The best thing a sports franchise can do is take a risk. In the standard annualized cycle, sports games tout smaller improvements that can help the overall experience, but these bumps rarely wow the player.

The Journey is a unique experience; Same enjoyable on-pitch action; Ultimate Team continues to improve; Improved visually

While unique; The Journey can get a bit repetitive; Gameplay needs a new feature

For me, football (or soccer, depending on what part of the world you occupy) is an integral part of who I am. While it might sound like an exaggeration, it's influenced the friends I've made, the clothes I wear and, in the example of EA Sports's FIFA series, the games I play.

Frostbite Fidelity; Goals galore; Compelling story mode;

Set-piece nightmares; Hit-and-miss build up play;

FIFA 17 , thanks mainly to The Journey, feels like a reintroduction to the things that have made this series EA Sports' pride and joy for the past eight years. It may be a safe and well-trod story path, but it's walked with characters I cared about.

FIFA 17 uses the Frostbite Engine which is best known for use in the Battlefield games. I didn't notice a huge difference in general gameplay, with FIFA looking just about as good as it possibly can be, but obviously the engine significantly benefits FIFA's new story mode ‘The Journey'.

Somewhat ironically, FIFA 17 isn't too dissimilar from Alex Hunter. The game feels like a young superstar in the making, destined for greatness but also a little too desperate to impress. It's got all the essentials, more than its fair share of flair, and the potential to do some great things in the future. But at the same time, it tries to hard, makes too many avoidable mistakes, and becomes unbalanced as a result. Consistency is what FIFA 17 lacks. That doesn't mean it isn't a great game. It just means that the EA Sports team have plenty of work to do before they reestablish themselves as the very, very best. Pre-order the FIFA 17 game here from Amazon

Frostbite Fidelity; Goals galore; Compelling story mode;

Set-piece nightmares; Hit-and-miss build up play;

Being consistently good can bring its own problems. Among the highlight gameplay changes in this year's FIFA we have: better throw-ins, low driven shots, and the ability to control the ball from a long keeper kick.

Set-piece overhaul eases longstanding frustrations; Career mode and Ultimate Team still brilliant; Excellent commentary and presentation; The Journey captures the romance of football

No huge gameplay changes; The Journey offers limited choice

He shoots and he scores!!! GOOOALLLLLLLLLL!

Real-life soccer players act out their own destinies on the pitch with each passing minute, but that's trickier in video games. FIFA 17's new mode, The Journey, has no shortage of inspirations; every match and season is full of them.

It's been 23 years since FIFA International Soccer, the first FIFA game, was released. For more than two decades, EA has taken its most successful product, tweaked it slightly, added a few marketing phrases and released new annual editions to huge success.