For the last three years my most anticipated game of the year has been PES. I never list it as such and it never appears in any of my end of year top 10’s because I don’t believe in including yearly franchises in said lists. So having been counting down the days until release, let’s take a deep dive into how this years iteration expands the series.
GRAPHICS
Unfortunately this year the visuals are a bit of a mixed bag. A new entry of course comes with a bevy of updated face scans and this year we also see the addition of many player more tattoos which is great to see. However on the downside a change in lighting now leads to some kits and moments of gameplay looking too bright.
Another legacy problem with the graphics in PES is the look and colour of the turf. While this year it is a bit better than last, it still has a noticeable yellow tinge to it as if a heat lamp has been left hovering above it. Also they have changed the fitting of the kits and it now looks like the players are wearing bin bags at times.
If you play on PC, and if you could you absolutely should, this is all a mute point because the modding community is already out in force and has done a great job already by releasing new turf, adboards, tight kits, custom chants and more with thousands of new scanned faces coming soon. If you are playing on PS4 you are limited but you can at least import an option file to give you all the licensed team names and kits. Xbox fans, as in previous years, are completely out of luck.
MASTER LEAGUE
Master League always has and always will be my main focus in PES. There was a lot of talk going in this year that the mode had been overhauled. Unfortunately that is far from the case. Instead what we do have is a new hub page (which does look nice) and a few nice setup options like choosing what size of budget you start with and the frequency of AI transfers. There is also now some nice looking cutscenes as well, but once you have seen them once you’ll skip them for the rest of the year as they have no bearing on the season.
Under the hood the team have taken a look at transfers which are now closer to real world prices. Thankfully this year you won’t see Mbappé going to Crystal Palace for £17m, so that’s a plus. Aside from the main hub page, all other menus are exactly the same though, as is the training and youth setup. Last year Adam Bhatti, public face of PES, told us the team was happy with the gameplay would be focusing more on evolving their core modes going forward. That has not happened.
The team has opened a feedback page on Facebook to help gauge player opinion and improve the game accordingly. Hopefully this isn’t just lip service and all constructive criticism is given some thought, because there is a passionate fan base that support this game and want it to succeed.
AUDIO
Every year new lines of dialogue are added to the commentary in an attempt to freshen it up and add depth to the existing catalogue of quotes Jim Beglin and Peter Drury spout throughout matches. Unfortunately the result is once again a stale sounding match begging for a new team to take over. One of these years Konami is going to have to take the plunge on a new team, let’s hope it’s sooner rather than later. No-one is expecting a new set of commentators to knock it out of the park year one, as vocals will be limited, but at least if Konami are seen to be addressing the issue fans will understand that improvements are on the way.
GAMEPLAY
PES 2020 as an overall gameplay package is probably the best it has ever been, and I do not say that likely. I have been a massive fan of the moment to moment gameplay for the last three entries in the series, but the addition of the finesse dribbling really is a game-changer for me. Close control dribbling mapped to the right analog stick seems so simple I can’t believe it hasn’t been done before, but it feels brilliant.
This year you also have to be more accurate with your passing, which is a welcome change and really makes you think about your positioning on the pitch and the players around you. Much more prevalent this year is the context in which you strike the ball as well. Your balance, current stride and the pressure you are under all have an impact on how the ball leaves your boot.
On the downside there are currently issues with player switching which can randomly lead to infuriating moments that result in losing a goal (usually in the dying minutes). Developers also appear to have taken fan feedback about too many niggling fouls to heart and at the moment the frequency of fouls can be a little hit and miss. Overall these are relatively small gripes in what I believe to be the best gameplay in any football game to date, but I do hope the team are able to address these concerns in one of the many data packs the game receives as free DLC over the year.
MY CLUB
A week before release we had heard almost nothing about MyClub and upon release the reasons became clear; there is really nothing to report. The mode remains a solid idea and at times I look on in envy at those who enjoy playing sports games online. That’s not me though. I did dabble in order to give my honest feedback, but I just do not enjoy playing football games with others.
I almost role play when playing PES. During games I will build from the back, look for space, switch the play and adapt my style and formation on the fly to fit the opponent. All that goes out the window when playing online. Inevitably players find exploits and high probability ways of scoring and then spam said moves to gain the upper hand. I would rather lose than not play the beautiful game as intended.
To try and fit with the new eFootball branding and attempt to garner more online players the gameplay when playing against others also feels faster. This is something that is likely to pull in a few more casual fans and some curious FIFA fans, but it was an instant turn off for me.
VERDICT
Like last year, this is a hard game to score. The moment to moment gameplay is superb and a joy to play. This is a game that I will put literally hundreds of hours in to between now and August next year, but it does feel like promises were not kept in terms of overhauling game modes. I realise the PES dev team does not have the resources that FIFA do, but for PES 2021 they really need to ignore gameplay and fully focus on evolving both Master League and MyClub.
Forget licenses, the PES community will see to that for you. Whatever it cost to get exclusive rights to Juventus this year wasn’t worth it. PES needs to go back to basics and come back next year with fundamental changes because at the moment the difference in quality between the gameplay and game modes is huge.
-VDZE ✌️
