My apologies for the length, but once I got started...
First, let me make one thing clear. I love the FIFA series. For years it
had been the only game I found to hold its value until the next version
was released.
I kid you not, I got a Genesis just to run the original FIFA. I got a
Playstation just to run FIFA '96. Obviously, I was greatly looking forward
to this year's version, and my expectations were high. After seeing how EA
handled NBA Live '97 (stunning, IMHO), I figured they must have done the
same for FIFA, so I rushed out to get a copy on the day it was released.
Boy was I wrong.
For me, this is the first major letdown in the FIFA series. I find it to
be a huge disappointment, and in many cases a step backward from '96.
While there are some improvements in the AI, such as looser marking and
more frequent goals on headers, there are a ton of problems.
Following is my brief review after about 25 games, divided into good and
bad points, and a wish list for FIFA '98. These are my opinions, and my
opinions only. If you disagree, great, and I have read a lot of posts from
people that love it. I did try to read the manual thoroughly (although see
my beef about the manual later), although it is entirely possible I could
have overlooked something very obvious. For all comments, please read in a
IMHO.
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THE GOOD:
1. Slower gameplay. This will probably be cited by some as the single
biggest drawback, although I find that it allows for greater strategy.
While it seems dreadfully slow at first, to scale I don't think player
speed is all that different from real life. Shots are another story,
however (see "cons" below). Most importantly, computer defenders finally
don't rush right in for a tackle, allowing a few seconds to set up
passing, playing the ball backwards (though, God forbid, not back to the
keeper - see below), etc. Bravo, EA. This alone takes some of the sting
out of the other problems.
2. Okay, we still have real players (well, mostly...see below). This is
enough to bring me back to FIFA every year as opposed to other soccer
games for the PSX (not to mention I'm no fan of "flaming headers" or the
like).
3. Several gameplay improvements, such as unobstructed breakaways
(although a bit too many of these).
4. Better graphics, although IMHO not all that much better (I'll take the
old graphics and better gameplay anytime). More banners lining the pitch
are a welcome addition. In the default camera angle the players are even
smaller and less detailed than they were in '96. Yet, I still prefer being
able to see more of the pitch for strategy purposes rather than close-ups
of players. Uniforms are rendered somewhat better (for example, the German
National Team uniforms with the diamond pattern on the shoulders, although
I don't think they are used any longer, are easy to recognize).
5. Better strategy screens, with the ability to position players on the pitch.
6. There are occasionally bad offside calls - noted by the commentators.
7. Automatic replays after goals (although brief - see "problems" below).
8. Better-sounding commentary, although again not without problems (see below);
9. There seem to be more crowd chants, although I could be wrong;
10. The best I can tell, EA seems to have finally fixed the offside bug in
previous versions where offside would be called on corners and throw-ins.
11. Pitch conditions seem to have a greater effect on play. 
12. Play at the end of each half is stopped during a lull in the action
rather than precisely when injury time expires (such as during a shot on
goal in the old version).
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THE BAD:
1. At least for the PSX version, not only are MLS teams not represented
but the regular US national team players are gone. For fans like me in the
US, this is a major problem. Probably less so elsewhere in the world. Yet,
I really wouldn't have bought '97 had I known this, and it has to detract
from the realism in internationals when your team goes up against a bunch
of made-up guys on the US side. This is due, judging from some usenet
posts, to the fact that EA is apparently planning on coming out with a
separate MLS title next year that will have these players and sides.
Sorry, count me out.
2. Much of the new animation is choppy and slow. Try a slide tackle or try
to view a replay at reduced speed, if you don't believe me.
3. Transfers are really trades (there must be someone in return). This is
a major problem when trying to update the out-of-date rosters since you
only end up messing things up more.
4. Certain aspects of gameplay are simply awful. For example, shot speed
for most players (other than a few world-class strikers) is comical -
we're talking lobs with arcs here. I first thought that I was mistakenly
hitting the lob button instead of shoot, but no. To get anything at all on
the shot you need to hold down the button for several seconds causing you
to stop dead in your tracks while the defender closes in on you. Granted,
there are fewer goals from far out than in '96, but this limits the
ability for anyone to score from even just outside the box (from this
distance, it almost seems like it is invoking the "clear" command rather
than "shoot"). And don't forget to check the rainbow pass! Real-world
physics? C'mon! 
5. If that's bad, much of the control is even worse. On the PSX, the
ability to put touch on shots and passes is now on the L1 and R1 buttons.
For those of you with PSXs, you will know how difficult it is to operate
these in conjunction with the shooting button. After a few games, my
fingers and thumbs end up aching more after this game than any other since
the old Decathlon on the Atari. Further gripes include combining clearing,
slide tackling and shooting on the same button.
6. Commentary is often ridiculously wrong and simplistic. For example, at
the start of every match you get one of about two or three match
introductions. For the very first game of one season, I heard that "this
is not the first time these two teams have met this season..." For the
second, between two perennial demotion candidates, I got "this could be
the match of the season..." Further, the play-by-play is often clipped,
such as "there's a sh...fine save by the keeper." A sliding tackle will
usually result in a "ohhh, that's a bad challenge" regardless of the
outcome. The announcing also breaks up occasionally when giving player
names in play-by-play, although this may be the result of a bad CD or PSX
problems on my end. The ubiquitous pre-game comment about "needling" in
the '97 game is darn near as annoying as the "ohhhhhh" in FIFA '96. I
could go on and on here. To their credit, however, there are some positive
additions, such as weak corners resulting in "that was a poor corner." 
7. No more on-pitch referees. Not just card animations, no referees
period. For bookings you get a static bar at the bottom of the screen.
8. Individual player graphics not much better than in '96, and in some
cases they seem less accurate. For example, Valderama has short brown hair
(come to think of it, maybe that's why the US Nationals aren't there - too
difficult to render the hair! :-),) and Signori looks like everyone else
on the Italian national side.
9. Many rosters are out-of-date, particularly for less-noticeable players.
10. Seems like less attention has been paid to less individual
characteristics of less-popular sides, with many having the same passing,
shooting, defense, etc. ratings as their overall rating.
11. Indoor mode. Someone please make it go away. If EA is going to spin
something off, why not an indoor title? While you're at it, you can take
the pitch size option out too, if it saves space. Correct me if I'm wrong,
but if we're not going to have the MLS it doesn't seem all that useful.
12. Replays, both automatically-generated and manual, seem much shorter
than in '96, so you usually miss seeing the setup for a nice cross, for
example.
13. Headers are still next to impossible to control, at least for me. In
beginner mode you do get some help, but I don't think you can direct them
in that mode.
14. Lob passes sail over the head of their target about 90% of the time in
all but beginner mode.
15. Long goal kicks routinely find a clear player for a breakaway and goal.
16. Yellow card bookings are not saved with players from game to game, as
was the case with the FIFA '95 16-bit version. It still does make players
sit out future games for red cards, however.
17. For a quick test, I took Ajax through a season after simulating about
the first 2/3 of the games. There was no special animation when they
clinched the league title nor after the final game. I'm not sure if this
is because I simulated some games or if it is just gone. There is,
however, an ending for the winner of the international tournament, and
it's not that bad.
18. This one really bugs me. In the old 16-bit FIFA, after winning a
season, you would go on to face sides from the other leagues in a sort of
clubs championship. This was a great feature that was missing for the PSX
in '96 and is missing again in '97.
19. Own goals are way, way too easy, even more so than in '96. Straight
passes dead-on back to the keeper results in own goals about 50% of the
time. If these are off-line just a tad it's automatic.
20. Still some amazingly stupid AI (not including own goals mentioned
above). Such as a keeper that will run out about ten yards for no apparent
reason other than to let the other side lob it into the back of the net.
Goals by the computer are almost always scored only on breakaways where
the shot is put into the lower corner of the net.
21. In certain matchups, uniforms are very similar making distinguishing
players on your own team very difficult. In some cases one team reverts to
the alternate uniform, but there are some notable exceptions (try US
national team vs. Japan, or Lazio vs. Samp.)
22. End of game sequences are even worse than the goofy celebrations in
'96 (players just jump in place).
23. The manual, in a word, sucks. It does give some background on the
formations and other aspects of soccer, but gives little insight into
gameplay issues. I still have no idea what exactly is the difference
between the three difficulty levels.
24. Injuries. Where are they? After 25 games or so in season and
tournament mode, nobody has been injured. If it is like '96, I guess these
only show up in exhibition mode.
25. There appear to be actually fewer camera views than in '96. Gone is
the true overhead cam, for example. Also, there is a control bar across
about the top 1/5 of the screen that obscures the play below, often
rendering the high angle useless whenever play takes place under this bar.
26. Still too few scoring variations. For example, on breakaways waiting
for the keeper to come out and then putting it in the opposite corner
almost always works.
27. I have never blocked a penalty kick, even after guessing correctly
several times. Granted, they should be tough, but I have occasionally
guessed perfectly and early, and still didn't come anywhere near getting
there in time. If anyone successfully blocks one without standing still
and being lucky enough to have the shot taken straight on, I'd love to
know your technique.
28. Less-than-great teams routinely not only advance in, but often win,
the world tournament.
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WISH LIST (Granted, some of these would be a tall order, but we can always
wish, right? Anyway, if anyone can innovate, EA can. Now if someone from
EA is reading, how about it?)
1. Fix the problems, obviously, most importantly...
2. Bring back the US National Team players, dammit! And while you're at
it, add the MLS! Don't try to make us buy another game for this. My guess
is that it isn't going to work anyway, and I, for one, won't buy any
future editions of FIFA (or any sort of MLS version) without real US
National Team players, at the very least. 
3. Even rudimentary player, user, and team stat tracking throughout a
season or tournament.
4. Relegation and promotion. I'm not sure how they could implement this,
but it would be cool if there could be a pool of four or five
second-division teams from which a couple would be promoted at the
beginning of each season and the poorest couple of first division teams
relegated. This would add a whole new challenge to playing a season with
weak sides that otherwise wouldn't have a prayer of winning.
5. World Cup qualifying mode, in which you could take a side all the way
from qualifying to the finals.
6. REAL transfers, possibly with transfer fees and budgets for each team.
At least give us reasonably current rosters.
7. Player creation capability.
8. Clearly differentiated player graphics, tall and short players,
distinctive features, etc. (such as a queue on R. Baggio).
9. Make sides' abilities relative to the leagues they play in. For example
(at the risk of getting flamed by Malaysian football fans) the strongest
side in the Malaysian league would have a tough time against a
middle-of-the-side from the Italian first division, and the weakest would
be easy meat for any Italian or English side.
10. While I think about it, why the Malaysian league at all? Couldn't we
have the J-League or Argentine League, for just two examples, instead?
11. More international sides. 
12. Better pitch variability, like a "really drenched" mode with standing
water, etc. Would be nice if the "wet" and "damp" modes could have
animated rain.
13. Bring back the full referee animation, including presentation of cards
during bookings, that was in the original Genesis version and that I
understand is in the current PC version.
14. Option to display player names under person being controlled (a la NBA
Live '97).
15. Different stadium graphics (you get the same one as in '96), although
if something has to give, let this be it. I never paid much attention to
the stadium itself anyway.
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SUMMARY
I still am scratching my head on this one. Why would EA mess with one of
the best sports games of all time? Granted, there were some problems with
last year's version (although I liked it a lot more than most), but seems
like a little bit of tweaking along with the ability to edit rosters would
have been much better than this. 
Bottom line: If you have '96, I suggest you definitely rent before buying,
or if anyone wants one cheap, mine's for sale, since I unfortunately
bought my copy at a place with a no-return policy. I'd walk through three
miles of snow to return this if I could. Don't get me wrong, though, if
you don't own any version of FIFA, it still is the best soccer sim for the
PSX, IMHO, although I would strongly suggest looking for a used version of
'96 first.
I'm willing to give EA one more chance in '98. Hopefully they'll get the
message and make some improvements. 
Again, these are only my opinions based on about 25 matches. In short,
don't take my word for it, try FIFA '97 yourself and decide. Comments and
corrections are welcome.
llaack@clark.net