FIFA 18 on Nintendo Switch is a commendable pocket version of EA Sports's leading soccer simulator. Its portable condition is a boon for fans of the sports king, allowing to carry a FIFA in the small device. Even so, unfortunately, and although it may shine in the playable and technical, with its own engine for the present production, and some justified and unjustified absences reduce somewhat a final result that could have given more of itself in its return to the platforms of Nintendo. Analysis.
It is indisputable: the relationship between the FIFA series and Nintendo consoles has not always been the best. Electronic Arts have always thrown debatable quality productions to appear in the Christmas catalog of the fashionable Nintendo platform shift, but they never did much else on Mario's land. The American firm, in fact, has not hesitated to assure on multiple occasions that FIFA 18 is a first test of the developer with the hybrid machine, and it seems clear that the relationship between publisher and manufacturer will continue if the first step is successful. Surely it is, and that is something that would be good for everyone, including the future of the brand in Nintendo Switch.
Simulator
What have we found with FIFA 18? A remarkable simulator in which EA has not been conformed to make a blurred version of the market leader: he has commissioned his studio in Bucharest to realize an exclusive FIFA in Switch, creating its own engine from the FIFA Ignite 16 and have building a meritorious portable version of the title, riding between the console deliveries of previous generation and current, but much higher than what PS3 and 360 players play on their machines, with obvious improvements in the playable and technical.My "deja vu" is obvious: seeing everything that FIFA 18 offers and seeing what it has decided to leave in ink, there is a situation identical to that of the FIFA debut in PS Vita with FIFA Football a few years ago. The Sony notebook game successfully recreated a pocket-sized tabletop experience but failed to launch an alleged FIFA 12 that was actually a FIFA 11 laptop. He also circumvented game modes unwarrantedly and unannounced. My conclusion is similar to then: having a good FIFA in your pocket can be priceless, but with the absences of the product we would be playing in the first division of the brand.
An exclusive FIFA for Switch
Given the technical circumstances of Nintendo Switch, EA Bucharest has known from the outset what should be sacrificed when creating a video game to live up to expectations. The hybrid hardware capability, in fact, was another battle to contend with, but I can tell you that they have come out successfully from both contests. To cite just one example, we should only look at the audience of the stadiums: it is deficient. Of course, if the sacrifice of not very passionate spectators helps the title to have very dignified modeling of footballers and stable 60fps ... what more can you ask for? The resolution of the game reaches 720p in tablet mode; reaches 1080p with the base.As we said, and given FIFA's exclusive status to run on Switch's circuitry, it should dispense with many visuals that have been added on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC, but it can emulate the gameplay with some arcade savvy in their mechanics. Not that we are facing a 100% faithful reproduction of what we see on desktop and compatible machines, but the tempo, speed, and sensations are maintained while we understand that this is a portable version of the millionaire title, with which we can play several players from the same machine. What is not cleared FIFA 18 is the usual problems of FIFA with the sound of commentators Manolo Lama and Paco Gonzalez.
Fluidity
Another benefit of creating a specific version for Nintendo Switch with its own engine is the speed of loads and its fluidity in all available game modes, including also any of the perspectives used for visualization. What you should not do is punish the game for not competing in the same league as PS4, Xbox One or PC, as it was never the goal of its creators and I think it should be understood more as a portable version of FIFA 18, an exclusive production for Nintendo Switch.In terms of game modes, you have the possibility to play dozens of real and fictional championships, the Race mode in which you assume the role of a manager or a player (with the classic mode camera, which perfectly fits the hardware of Switch), the games of skill and the indispensable FIFA Ultimate Team. The obvious fast match is joined by the possibility of playing seasons with another user from a second Switch and the championship of women's selections that, with Spanish representation, debut with the best soccer players in the world on a Nintendo console.
Doubtful yellow
Moreover, no, playing with one of the two Joy-Con, although feasible, is by no means the most optimal solution to enjoy football. To dispense with the R2 and L2 or RT and LT buttons is not a tasteful dish for any fan of the FIFA series; the experience is great in portable mode with the Joy-Con complete, and although many players miss the possibility of playing with a trigger, the reality is that the controller Nintendo Switch Pro is a more than optimal solution to play well in Switch. In any case, it is a luxury travel companion.However, as already known, the excellent work done in the purely playable collides with some notable and unexpected absences. It was known that El Camino, FIFA's story mode that chronicles the misadventures of footballer Alex Hunter, was going to miss Switch's debut. Unfortunately, no extra modes of non-FIFA Ultimate Team such as Squad Battles, weekend challenges or the surreal inability to enjoy online matches with friends were specified. Particularly important is the absence of Clubes Pro mode, present in consoles for years.
No online coop?!
Difficult justification has the option of not being able to enjoy online games against our Nintendo Switch friends. No one has yet been able to explain why the present absence is due. Then there is the lack of animations typical of the last years of the career mode, the original lettering of the main European leagues added in the last installments, and some details that were already more settled among the players of FIFA that we come from other platforms. The present cart of disappointments decreases when you look up and discover yourself playing an entire FIFA 18 in a bar, in the subway, the bus, understanding the indisputable virtue of this project: being able to lock up everything good of FIFA on a laptop.Score?
I am happy with what I played. Seeing the latest works of Electronic Arts on Nintendo machines, represented by poor versions of FIFA on Wii, insufficient functions of a tablet with Wii U and a hug to the Legacy editions in Nintendo 3DS, was not especially optimistic with the premiere of FIFA in Switch. In the end, he has become a valuable new companion for my trips to work. What more could I ask for? EA Bucharest has developed an own FIFA 18 for the fashion console, and I look forward to seeing how it improves on future deliveries if Electronic Arts are encouraged to continue supporting the series on its return to Nintendo platforms.The obvious question: Is this the best FIFA game ever played on a portable console? I think so. Electronic Arts have come to live up to the expectations of watching FIFA on Nintendo Switch, and it is worth noting that the console receives successful video games that users of hybrid hardware deserve. If the times of the Legacy and FIFA editions of the second division go to better life, we will be in luck. The loss of some game modes and the inability to enjoy the multiplayer with friends online weighed the result, but you can not skip the work done in this edition of FIFA 18.
-Zardoz-
Developer: EA Sports
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Genre: Sport
Release Date: 10h of September 2017
Pro
All a FIFA in your portable console
The local capabilities of the platform are a delight for FIFA
Can not compete with PS4, One and PC, but finds its own technical and playable place
The FIFA Ultimate Team Icons have not missed the FIFA party in Switch
Con
Absence of already established modes in FIFA
Small sound problems, players' faces and equipment
The lack of online matches with friends
7.0
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