Gridiron Masters '98

Gridiron Masters '98 - Early Access Review - 7/10 Recommended tldr: Approach this game as a coach prestige sim rather than a team dynasty and you'll have a great time. Fight that instinct and you'll frustrate yourself. PROS Aesthetic- The late 90s visuals are genuinely well executed. The menu presentation and CSPN broadcast segments create a mood that's hard to find in this genre. It doesn't feel like nostalgia for its own sake, there are deliberate decisions being made that feel intentional. Team Pool Size- The roster of the teams is kept smaller than you might expect, but it works in the game's favor. Conference rivals feel meaningful, each program has an identity, and the college football landscape feels relatable rather than anonymous. Recruiting- Player names feel distinct rather than procedurally generic. Small detail, but it goes a long way toward making the game come alive. CONS Coaching Carousel- Coordinator and player turnover at season's end can hit harder than expected. Build your roster and staff with the assumption that you'll lose someone important, because eventu…

Game is GOATED if you love Football

I'm over five hours in and idk hitting sim game just feels like a shot in the dark if your gonna win or lose. No choices I make seem to matter, abilities don't seem to matter, coaching staff doesn't seem to matter. It just feels random and that just kills it for me. I want to feel like the choice I make are doing something and that's just not the case. Just becomes a mouse clicking experience after awhile.

It is a college game that has a pro football layer to it, which is fine. There are some questionable choices as far as the playoffs and offseason goes, but that is because if you play the "professional" level of football on the platform, you are using college football style bracket playoffs, scouting, and offseason moves. It undermines it if you are looking to play the "pro" level of football, but would work fine on for the "college" level for sure. Needs a lot of ironing out, but I am sure this will improve nicely.

such a fun game.

I have been going back and forth on whether to recommend people the game, I decided to because i believe that its unfair to say this game should not be recommended since its so early on in production. This game is a great concept, but I need more roleplaying features in the game, and I'm not just talking about making a character's stats. What I need out of this game is two main things, one... is a way to interact with games more, and two is to be invested in the players more, for example, I talk to a player and they tell me about what they are like or if they are having issues with something, and if i accomidate that i gain more trust, which leads to less miscues or something. This game deserves to have a huge dialogue tree akin to old rpgs like fallout 1 and baldurs gate 1 to get me invested In the world. The strength is the cspn broadcast at the end of the week, which takes forever to generate but is so cool when you do see it. To finish this off to avoid rambling, I will not refund the game as i want the dev to continue to work on this game as it has a lot of potential.