Had a few games of PES 2013 at lunch after
@gabe.paul.logan posted those GIFs. It's really surprising, for a game that's considered "attack-oriented", just how much more brain-power is involved in getting up the field compared to the modern games (rather than just being able to pass it to a winger and then blast down the wings for a cross, as any team, against any team).
I think part of that feeling comes from the fact that the game is clunkier and has less freedom, therefore the AI has less variables to "think about" and can predict what you're going to do more easily (because with the game being less responsive than modern games, you're not going to "surprise" it by turning in a different direction at a split second's notice).
The desperation for responsiveness from the online guys means the engine is fully aimed towards that, and perhaps the AI just can't keep up (hence why it's so "samey", so simple and so predictable now).
I really enjoyed the games I had - although, on Superstar, there were several instances where I hit a through-pass to a fast striker and you could see his run being warped into a jog-on-the-spot in order for the defenders to be able to catch him. SEVEN YEARS LATER and I can show you a couple of videos of the exact same thing happening in 2020...
The worst part is, I distinctly remember thinking at the time that the next generation of consoles would remove the need for the game to "cheat" like that in order for the better team to win...
I truly think starting from scratch is the only way to get rid of all these coding shortcuts. The power exists now to super-charge the AI - but the online players want non-controlled players to have shit AI, for the sake of "the skill gap". So will it ever happen? No. Probably not.