FIF... Alas, EA Sports FC 24 is the Thanos of soccer sims. Whether the historic name changes or not, it is inevitable. As an Arsenal fan, I'm a little frustrated that Manchester City super striker Erling Harland is on this year's cover. But this is an entirely appropriate marriage. Like Marvel's supervillains, EA's genre-defining sports games can snap their fingers and have instant chart-topping sales success year after year.

Let's start with a big question mark: losing the FIFA brand won't stop EA from organizing official contracts so that major European leagues can properly license actual team names, kits, and competitions.

The Champions League and Europa League still function with all their jarring bells and whistles, meaning the loss of their iconic names will have no real impact on how authentic the on-field action looks and feels.

Most of this season's entries are really good soccer games. Sorry, live from Scotland means it's known here as football (or the Beautiful Game). For the benefit of my American friends, I will refer to EA Sports FC 24 as the "soccer" title from here on out.

Semantics of naming over one of the world's most popular video game franchises notwithstanding, this is a quality sports sim. Last year's FIFA 23 was one of my favorite entries in the series for years. In large part because I wanted to play it every week, thanks to my beloved Gunners' spectacular (and unexpected) 75% of the season lead in the English Premier League.

Obviously, the robotic efficiency of Pep Guardiola's Man City has quashed any notion that Arsenal will win their first title since 2004, but regardless, "FIFA 23" stumbles as much as it stumbles into well-judged advances, It felt like a swashbuckling return to form for a series that has taken a number of misguided steps backwards.

Full disclosure, I'm not that good at FIFA when it comes to online competition. Of the dozen or so matches I played for this review, I only won four. But even when I'm getting beat by Real Madrid or City - at least 80% of players choose these two super clubs when it comes to online matches.

Much of the criticism surrounding annual updates for sports games revolves around the fact that they are often like expensive DLC.

While EA's latest soccer offering undoubtedly still has elements of that, there is no denying that it has made significant strides on the pitch since "FIFA 23."

A week before studding in on EA Sports FC 24, I spent one night manually transferring many players from FIFA 23 to real-life teams.

It was wild to manually transfer the GOAT of GOATs, Lionel Messi, from PSG to Inter Miami, but it was also a task that only took 30 seconds.

Is upgrading to EA's latest soccer game worth $70 just to get the latest squad? Obviously not. Nevertheless, EA's latest futsal title (forgive me for finally using the official name of the global sport) is an improvement over the already strong "FIFA 23."

As usual, EA's latest soccer game is buried in corporate buzzwords that sound flashy but don't really affect the action on the field. The series' newest engine is tagged "Hyper Motion Technology." In practice, this means that animations are more realistic, player portraits are more accurate, and the game's lighting models are more impressive.

While none of these improvements are truly game-changing, they are still evolutionary (albeit minor) upgrades. Regardless of these subtle tweaks, the main takeaway is this: EA's virtual soccer brand is still a mile ahead of what Konami's "e-football" franchise has shamefully corrupted in recent years.

In terms of on-field improvements over FIFA 23, FC 24 moves the goalposts in certain areas; there is nothing truly revolutionary about how the ball-hoofing juggernaut has evolved in EA's latest release, FIFA 24. However, the incremental tweaks that have been added are commendable.

If you want to face a difficult challenge like pitting a triple crown winning Man City team against a Luton reserve team, setting the game to Legendary or higher difficulty would be a welcome addition to the Competitor mode and player-based difficulty options Should be.

By turning on these sliders, superstar players instantly stand out from the more artisanal players. In other words, Mbappe will leave Ligue 1 players in the dust most of the time with his roadrunner-like speed.

Personally, I am all for such a player differentiation feature. Because in the past, "FIFA" has definitely been guilty of making it difficult to differentiate between players like De Bruyne and the chronically underperforming Deli Ali.

EA has also upgraded its game in other easily appreciated areas. Drills like Bucayo Saca's lightning-quick wingers to get past fullbacks and return the ball to a running Gabriel Jesús are far more achievable than in FIFA 23.

The presentation is, as expected, impeccable. On my LG G3 OLED TV the game looked gorgeous and the portraits of the players were more impressive than ever. As always, the little club-specific details that really matter to fans are present and remain correct in EA's latest soccer sim game.

Case in point. When I take the field with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, my team is instantly serenaded by the "North London Forever" fan song that quickly swept the grounds last season as the Gunners struggled for the EPL title. [Whether marveling at Burnley's faithful recreation of Turf Moor or "marveling" at Everton manager Sean Dyche's likeness, EA Sports FC 24 has perfected its production on almost every level.

Finally, taking up Dumbo in the corner, you'll notice that I've spent many words without mentioning the series' signature "FIFA Ultimate Team" mode. I can honestly say that this mode has never been, and will never be, of interest to me.

At its core, the mode does not do enough to dissuade impressionable young people from stealing their parents' credit cards and putting real world money into pay-to-win gambling schemes.

Sure, you can gather a competitive team through hard work and results online, but at the end of the day, EA is still asking fans of the series to pour real cash into random player packs that have as much chance of winning Johnny Evans as William Saliba giving them the ability to cut corners to collect their dream team.

It is this ugly but hugely popular mode that has made EA's soccer series the global phenomenon it is today. While I appreciate the improved tutorials and the addition of female bowlers to FUT, the mode feels like it is focused on engaging young soccer fans in a near-gambling fashion.

Fortunately for this 38-year-old dinosaur, all I really want to do is help Mikel Arteta's Arsenal win their first league championship in 20 years through an ever-glamorous career mode. I am currently in eighth place, 10 points behind high-flying Chelsea, while Man City are languishing in 15th place after 12 games.

If next May the real-life Premier League standings look a lot like the current league standings of the Gooners and Blues from my hypothetical season, with a major swap in the current league standings, I will gladly massage Haaland's shins for the next six months.

Has EA Sports FC 24 reinvented the wheel of virtual soccer action? No, it hasn't. But it doesn't have to. Thanks to Konami's eFootball 2023, the series has no real rivals on its path to a new title.