Folks have been getting a little antsy this week because it seems like the Madden 25 reveal being delayed caused some potential EA Sports College Football 25 news to be delayed. But for me, that’s been good because there’s still stuff I didn’t really check up on too much after the first big wave of reveals.
I was so focused on the gameplay deep dive, that I didn’t really look too much at stuff dealing with Road to Glory or Dynasty mode. In part, that was also because I figured we would start getting deep dives on these topics by now, but it seems like we’ll be waiting just a bit longer on those fronts. On top of that, various creators and outlets have still been pumping out some follow-up content after the media event last month at EA’s studio, and I have been trying to dig through all that good stuff to find various tidbits.
So I don’t have a grand plan for this article, it’s more to fill a little time and maybe catch some people up who are in the same position as me.
Team Builder Seems Like A Turning Point For EA’s Games
We got news that Team Builder was coming to Madden, and yesterday Brian Mazique over at Forbes (love ya bud) did post some information about the feature. Team Builder seems like a likely deep dive target by EA, and it’s important to note that Team Builder was a big turning point for EA’s game when it made its way into NCAA Football back in the day.
It feels like it could be a turning point yet again because it represents a huge leap forward for player creation in EA Sports games.
When creating players, College Football 25 has more than 16,000 head combinations. Aside from this, when building the players on your roster, there are 70 hairstyles and 14 skin complexions.
Brian Mazique, Forbes
Now, this specific item doesn’t just impact Team Builder, it’s obviously going to impact generated recruits as well. The creation tools in EA games have been lacking for years, and if this technology they’re using gains widespread use within the sports division, it’s a big deal. Body types are another area where EA has been woefully slow to adapt (FIFA has probably done the best job in this area), and so that would be another area I hope EA focuses on down the line.
The customization tools themselves sound like they’ll be deeper for stadium creation and jersey creation as well.
According to EA, there are more than 150 stadiums to choose from as a base with some customization options.
As much as maybe some of the roster sharing and roster editing will be nerfed compared to old games, these areas are going to make Team Builder (and the sharing feature) really promising assuming the search function is easy enough to use.
Road to Glory’s Structure Still Feels Like A Missed Opportunity
I will admit Road to Glory is the major mode I care least about, and the “be one player” modes overall have never really blown me away in any sports game. I don’t think that’s going to change here, and I don’t really have a bone to pick with the direction being taken by EA, it just doesn’t seem like this will be “the one” for me either. It appears it’s going to be a gameplay-driven mode with some minor decision-making and RPG elements.
UPROXX has one of the more comprehensive breakdowns of what’s in Road to Glory, and creating a mode that’s 10-20 hours long and involves just the more action-packed positions of QB/RB/WR/MLB/CB all tracks, but it seems like it will mostly be driven by events popping on to your phone, and the choices you make based on your priorities.
Choice-based modes like this have always seemed more interesting on paper than they have in execution in sports games, but here’s what EA’s general goal seems to be:
The primary goal of the mode is to make you make decisions that are not clearly black-and-white. As they explained it, the goal was to create ethical gray areas with the various dynamic scenarios that will present themselves throughout the game. Even things that seem like a good choice, may have a negative consequence — and vice-versa. By doing so, they hope to make the story element really matter, rather than cut screens you are just clicking through to get to the game.
Robby Kalland, UPROXX
And, again, this makes sense. The choices a college athlete gets to make right now in real life are interesting. However, I doubt EA can go too far with these choices and that’s sort of the problem. The choices you make in Madden’s franchise mode and superstar mode are just not that interesting. They’re usually the worst of both worlds. They’re bland as story beats from a narrative POV, and they’re not impactful enough in terms of driving the gameplay outcomes. The same goes for something like Road to the Show in MLB The Show. The choices exist to try and freshen up the experience and give you agency, but they’re ultimately hollow and boring.
I’d be happy to be proven wrong here, but whether it’s a linear experience or something based on choices, EA has not been able to consistently crack that egg — and, really, the same goes for sports games as a whole. People might talk about The City in 2K as being a little more interesting, but even a game like Bully did a better job creating the atmosphere of being in a little world/campus better than any sports game today. And that’s sort of the quagmire. The resources needed to pull off a Bully are probably massive, and it’s not realistic to expect a sports game to reach that level for just one mode in a larger game.
Q&As Are The Land Of The “No”
Various folks have published Q&A features or videos in recent days and weeks, and having done plenty of my own over the years, they’re always a bummer of sorts. You just end up saying “no” or “I’m not sure” to a lot of questions because usually you did not bring something up in your prior articles because it’s not a thing.
One of the Q&A responses from The New York Times has caused some concerns in the community about what games you can play, but it does not seem like the biggest of deals as of now:
Will you be able to play every game in dynasty mode, even with non-user teams? As an example, if I’m playing a dynasty with Texas, can I still play the Iron Bowl or The Game?
Chris Vannini, The New York Times
You cannot. I know this was something you could do in the old games, but I checked with EA Sports, and your Dynasty in the new game will only let you play with your selected team(s).
This answer is not that surprising because it’s how things work in Madden as well. We can control up to 32 teams in dynasty mode (again, like Madden), so conceivably the workaround here if you do want to play specific games will be the same as how it works in Madden. I’ll let OS user CM Hooe explain real quick:
If the backbone of user management works the same way as it does in Madden — I assume it does, given the same limitations which apply to Madden franchise appear to match what’s being reported for EASCFB dynasty — then just reserve two of the 32 user teams for whichever teams you wish to play as or spectate for the given week in Dynasty.
Tedious, for sure, but it’s a viable and demonstrably functional workaround (as demonstrated by Madden) for spectators and coach mode enthusiasts.
Basically, as long as you don’t create a player or coach, you’re usually able to hop around without too many problems. Yes, we’re assuming this will all work the same in the college game, and yes, it is more annoying than just picking any game and playing it during a given week like the old days, but it’s not the end of the world.
Another one of the Q&As to scope out might be one by Eric Rayweather as he touches on some nuts and bolts stuff like being able to turn Wear and Tear off etc.
Gameplay, Gameplay, Gameplay
The final video I want to mention comes from creator Not The Expert, and it’s a hefty video worth watching, but I specifically want to mention that I like that he calls out how it feels using the left stick. He does a comparison to NCAA Football 14, but the point is that he thinks you can make moves using the left stick.
I have not played EA Sports College Football 25 myself, but I think this is a really big deal. To me, Madden is more about doing right-stick moves and there’s less focus on the left stick. I think that’s a mistake, or at least a miscalculation of the balance a game should seek. NBA 2K doesn’t get it quite right this year either I don’t think from a balancing perspective, but overall I think they have the right mindset where the right stick is about big moves and the left stick is about more nuanced dribble moves.
I hope EA tries to seek out that sort of balance as well in its football games because I do feel like it increases that skill gap while also giving everyone more options. It’s a rare win-win where more depth actually makes things less daunting.
