Still playing and still really enjoying it - considering switching to a DP7-compatible patch. I might even take a leaf out of
@MafiaMurderBag's book and do some kind of "Road to World Cup" YouTube series, that's how much I'm enjoying it.
I feel like I have to stress that it's not perfect each time I post about it... Catch-up is a big issue, dribbling isn't fluid, and although it's far more responsive than it was at release it still has moments (especially when trying to defend). For example, when you try to press someone and the animations are such big, slow strides in the directions you're pushing, that the opponent just walks past you easily.
But you know what other game has that problem? PES 2020. (As I said in the first post, I'm honestly shocked at how little the game has moved on since then - you can "feel" when maneuvering players just how closely related 2014 and 2020 are in certain places.)
The thing I love most is knowing that it's going to be difficult playing tough teams, and easier playing relegation-fodder. That's SUPER basic, right? But neither PES 2020 or FIFA 20 manage this. How weird is that?
I played (as Fulham vs) Norwich, who were at the foot of the table, and before the game I had to rotate the squad (and it's nice to have to do that). I put on a few kids in key positions and I thought to myself, "well we're losing this match for sure".
I scored from a lovely passing move after 15 minutes, then got my LB
sent off after 30 minutes, who just didn't quite reach the ball with a lunging tackle. In the modern games, how often do you mistime a tackle? How often do you get a red card yourself? Barely happens. I was really shocked!
I spent the rest of the game defending for my life but even then, they were toothless - until the 80th minute, when I conceded a really harsh penalty. Double-tapped X to tackle and just didn't have the right angle, and ended up tripping their striker.
Thankfully, he blasted it over the bar and we held on to win 1-0 - but all of this stuff feels fresh, and missing from the modern games.
Okay... Of course it will feel different, because it's a game I've not played in ages - like
@el niche said on page one, the AI will do "new" things and after a while, those things become just as repetitive as the moves from the modern games.
But that doesn't change the fact that I've been awarded (and have conceded) penalties, I've genuinely not had the scripting kick in (
yet), I've been surprised by the AI's movement (both positively in terms of the variety in their decisions, and negatively in terms of the occasional run-out-of-play)...
Yeah, I'm really enjoying it - it's somewhere between classic PES gameplay that's on rails, and modern PES gameplay that has more freedom. It's neither completely stiff nor completely free, with a clear focus on realism and grinding your way up the pitch. Phwoar.