA 23", I have no choice but to follow my club.
"Old Swede", I shout indignantly, and I don't even mean the soon to be 41-year-old Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The reason is different: "FIFA 23" is complicated. Even the selection of the game mode overwhelms me. Pro Clubs X Volta Football, Ultimate Team, Seasons, Career. All I want to do is play with my "ef toe woe", FC Winterthur. On the pitch, it gets even worse. Sharp pass, flick, pass into the run, cover the ball, lob, power shot, fake. I never realised how much simulation there is in this football simulation. What I also didn't think was possible is how much fun it is. Why didn't FC Winterthur get promoted earlier?
It's been almost 40 years since the Eulach city team - no one but TV presenters call them that - played in the top Swiss league. My time with "FIFA" is not quite that long ago. In 1994, as a twelve-year-old, I installed the legendary football game for the last time. It remained a one-time flirtation. To this day, I have little to do with sports games. In other respects, too, I prefer to do sports myself rather than watch them. The only exception is FC Winterthur, which I am at the mercy of. And because my club has succeeded against all expectations in gaining promotion, it is officially part of the latest "FIFA" spin-off. Because unlike the Challenge League, the Super League is included in the game with all ten teams.
Career man
Of course, strictly speaking, this is not the first time I have played a game of "FIFA" since childhood. Our Let's Play with "FIFA 20" already proves that. But unsuccessfully trying to straddle the goalkeeper - hasn't been possible for a while, apparently - was the ultimate. This time it's different. This time I am not alone. I have my FCW. If I can find it. Because I don't even know where to start. Ultimate Team certainly isn't, that's the mode EA is using to suck money out of everyone's pockets. Volta sounds more like multiplayer, so I'll steer clear of that for now. Seasons sounds promising. I would like to play a classic season with my club. Oops, quickly gone, the search for an online opponent starts immediately. All right, then there's only the career left.
This is the right place. Select the right country, Super League, yes, no, not FC St. Gallen, not FC Basel either. FC Winterthur, there you are. Even with a picture of coach Bruno Berner. His avatar doesn't look like him at all. He definitely hasn't had a reason to look so condescending so far. The one and a half stars out of five with which the club is rated are unfortunately more accurate. It is the worst rating in the league. I would probably have agreed with that without looking at the current table.
Next I can choose the stadium. The venerable Schützi with its cosmonaut Yuri or the Syrup Curve is unsurprisingly not available for selection. With Town Park, however, I find a stadium that looks amazingly similar to the original. I can even adjust the colours. A little white here, red seats there. Perfect, it almost feels homely.
After that, things finally get going. But not with a match, but with managing. The career mode reminds me a lot of a simplified version of "Football Manager", which I played a few years ago. Whereby playing is a bit of an exaggeration. I spent around ten hours finding and importing the right player data, pictures, match schedules and kits for FCW. When I finally had everything together, the game was too complicated for me.
The career mode of "FIFA 23" suits me better. Since, after a test game, the game rightly classified me at the second lowest difficulty level, "Amateur", it forgives many failures both as a manager and in the matches. Besides the actual matches, which I could also have simulated, there are various tasks. I can hire scouts to find new players, change the training direction of individual players to eradicate their weaknesses, promote new players in the youth academy, talk to my players' consciences when they get distracted by transfer rumours, or I adjust the schedule and decide when to train, when to rest and when to rest.
The first thing I do, however, is look at the player statistics. Unsurprisingly, there are no superstars to be found here. Striker Roman Buess has the best overall rating with 66 points out of 100. I scroll through the player list much longer than necessary and smile at the ratings, which overall reflect my picture of the team quite well. Captain and defender Granit Lekaj has just 34 points for pace, but 74 for physicality. Good at jostling, but bad at sprinting. Yes, that's probably true.
Slowly I realise what the fascination of "FIFA" is and why players spend money on it every year. Even I, who otherwise has nothing to do with football, look forward like a child to seeing my stars in the game. With the right logo, the right names, the right jerseys and even somewhat recognisable avatars. Of course, no one from EA came by FC Winterthur with the Photobooth to create a detailed likeness like that of cover star Kylian Mbappé. Here, an avatar was simply generated automatically based on the profile picture. Still, it's more than I expected.
The season begins
Now, though, it's time to play some football. But wait. The schedule dictates a few training sessions first. As a complete beginner, maybe not a bad idea. The trainings include shooting drills, intercepting passes, defending or ball handling courses. They are surprisingly entertaining and definitely help me learn the many facets of control. At first, I'm just struggling to hit the goal. I can repeat each exercise up to three times to get the highest possible score. This determines how much the players improve in their skills. Ideally, I achieve the top grade A everywhere, then I can have the training simulated in the future and the same grade is automatically achieved. But I still have to work on my hit rate first.
That will have to be enough for the first Super League game. The opponent is GC. I'm a bit disappointed that the match schedule doesn't match the real one, otherwise FCB would be on the pitch. Never mind, I still have a bone to pick with the Grasshoppers - as I do with pretty much every opponent in the league who has dared to exploit FCW's countless mistakes.
Here we go. I do what I feel all teams do after the kick-off: I play a high, wide pass forward. Unfortunately, my shot is neither high nor wide and lands right in the opponent's feet. I definitely don't have a handle on the controls yet. Each button can also be combined with an estimated three others to shoot higher, lower, sharper or anything else. On the amateur difficulty level, GC fortunately remains pretty harmless. I win almost every duel by running head-on at the opponent and pressing the duel button - just press it, even that would have three more variations. After that, it doesn't even take much combination play. I just let Buess run on, press the shoot button briefly and bang - the ball is in. Goal for FCW. Cool, I'm almost as happy as I am at a real game. What's wrong with me? Am I really going to become a "FIFA" fan? What will my friends think of me?
The game continues at the same pace. In the end it's 8-0. Winti did score a 6-0 against GC two years ago, but this one is a bit over the top. I think I can dare to turn the difficulty level up a notch.
This is really technical
The next opponents are Young Boys from Bern. The match is clearly more intense. Probably because of the higher level of difficulty, but also because YB is the strongest team in the league. They combine through my defence as if I weren't even there. Most of the time I'm not. I switch frantically between my players, but I'm usually too late to get to the right one. Itten walks unhindered into the penalty area and shoots. Only a huge save by goalkeeper Pukaj saves me from falling behind early. Ok, more tactics are called for here.
From now on, I try to take YB by surprise with more targeted passes. Ramizi gets a steep ball to the right from Roberto Alves. Yes, I bought him back from Poland at the first opportunity with a completely irresponsible transfer fee. It seems to be paying off. With Ramizi, I cross to the centre with pinpoint accuracy. There I push forward with Buess, hammer the shooting button and head the ball clumsily but nevertheless safely behind the goal line. Phoo! I notice how I hold the controller really tense. The game has taken hold of me. I don't know how long it's healthy for my psyche to rejoice from fictitious FCW victories when reality looks pretty bleak. But after this game, my club is in first place in the Super League. Glorious.
What strikes me in the further games is how delicate "FIFA" can be. Blindly rushing in and hoping that kicking the ball once firmly is enough hardly leads to success, even at amateur level. Through the training sessions, I'm getting to know the controls better and better, and slowly I'm making some really impressive moves. I also manage to anticipate the opponent's play more and more often and intercept balls without resorting to a blood grab. By the way, the animations look amazingly realistic. For example, when I take a shot with striker Kamberi and the opposing defenders cross their arms behind their backs so as not to risk a hands penalty. Or when two players fight each other in a sprint duel and push and shove to get to the ball first. Sure, occasionally the movements are a bit choppy, but on the whole the simulation is impressive.
Maybe I'll play it again next year
I really didn't think it was possible, but I really enjoy "FIFA 23". The fact that the actual gameplay on the pitch is so versatile and varied is the icing on the cake. Even as a complete beginner, I quickly found my way into the game despite initial difficulties and quickly achieved success. Admittedly, only in career mode, where I can play with my team in a protected environment. Still, that's more than with any other "FIFA".
Only now do I really understand how important the licences are for "FIFA". Without FC Winterthur, including correct player names, crest and line-up, I would never have tried the game. Being able to play with my "own" club is a lot more fun than putting together an ultimate team from some overpaid world stars in the much too popular FUT mode. What kind of team should I put together? With FCW, I already have my Ultimate Team. In career mode, I then also consistently turned down every transfer request. This is my team. It may not be perfect. But perfect for me.
And there lies the crux with me. If I don't play with FC Winterthur, my joy of playing fizzles out. The other modes like Volta or Seasons don't excite me either. In Volta, the responsibility is spread over several shoulders. I don't have to bear defeat alone - even though I make a decisive contribution to it. But the worst is Seasons. I can play with my club. But against real people, I get a worse run-in than FCW currently gets in the Super League. It's bad enough to have to suffer there. I don't need that playing "FIFA" as well. No, thanks. I'll stick to the career mode. There, I can play at my pace and celebrate regular successes.
If you also belong to the strange group who never play "FIFA" but faithfully follow a club that is now suddenly included in the game, then you should give "FIFA 23" a chance. Just stay away from online games. There's only misery waiting for you.
"FIFA 23" is available for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, Switch and PC. I tested the PC version, which EA provided me.
Philipp Rüegg
Senior Editor
Philipp.Rueegg@digitecgalaxus.chBeing the game and gadget geek that I am, working at digitec and Galaxus makes me feel like a kid in a candy shop – but it does take its toll on my wallet. I enjoy tinkering with my PC in Tim Taylor fashion and talking about games on my podcast http://www.onemorelevel.ch. To satisfy my need for speed, I get on my full suspension mountain bike and set out to find some nice trails. My thirst for culture is quenched by deep conversations over a couple of cold ones at the mostly frustrating games of FC Winterthur.
