FIFA 21 Reviews
FIFA 21 fixes some on-pitch issues, though it stops short of giving the series the meaningful overhaul it needs.
All in all, FIFA 21 is a year of small improvements with much to enjoy, but little to shout about.
Fun football with plenty of goals, but the grubby business of selling loot boxes lets the side down.
The moment-to-moment action may be better than last year's game, but this is nothing more than a glorified roster update. Only Career Mode fans have reason to celebrate.
The Volta and Career modes are fun and engrossing for a time, but they don't add much substance for players familiar with last year's installment
FIFA 21 offers a comprehensive package with new features that encourage creativity and attacking dynamism.
FIFA 21 has thrown a lot of adjustments under the hood to help give players more tools than ever before.
FIFA 21 is the straw that breaks the camel's back. After initially impressing us with FIFA 18 (despite it being based on the previous year's outing, FIFA 17), EA has completely shut up shop and made no effort whatsoever to improve the series on Switch. By now giving us a second Legacy Edition in a row, while also removing the previous games from the eShop to ensure this is the only option that remains, EA has inadvertently created another, more realistic option: ignore this game entirely, and don't give out your hard-earned cash in return for being insulted.
FIFA 21 is still a solid football game, but it feels far too similar to last year's entry. With minor improvements to the gameplay, modes, and the visuals, it's about time the series had an overhaul.
FIFA 21 delivers most of what I’m looking for in a world football title, which tends to be the story every year. It features solid-to-strong gameplay, attractive visuals, and a good variety of options. However, flawed execution in VOLTA, a lack of customization and no traditional franchise mode for EPL or La Liga keeps it from being a classic.
FIFA 21 continues the recent trend of mediocre gameplay being held up by shiny features, new modes, and an overreliance on the Ultimate Team cash cow.
FIFA 21 may not contain any brand new modes or major new features, but by providing substantial changes to gameplay and introducing key improvements, it has easily positioned itself as the best FIFA yet. Combining challenging yet satisfying defending with ludicrous goal-scoring opportunities takes its on-the-pitch action to new levels, while additions to its Career, Ultimate Team, and Pro Clubs modes make this an essential purchase for football fans.
On the pitch, FIFA 21 is an incremental improvement over FIFA 20, but doesn't address some of the biggest issues with defending and the high-scoring matches this leads to. With Volta still missing a certain spark and Ultimate Team not really changing much, it's the Football Manager-inspired Career mode that takes the biggest step forward. It's still a good football game, but it feels like the real focus is on next-gen.
Probably the most innovative FIFA in years, that leaves the door open for further improvement in the next gen – even if the grim shadow of Ultimate Team is never likely to leave.
FIFA 21 delivers solid and fun gameplay, introducing a lot of small new features in the structure build in the last two years. Even if FUT is always bigger and louder, the best things this year come from Career mode and plain multiplayer mode, where everything flows with a slower and human tempo.
Review in Italian | Read full review
FIFA 21 is a very continuist game, and we will have to check what EA Sports can achieve in the next-generation hardware. This entry adds a few little changes to the excellent formula we have seen in the last few years, but it is more of the same. Just as Real Madrid's roster this season.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
FIFA 21 is about what you’d expect from a new FIFA release. Some quality of life improvements over the previous title though nothing that really signifies a leap in class from past games. That being said, the quality in the FIFA series is fairly high, giving EA Sports a nice cushion to fall back on every year. FUT maintains the same inherent issues as it did last year, despite some shiny new features. FIFA 21 is another serviceable, yet standard entry in EA Sports’ soccer/football simulation series.
It's hard to shake the sinking feeling that FIFA 21 has almost been frozen in stasis since last season. While there are the expected seasonal enhancements, nothing stands on its own to make this a "must buy" installment. If you picked up the game in 2019, you'd probably be forgiven for taking a pass this time around. Hopefully they have more innovation in store for next year, because it definitely feels like EA is trying to run out the clock on this generation.
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