So as far as first impressions go...
On the ball, I really like it. I'm quite impressed with the weight off the players & the ball physics. My biggest request was the return of inertia and realistic foot-planting. While i don't think we'll ever see a return to the simulation of PES 2014, The closest thing we'll get is a compromise between that and fun and i have to make peace with that.
I saw a bit of error on body context and passing/shooting which was encouraging on PA1 but i switched to manual passing and shooting anyway after a couple of games and the game is a delight while in possession.
I like that even on manual, You could still dip a volley from outside on target regardless of timing or posture on PES 2019; Last night i tried the same thing with Rakitic - A typically great distance shooter and because the ball was still too high for the hit, He sliced it and it soared miles wide! That was very believable and logical.
The usual anti climax of the CPU getting possession and scoring 90% of their attempts on goal returns and leaves you with that feeling of forfeit as soon as the CPU pulls the trigger, Just feels like they can do no wrong when they form a dangerous attack.
5 minute match time doesn't leave me craving for more or encourages me to buy or pre-order the full game, Does this actually work as marketing tactic? It's just frustrating. You're lucky if you orchestrate 2 attacks in a half and as soon as you get a rhythm going, It's all over like a ruined orgasm. (At least it saves your settings. Oh how hard we had it in the old days when the entire demo would restart.)
Now for my main negatives and i've tried to narrow it down to a couple of points that people haven't already covered.
Quality of Life settings.
Now, The minor fouls and niggles are a little frequent and i really don't mind this too much, Even though at this stage a lot of them are just random collision detection issues... But this could be remedied by giving us options in the settings for replay frequency and to disable that eFootball screen wipe!
Now, I love the choice we have with the settings screen at present but the truth is it also hasn't really had much in the way of additions since 2014. I just feel like they could give us a little bit more choice like the frequency of those match stat popups that dropped down from the scoreboard that used to take up the top left quarter of screen obstructing your view if you was in that area of the pitch on a lower cam.
Menu Presentation and GUI
It's one of the other areas I've been quite critical of over the last couple of years, It's polarizing because some suggest menus don't matter as long as they function and others believe they are just as relevant as the gameplay. I'm just a bloody snob when it comes to cohesiveness, symmetry, The psychology of graphic design and presentational polish.
It's an unpopular opinion and i hate to be scathing towards any artist or graphic designer but I just find it mind boggling how the artwork in this game as been submitted for approval and found it's way into the game - How does nobody see the jarring, random nature of the assets? Even the start screen, Has the most random picture of Pjanic they could've possibly used?? It's not even a glorious action shot or something stylish or anything conducive to in-play football - It could've been taken seconds before a "freeze frame blink made to look like a seizure" or picking his nose for all we know as well as how raw the image is, No post processing or Photoshop touch ups. It doesn't look like the corporate glossy portfolio you'd expect to see in a mainstream product.
The main menu is really bare-bones too, Even the tiles of yesteryear i had no problem with, It was a bit cluttered but at least it still looked high end. We had the classy menu's with the player models in 2015, The slick dock of PES 2011 but apart from those two, Konami have always struggled with making sophisticated looking menus.
I assumed that this menu was simply a place holder for functional purposes at E3 but it appears they're going with it all the way. Minimalist menu's can look really nice in games but this just comes off as rushed.
And my final criticism with the assets are the player portraits on the game-plan/Formation overlays. They're wildly inconsistent, Non-uniform and lack cohesiveness. Take Bayern for example, Kimmich & Boateng just randomly have CG portraits while rest of the squad have real world photo's! Why were they excluded? I wish we went back to PES 2017 where EVERY player had in game renders for their portraits and at least then there'd be no silhouettes either.
Don't get me started on the mess of those legend players portraits either.
Do you guys enjoy the new stadium cam? Or do you change it?
I love it and it's one of my favourite things about the new game. I'm a big mark for broadcast cams and presentation and i love the way it pans and zooms in towards the goal mouth and when you're keeper collects the ball.
I play on 0,0,10. I always loved the broadcast cams on previous games but isometrically it makes it very difficult to play on. This new camera eliminates that issue for me.
Bit disapointed we still can't adjust the angle of the Dynamic camera.