Madden 22 or 21?

[PhillyPhanatic14]

Quote: Originally Posted by RUKnights

Piggybacking on the original question, I too have still been playing franchise seasons on M20 (ps4). I saw where 22 is on sale for $19.79 this week. I’m between sticking with 20 or taking the jump at that price. Any thoughts? Alternatively, if you wouldn’t jump to 22 based on its shortcomings, would you bother jumping from 20 to 21, or at this point just wait and see what 23 brings us? Thanks in advance!

I'm a broken record with this, but EA Play is $5 for one month and if you cancel within 30 days you can opt to get your money back. In other words, you can try M21 and M22 for 29 days for free to see if it's worth buying. And if you choose to buy digitally you can get a 10% discount if you grab it before cancelling EA Play. Best way to make a decision about a game is to try it yourself.



Also for anyone still looking Series X & PS5 consoles in stock more often lately and next gen madden is a huge step forward.

[tyberious4now]

Quote: Originally Posted by PhillyPhanatic14

I'm a broken record with this, but EA Play is $5 for one month and if you cancel within 30 days you can opt to get your money back. In other words, you can try M21 and M22 for 29 days for free to see if it's worth buying. And if you choose to buy digitally you can get a 10% discount if you grab it before cancelling EA Play. Best way to make a decision about a game is to try it yourself. Also for anyone still looking Series X & PS5 consoles in stock more often lately and next gen madden is a huge step forward.

I hear what you are saying about the consoles, but truth be told I haven't been Wowed by either system and I have both! If you can wait then wait! The systems are nice in all but you're not missing much!

I'm still waiting on a serious Next Gen game with the total package and no excuses.

[RogueHominid]

Several games into 21 on AM defaults, I'm seeing some clear differences from 22 that folks on the fence might find interesting.

First, the outcomes on 21 seem more clearly related to ratings, play calls, and execution. The extra mechanics added to 22 (training, momentum, HFA) were IMO very poorly designed, and they wound up skewing outcomes in ways that did not seem fair or well-balanced to me. I'm 0-3 w/ MIA but feel each game has respected the matchups and played out in a reasonable way.

Second, the small stats are better on 21, which makes the game on the whole much more enjoyable for me. I'm getting scarily realistic CMP%, YPA, and TFL stats for myself and the CPU. 22 to me felt like there was way too much offense globally, whereas 21 seems more capable of delivering outcomes that are varied and appropriate to the specific talent level of the teams at play.

Third, the animations are better, especially in the areas of OL/DL (pocket times are better), WR/DB (2-man catches are MUCH better on 21, and there's FAR less warping by DBs), and tackling (size and heft seem to factor in more).

Lastly, there's the extra benefit that 21 is not being modified anymore, which makes it much more stable to play.

[jfsolo]

I pretty much disagree with everyone here in thinking that the gameplay for M22 is better than M21 by a very wide margin. For me in terms of User vs CPU gameplay I don't feel as if M21 is better in literally any aspect.

[IlluminatusUIUC]

I can't speak to the CPU or franchise modes, but aside from Campus Legends I found next gen '21 superior to '22 in head to head in almost every way. Obviously if you're an online gamer 22 is going to have a better online population though.

[khaliib]

Console: Next-Gen

For me I never really gave M21 an opportunity when it came out last year, thus I didn't play it much.

After spending weeks trying to edit ratings to improve M22 game play, even playing OOTB version, on a whim I popped in the M21 disk over the weekend and the gameplay between the two versions is night/day to me.


For Context:
1) Pass Catching
- Just the aggressive WR attempts dealing with the two-man interactions in M21 is huge to me as it's none existent in M22.
- M22 for whatever the reason, reverted Pass catchers back to watching DB's
- The over-the-shoulder catches with the DB trailing in their hip-pocket are beautiful to see.
***In M22, the under-the-hood 3.5yrd Jump_To_Int triggers often when the DB is in a trail

b) the sideline catch animations triggering in M21 are insane vs M22
- to see an AI WR running a streak up the hash, track a poorly thrown deep ball towards the sideline, run and attempt an dive catch attempt was weird to see happen in a Madden game.


2) There's definitely less ball/route tethering in M21, esp as it relates to Accuracy ratings.

3) Tackle Avoidance is more tangible in M21 vs M22, esp AI Ball Carriers
- I've never seen in M22 that auto "slight" side-step Break Tackle animation trigger just from L-Stick movement

4) Line Play is better in M21 TBH
- there's more "Pocket Push", esp from interior DL

5) M21 AI Screen game is no joke
- in M22 OL engages DL then goes to screen blocking
- in M21 OL rides the DL like he's getting beat, then peels into screen blocking, making it hard to tell
- AI QB doesn't just drop backwards, but makes an effort to create an open pass lane to the RB
- seen some nice off-target throws, even at the RB 's feet

Not trying to oversell M21 but in contrasting with the gameplay of M22, I'm confused how it seems like in M22 there's a regression/walk-back in multiple areas to me.

***Maybe the Threshold editing I've done is why this things are occurring, IDK but still loving the experience.

[jakeywakey911]

@khaliib

What sliders do you happen to be using?

And, I’ll piggyback off your entire comment and say I 100% agree. Having played all three (20, 21, and 22) with 21 and 22 being next-gen versions, 21 is a far better game of football than 22. For whatever reason, and there’s a whole thread that’s discussed this, EA decided to tone back the player motion and player weight for 22 later in the year. Also, tackling animations and momentum seem to be wonky in 22 now. I hardly see 2-4 man tackling animations anymore. Whereas, in 21, I see them all the time. Y’all are welcome to go read the whole thread where Armor and many other users began verifying that something was way off with 22. Ultimately the player motion and the weight and momentum were drastically changed and not for the better. Plus, 22 ruined all the new features they implemented. They’re all basically broken lol

Get 21. It’s worth it and much more momentum and player motion based.

[RogueHominid]

I'm playing on default AM and am getting great games, FWIW.