u/No_Confection_1387

I've been playing the Career Mode beta and wanted to give some feedback on what I've experienced so far. I'm currently doing a Portsmouth career and, overall, I'm really impressed with the direction they've taken.

Transfers and scouting

The new transfer system is probably the biggest positive for me.

It feels much more realistic now. Instead of the old system where you scout a player, offer the club enough money and they basically automatically sell, there's much more of a process.

You have to enquire with the club first to find out whether they're actually interested in selling or loaning the player. You then negotiate with the club, negotiate with the player, and the whole process can take up to a week in-game. If another club comes in for the player, you might then have to renegotiate or risk losing them completely.

There's also player interest in your club now, which is a really nice addition. Just because you can afford a player doesn't mean they actually want to join you.

I'm doing a Portsmouth career at the moment, and this has already had a massive impact on my recruitment. The transfer window is live, and I didn't do enough scouting beforehand. I've gone after quite a few players who are probably above Portsmouth's level, and I've either had the club refuse to sell or the player simply isn't interested in joining.

I've also been close to signing players only for another club to come in and get them instead.

It's meant I've had to start looking at more experimental signings with my limited budget and scouting information, rather than just going down a list of players I know I'll be able to sign.

I actually love this.

I think scouting is going to be much more important this year. You'll need to scout throughout the season, look at club and league stats and have multiple targets for each position because there's no guarantee your first choice will actually join.

The only negative so far is that I've had a lot of clubs/players turn me down or players go elsewhere just as I'm trying to sign them. It makes it feel like there are probably too many transfers happening across the game at the moment. Obviously it's a beta, so hopefully that's something that's balanced before release.

They've also removed the cutscenes where you sit down to negotiate transfers, as well as the training-ground introduction every time you sign someone.

Personally, I'm glad they're gone. Transfers are much quicker to get through without seeing the same scenes repeatedly.

Form, ratings and squad rotation

This might be my second favourite change.

Form actually feels like it matters.

I've got Murphy, who has scored 4 goals in 3 games. His rating has increased in the short term, and he genuinely feels like a higher-rated player when I'm using him.

Meanwhile, my striker hasn't scored yet, and he feels heavy and out of form.

I really like this because it makes you think about who's actually performing rather than simply picking whoever has the highest overall.

Rotation seems much more important as well. If players aren't playing, their rating/form can drop, so you can't just use exactly the same XI every game like you could in previous FC games.

Removing the old training system has helped with this too. You can't manipulate training to have the same players completely fresh from Tuesday to Saturday.

If someone starts both games, you can actually feel the stamina difference and might need to substitute them.

Again, it just feels much closer to managing an actual squad.

Gameplay

I've also been pleasantly surprised by the gameplay.

Crossing feels good. Passing feels good. The ball feels like it has more weight to it and the players seem much less "ice skatey" than before.

Teams also seem to play differently from each other.

One thing I've really enjoyed is how much scrappier matches can be. The CPU actually tackles you and gives away fouls.

The collision system seems much better too. You actually have to think about your runs rather than just sprinting directly into defenders and somehow coming out the other side.

If you time a run or turn properly, though, you can get away from the defender or force them into giving away a foul. It feels much more natural.

Corners are improved as well. You can bring more players into the box, and there seems to be more variety in what you can do from them.

Overall

Obviously this is still the beta, and there are things that need balancing, particularly the amount of transfer activity and how often deals seem to get hijacked.

But I've genuinely enjoyed Career Mode enough that I've pre-ordered based on my experience with the beta.

When I start my proper save, I'll definitely be turning off transfers in the first window.

With how the new transfer system works, I want to spend those first few months doing a proper deep dive into scouting, looking at performances and stats and identifying multiple targets for each position.

For the first time in a while, it feels like recruitment might actually require some planning rather than just knowing which players you want to buy.

If they fine-tune what they've got here rather than changing it massively before release, I think Career Mode could be in a really good place this year.