It has a huge impact for me. Let me explain from the start.
Please note, I played 5 full matches in Kick Off. 3 normal, 2 in Simulation setting - first few games on World Class, rest on Legendary. Lets start with normal. The beta build has friendly match and online modes. No Career or FUT
So starting the game, everything is very similar to last year, however I did venture in the 'Graphical' setting tab, which has 'Enhanced' as default, and option to change to 'Resolution'. Enhanced is basically being able to see the shirt movement in gameplay. For me it looks too much, shirts are much tighter on players these days, but nice visual touch. They need to lower this in my opinion as a little silly at times (i.e. after player stops shirts keep moving around for a while).
Into the game, and this is where it gets interesting. As a PES player, dribbling is very important, with the feel of player weight and characteristics important elements for my own personal enjoyment. EAFC 24 as we all know had lack of weight, sliding, unrealistic inertia etc. Now in EAFC 25, it's so much better! First thing is weight and movement. I didn't feel or see any sliding when dribbling, it is fluid, but there are shifts of the ball rather than instant movement into a direction. Moving 90 degrees requires a shift (i.e. chop of the ball into a desired direction if more than 45 degrees) which adds the feeling of weight, as it requires the player to move the ball first and then follow it. A great thing is that you feel player individuality here, with players like Vini Jr more responsive, but still adhering to the 'shift then move' mechanics.
The other thing I really like is the favoured foot in dribbling. I think this part has helped remove sliding, as player focus on dribbling with their favoured foot. So for example if I was Jude Bellingham and I move in a circle clockwise, he would be using the outside of his right foot. Really helps with player individuality, beyond the usual responsiveness and speed.
So player dribbling is great, I love it. Now onto the ball and passing. Here is where I'm not so happy, but there are good points. First of all bad, ball is too fast. This is painful at times, especially against the AI. However, the good is that there a lot of elements of error if you try first tough passes too often. How that behaves is simple really, where I saw the ball pop up off the ground and slow down, causing me to reassess my next move. but not much more.
Now, Simulation mode! I want to get into this because it made me really fall in love with the game. As some people have noticed it's basically a locked slider setting you choose, and it's wonderful for me. Why? Because basically it doesn't impact the way I dribble, that doesn't change and the feeling is great, but everything else is slowed down. Please note, I like PES6 which is not slow, so what I mean is 'slow in comparison'. Big hit is ball speed. funny thing it's still quick, but not silly, and feels like what you would expect in real life IMO.
Pace of players also takes a hit, where's now a really cool feeling of inertia as you start dribbling as player knock the ball what seems a little bit further - however it feels that way because their speed is lowered so slower to catch-up to a knock-on.
And in general for simulation mode - lots of errors! Here is where passing errors are for punishing passing blind, the shots which don't always hit the target etc. And the AI makes mistake too!
Sorry this is a long post and I'm losing my flow, but did want to touch on the negatives:
- Team individuality - I see it, but not very different to FC24. I player some great teams, and they didn't feel unique. Maybe Man City passed more, but couldn't really tell. I'd say more player individuality than team play. For example you really feel Rodri is imposing and difficult to beat, but can't say Man City as a team were any different to Barcelona
- POV replay - don't like it personally, I like a full view of the pitch when watching a goal, POV is disorientating.
- Shirt movement - As mentioned, super exaggerated
- Defending - So here is where I saw foot sliding a lot, off the ball. You don't notice it of course when in possession, but when I was defending there's a lot of sliding around and instantly shifting direction. Odd because dribbling feels grounded, not sure why defending needs to be higher response
- Animation - This is harsh because it's definitely improved, but I never liked it last year with the strange arm movement and posture. Much better, but still present here and there
I'm hoping to play more later, probably will update thoughts. Overall hoping the game doesn't get patched too much during the beta, but it will...
