Well, credit where credit is due
. Heading for ELEVEN WEEKS post release of the entire community being used to identify & report bugs for the developer we're finally getting somewhere. Obviously there's still a lot to do but it's starting to look like it really should have done on 02 Dec 2021.
Good
1. Batting close running cam improvement much better for those that may use it. (However, the batting mid running cam is still broken & the batting mid cam still has the issue where the view remains stuck behind the AI batter as well instead of switching back behind the human batter when they're at the non-striker's end.)
2. Batting is finally getting close to what it should be. Yes, it still has some issues that need work but it's been much improved with all things considered.
3. Bowling to AI batsmen MUCH improved. At least I'm not absolutely dreading being thrown the ball in every single match, (except for the problem where it's still making all-rounders bowl 20 or more overs per innings.) Run rates are finally a little more realistic in all formats, & AI batsmen are playing somewhere towards being more realistic, and they're playing more than two shots. I'm even able to bowl regular maidens in the long format or in ODI's as a batting all-rounder on the default legendary settings. Although, wickets are still extremely hard to come by indeed & remain entirely random. Bowling to a plan seems pointless & more often than not bowling 6 completely wild & random deliveries is more likely to gain a wicket than truly nagging away on an accurate line & length.
Bad
1. Game crashing again during or at the end of matches with some regularity.
2. The issue with the delay when the batsmen run has definitely been reintroduced but it's more subtle than in previous patches.
3. Back foot lofted late cut off a spin bowler between gully to third man region is still broken. (It doesn't get above head height so it either slaps straight into the WKs gloves or bounces off the WK or a slip & they make a reciprocal catch. If you're lucky it'll sneak past the WK but it definitely needs attention please.)
4. Xbox pitch marker length display issue is still present where the pitch marker itself is a generic black colour, but the ball in the bowlers hand still shows the colour of the intended length anyway. Please fix so the length marker in the bowlers hand is also a generic colour when the generic pitch marker options are selected.
5. Options repeatedly missing from the quick bowling tactics menu. I.e. sometimes in a powerplay the powerplay field preset option is completely missing. Or, during the normal overs the aggressive or very aggressive field preset options are missing. This is mainly happening in the shorter formats that obviously include powerplays etc.
6.
EVERY club pitch in a career mode is dry & hard by default. There's never any variation from this. (Yes, of course the user can change the pitch type but is every club pitch in the known world only ever dry & hard?). This may be a detail issue to some but I'd disagree!! The start of a career at club level is often when those new to C19/C22 or a lot of casual players are learning how to bat (and/or bowl too), ergo if every pitch is the same they may miss out entirely on learning different back foot/front foot shot selection. What's more, I found dry hard pitches the toughest to learn on in earlier iterations as it requires consistently correct shot decisions on both the front & back foot at all times because of the extra bounce on the harder difficulties. (Unlike pitches that are grassy medium or dry soft, for example, where you can literally get away with playing 95% of the deliveries faced on the front foot alone & a back foot shot may never actually be required either if there's no taller bowlers.)
7. Since release all of the large green rubbish skips around the grounds have inexplicably had a red strobe light on the front face. It's extremely annoying especially when batting as it undoubtedly draws the eye when a skip is in direct view. Please fix!!
8. Leg spin bowlers are still dumbstruck immediately after bowling. (Any other type of bowler (including an off spinner) can move as soon as the ball has been struck.)
9. Game is still making me bowl 20 overs or more per innings as a batting all-rounder match, after match, after match. This just wouldn't happen & the whole point of choosing the batting all-rounder option is that we only bowl part time. Instead, the current scripting insists on making all-rounders full time front line bowlers. Please fix.
10. In the new batting highlight cut scenes the batters arms keep striking the peak of the helmet making the head jerk back or up.
It looks absolutely terrible. Also, there's still some graphical errors when the cut scenes do a close up on an umprire, batter or bowler.
11. Ordinary ground shots remain seriously overpowered. I can still routinely hit boundaries while playing less powerful precision shots with the ideal input power boost & the power boost timing windows both set to ZERO.
In-between.
1. Not too sure about some of the new batsman cutscenes in between deliveries. There's 2 or 3 where the batsman is either standing there looking like a complete numpty or they appear to have some sort of undiagnosed mental health condition. Another shows the batter doing some arbitrary pitch gardening, only to back up, turnaround then walk right back over the danger area of the pitch they just gave such loving attention to??
And, please add a batting animation where the batsman rocks back & drops their hands to a short ball coming into them from the offside.
(Ducking straight into a short ball & taking it right in the face or on top of the dome gets a little tiresome.)
2. AI fielding can still be a comedy of errors at times, the causes of which remain well documented. ( Having said that, I'm also now seeing some truly amazing diving catches that really should have been in this title from day one.)
At least the scales of good are finally outweighing the bad which has been some time coming
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