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FIFA 17's new story mode, dubbed The Journey, is without doubt the game's biggest addition this year - and arguably the series' most significant new mode since Ultimate Team. And while we talk through the game's other major changes in our main FIFA 17 guide, The Journey stands out above all.

In The Journey you'll play as Alex Hunter, a hotshot 17-year-old with aspirations to emulate his legendary grandfather by stepping out in the Premier League. The story tracks his path from kiddy kickabouts on Clapham Common to - if you play your cards right - the next trophy-winning, media-darling Marcus Rashford starlet.

Here, we'll talk you through what exactly The Journey mode is, how it works, the best and worst outcomes and our best advice for how you can ensure you make it to the big time. It should go without saying, but there will of course be some story spoilers dotted throughout this guide, of varying significance, so read on at your own risk.

As we mentioned above, The Journey is FIFA's new story mode, but although it takes influence from other, more traditionally role-playing, story-driven EA-published series like Mass Effect, the way the Journey works is somewhat unique.

Whilst we haven't been able to play through The Journey enough times to decipher the outcome of every single decision and performance, we do know the overall structure and several different conclusions to the story of Alex Hunter. We'll start with the basics:

• What do you do in The Journey? - The Journey involves a combination of training exercises, matches, conversations, and cutscenes, with a bit of Twitter feed checking thrown in. You'll split your playing time roughly 50-50 between training and matches, whilst conversations only happen sporadically, such as after man of the match performances or at significant milestones.
• Does Alex Hunter improve over time? - Yes, in fact it's the main hook that keeps you interested in playing for longer, outside of the story itself. As you train and perform well in matches, Hunter's individual attributes like Short Passing, Finishing, etc. - and thus his Overall rating - will gradually increase. Each time your Overall rating goes up a level, you'll also receive a number of Skill Points to spend on individual Traits. Unlocking one of these will either increase a particular attribute by a few levels, or grant you a Trait much like those on standard players, like Swerve Passing or five star Skill Moves.
• What clubs can you play for in The Journey? - If successful at the exit trials, you'll be afforded the choice of any Premier League club to play for - meaning no, you don't have to just choose Manchester United. Those 20 English teams, plus three in the Championship, are the only ones you can play for. A little further down the line, it's quite likely you'll be loaned out - this time to one of three Championship clubs: Aston Villa, Newcastle United, or Norwich City, who you'll play for until recalled later on that season.
• How do you 'win' or 'lose' The Journey? - We'll go into this in more detail just below, but in brief there isn't a clear case for 'winning' or completing The Journey in one specific way. Generally, your goal is to balance popularity with your manager, and popularity with your 'followers'. Keeping them both happy will mean you can continue along your journey for as long as possible, with the greatest possible outcome for Alex. Making them significantly unhappy will result in reduced playing time and, ultimately, the end of the road for Alex Hunter.
• How much do your decisions and conversations affect the story in The Journey - Honestly, not very much. Generally different dialogue options will affect that cutscene in which they occur, but have next to no repurcussions down the line. The only thing to bear in mind is your manager's opinion of you and your follower count - hitting certain numbers of followers trigger sponsorship deals, and with them come cutscenes featuring the likes of Angel Di María (yes, it's actually played by him), flashy photoshoots, and so on. Otherwise, we found that whether you gave a diplomatic press interview or told your bratty rival where to shove it didn't do anything for the story at large aside from make that cuscene dialogue play out a little differently.
• How long is The Journey? - The Journey lasts around 16 hours at most, which includes performing each training session and match manually without simulating anything, and achieving the longest possible story arc. The Journey will finish at the end of the season - in late May - at the latest.
• Can you fail The Journey exit trials? - Yes. The start of the game will see you face the dreaded exit trials (a kind of last-chance saloon where under 18 players released from football acadamies have a final shot at impressing professional scouts) and the first of several objectives you'll be given there is to rank in the top half of the 22 footballers on trial during a practice match. If you finish outside of the top half, you'll be asked to leave, with the option to quit or reload an earlier save.

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