Madden is a calendar, not a game

Madden in late August is less a video game than a weather report. The rosters updated. The menus are the same menus. Franchise mode will eat a night if you let it. Ultimate Team will try to sit next to you with a credit card. EA is still EA. The on-field stuff is good enough that people grumble and keep playing. That is the annual review.

If college football already stole your August, this is the NFL version of the same illness. Score the habit, not the innovation. There is not much innovation. There is a season coming, and the game is a way to arrive early.

Fine as a countdown clock. Do not build a personality around the menus.