➤ Football Manager 2019 Touch: the review for Nintendo Switch 🎮

Have a chance to carry around with us F it's a little dream, at least partially realized by the Football Manager 2019 Touch we are dealing with in this one review. The level of involvement guaranteed by the branded series Sports Interactive it is in fact something well known to those who have been sitting on the virtual bench for many years, so taken by tactics to be adjusted and talents to be discovered that they never want to part with the football manager that has now become a piece of videogame history. Getting your team to the top of the world, however, is a job that takes a long time to complete, to which the Touch version of Football Manager wants to facilitate access especially for those who are often outside the home, but not only. To understand that this is a game designed for those on the move, just look at the platforms for which it is available: in addition to the inevitable PC, we also find Android and iOS tablets in addition to the one for Nintendo Switch. The Grande N portable console was the chosen one for our gaming sessions a Football Manager 2019 Touch, carried out while sitting comfortably on the sofa, on the train and on the "throne". To read our opinion on this, all you have to do is keep reading.

The gameplay: simpler tactics

If you have already read the Football Manager 2019 review, you will know that among the most important additions of this year's edition is the revisitation of the tactics. This work also finds an outlet within Football Manager 2019 Touch, where the predefined play styles arrive that coaches can use as a starting point to build their own game module. Choosing between tiki-taka, counterattack, gegenpressing and other philosophies, you can select one of the suggested tactics to better suit the style of play you have in mind, then changing its default instructions. As in Football Manager 2019, the latter are divided into three phases: attack, transition and defense, with dedicated submenus to give a precise identity to the game of your team in the moments of the match identified by them. From this point of view Football Manager 2019 Touch is therefore completely identical to its older brother, with respect to which the section dedicated to workouts.

Giving up the complexity of the daily programs present in Football Manager 2019 was a desirable thing for those who intend to play the Touch edition, which in fact offers a lighter version divided between team training and individual. To these two subsections is added another dedicated to tutoring, in which by forming groups composed of experienced and young players it is possible to make the latter learn from the former, letting themselves be influenced by them in attitudes and style of play. It is a pity that there is not even this year a spring team that allows you to properly select and take care of the champions of tomorrow. Continuing in parallel with the game seen on PC, Football Manager 2019 Touch completely eliminates the coach's interactions with players and media, thus leaving aside the press conferences and the speeches to be made in the locker room before, during and after the match. Although as we wrote in the Football Manager 2019 review these interactions are completely to be renewed, it must be said that their total absence is a bit felt. While in the home edition guessing a speech during the interval can allow you to overturn a match born wrong, in the portable one you have to rely only on changes to the tactical plan and substitutions to try to overturn an unfavorable result.

Graphics and controls: new look, with some uncertainty

The aesthetic aspect of the Football Manager 2019 Touch menus follows the purple dominant one of Football Manager 2019, with respect to which Sports Interactive had to carry out an optimization work to make sure that the information on the screen is accessible in an adequate way. on the Nintendo Switch screen. The good result is combined with a control system consisting of some shortcuts associated with the keys of the two Joy-Con, thanks to which it is possible, for example, to press the continue button or access fundamental menus such as tactics directly. In the case of complex operations, however, it is possible to use the left analog stick, whose movement emulates that of the mouse, or use the touch screen of the console to drag items and scroll faster vertically. The control system takes a bit of tune-up in the early stages, but after the first few games of the season it becomes easy enough to juggle. The less experienced can also count on the new Touch in Football Manager 2019 tutorial called Manager Induction, designed by the developers to gradually introduce those in front of the console to the sections of the game. In fact, it is activated when the main sections are accessed, showing the primary operations with a wizard that succeeds in avoiding overloading the player with information.

Again with regard to the interface, from time to time we point out some slowdown in the navigation between the various screens. For what concern 3D engine instead the game performs quite well, net of the same defects found in the analysis of Football Manager 2019. Compared to the latter, the developers wanted to prevent the player from selecting the type of shot with which to see the field, thus making available only the television one. The technology linked to the use of the VAR, which appears in leagues that use it (including our Serie A). Speaking of defects in common with Football Manager 2019, the Touch edition also seems to suffer from the problem of too many injuries (our poor Genoa has been decimated), as well as some occasions in which the players on the field make choices that did not seem sensible to us.

Comment

Tested version Nintendo Switch Digital Delivery Steam, App Store, Google Play, Windows Store Price 34,99 € Resources4Gaming.com

7.8

Readers (2)

6.7

Your vote

At the end of the review we can say that Football Manager 2019 Touch is undoubtedly an excellent fallback both for those who are often around, and for those who want a more immediate gaming experience than the full version for PC. From the latter Football Manager 2019 Touch inherits the new look and the new tactics management, one of the main novelties of this year which also benefits this portable edition a lot. If you are sick of football and Nintendo Switch is one of your regular travel companions, the appointment is not to be missed: just be careful not to skip your stop!