PES 2018 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (PS3, PS4, 360, Xbox One, PC)

[dubcity]

Quote: Originally Posted by pk500

I can't wait to read gaming media reviews of PES 18 claiming it's a better sim than FIFA 18, as that's been the false narrative for the PES series ever since EA got FIFA's sh*t together a few years ago. Sure enough, we'll read reviews about how "plucky upstart Konami may lack the licenses, polish and depth of its competitor, but it provides a more realistic, organic football experience than FIFA."

I'm not really a fan of your overall negative tone here, but you're probably right about this. Since about PES 2015, critics have been hailing the return of PES, and I believe last year it got some crazy high review scores.

Unfortunately, aside from the critics on this site, most reviewers for big media outlets play these sports games for a few days and make a judgement.

IGN gave PES 2017 a 9.5/10. There's definitely a narrative out there from critics who want PES to be better than it is, just because it makes for a better story.

[JimmyDeicide]

Its negative because these games have lost sight of what they are about and are to busy trying to out gimmick each other they cant see their own ****ty games for what they are.

Sorry this is my Favorite genre and im just fed up with it all every year.
Konami have lost the plot with their defensive game im afraid.

[inkcil]

Terrible looking game on XB1 (not the S, not 4k...but neither are any other of my games). The worst looking sports game on the system, by far. I also still have my ps3 and the game looked better on the ps3.

Gameplay was great on the Ps3 but a little sluggish on the XB1. I am no soccer pro, but in general the game seems solid gameplay wise. Konami should just make this a PS4 exclusive if this is how they're going to treat XB1. This is my first year with XB so I had no idea.

[dubcity]

Finally got a chance to download and I play some matches.

I recommend that people who find the game too easy, particularly with regards to keeping possession, try switching to +1 speed and all manual. I find it necessary when playing the CPU.

Pros

Game looks better. I'd say day games are a full step up from last year. New player models are way better.

Gameplay feels tweaked enough for me to justify a purchase. Can't decide if the slower gameplay is a net positive, but I feel like it at least creates a different feel. I preferred +1 speed last year, and this year even more so.


Cons

Having every team by default have 4 advanced instructions, and all of them activated from the start, seems like a specific attempt by Konami to trigger Matt10 lol. Gonna have to delete all of those when the full game drops. I think this might be why people (myself included) are seeing the CPU pull of some wonky and OP attacking plays leading to goals.

Seeing some sluggish/delayed response times from AI teammates when receiving manual passes. Also, those passes seem too weak, but that's just an initial impression after a few matches.

Night matches visual still underwhelming.

[dubcity]

Another general con:

Still seeing those odd Konami glitches that shouldn't make it past quality control ...

Camera doesn't adjust quickly enough on a change of possession. If I gain possession of the ball in my own penalty area, and face the opposing goal, the screen should change to where at 75% of the screen is the area (upfield) that my player is facing. This is a problem that was kinda fixed when they added the new "dynamic" camera in PES 2015. But now it's back to being clostrophobic and weird. Meh.

On corners, the display says that pressing R1 will "fix pass trajectory and direction." Pressing R1 last year when they still had that ball trajectory laser indicator (for lack of a better term) did nothing, and this year it's somehow even more useless. What does R1 do there? Nothing? Why is that on the screen? Meh.

[Bahnzo]

It's been interesting reading what people think so far. One thing I've seen discussed (and not just here) is the lack of fouls. Have a decent amount of fouls ever been a thing, on any soccer game? Or any game for that matter? I remember NBA2k didn't really do well with fouls either.

Still waiting on the PC demo; Konami site says "The demo for PC will be released on mid-September". So I suppose I'll just continue reading, and enjoying the incessant whining from PC folks about a lack of a demo

One question for anyone who played a lot of last year: How difficult was it to get an online game, especially in the myTeam portion? I realize FIFA will be more popular, but I'd be more apt to buy PES if there's at least a decent USA presence for online.

[RogerDodger]

I'm really impressed by the demo, more so than the beta. I love the lack of predictability that plagues my experiences of FIFA and the graphics and gameplay here were very positive experiences for me. I'll buy this one.

[valdesas]

Quote: Originally Posted by inkcil

Terrible looking game on XB1 (not the S, not 4k...but neither are any other of my games). The worst looking sports game on the system, by far. I also still have my ps3 and the game looked better on the ps3.

Sounds ridicilous. I'm playing on PS, but still XB1 shloud be way ahead of last gen consoles visually