PES 2014 Appreciation Thread

Chris Davies

Chris Davies

Chief PESsimist
Staff
14 May 2003
UK
Tranmere Rovers
TL: DR; it's not as bad as you think... (Hence why I've decided to create this thread!)

Obviously, it's got issues. Nobody is saying it's the perfect game. But I honestly think that the best bits of 2014 are better than the best bits of 2020.

I couldn't find an old (still open) PES 2014 thread - and I don't think it's quite old enough to be considered for the "Retro PES" thread, right? All the conversation in there right now ranges from PES 5 to PES 2008 - and I consider retro PES to be everything from the original games up to PES 2013, I think.

(2014 was the "let's try something a little more serious" game, which for me marks the start of a new PES era which separates it from the "retro" years.)

Anyway, I thought it deserved a thread for some discussion on its own. It's getting a few mentions from long-time PES fans on Twitter at the moment:



There are features that I, shamefully, didn't even know about, like being able to use R3 to shoulder-barge people:



And having played a few games over the weekend on PS3, I'm really surprised at how playable it is compared to the newer games. For example, I struggle to enjoy PES 2013 as much (which is one of my favourites) because it just feels a little too on-rails. Now PES 2014 is definitely stiff-feeling, and laggy in certain situations...

...but seriously, there are situations where the response time of the player is faster than it is on 2020. I'm not saying it's a more responsive game overall, but I've managed a few quick-turns and scored a few BEAUTIFUL goals (which reminds me, the variance in shot power and trajectories seems better too) where I know for a fact on PES 2020 there would have been a delay in registering my input.

There are also other things it does better than PES 2020 (and I swear it's not an exaggeration). The atmosphere, for one. It's real crowd noise, real chants - not the weird "pseudo-chanting" that's in the modern games, where (it sounds like) they take a few people in a sound studio and add reverb x100 to it, to make it sound like a crowd.

And the pass assist... My God, the pass assist. I mean, if you love a serious football game, but you don't like fully-manual (because it lessens the impact of player attributes, or because it makes great players mishit the most ridiculously simple passes) - this is probably the best bit. TheTrueBrits touches on it here:



In all modern football games, on PA1 or the equivalent in FIFA, I'm so used to having the ball in the middle of the pitch, facing towards the goal, having a winger making a run down the right flank (at a 45-degree angle to my player) and just pushing straight down (90-degree angle) and pressing "pass", or "through-pass", to play a ball to that guy. The game knows who I mean, he's the only player over there.

In this, every single time I do that (and it's a lot), I just pass the ball straight out of play. Which makes me realise just how dumbed-down modern football games are, and how I've been trained to be incredibly lazy with my input.

The best bit...? I had the controls set to PA2 from the last time I played the game, and didn't realise it until I went into the controls thinking "I must have this on manual, I'm doing terribly"... :D

Tactically - oh my God. Remember the "combination play" stuff?



Nowadays we've got "advanced instructions", but honestly, they pale in comparison to this stuff, right?
But the general strategy sliders are still here, just like in 2020:

maxresdefault.jpg


Now, the real reasons I started this thread...

Firstly. It's taken me until today to realise that the World Challenge DLC, which I assumed was just some rubbishy "take on international teams in a league and it's all a bit silly but hey it's new content" thing (something they did on PSP at one point, am I remembering that correctly)...

...is actually a fully-featured World Cup mode with qualification included. How did I not know this (or if I did, how did I forget it)...?

Okay, the qualification structure isn't the same as real-life:

e8gq3aa.png


But even so. How many football games have a mode that takes you through international cup qualification before reaching the finals, apart from the official World Cup games (going back to the all-time classic FIFA 98: Road To World Cup)?

Secondly... Does anybody know the answer to this (I've Googled it but I can't find a satisfactory answer)...
Does PES 2014 on PC have the same gameplay as the PS3 version?

Because, I'm really enjoying the PS3 game (and luckily enough, seeing as the game updates etc. aren't available for it any more, I've still got the last update installed for it alongside a really good option file with everything fixed)... But man oh man, the PS3 could NOT cope with the graphics engine, could it?

How did it get past Sony certification with the frame-rate in cut-scenes and replays? We're talking 10fps in places!
 
Great to see this thread. I actually remember I was one who really enjoyed the game's pace. People later said the reaction times was improved with later patches. I would like to give this a try, don't know if I can find it on PC tho as I dont have my ps3 anymore. In the videos it doesnt look half bad for a 6 year old game.
Damn, now to try to install ONE more retro game. My HDD has been thru most fifas and PES form the last 5 years...
 
Chris Davies said:
Secondly... Does anybody know the answer to this (I've Googled it but I can't find a satisfactory answer)...
Does PES 2014 on PC have the same gameplay as the PS3 version?

Because, I'm really enjoying the PS3 game (and luckily enough, seeing as the game updates etc. aren't available for it any more, I've still got the last update installed for it alongside a really good option file with everything fixed)... But man oh man, the PS3 could NOT cope with the graphics engine, could it?

How did it get past Sony certification with the frame-rate in cut-scenes and replays? We're talking 10fps in places!
Click to expand...
Yes, the game was the same on PC, but the performance also was not very good on PC.
 
rockstrongo said:
Ps any game older than current game is ok by the retro guys
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Isn't it something like "everything that's not a curent-gen title"?
So PES 2014 would definitely be allowed, so would PES 2017 for PC... But PES 2017 for PS4/X1 wouldn't, for example.

Or am I getting confused with the RSC/Libero "guidelines"?
 
*aLe said:
Isn't it something like "everything that's not a curent-gen title"?
So PES 2014 would definitely be allowed, so would PES 2017 for PC... But PES 2017 for PS4/X1 wouldn't, for example.

Or am I getting confused with the RSC/Libero "guidelines"?
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Theoretically retro it's every game before the current one as Rocky said, even tho like Chris I've always found more appropriate to talk from Hyper Soccer to 2013, but it's just my personal take.

Anyway, 2014 is such a particular title, even if kinda half cooked. Everytime a discussion about it arises, I can't help but wondering what would have been if they builded upon it.
 
Think I'll give this another try (on Xbox360) as I've lost interest in enduring the perpetual cheating that is PES2020.

I barely played PES during the PES12-16 era - I was either playing FIFA online or nothing, so there are probably bits of gold that I completely missed first time round.

I did have a trip down memory lane last Christmas holidays and had a quick play of all the PES games from 11-16 and I recall being surprised and dismayed at how some aspects of the game were so much better back then. Was it PES11/12 that had much better gfx than all of its successors until about 2019.......stadium creator was available in quite a few of the editions.......interesting and useful tactical options that have been binned...... the ability to assign various chants to teams.... so much good content that they just binned.
 
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normazimuth said:
I barely played PES during the PES12-16 era - I was either playing FIFA online or nothing, so there are probably bits of gold that I completely missed first time round.
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Same here. Looking back through the PES 2014 threads, there's no sign of me until 2018, at which point I ask for help finding all the DLC for PC and giving it a brief go...

normazimuth said:
I did have a trip down memory lane last Christmas holidays and had a quick play of all the PES games from 11-16 and I recall being surprised and dismayed at how some aspects of the game were so much better back then. Was it PES11/12 that had much better gfx than all of its successors until about 2019.......stadium creator was available in quite a few of the editions.......interesting and useful tactical options that have been binned...... the ability to assign various chants to teams.... so much good content that they just binned.
Click to expand...
It's the atmosphere one that shocks me the most. I'm not saying it's like FIFA is now, but it's real crowd chants (unmodded, on PS3) and it makes such a difference. Perhaps it's just in the World Tour mode (the World Cup mode) - but... How do you go from using real-world crowd chants to using really dodgy synthesised ones, which are obviously recorded by a few blokes who've never heard the real version of the chant in their life?

Some stuff, like dropped features, sort of makes sense (given coding priority on new platforms) but... I mean, the game *always* has to have sound... How has it got worse?
 
Got it all set up on PC, and had a great few games. It's not perfect, but nothing is, and it doesn't feel almost seven years old.



I'm so used to the patterns in PES from probably 2015 onwards, that to see Reus fooling me by pointing towards the winger, then crossing direct (and look at the animation, look at the spin on the ball) was just a really cool moment.

It's a really simple thing - and probably not that impressive to watch a clip of... But when you're in the moment and the AI takes you out of it by fooling you like that (not by using a trick you can't stop, but by putting together a play you didn't expect)... I mean. Heaven.

But yeah, that's not to say there aren't problems...



Though perhaps not as bad as Michael Owen's World League Soccer '99 (bit of light relief) - check out the goalkeeper returning to his home planet:

 
Chris Davies said:
I'm so used to the patterns in PES from probably 2015 onwards, that to see Reus fooling me by pointing towards the winger, then crossing direct (and look at the animation, look at the spin on the ball) was just a really cool moment.
Click to expand...

This is very true and it's what happens when I play a game I haven't played in a while. Granted 19 and 20 had the same AI mentality and moves but when I played 17 I saw AI behavior I hadn't seen in a while. Heck, even now playing 18 I'm seeing great AI goals that I hadn't seen for so long.

The challenge is playing that game for six months and for it to still be a novelty from an AI perspective. Imagine playing 14 for a year then playing 20. I would prob say "wow the AI is passing to the wings... Didn't expect that"

I liked what I saw in your videos and hope I can take out 14 for a spin if I can find it. It's refreshing to see different behavior from the AI
 
Played one game on my Milan ML save.
I must say I had more fun playing this one Vs all games I've played on 20 so far.

Input lag doesn't feel worse than 20 tbh.
What separates this from 19/20 is that both ai's play so much more "alive".

Started on professional difficulty,probably stay there for a while and PA1,tried pa2,but can't really pin point my passes with it,goes to the nearest player.

But a lovely game,feels fresh.
Has its downsides obviously,but Vs 19 and 20 a much more enjoyable game for sure
 
If anyone gets hold off an patch ,doesn't have to be up to date for PS3,let me know!

Edit:scratch that,saw that I had badges and kits for the league's I wanted.
 
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rockstrongo said:
If anyone gets hold off an patch ,doesn't have to be up to date for PS3,let me know!

Edit:scratch that,saw that I had badges and kits for the league's I wanted.
Click to expand...
Someone asked about option files on Twitter, so I pointed them to this: https://www.we-brothers.net/pes-2014-ps3-pauls-option-file/

Don't know if it's any good, but given that it was released after PES 2015 was released, I imagine it's as up-to-date as you'll be able to find!

However - the data pack issue complicates things. With the servers being off, if you haven't already got the data packs downloaded, you won't be able to download them again (and I imagine you need the last data pack to use that file, if it's any good).
 
Chris Davies said:
Someone asked about option files on Twitter, so I pointed them to this: https://www.we-brothers.net/pes-2014-ps3-pauls-option-file/

Don't know if it's any good, but given that it was released after PES 2015 was released, I imagine it's as up-to-date as you'll be able to find!

However - the data pack issue complicates things. With the servers being off, if you haven't already got the data packs downloaded, you won't be able to download them again (and I imagine you need the last data pack to use that file, if it's any good).
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Cheers Chris
I'll have a look on what version I'm on.
Worst case scenario I already have kits/badges etc
 
Chris Davies said:
But yeah, that's not to say there aren't problems...
Click to expand...

I think you'll find he was trying to emulate my patented move from PES6 when the ai had a corner which resulted in a loose bouncing ball in the six yard box. I ran on to it towards my own goal with the long pass button fully pressed whilst neglecting to think about putting any kind of directional input. Result was I slammed it against the bar where it rebounded out to safety. :) I swear I could see my player telling his teammates "Nothing to see lads, move along. "
 
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Chris Davies said:
Someone asked about option files on Twitter, so I pointed them to this: https://www.we-brothers.net/pes-2014-ps3-pauls-option-file/

Don't know if it's any good, but given that it was released after PES 2015 was released, I imagine it's as up-to-date as you'll be able to find!

However - the data pack issue complicates things. With the servers being off, if you haven't already got the data packs downloaded, you won't be able to download them again (and I imagine you need the last data pack to use that file, if it's any good).
Click to expand...
I have all the Data Packs if needed

EDIT: For PC.
 
I can't really think of another video game series especially an annual sports franchise that as so many games that are panned on release yet better appreciated in hindsight than PES. There's franchises that release timeless hits or games that are categorically eternally bad games but with PES, Games like PES 2008, PES 2014, The PS2 ports of 08-13, The Wii versions of 12 & 13... Are actually objectivley good football games when not observed through the lends of series fatigue and rather in retrospect.

I've alway sung from the rooftops the fine points of PES 2014 as the lost prototype for the purest football sim, Cosmetics and polish aside, We'd never see brutally scientific simulation from a footballing game again. Even though PES 5 is considered one of the best football sim's - It's still a juxtaposition of artistic interpretation, realistic psychology and arcade accessibility.

PES 2014 was probably the closest we'd get to Gran Turismo football and if only it came out a year later with this vision and the professional quality of PES 2015, Who knows. It pretty much was an experimental game. The last time Konami would flirt with faithful recreations of the fundamentals of football before settling into the cut throat business first direction of online centric game play instead.

Despite being a part of the Fox engine family of PES games, As @Chris Davies mentions, It seems to nail mechanics and trivial things far better then it's most contemporary cousin. I've been balls deep in PES 2020 for a series of mine and coming off of retro PES which i've honestly haven't been frustrated by in my entire pilgrimage, In PES 2020 I've never swore so much at a game, Every fixture.

What is this - This bizzare regression in Konami's sequels we've come to accept over the last 20 years? Why is defending so much more acceptable and appropriate in 2014? Why is there a midfield and it's battles but it's not there in 2020? Where did half of the animations go?
 
MafiaMurderBag said:
I can't really think of another video game series especially an annual sports franchise that as so many games that are panned on release yet better appreciated in hindsight than PES. There's franchises that release timeless hits or games that are categorically eternally bad games but with PES, Games like PES 2008, PES 2014, The PS2 ports of 08-13, The Wii versions of 12 & 13... Are actually objectivley good football games when not observed through the lends of series fatigue and rather in retrospect.

I've alway sung from the rooftops the fine points of PES 2014 as the lost prototype for the purest football sim, Cosmetics and polish aside, We'd never see brutally scientific simulation from a footballing game again. Even though PES 5 is considered one of the best football sim's - It's still a juxtaposition of artistic interpretation, realistic psychology and arcade accessibility.

PES 2014 was probably the closest we'd get to Gran Turismo football and if only it came out a year later with this vision and the professional quality of PES 2015, Who knows. It pretty much was an experimental game. The last time Konami would flirt with faithful recreations of the fundamentals of football before settling into the cut throat business first direction of online centric game play instead.

Despite being a part of the Fox engine family of PES games, As @Chris Davies mentions, It seems to nail mechanics and trivial things far better then it's most contemporary cousin. I've been balls deep in PES 2020 for a series of mine and coming off of retro PES which i've honestly haven't been frustrated by in my entire pilgrimage, In PES 2020 I've never swore so much at a game, Every fixture.

What is this - This bizzare regression in Konami's sequels we've come to accept over the last 20 years? Why is defending so much more acceptable and appropriate in 2014? Why is there a midfield and it's battles but it's not there in 2020? Where did half of the animations go?
Click to expand...
Very nicely put!
Me for one have come to accept what I couldn't accept when playing this game the first time,input lag,or bad reactions!
I don't really see this game having that much input lag tbh.
Maybe it's me being used to online gaming,or playing Pes 20 where I feel it's pretty much the same.

I know the honeymoon will be over with this game sooner or later,but as long as I don't feel cheated or pissed off constantly (like i always do on Pes 19/20) ,I'll keep playing this little gem of a game
 
Was this before they kinda fixed the keepers? I know they are not the best now but I think back then they were plain terrible. The youtube videos make it look really good for a 6 year old game, although the catch up bug pops up in a few games. Back then people I think mostly complained about the goal nets.

I cant find this game for PC, I found some websites with the demo, but I don't know how safe it is to download from them.

I enjoy exhibition matches for all PES games... the game breaker for me, what makes me stop playing PES is the scripting and the cheating AI. If they fix that (doubtful), I could play any edition and I would have fun. I have fond memories of me breaking remote controls in '13,'14,'15,'16,'17,'18,'19,'20 and probably '21.
 
el niche said:
Was this before they kinda fixed the keepers? I know they are not the best now but I think back then they were plain terrible. The youtube videos make it look really good for a 6 year old game, although the catch up bug pops up in a few games. Back then people I think mostly complained about the goal nets.

I cant find this game for PC, I found some websites with the demo, but I don't know how safe it is to download from them.

I enjoy exhibition matches for all PES games... the game breaker for me, what makes me stop playing PES is the scripting and the cheating AI. If they fix that (doubtful), I could play any edition and I would have fun. I have fond memories of me breaking remote controls in '13,'14,'15,'16,'17,'18,'19,'20 and probably '21.
Click to expand...
Relate to breaking controllers mate.
Think I'm on 13/15/16/17/18 for that.

Keepers aren't a issue in this game,might mix this up with 16? which had horrible keepers.
I even edited all Serie A/B keepers to 99 ovr once to see if that worked,still shite!

Pes 19+20 are the only Pes games I haven't come past one season of ML,simply due to the bs that goes on.
20 plays great on exhibition mode,even good in league mode
 
el niche said:
Was this before they kinda fixed the keepers?
Click to expand...
The keepers are much better in the last couple of 2014 patches (1.13 and 1.16), but "better" does not mean "great". Less buggy, but if you hit a hard shot from close in, they will never stop it.

Which is actually a nice change from superhero goalkeepers who can float and save everything ... but that's an excuse, really. It'll get tiresome I'm sure.

I've had a few ML games now on Superstar (only a few, so things will change I'm sure) and I'm pretty happy about:

A) The variety in results - first game was a friendly (v Dortmund) I won thanks to an own goal, second game (v Swansea) was wide open, full of terrible defensive mistakes and had a couple of power-drives that finished 3-3...

B) The apparent lack of scripting - again it's subject to change, but there's no Team Spirit to bring in the worst scripting, and most of the goals I've conceded are from holding down "pressure" blindly and taking no risks (i.e. double-tapping to tackle).

EDIT: C) Check out the pass accuracy levels, ON SUPERSTAR - no stat-boosting here:

iwoVFQS.png


The downsides for me so far are...

A) I'm getting worried it might be too easy - I've not been beat yet. I've lowered my pass assist level to try and increase the difficulty. Just got beat - see above...

B) The "catch-up" bug is really obvious. Tactically there are situations where a REAL counter-attack is on (an intelligent run that puts a striker beyond the defensive line and through on goal) - but so far only half of them result in a shot. The rest of the time, the striker is caught (yours or the AIs).

C) The Master League is REALLY dull. These were the bad old days. There's no scouting, just one list of "players you can afford who would like to move". Transfer values are MEGA low. There's only one D2 league. You've got international management and qualification for those tournaments - plus UEFA comps and play-offs to enter those - but day-to-day there's nothing to do.

Really enjoying the gameplay so far, though.
 
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Chris Davies said:
The keepers are much better in the last couple of 2014 patches (1.13 and 1.16), but "better" does not mean "great". Less buggy, but if you hit a hard shot from close in, they will never stop it.

Which is actually a nice change from superhero goalkeepers who can float and save everything ... but that's an excuse, really. It'll get tiresome I'm sure.

I've had a few ML games now on Superstar (only a few, so things will change I'm sure) and I'm pretty happy about:

A) The variety in results - first game was a friendly (v Dortmund) I won thanks to an own goal, second game (v Swansea) was wide open, full of terrible defensive mistakes and had a couple of power-drives that finished 3-3...

B) The apparent lack of scripting - again it's subject to change, but there's no Team Spirit to bring in the worst scripting, and most of the goals I've conceded are from holding down "pressure" blindly and taking no risks (i.e. double-tapping to tackle).

EDIT: C) Check out the pass accuracy levels, ON SUPERSTAR - no stat-boosting here:

iwoVFQS.png


The downsides for me so far are...

A) I'm getting worried it might be too easy - I've not been beat yet. I've lowered my pass assist level to try and increase the difficulty. Just got beat - see above...

B) The "catch-up" bug is really obvious. Tactically there are situations where a REAL counter-attack is on (an intelligent run that puts a striker beyond the defensive line and through on goal) - but so far only half of them result in a shot. The rest of the time, the striker is caught (yours or the AIs).

C) The Master League is REALLY dull. These were the bad old days. There's no scouting, just one list of "players you can afford who would like to move". Transfer values are MEGA low. There's only one D2 league. You've got international management and qualification for those tournaments - plus UEFA comps and play-offs to enter those - but day-to-day there's nothing to do.

Really enjoying the gameplay so far, though.
Click to expand...
My key to this game is that I don't feel cheated.
Refreshing feeling tbh
 
MafiaMurderBag said:
I can't really think of another video game series especially an annual sports franchise that as so many games that are panned on release yet better appreciated in hindsight than PES. There's franchises that release timeless hits or games that are categorically eternally bad games but with PES, Games like PES 2008, PES 2014, The PS2 ports of 08-13, The Wii versions of 12 & 13... Are actually objectivley good football games when not observed through the lends of series fatigue and rather in retrospect.

I've alway sung from the rooftops the fine points of PES 2014 as the lost prototype for the purest football sim, Cosmetics and polish aside, We'd never see brutally scientific simulation from a footballing game again. Even though PES 5 is considered one of the best football sim's - It's still a juxtaposition of artistic interpretation, realistic psychology and arcade accessibility.

PES 2014 was probably the closest we'd get to Gran Turismo football and if only it came out a year later with this vision and the professional quality of PES 2015, Who knows. It pretty much was an experimental game. The last time Konami would flirt with faithful recreations of the fundamentals of football before settling into the cut throat business first direction of online centric game play instead.

Despite being a part of the Fox engine family of PES games, As @Chris Davies mentions, It seems to nail mechanics and trivial things far better then it's most contemporary cousin. I've been balls deep in PES 2020 for a series of mine and coming off of retro PES which i've honestly haven't been frustrated by in my entire pilgrimage, In PES 2020 I've never swore so much at a game, Every fixture.

What is this - This bizzare regression in Konami's sequels we've come to accept over the last 20 years? Why is defending so much more acceptable and appropriate in 2014? Why is there a midfield and it's battles but it's not there in 2020? Where did half of the animations go?
Click to expand...
The Gran Turismo of PES!

Man, i like that!! :TU:
Good writing all the way!!
 
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