Re: PES 2013 Discussion Thread .......
I've managed to play about 6-7 games so far, with differing teams, and all against my son. After two previous years of having full 10 minute demos, it's criminal that this has reverted back to 5 minutes. Typical Konami, flawed genius. I have no idea how they expect us to gain a real flow of the game and capture it's beauty in that time-scale, it's beyond ridiculous, and highly detrimental to it's purpose. In saying that, in the limited time I've had to play the game, I've found it to be nothing short of brilliant.
The first thing that hit me was the improved replication of inertia, in my opinion, this is huge. Konami truly have a superb understanding of what makes football tick, and their focus this year looks to be built on enhancing the basic fundamentals to another level. The inertia, and not only the first-touch, but every single touch makes this game feel very natural on the park. The intricacies from the most recent versions have been worked upon to a much higher level, and the fluidness now replicate the theories in a much tighter manner.
Every player seems to have a different level of control, and not just their first-touch, every single touch they make. I've noticed another Player Card in there- namely the Deft-Touch card.I assume that this is different from the First-Touch Card in the same way the new Weighted Pass Player Card differentiates from the Pin-Point Passer Card. I'll need to confirm that though. Football and it's relevant technique all starts from a players touch, that is the base for which everything follows. Understanding this is paramout to providing a simulation of the sport, and Konami seem to be extremely aware of this. Which is great, as it provides so many variables and helps define the individuality of each and every single player.
I've always been a huge fan of the highly complex dribbling system that PES has offered in recent times, and this improved system is so much better again. The theories of the recent versions are still ever present, but now we have a much more fluid experience, with so many new angles. A drop of the shoulder has never felt or looked as real as it does in this demo, it's sheer beauty in it's own right. The primary drivers for ensuring this are without question the improved inertia, and also the varying weight of touches. Combine those variables with the extended potential of the R2 option, and you truly have an experience that is able to replicate the shifting of weight and balance better than it has even been done before. This level of a opportunity then bleeds over to every single part of the game. It's beyond massive, as it offers the ability to completely control and dictate the pace on the park. Not only that, the increased individual nature of the players will ensure that the likes of Pirlo et al, will become more important and prominent than ever before.
If we are looking to just how much the game has improved over the last 12 months in this regard, I think we need to look no further than the glaring differences across the board between last years Demo 1 and this years equivalent. It's not just the polish, it's everything, it's all the mechanics. This early demo is already far more advanced than the PES 2012 retail version, from a pure football perspective.
I also noticed an improved feeling of freedom across the park, and it's not only the movement off the ball, but the player positioning. I've never felt PES was ever regimented in it's positional play, but PES 12 certainly felt less free than this demo. For me that was instantly noticable, and it's a massive part of the game that has a major influence on everything that plays out around you. The availble options are not too dissimilar to last years offering, but now they just feel more natural. The relevance to the close-control and use of R2 brings this feeling to the forefront and is paramout when holding up play and dictating the pace.
The tackling also seems better, with more drive and weight to the sliding tackle in particular. R2 and X is still very prominent, and will need to be used more to combat the added angles when a player looks to drift and glide past the opposition in tight areas.
I found the passing to be both more educated in it's execution and a lot more free in it's theory. I struggled with Zero Assistance, it feels so much less forgiving than PES 12, and although frustrating at times, I can appreciate it's potential. In my opinion, this needs work, as I don't feel that it's been implemented fully in this demo just yet. I changed up to 1-Bar Assistance, and the game became so much easier and fluid, but if I'm honest, it felt a little too easy. I also has a couple of instances where the ball was passed to player of which I had not intended. That never happened in PES 2012, and it was enough to switch back from 1-Bar to Zero. The days of picking out the wrong player in PES are long gone, and I don't ever want to see that again. I would rather mess up the weight of the pass than have the CPU pick out a different player, even if the resulting pass was to my benefit. No thanks. The new outside-of-the-boot caressed angled pass from a give-and-go is beautiful, really love that. It looks like it is statistic specific, which is great. The L2 Modifier on the both the high pass and the stroke across the deck feels so much better, with more accuracy and dip.
I also tried the shooting on fully manual, but after a couple of games I switched back to Assisted. I've never been sold on this option, and after striking a 30 yard drive from Gerrard completely square and into the stands, I parked that option for the time being. I will revisit it, but only once I have become fluent in the other aspects of the game, or when I have longer than 5 minutes to practice. The fact we now have an L2 Manual Modifier for shooting is all I will probably ever need, especially for those really tight angle strikes. I also want the players shooting statistics to be very prominent, but from my limited experience of this new system, it certainly doesn't seem to offer the same pronounced stats the Zero Passing Assistance system affords in it's particular realm.
I fully appreciate that this is a very early demo, and that there is a lot more, but I'm very happy on what Konami has focused on and improved. Which is the very key factors in football fundamentals.
Early Pro's and Con's -
Pro's
1. Inertia - Superb, the best yet. Even arcing runs off the ball from dead-ball situations have that weighted feel. Foot-planting and the shifting of weight is amazing.
2. First-Touch, All-Touch - Easily my most favoured upgrade, that effects everything that follows. And along with inertia, the most important features of truly replicating football. Outstanding.
3. Positioning and Movement - So much more intelligent than PES 2012, it creates a more natural flow to the game.
4. Player ID - Taking individualism to the next level, which is a Konami tradmark. Football isn't about two teams as such, it's about 22 individual players that collectively make up a the two teams. The higher the level of individualism, the more varied the action on the pitch will play out.
5. Physics - So much better than before, and I love the battling for the loose balls, very natural.
Con's
1. Zero Passing Assistance seems to be a little too eratic at present. The difference between 1-Bar and Zero is too great. 1-Bar seems far to assisted, where as Zero could possibly do with a slight bit more. I don't think the likes of Pirlo should be penalised as much as they currently are on Zero Assistance.
2. Shooting Trajectories - Very similiar at present, with every strike having a very similar line. I would suggest that this is down to the early code, and I do expect this to be sorted.
So that's about it for me so far. I've not played the CPU, so these observations have come soley from Human v Human matches. I'm very excited about this years version now, and that is mainly down to points 1 and 2 in the Pro's.