I had a long-lasting friendship with Football Manager when I was younger. I would be stuck for hours on end behind my computer screen getting an English Football League Two team to reach the top of the Premier League. Crunching the numbers on the transfer market to get those wonderkids, consumed much of my time. Later on, I kept my gaming mostly on consoles and the obsession I had with Football Manager thawed in absence of a console version. Football Manager 2019 Touch is out on PC/tablets but more importantly -for me at least – on Nintendo Switch. Needless to say, my addiction has been revitalised.
Tweaked 2018 version
Football Manager 2018 Touch translated the iPad / tablet intended version of Football Manager to the Nintendo Switch. A wise choice from Sports Interactive. Football Manager 2019 Touch or FM19 Touch for short, naturally was a given. As with most yearly released sports games, the changes are mostly in the updated teams/player lists. FM19 introduces two substantial tweaks but stays true – for the most part – to the 2018 version.
Training and tactics revamped
The training options have been redesigned to give the player more control about the way your players develop. The addition of mentor groups where young players are paired with experienced players to train, is a great idea. Some of the skills of the experienced players rub off on the younger ones more efficiently than in normal training. The tactics screen looks much more intuitive than ever before. Coming up with a gameplay can be a daunting task but you can start out with presets to ease you into the many options to choose from.
Less time consuming
Football Manager 2019 Touch caters to the way you want the play the game. As a long-time FM enthusiast, I like the many options FM has to offer. Taking a long time to adjust everything in my club up to my liking is not something I shy away from. The touch version of Football Manager is designed to be played much faster than its bigger brother. You can leave much of the daily tasks in your club to your back-room staff to take care of. They do a nice enough job and you can solely focus on matchday and get a quick fix of FM19 delight. I mostly took control of everything within my club but it’s nice to have the option to not have to bother.
Some limitations
For the most part, the Touch version of Football Manager 2019 lets you experience the game like you would with the “fuller” PC version. The limitations you get will only bother the true FM purists. For example, the touch version leaves out the press conferences and the pep talks. Morale is thus only influenced by your transfer policy. If you’re too erratic with bringing in new personnel, it could create unrest in your team. At the start of the game you choose which leagues you want to follow. Your limited to 3 leagues so you won’t slow down the games engine too much. Although these limitations seem drastic, they didn’t really bother me while playing.
Jet pilot control schemes
The Nintendo Switch version of Football Manager 2019 touch can be played fully with the joy cons but does offer the ability to use the touchscreen for faster control. The major downside is that the precision needed to utilize the touchscreen isn’t helped by the amount of information on each screen. I had to use the undo option many times because I dragged a player a pixel too far from the intended position. If you want to use the touchscreen I would recommend the use of a capacitive stylus.
The buttons on the Joy-Con are mainly used to bring up the menus. At the start of my playthroughs, I had much trouble finding everything I needed. The controls felt complicated and they took me a while to get the hang of. After playing a few hours I finally got the hang of it but felt like maneuvering a jet pilot while doing so.
Visually bland but does it matter?
FM19 touch is not the greatest looking game in the world. It’s mostly endless rows of data to plow through. The layout and chosen colors don’t offer much variance. The game’s highlights are in 3D but don’t expect anything remotely looking like PES or FIFA. All this being said… the real question is of course if this actually matters for a simulated managing game. I personally feel like the aesthetics could be made better, but my play enjoyment didn’t suffer from it.
Conclusion
Football Manager 2019 touch is a great option for those who want to experience the game on a console. The controls were hard to master but after a few play sessions, you’ll get the hang of it. The option to cater the game to your personal liking by leaving your back-room staff to do the work (or not), is a great way to get the experience you want. Football manager games aren’t for everyone, but I can imagine this version of the game is the ideal starter for any newcomer curious about the franchise and a fine alternative for the veteran players.
