Okay, here come my impressions.
First, some background. Oldest members may remember me as I was a hardcore fan of the in-game editor and tried to help around seven-eight years ago with kit and badge edition in PS2. I have been a PES player since ISS on Super NES, ISS Pro Evolution (all versions) on PS1, and all PES and some Winning Eleven versions too on PS2. Then next-gen consoles came and PES was ruined. Until now.
This the year where I'm dumping FIFA (been there for 10, 11 and 12 versions) and coming back home. To me, PES 2013 is back to its roots, great sensations in a football game.
Demo 2 shows many things that have been missing since the PS2 era:
- First, and most important of all, I have not detected any major problem, there's no evident deal-breaker to me, which is a new since next-gen arrived. This should not be news under normal conditions, but we all know what PES has become lately, so it is something to mention.
Now the good stuff:
- True (this time for real) 360º degree control.
- Players move fluidly, not like robots or on-rails.
- Super cancel is not that much needed anymore, as the manual R3 teammate-run button works like a charm.
- Manual passing and shooting is perfectly implemented in this game. This is a blast for me. It's PES back to its best: give me control over passing, and I'll decide how to play.
- Again, passing is bliss in this game.
- Shooting: want to curl it in? Press R2, position your player well and you'll see a great technical effort. Want to blast it in like a rocket? Tap square once, and when your player is about to touch the ball, tap it again: Ronaldo-like missile without any effect, swerving towards the goalie. Want it low? Tap triangle after square and the rocket will turn into a torpedo. It's your choice, and IMHO it's perfectly implemented.
- AI seems good to me. Goalies are not utter crap, neither are they Casillas all the time. CPU pressure seems a bit high, but that's most of modern footy anyway, and it forces you to build up your plays "Spain-style", or try a Xabi Alonso intelligent through ball.
- Corner kicks and crosses to the box feel perfectly balanced in pace and curl for me. I just happen to be useless in heading so far, but I'm sure it's my fault, as I've conceded several cool headers against friends in the demo.
- Game speed seems very good to me. I long for 10 minute games in which I have a bit more time to build up plays, but overall speed at "0" seems OK to me.
- Player ID is perfect. Ronaldo feels like Superman when running into open spaces, Messi is lethal (finally!), Iniesta, Özil, Xavi, Pirlo, all deliver great ball control and passing, Ramos just feels strong, Rooney has his monster shooting... Try nice skills with Neymar, but don't dare do so with Gomez. You can feel the difference there.
- Defending has implemented the best ideas from FIFA (contention) and, again IMO, improved upon them. I like the use of R2 for jockeying, X for contention, double X for tackling and square for teammate help. You can just press square to send your teammates to pressure while keeping control of a defender some metres behind with X, organizing your pressure effectively. This is new for PES (it used to be just hold square+X forever and run around), and it brings a new dimension.
- I just LOVE dribbling on this game. It's cool how they have implemented simple moves like Iniesta's "La Croqueta" effectively (moves are simple, the art is in the timing) and complex ones too (Neymar's feints require a bit more button-magic which make them less frequent). Just as in real life.
- I also enjoy the R2 oriented control button. I like the R2+R1 combinations (pace change, nutmeg, run-around). Very intuitive. Very well implemented.
What I like less:
- I still feel the collision engine is somewhat lacking. Sometimes players bounce between themselves as if they were mannequins, not people. Not much of a severe problem, but it's definitely there.
- I have become spoilt by how FIFA players fight for an air ball or while running the sides. I feel this is not quite up to the same level in PES yet.
- I still don't understand what's with the pitch texture and Konami. I play this game for the feels of it, not the looks, but come on, it's 2012 already. It cannot be too hard when every single patch massively improves pitch textures. And it's been like this since 2003. Time to fix it guys.
- Chants and audience noise suck. Always been like this, always will be. Missing so much the custom chants that FIFA allow in the game editor, it makes a big difference in presentation.
- Have not had the chance to listen to Spanish commentary yet, and still I suppose it will suck, as it always has.
- Licenses are overdue, a must for this game. I cannot patch a PS3 game as I patched the PS2 ones, so unlicensed teams are a hassle... unless the in-game editor is as cool as it used to be.
Overall, I've not felt anything similar for a PES since Winning Eleven 7 International. To me, it was downhill ever since. This is the first PES that feels like the good Pro-Evo in many, many years. And I'd say it's up there with the best. To me, this is a massive improvement over what came before, finally a true deserver of the PES name in the next-gen consoles, and a fresh change from FIFA (which being as awesome as it is, has grown a bit old on me recently).
Good feelings...
