So having a few games in different stadiums with different teams as they all play differently...
Its definitely slower.
The shooting is tighter.
The game shape is better, a bit more resistance in midfield.
However...
Its is NOT a return to the demo or even vanilla. Not by a long shot.
The game somehow feels quite heavier and more rigid and weighed down with gravity. Somebody earlier wrote there was no creativity and excitement with this patch which I thought was strange at the time, but I think I get what they mean. It's a little one-paced and attacks dont seem to have sweep and explosive ness to them.
The.ball in particular feels a little dead to pass around. The passing feels rigid, the trajectories, particularly in terms of curve on passes are far more uniform.
I've also noticed the colour balance is better on pitches but graphics now look darker compared to v 1.00.
To be clear guys, I've mainly played 1.00 since release and I have to say, this isnt up to that.
V1.00 feels alive, it has a bounce in its legs, a sweep and rhythm that has been progressively lost in patches in my experience.
This now, although a good game (and had I never played v1.00 or demo, I'd think it was very good) has the hallmarks of later-patch konami rigidness that creeps into pes games around October (we occasionally get looseness back around feb/march I suppose).
I think for those looking for a slower game, a heavier game with better game shape, yep, this delivers that, espcially if you want online and option files. And...and...over time, the game may open out and the variety of attacks may still be in there, I completely accept a few games isnt necessarily enough to be definitive about that.
But if you were looking for the freedom and sweep and randomness and that peculiar rhythm and tempo of the demo (the pes 18 onlie beta had it too if your wondering what I'm on about), then my view at the moment is that's not there.
I just think its impossible for konami to head back to that gameplay. Playing vanilla, then a fair bit of the previous patch the last few days and then this, it's so obvious how much work they've done (in the wrong direction in my opinion) to move it away from demo and v1.00. How they then dial it all back to that feel without starting again is beyond me.
If the demo was a ballerina, this latest version is a pole vaulter.