FIFA 19: 7 Things Hardcore Fans Want From The Journey 3

4. Some Open World Elements

Although NBA 2K's The Neighborhood has flaws, it encourages a splash of open-world exploration and gives a depth of player freedom that just isn't available in FIFA's Journey. Instead of trawling through menus to go from home to training pitch, or training centre to stadium, it'd be nice if EA let players make that journey.

Funny that, eh? A mode called The Journey doesn't actually let the gamer do any travelling around of their own.

All jokes aside, EA must dispense with their design choice to limit what players see and let them guide the story. It's about time The Journey showed some more mundane aspects of being a pro footballer, and examined what their day-to-day lives are like away from snap-happy paparazzi and the buzz of match days.

The developers don't need to go overboard with this. Nobody's suggesting for one minute that The Journey needs to turn into The Sims: FIFA Edition. No, but it does require a bit more variety outside the grind of cut-scenes, training mini-games and matches themselves.