Konami used to be kings of the soccer sim. Their ISS/PES series had a reputation as the finest football fantasy that money could buy. EA’s rival series didn’t stand a chance until their vast resources could be brought to bear – hoovering up licenses and endorsements. From here, they began hawking their perfect licensing to children and those who can overlook Chris Smalling scoring 35-yard bicycle kicks in every single game. Pro Evolution Soccer was always for the purist who couldn’t stand FIFA‘s artificial drama and scripting. PES 2021, a cut-price season update, continues that tradition of making you work for the joy that comes with the beautiful game.
The Season Part
There isn’t much to report bar changes to licensing, promotion/relegations, transfers, each player inching one year closer to retirement/the grave etc.. The kits of licensed teams are perfect and even with the aging Fox Engine, they still look amazing. It must be said that Fox’s lighting and its treatment of the vast expanses of top grounds still beat Frostbite hands-down. Even with the minor changes of PES 2021, that lead is still intact.
These licensed kits, official stadia and the more famous players have looked better in PES for a few years now – a testament to the engine and the talent of their team.
The line-up of licensed leagues hasn’t changed. PES 2021 did implement one change that fans have clamoured for for many years – relegated teams from last season’s second tiers are retained in ‘Other Leagues’. Hull City/Tigers fans can relax.
The Update Part
The real changes come on the pitch. From the moment you start your Master League with default line-up, you will feel it. Right-stick touches and dribbles are much swifter to begin their animations. Players known for dribbling and tight control can exploit it to a much greater degree this year.
The passing assist has also tightened up. For better or worse, all levels of pass assist feature easier through balls. Some may complain that the joy of making your own pass has been reduced but players can always switch to a lesser assist level. Or better yet, dispense with the assist and go full manual.
Changes to collisions and physicality may take a little longer to notice. Players now try to avoid the direct and often silly crashes of yore. Agile players, in particular, will sway or dodge to stay on their feet. This has huge ramifications for burly centre-halves with lack of pace being a bigger disadvantage in over-the-top chases with strikers.
All of these attacking buffs have been countered to some degree though. Goalkeepers are now MUCH surer when collecting the ball out of their goal. When you rush out manually, they don’t offer a huge slice of the goal to aim for and they try to make themselves big in one-on-ones. Unfortunately, the fake shot still hypnotises goalkeepers – making rounding a goalkeeper much less satisfying than it should be.
Defender control and interception errors have been toned down. Missed headers, letting a ball bounce through etc. still happen but not at the schoolboy frequency of PES 2020
Commendable Tactical Switch
Konami deciding to focus on next year’s next-gen edition has worked out well. PES 2021 is €30 well spent to those who don’t own PES 2020. Those who own last year’s edition will be tempted by the subtle-yet-impactful changes on the field.
There are some fans who will be disappointed not to be tucking into a new Master League. Others who would have liked refinements to the addictive Matchday or MyClub modes. But faced with a global pandemic, Konami made the right choice – here’s a better game of football than last year for less than half-price.
Do you think a cut-price update is worth it? Were Konami right to focus on next year’s next-gen?
Review code provided by PR
