Haven’t played a Madden game for many a year (probably since early PS4 days) so I picked up Madden 23 on PS5 pretty cheap on Friday. Got it for the fact it had Madden on the cover and wanted to eventually buy a Madden for next gen.
Surprisingly I really enjoy it! Presentation is great. Game controls fine. Looks awesome and as far as I can tell, plus a pretty damn decent game of NFL. Not too sure what people are complaining about but seeing as though it’s my 1st Madden for a while, I’m enjoying what I’m playing.
The thing about Madden games, is that you don't really see all of their problems until after you've invested some time with them. A couple days really isn't long enough to tell.
And that's a perennially common trend on Madden forums as well. At the start, things look great. Yes, some flaws and bugs are immediately identified, and you have your dedicated army of irrational haters but, generally, positive sentiment pervades. Statements like yours above are quite common.
But then a few days, a couple of weeks, pass by. Then it becomes a lot more obvious that, all EA has done is, once again, slap a fresh coat on the old barge. Underneath, it's the same old shit, with the same flaws that have plagued the game
for years (in some cases, literal decades).
If you only play online, it might be a good experience, since most of the game's flaws have to do with offline play. Personally, I hate playing online, for reasons I won't get into here.
If you're only a casual fan of the NFL, and play Madden casually against the AI, without too much concern for its nuances, that may also be an ok time.
But if you're a dedicated fan of NFL football, and want to have some kind of realistic season or franchise experience with Madden, it will drive you up a fucking wall, and leave you feeling like an idiot for giving EA your money yet again.
Personally I stopped buying the game like 7 or 8 years ago, after being a yearly customer from the beginning. I had EA Play for a couple of years since and played Madden that way, briefly, until I realized that jesus christ it's still the same. damn. game.
Concerning '23, I haven't played it, but have been watching with cautious hope that it would be something special, since they're billing it as some kind of homage to John Madden himself. From what I can tell by player feedback on forums, it's far from special. Once again more flash than substance, and seemingly rushed to boot. So, I'll be taking a pass again, it seems.
Anyway, that went on a lot longer than I planned. To sum up: Glad you like it. Hope you continue to. But don't be surprised if you don't.