Okay
1. The manual dribbling speed, where speed and mini touches are totally manual controlled by Left Stick and how far is R2 pressed
2. The manual defending, where you can post up/match up the attacker with the cross button (like fifa tactical), plus standing/sliding tackle, or charge with L2. Until now PES defending was mostly just pressing a button and waiting
3. For first time i feel that player moves on 360 degrees, up to pes 2021 was something like 16 directions.
4. Dribbling is very difficult and intuitive, player movement and inertia is noticeable with the new animations, actually the best feeling of inertia/momentum i have seen. With bugs and glitches,unfortunately.
5. Ball is totally free and separate from bodies. You can see that from how it reacts with bodies (with bugs/glitches again, ok) and how unpredictable are the outcomes of standing and sliding tackles and deflections.
6. The game feels more focused around the physicality of just pace and skill moves and constant passing, making the pace very realistic.
7. Gameplay is slow, measured and tactical more than ever
8. The immersion, is outstanding for me. I have to think before every move, and many times i pass the ball back to defenders. This is the end of automated mechanical era of PES.
9. CPU does dribble the ball a lot! Pes CPU was always about passing and no dribbling at all.
Confusing, difficult, soaked in bugs and glitches, but to me its the closest thing I played to football simulation (PES 2014 was good too).
Im still with you on the idea of the new dribbling and defending being a ''nice'' new mechanic, albeit badly executed
But the rest?
There is absolutely zero inertia and momentum on movement right now in terms of what is simulated, its simulated due through the animations already being preset like the old days, players just glide towards places to finish their animations, I even fell over on a shot but it still gave me the shot trajectory of me being in full sprint blasting it home giving that extra predetermined feel
Ball is super on glue with the players to make this esport like dribbling mechanic possible, the ball moves on a string with the player and theres hardly any leeway into the freedom you have with the ball, After 7 hours i know exactly how the ball i gonna react simply by 1+1ing the animations with the movement of the ball. The only way the ball goes ''loose'' is when that animation + movement on a leash combination breaks into glitchyness, making the ball go into the only ''physical simulation'' point where it just bounces off or goes to weird places. But at times when a player recognises said ''loose'' ball it could completely throw a certain animation at the player (even though the player couldnt physically do it or moves and glides weirdly to execute said animation) and the ball would even when in replay mode stop before the animation is finished in a super unnatural and once again, on rails kind of way.
In no way in hell this game is heavily coded on realism...
Its a videogame-game with a new dribbling system with predetermined effects but with the user in full control of said effects where they try to make a simple 1 on 1 with the new defensive mechanics.
Full control in dribbling where you want to go within said unnatural unrealistic system, time it right and get past the player, defend with man matching, time your standing tackle right or barage with L2 physical defending and win the ball.
All based on user input and on in the end possible skill. But no way in hell does it do a simulation sandbox-y kind of aproach anymore.
I can see it being a nice esports game in the end, its very simplistic, streamlined. Hope they give more shooting variety in the end because most shots people post just now are exactly the trajectories i keep scoring countless of times, no soul, lifeless. arcade?
Streamline it and you got a nice little esports game which would benefit a lot in the fantasy team mode for their money making system as its really a videogame-game where you can immerse yourself in. But the core just really doesnt base itself of realism in terms of real life physics anymore. Theres a difference in that.