Could be good, needs work
Sun Dec 01 2019 atlb1974I agree that the mechanics can be frustrating at first. That doesn’t bother me as much. Stick with it and you will get the hang of it over time (After a couple days I got to the point where I was able to run several plays with predictable results). However, the player switching could be improved. What bothers me most is the utter lack of any statistics for either the team or the players. Hard to build any sort of connection to the squad I am building. Each game played is instantly gone forever. Would be great to be able to review the teams/managers I have played and how I fared against various tactics. Please fix these issues and the game will take off as a pick up and play diversion.
What’s the purpose of this game?
Thu Feb 06 2020 MurcielagoZhouI am a bit confused by the purpose of this game. If it’s a game for the players who actually love playing soccer on their phones, then this is a poorly made one. If it’s a game for the players who love to collect their idols, then people will be disappointed. The only reason I can think of is Apple Arcade needs a sports game, and this is the category filler.
The control is a bit wired, especially for the passing. The cutscenes can’t be skipped which is annoying. The AI is quite good at stealing the ball from me, also very annoying especially in my first few matches. Soccer players can’t sprint, which removes a lot of tactic that I can use. In the fast pace, short distance ball passing back and force between 2 teams, the camera behaviors like shaking. It is not a pleasant user experience.
A good soccer mobile game needs either outstanding gameplay, or has a stunning graphics with real soccer player that you can collect and watch them play automatically. But this game unfortunately has none of them. The only advantage it has is it’s the only soccer game in Apple Arcade.
Gets Repetitive but Mostly Fun
Sun Dec 18 2022 あaaaa!Like what most of the other reviews state, the controls are tricky at first. It’s genuinely fun once you get the hang of it though, especially in multiplayer. One problem I have is how repetitive and boring it becomes when playing to unlock better characters. I don’t like how stars slowly increase in daily matches after unlocking a character either. It becomes such a grind to the point where it’s unplayable. At least for me though. If you’re someone who enjoys long stretches of grinding, I respect it, but it’s too slow to keep me interested. There was also a bug I encountered recently when I tried to enter daily matches after club clash reset, where it kept sending my to the main menu whenever I tried to enter daily matches. OTHER THAN THAT THIS IS SO FUN TO PLAY WITH FRIENDS.
Almost Great
Tue Dec 17 2019 yeehooAs everyone has mentioned, the controls seem nearly broken at times. There is a huge learning curve when getting your feel for curving shots and varying power. It’s very frustrating starting from scratch, but once it finally clicks after a dozen or so matches the game starts to become really fun. If you’re angry playing the CPU, switch to ranked. Playing online in ranked matches and win streak put you up against players who are trying to master these controls and are much more evenly matched. The CPU switches when intended, has perfect shot accuracy etc. Play against real people and it’s much more fun. After a few days you’ll start to develop some strategy and it won’t be so random. Some improvements are needed though. Stat tracking would be great along with possibility for longer matches. All in all very fun game with great potential!
I Really Enjoy the Game Even Though I Don’t Know What’s Happening
Wed Jan 29 2020 Seattle RexI’ve played probably 100 games now, win most of them, and I have fun . I don’t have any idea how many games I’ve won or lost, though, because there are no such stats anywhere.
In fact, I’m not sure who I’m playing, why, or what it means.
I just know that if I go into ‘League’ and press ‘next’ enough times, a soccer game starts, and from there, I’ve figured out what to do.
After the game is over, I click next a bunch of times until I get put into a new game.
Am I playing against AI? Am I playing against other humans? Am I playing against a group of well-trained monkeys?
No idea.
How do I change my team?
I dunno.
I’m an ignorant American and I have no idea if these soccer teams are real. I chose Newport at random.
There isn’t any explanation of what’s going on, so I try not to care. I just play a dozen or so games each night, and enjoy it.
Is my won/loss record and and other stats kept somewhere? No idea. It would be nice to know what it is.
Maybe I’m just playing in a parallel universe, where nothing means anything?
Whatever the case, thanks for making the game itself.
Half-Finished Game
Fri Nov 15 2019 blauSo, I really wanted to like this game. And yes, there's something there - but it's a long way away from being enjoyable.
As many of you have noted in prior reviews, playing the game actively is nigh-impossible. The controls are *bad*, on any of the supported platforms, whether by touch or controller. The worst bit is switching defenders. But nearly as bad are the controls for shot strength and bending a shot.
Alas, I was still hoping I could enjoy this in management mode, without using the controls actively.
But the little player figures stumble around like blindfolded four-year-olds in an ice rink. No dribbling *ever* works (the defender takes the ball every time). Your players pass rarely, the goals' wood plays a major role in every game (unbelievable to watch), players move about totally erratically.
Tactics exhaust themselves in formation picking... and the only thing that's good for is massing your forwards so that the pachinko effects of the wildly bouncing ball result in a goal for your side a little more often, statistically speaking.
Special mention: the penalty shoot-out. I watched one today that was goal-less for 24 shots. At which point I took pity on those little men and manually sunk a shot to end their misery.
Needs work. A lot of work.
Really fun
Mon Dec 02 2019 sactjsI love this game. I tried FIFA one year but it was way too involved for me so I stopped playing pretty quickly. The amount of team management here is just about right for me as a casual player. I like the international trophies so you can try out different play styles. Don’t like how hard it is on defense sometimes when the computer doesn’t switch to the player you want to control and there’s no way to tell it to switch players, except to run in the opposite direction. Docked it one star for that because defending is annoying quite often. Otherwise I just wish the games were a little longer, mainly because they are fun and seem to end too soon.
Great fun, occasional problems with getting in
Wed Dec 21 2022 ChukziLove this game, especially playing in Apple TV. Especially fun to play opponents online in your league or clan vs clan. There used to be daily limits, not sure if that is still the case but I do have problems connecting to the server sometimes, as if a limit is being implemented. What’s up with that guys? Server problems or play limit?
Is there an option to just play versus an online opponent when you’ve reached league or clan limit? Maybe increase the win streak availability, multiple runs, or for no reward other than the fun of it.
Reviews DELETED
Fri Sep 04 2020 BigMikehasplayedthemallEvery update, my team would have a 50% reduction. It is only supposed to be 25%.
By Email, from Jon & Gustav, was told only about 100 players this happens to.
For the entire length of the game to date, I worked my team into second overall, diamond division, and held it for months. Which meant, I spent money, and many hours and days on this game.
After all this time, these two decided to lock my game for 2 days after a big update and then a little one. 50% reduction from 2 in the world to 15th. It took days to fix which means I lost out on 493 points daily.
I’d then be 6th or 7th.
This is how they treat their loyals so it appears teams can move up. You cant move up unless a player takes a day off. Its mathematically impossible to catch anyone. The overall leader time advances their game. I was in first, and 12 hours later they have 1000 points more than my team.
Shame on Jon & Gustav! Apple these people are crooks and manipulators.
I have no kind words for these two. They make Apple look bad.
On a final note, they asked me to be a game tester, because when you are 2 in the world it only means I never missed a day or a match. Why would I associate with these two after this treatment? Like the headline says DELETED
Fun to play but lots of confusion
Thu Mar 05 2020 PhilM543The most important thing first: this is maybe the first iPhone soccer game I’ve enjoyed playing. After a learning curve, and after turning on the passing guide in options, I can move the ball around, make chances, and defend. Scoring a goal is still a big accomplishment but this is soccer we are talking about after all!
The other parts of the game are hard to understand and seem lifted from a pay-to-play model. There are coins and daily rewards just for opening the app. They don’t belong in an Apple Arcade game.
Even the league is confusing. I don’t know who I am playing against or why.