Warning: Rant dump below

I know I'm just going to be preaching to the choir for the most part but I've gotta put my frustration somewhere so hear me out.

So during the New Years sales I picked up Madden 21 for $20. I stopped buying the franchise yearly ages ago and haven't played Madden since Madden 18. I knew people weren't happy, but I was in no way prepared for the shitshow I got myself into.

This game is completely broken and out of touch.

Everything from the menu not functioning properly to players completely bugging out mid-play. WRs on curl routes will instead run backwards for the rest of the play instead of just turning for the ball. Sometimes a wide open receiver just won't react to the ball getting throw to him and stay in the default running animation as the ball sails right by him. When a receiver DOES catch the ball in the open field, the AI is completely incapable of running in a straight line toward the endzone. Instead they'll head toward the sideline then start this weird zig-zagging like they're dodging bullet fire. This obviously keeps them from getting to full speed and they're inevitably caught from behind. Lead blocking on run plays or plays in the open field is absolutely abysmal. The routes the AI takes and the reliance on animations make following a blocker a 50/50 gamble on whether they'll actually engage the defender or not.

Which brings me to my main gripe about this game, the animation reliance. Gone are the days when the players just reacted to what happened to them on the field. The outcome of every pass is determined as soon as you let the ball go. If you have a guy streaking down the field in one on one coverage and decide to let it fly over the top, if the game runs the numbers and it comes up INT, the WR AI won't even contest the catch. He will keep running and just let the corner or safety snag the ball completely unhindered, even if the ball is clearly within reach.

Now for those who play MUT or online franchises where you just play h2h games that's not going to impact much as you'd just user most of those players anyway. However, as someone who likes to either let the AI play the games out as a coach/owner or only take control of a QB/RB in franchise mode, the shortcomings in the AI and the predetermined nature of play outcomes are a massive hindrance to the enjoyment of the game. It's not like these hiccups only happen once in a blue moon. You're likely to experience the game breaking in some facet at least once per game.

Presentation is a joke. First off, I legitimately think certain aspects of the game actually looked better in Madden 18. Helmets specifically. Things look very flat in comparison to me in this game. Pregame is a mixture of this cringy WWE style intro on a stage (wtf?) and clips of the two teams that haven't started playing yet playing each other (again, wtf?). There's zero pageantry for the playoffs or Super Bowl. You wouldn't even know if you were playing a regular season game or the Super Bowl if it weren't for the logo midfield and maybe 2 lines of slightly different dialogue in the announcer intro. It's all just so flat, even in the game's "story" mode.

The more they offer "more features" the more features randomly disappear. For instance, you can no longer copy files to make a backup at big decisions in a player/coach's career, even if it's not a cloud save and is locally stored. It's just baffling to me how some of the most basic things are missing completely. Not even things they'd have to implement. That's a feature that had already existed previously.

It's absolutely disgusting how bad they've let this game get. I wasn't overly impressed with 18, but if it weren't for me prioritizing the improved toe-dragging on sideline catches so much I'd already be back to just downloading updated rosters on 18 to scratch the football itch. It may still end up at that point, honestly.

TL;DR: The game is complete arse. There was legitimately better blocking/pass catching AI in football games 10 years ago. Features continue to get removed and the game is a shell of its former self. If we had options, it wouldn't upset me so much, but it's pathetic that this is what we're stuck with.