This is the first FM in a few season where you can see obvious changes to upgrade the game, it always feels similar for people who play it every season but it always improves wether slightly or a lot, this season its a lot in my opinion.
I highly reccomend purchasing it, I am absolutely loving this version of FM the updates they have put in are fantastic.
What's exactly the improvement?
The Data Hub probably adds some appeal, but the match interface is downgraded, the UI is all over the place and you cannot really focus somewhere, it's like you're searching for clues, the media and board interaction is as annoying as ever and the transfer system is still broken, they have never figured out how FFP and player book values work so you see teams buying players for 40m and selling them for 3m the next summer, you never see a change in status quo unless a sugar daddy appears out of nowhere, the match engine is decent but there are far too many flaws and exploits every year, tactics are quite irrelevant as the game will always do the same things over and over again, based on what the developers think football is supposed to be played [which has changed gradually as the game in England by the top teams has changed, so that's who they're emulating].
I mean, I want to root for the guys, but having a monopoly for almost 30 years - Eidos attempt to do something was non-existent - has hurt them. And on top of everything, half of the shit they introduce is to show wokeness in the media and stay relevant in social circles. Not a fan of their direction in the last 10 years. FM12 was the last great game they had, FM16 and FM17 were pleasant additions, but I haven't really seen much improvement since then. They keep adding irrelevant things and reducing the importance of game experience and they don't build on what their users like.
I'm sorry, but nobody wants to see "players coming out of the closet", LGBT flags in stadiums (which isn't even a thing except at Arsenal maybe), and now while I welcome their idea for women's football to be added, it's mostly another woke PR move as they know that it won't get them more players but simply more media exposure. These things do not add to the gaming experience, they just cause controversy and it sells on the media.
It's an addictive game and they're gambling on people getting hooked and word of mouth to get more people involved. And it's working for them, but once proper competition kicks in they'll fold.