FIFA 23 Coins is gone; long live FIFA. EA's football simulation giant is back for one final moment of glory following a public split with its licensor, calling itself "The World's game" ahead of a painful name change to EA Sports FC which is due in the year following. The tagline, however, transcends its bittersweet pomp because, for all intents and purpose, FIFA 23 is as if it's the exact game that the world has been playing for the last several seasons, with its reliable continuous gameplay and the same familiar frustrations.

Although it's the last game of a period, FIFA 23 marks another year of meticulously removing itself from EA and EA, as a variety of changes to the aesthetics and tactical aspects complement its solid blueprint for gameplay. Yet it's also an entry that feels both anchored and consumed by its Ragnarok status, grudgingly closing a red curtain as the football game genre is thrown into a tidal wave of chaos.

Theatrical elements to gameplay, like the fierce Power Shots, will ensure that the FIFA name is released with a bang instead of an eerie whimper. When you hold the bumpers, pressing shoot transforms your striker into an enraged raider with an interruptible attack with the camera pulling focus as they leather the ball and sends shockwaves from bootstraps blasting through the PS5's speaker. If you've got the angles wrong, FIFA 23's newly improved goalkeepers who are acrobatic might be able to stop it using their individually simulated fingers, that have helped me out on a few occasions.

Get it right, though and if the player has enough room, it's likely to be in the back of the net regardless of how far you are. This meta-shaking type of shot teases out the halcyon days of Francesco Totti hit-and-hope long shots as seen in the early years of FIFA But don't panic because online multiplayer is plagued by fast wingers that pass it across the box on breaks. Why try and have fun isn't it?

While it's difficult to avoid the perennial issue of being a bit dependent on speedy players completely, FIFA 23 does reward precision in execution across the board. My fingers hurt after hitting the triggers to control dangerous counter-attacks. Also, the force of a pass must be fine-tuned, which is difficult to master, but rewarding when you get an ideal through ball.

The wrong tackle can also leave you open to attack by holding the buttons associated with it for too long could result in a risky crushing commitment that at times results in a positive outcome, but usually it will result in a nail-biting penalty. That makes tackling with buying FIFA 23 Coins the last man back to an extremely dangerous, but fun challenge.