I very rarely leave reviews. That is because I don't regard myself competent in most of the video game genres. But it is different for football manament games. I have been playing in this genre since 1997. My addiction and love started with Premier Manager 97. Then follows the CM98/99, CM99/00. FM 2005 is still fresh in my memories. Hours of gameplay... Lots of soul breaking matches played...

And now it is FM 19. I pre-ordered it. Big expectations. Bang. Incorrect squad registration roles for Turkish League. Totally unplayable in Turkey. I said ok. Football is universal. Go play somewhere else until they fix it. Took my favourite team in BPL which is Liverpool. Bang! Salah is injured for 11 months during a pre-season match. Re-started the game. Bang! Mane is gone for 9 months. Re-started the game. Bang! Salah is gone 7 months. I said ok, I will keep playing this time. 27 players in the squad. Total injuries were 145 throughout the season. Salah couldn't play a single match. Sturridge played 25 matches and scored 4 goals. The most shocking thing was I became the champion with 11 matches lost and 7 draws. I said ok. This is a pre-release game. They will fix it. They always did.

But no. Not this time they did. Last time I checked I am in 90 hours in this game. The further I came with a team without deleting the save is fifth match in the second season. Here is why;

1. Poor match engine optimisation
- Your striker is very unlikely to score in one on one situations. And by unlikely I mean %5-10.
- Your probabilty to score goals from rigth wing/left wing crosses are much higher than to score a goal from the penalty kick.
- During a highlight you are very likely to see that one of your players is running completely opposite way from where everything is happening. Sometimes it is same for the other team's players.
- You can easily bet your home on that if your defenders started to pass the ball back and forth, you will concede a goal.

2. Poor VAR optimisation
- Around %90 of the key moments in a match contains a VAR situation
- The refs very unlikely to give a penalty decision without consulting the VAR.

3. Player's penalty
I call this "player's penaly". Let me explaing what I mean.
You take Chelsea. Trying to land a big name. You offer a big sum of cash. Rejected. The same transfer season your rival lands the same player for less. In another save you are Man City. You are after the same player. Offered a big sum. Gets rejected. Chelsea signs that player for less.
Same scenario is also valid while negotaiting with a player. You offer 4m euro per year to a player. Gets rejected. Same player signs a contract with an AI managed club for 2m euros.
One question here is very necessary. WTF?

4. Translations (You don't have to read this part if your mother tongue is not Turkish)
- Since the first Turkish translation is introduced, I have been forcing myself to play it in Turkish. But after a few continues, I go back to English. The very first time it was introduced, the translation was disgustingly bad. I don't remember the year, I think it was 2014. Clearly a google translation. In comparison, now it is a lot better this year. But still there is a major problem with the translation that must be addressed. And that is; I don't feel myself that I am reading the news from a Turkish newspaper or conducting a interview with the Turkish media or listening the commentary from a Turkish commentator.
It feels like a word to word translation of an English sportsman commentating or asking questions. What I mean by that is there is no translation of the jargon. It is like you read a translation of your new rented property's contract. Just word by word. Even the English idioms or figurative phrases are translated to Turkish word by word which doesn't make any sense when you read them in Turkish.
"They leave with a win in their bags"
What bags? They brought their own bags before the game? Interesting huh?
I mean no offense to English culture and literature here. But this doesn't give me the same vibe when I play in Turkish.

5. Unjustified buzz before the release
- On youtube I watched so many videos about the new purple background and a new picture in the introduction page and also a new layout in the menu.
The purple background; it is just a skin
The new picture(s) in the intro; just a picture
The new layout; took me 3 seconds to adjust

I am a veteran FM player and don't give a fuchsia about any of these.


With all being said, I will probably keep playing the game as it is the only AAA game in this genre. But I can't recommend this game anymore. I don't even recognize it as a game. It became a database for real proffesional football clubs with some 3d match engine in it.


Update on 13.05.2019

Deleted