I really wanted to like this one. First the positives. Gameplay is pretty significantly better than last year and pretty enjoyable for an EA title. Where College Football 26 felt more clunky and restrictive than 25, this one feels more like a refined and recharged version of the gameplay in 25. There's a fair amount of quality of life improvements that certain help the immersion and feel of the game. The presentation continues to improve year over year that really improve dynasty and RTG. Equipment has really been overhauled in a very good way, making real improvements to both dynasty and RTG. Dynasty is still very fun and enjoyable for the most part. The dynasty points and integration of new systems, like support staff and facilities, really improve the feeling of program building in dynasty. Another highlight for me is the introduction of NIL. This new dimension to recruiting really changes the game and makes it much harder to rebuild small schools which I appreciate.
Now for the negatives. First, the microtransactions in RTG and dynasty were entirely unacceptable. Even though they've been removed now, they're still hinting to additions of microtransactions in future titles or maybe even just in this games future. The fact that they've still yet to add the "Fast" and "Faster" sliders to dynasty coach progression is proof they haven't abandoned these microtransactions entirely. Beyond the microtransactions EA was bullied into removing, hiding multiple coaching archetypes behind the MVP+ subscription or a madden purchase is just as deplorable to me. It's a really bad sign of what's to come with future titles as EA looks to further monetize dynasty mode. Outside of monetization, there are other big problems I can't overlook. Somehow there are still bugs everywhere in this game, many of which have now been present since CFB 25. In RTG, you can still be present in opposing team's huddles or have the AI making baffling decisions such as replacing your player at QB with a defensive tackle or tight end for a play here and there. Recruiting bugs are still present. This includes the Playing Time dealbreaker problem from College Football 26, however, it can now also allow your recruits to flip. I've had recruits trigger their own Playing Time dealbreaker by committing. Their commitment pushed the number of players on roster over the limit and they'll flip as a result. Based on EA's response to bugs in CFB 26, it's unlikely these bugs will ever be addressed as they are not tied to monetization. I wouldn't be surprised to see them present again in next year's game as well.
As I've come to expect with EA titles, this game is another example of 1 step forward and 2 steps back. There are genuine improvements in this game and overall it can be quite enjoyable but these improvements continue to be over shadowed by EA's endless monetization and immersion ruining bugs that never get fixed.
