[FaceMask]

The BAD

You know how when you watch a sitcom and something goes really bad, the audience does a collective "Awwwwwwwww"? That's what popped into my head looking at those post-play cameras. What a letdown. Guys are doing all these celebrations and the cameras are way out. What? They bring in Brian Murray and still can't get it right? APF still remains the standard in this regard, and they never hired a single NFL Films expert to do it. That tells us a lot right there.

Coaches are shown WAAAAAAY too much. That needs to be cut by about 75% at least. The focus and the majority of the tight shots should be on the players, not the coaches.

Timeouts still prevent replays, as well as starting lineup sequences, etc.

Guys raising their hands after routine big plays (not TD's) looks goofy.

Ballcarrier and general running animations look funny. It looks stiff and high. It works for some players, but most of them look weird.

Commentary is still generic. Too much "he takes the handoff", "he runs right", "The offense lines up". That stuff is just laughable at this point. You can't excuse that anymore.

Seeing way too many cut scenes from Madden 13 and 25. That's just sickening. None of that should be in this game now.

The ability of players to change direction on a dime looks PS1 era, smh. Inexcusable. We know Momentum needed to be toned a bit due to players taking too many steps to cut in M25, but this is going way too far.

The pocket is still highly questionable.


The GOOD

Tackling has been tuned. I'm seeing some different (better) tackles in situations where the hair-pulling ones would've happened before. Not perfect, not great, but definitely better than before enough to be acceptable. Now the question is, how will it hold up after playing a number of games? That will be the true test.

The RTP collisions look smoother and better organized, especially during piles.

The graphics are great.

Pre-play cameras are very nice.

Replays are nice.

Not gonna lie, the halftime show SOUNDED great. The energy was right and vocal clips meshed very well. I'm impressed. HOWEVER, the number of generic lines is frustrating. They did fit a few names in there, but it was surrounded by generic lines like "he (insert action)!". That's gotta die across all commentary in Madden.
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Many of the problems in this game are a matter of artistic license, and an issue with closing small quality gaps across the game. The question is, does Tiburon recognize these gaps, and do they understand how having so many is keeping this game from evolving to the next level? Well, when they're saying in the video that guys raising their hands like they scored a TD on a routine first down is "cool", you have to question if they do.