Genesis League Goals - Beta review

The newest addition to the Splinterlands team game lineup, called "Genesis League Goals" launched their Beta yesterday.

I have been putting money into GLX (token) for a fairly long time now and before I go further, after seeing the game, this is the first time I can genuinely say that I fear for my investment. Right now, as much as it might sound harsh, I honestly think that the MLS footballers that were supposed to promote this will be too embarrassed to do so when they see the game.

I am kind of torn. I dont want to blast the game outright, being invested in it, but on the other hand the football fan in me needs to be restrained. And when I say restrained, I mean glued to the ground, using a mix of concrete and epoxy resin.

1. Im Croatian so by default I'm a huge football fan.
   That means I watch A LOT of football.
2. Ive played Football manager since the early 2000s. So for about 20 years. That means I know what a football game should look like.

Both those things, unfortunately, seem to be detrimental to me liking this game.

The biggest fault this game makes is that it LOOKS ALMOST NOTHING like a football game.

It has 7 players instead of 11 and the way the players are set up on the pitch is extremely weird.
The reasoning they gave for removing 4 players from the game is that the gameplay is more fun.

My dudes... MY DUDES.

You dont make a tennis game and put 3 players on each side of the net because you think that would make a "more fun" gameplay experience.
You dont reinvent the game youre trying to emulate!!! Whats worse is that it uses the MLS brand.
Its clear what the MLS is. You might as well made a volleyball game with MLS player faces.

The other thing is that the screen youre looking at above moves and you cant actually see the goals at most times. Its like a conveyor belt moving up and down. Its extremely weird looking and its just wrong. It looks wrong.

Something that is the common theme of this game.
IT LOOKS WRONG.

Let me repeat once again in case it isnt clear. Wrong, WRONG, WRONG!
Its not the graphics, I dont care about the graphics, the way it looks is just wrong!

The other prerequisite for a football game is that it has some kind of familiar formation on the screen so it indeed reminds the player that what he is playing is actually a football game.
Something like this.

This is a screenshot from one of my FM saves. See, this looks like a football formation. It can be nothing other than a football game.

The way you set up your team up front before starting a match is also... you guessed it, wrong. It looks wrong. But since you dont actually have normal football formations it doesnt matter that you dont have a say how you place players.

I honestly dont get it. Its the biggest sport in the world, it is fairly obvious what a football video game looks like and they do this? 🤷‍♂

Alrite... alrite. Lets look at some good things and how to make this not a disaster.

1. The game seems to be made to cater to mobile gamers. That is one saving grace considering how big the mobile game industry is and how popular football is.
   Again, this needs to be fixed to look like an actual football game.

2. The gameplay is arcade-y, easy to get into and seems fairly addictive. That is a very big positive.

3. It has the MLS brand tied to it. Again, this needs to be fixed to look like an actual football game to utilize that to the max.

4. The player stats, even though theyre completely wrong and make no sense, can in a way offer a meaningful effect on gameplay which will facilitate the card economy. So some actual strategy does exist which is again good.

How to FIX the faults?

Here is what you do to make this game... not be wrong.

• Shrink the screen so everything fits and what youre looking at looks like an actual football pitch. You can do this multiple ways.
  One way to do it is to start with a wide shot of the pitch with only player names. You dont need their faces. Names and numbers. Once the player is clicked, you zoom in into that part of the pitch to do an action.
  The other way to do it is to keep the names and numbers like it is the case in Football Manager with no faces and you can still fit it on the screen. Maybe when you click the player icon it gets larger to showcase info.

If I can make a 4-4-2 formation on my smartphone using the icons, you can sure as hell fit everything on one screen. 😅

• 11 players. Not 6 players, not 9 players, not 36 players. 11 players. There needs to be 11 players.

Focus on making the game look right. The gameplay seems decent enough for what it is, the mobile approach is good, the MLS brand is extremely valuable.

All you need is to make your football game look like a football game. Thats it. And those blocks on the sides that look like stands. You dont need that, especially in the mobile version.