[reverend_heat]

Played 2 games last night, Super Bowl rematch you are allowed to play once the game installs to a certain point.

My main gripe with Madden for untold years is how there is never dynamic outcomes, I had multiple in the 2 games I played. Stafford threw a long pass to the corner of the endzone, WR high pointed it, I was late w my DB but managed to hit him in the waist in the air and pushed him out of bounds and he only got one foot in, have never seen a similar play in any Madden game before.

Another example was Tee Higgins caught a pass over the middle/right hash area of the 50 yard line, multiple defenders started a gang tackle but he broke out of it organically and housed it. Again, the way that play happened isn’t possible in any Madden ever released.

DB, WR, ball interact points are completely separated and not garbled into some pre determined 3 way animation. If you user control a DB and misplay the ball the WR will catch it and leave you in the dust. I had a close replay of a contested catch, as the ball got to the TE’s hands it didn’t do that strange warp from years past where the ball turns at the last second to fit the receivers hands, instead it tipped off his pinky, then rotated again as Ramsey got a finger on it and it fluttered to the ground. Hard to explain, but again it’s never been in Madden before.

I personally love the limited amount of time to throw, haven’t been that aware of a CPU defender in forever, Aaron Donald was in my face constantly, I was actually trying to keep my eye on him immediately after the snap because he kept beating double teams. When is the last time you felt organic consistent pressure from one area of the Dline in Madden?

Blitzing a middle LB feels great, if the Oline is engaged in blocks and you see a big gap to the QB you can shoot it and not get sucked into a blocking animation, that really stood out to me.

My biggest takeaway is that there are dynamic outcomes while interacting at the catch point, suction animation triggers are almost completely removed, and usering on D in and around the trenches feels really good.

People who wanted smaller shoulder pads will be happy, a lot of players look like they aren’t even wearing any.

I played 1 partial game after the game fully installed w GB. It seemed like the Packers and Vikings front jersey numbers were super tiny, no idea why but hopefully that is just a beta hiccup that hasn’t been fixed.

Super early but very promising feel to the game,
my biggest worry is of course people will complain about the difficulty and EA will cater to that and ruin the dynamic gameplay. Have to play a ton more but I am definitely liking it so far.