PES 2018 vs 2019 vs 2020 vs 2021?

Friends. Today I discovered Pes 2020 again. (1.08.00 version).
Surprisingly, there is better balance here than in Pes 2021. More freedom in player movements, cool dribbling, no constant CPU pressure. The game seems more alive, the physics of the ball is amazing. I'm having fun and enjoying the game immensely. Of course this is a different game in many ways. I recommend it to anyone who wants to try something new and is tired of Pes 21. I installed the patch and am enjoying it.
 
Kenaykix said:
haha I think your point of view about Pes 19 is very good, I liked the way you described your experience, I personally have a lot of mixed feelings with Pes 19 because of the issue of its script and the stressful AI but I still follow it Enjoying it, I haven't played a complete ML to share an experience like you, but I do try to adjust to playing the full manual, something difficult compared to how I handle it in other pes such as pes 18, 20 or 21... this one. The game is really a challenge. In terms of shooting at goal, I think it is the most difficult compared to making the plays. Hitting the goals is from another planet and even more so when I play with the transmission camera mod and full manual.
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Hi bro, do you use any patch on pes 19?
 
 
 
 
I was looking through stuff again and.. Not quite sure where I originally ranked 2018, probably 3rd. But I've been intrigued by again - especially in the context of it being kind of the last PES with a real game factor - without the mad repetitiveness of 2019 and heavy monotone feel of 2020/2021...

So what are people's thoughts on 2018 compared to 2017 (usually seen as one of the best from the Fox Engine)? I also think its important because about 2016-18, FIFA 17/18 is also where FIFA officially started to go down the drain after 17.. with competitive FUT and other things strongly taking over. So was PES similar from 2017/18 onwards? (pes 2019 is very similar to 2020 in some aspects in my opinion, and we know what came afterwards)
 
PES18 is a very good game, not quite as good IMO as PES17, but still one of the better next gen PES'.

The dribbling on it is lovely but the 2 main gripes for me are...

1. The lack of fouls. It maybe that on PES17 the AI are relentless and constantly in your face, so you get a lot of free kicks. On 18, they seemed to dumb down the collision system so you don't get many at all.

2. The AI back heels. You can go a while and not see any then have a match and within 5mins the AI have done about 6 of these. 1 now and again is acceptable but when the Midfielder has the ball, with a simple square pass available but instead does a silly back heel, it does get annoying.

I also found the ML was broke in terms of money awarded. I did a few seasons as Racing in the Argentine League and after 2 seasons I had about £150 million so could basically sign anyone.

My 2 go to games at present are FIFA 16 & PES 17. To me, they are the last 2 that were really geared for offline players before the card gambling took hold.
 
I played a few games on an old ML save (Pes 18) and first game felt really good, then i bumped it up to Top player and it was one touch football from the cpu, insane pace and back heels all over the place.
Lots of good in this game but compared to 17 is nowhere as good.
Could be down to taste and preference as well, since i think pes 20 is better than 21
 
abcdefg1 said:
PES18 is a very good game, not quite as good IMO as PES17, but still one of the better next gen PES'.

The dribbling on it is lovely but the 2 main gripes for me are...

1. The lack of fouls. It maybe that on PES17 the AI are relentless and constantly in your face, so you get a lot of free kicks. On 18, they seemed to dumb down the collision system so you don't get many at all.

2. The AI back heels. You can go a while and not see any then have a match and within 5mins the AI have done about 6 of these. 1 now and again is acceptable but when the Midfielder has the ball, with a simple square pass available but instead does a silly back heel, it does get annoying.

I also found the ML was broke in terms of money awarded. I did a few seasons as Racing in the Argentine League and after 2 seasons I had about £150 million so could basically sign anyone.

My 2 go to games at present are FIFA 16 & PES 17. To me, they are the last 2 that were really geared for offline players before the card gambling took hold.
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Lack of fouls is a bit of a problem... but if the general gameplay isn't too slow like 2019/2020 or too repetitive like ALL of 2019 and 2021... then it doesn't sound that bad, because correct me if I'm wrong but 2018 builds on 2017 right? Well you can say build but from what I've read here it sounds like they took a few of the bricks from 2017 away. But its still largely similar (I hope) right?
Back heels in the middle might actually depend on playstyle too right? Surely there's a playstyle that would force the AI outside of it? as in if I keep hogging the ball (usually in the middle) and force the AI out wide? If not then that will be pretty annoying.

Imo ML has always been broken with money, sometimes way too high and sometimes way too low with the money.

rockstrongo said:
I played a few games on an old ML save (Pes 18) and first game felt really good, then i bumped it up to Top player and it was one touch football from the cpu, insane pace and back heels all over the place.
Lots of good in this game but compared to 17 is nowhere as good.
Could be down to taste and preference as well, since i think pes 20 is better than 21
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To be honest I don't think 19/20/21 come anywhere near 17.. so if 18 is some below 17, that's still pretty good to me.
 
I remember selling 17 and trying out 18. I liked it for a bit but many the AI was just too clean in 18. Very much played liked a metronome. So the offline experience was a boring. Eventually I sold 18 and I cannot for the life of me remember why I decided to give 17 another go. But I'm glad I did. Once 17 clicked for me, it's pretty much been my favorite soccer game since I was a kid.
 
cleanslate said:
Lack of fouls is a bit of a problem... but if the general gameplay isn't too slow like 2019/2020 or too repetitive like ALL of 2019 and 2021... then it doesn't sound that bad, because correct me if I'm wrong but 2018 builds on 2017 right? Well you can say build but from what I've read here it sounds like they took a few of the bricks from 2017 away. But its still largely similar (I hope) right?
Back heels in the middle might actually depend on playstyle too right? Surely there's a playstyle that would force the AI outside of it? as in if I keep hogging the ball (usually in the middle) and force the AI out wide? If not then that will be pretty annoying.

Imo ML has always been broken with money, sometimes way too high and sometimes way too low with the money.


To be honest I don't think 19/20/21 come anywhere near 17.. so if 18 is some below 17, that's still pretty good to me.
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Tbh, minus the dribbling I'll take pes 20 over 18 nowadays.
But the cpu and how they suprise you is great, and never mind how good dribbling feels.
But as an overall package, pes 18 is my least played pes from 15->21 (exceptions for 19+21)
 
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Hey cleanslate!

Like I've mentioned earlier, PES 2017 is my favorite edition ever (with or without gameplay mods, with Smoke Patch)!
That being said, I really like PES 2018 with gameplay mods (personally, I use this one)! I've played two full seasons with Torino, several Cups, and other stories, and have thoroughly enjoyed it. (I find that PES 2018 Vanilla is quite enjoyable, but the defenders don't close in fast enough on tackling, I believe this and other gameplay mods address this).
All in all, I find the gameplay in 2018 quite fluid and responsive. Great game IMO. :TU:
 
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cleanslate said:
pes 2019 is very similar to 2020
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This is not true. PES19 is PES18 on steroids. Better response, more tackles and fouls, fixed AI's tiki-taka in its own box etc. Of course PES19 has its own flaws but in general it was PES pinnacle IMHO.

PES17 was good, but I played only PC version and PC version was running on old engine. But even that version of PES17 was dope! I still remember many great moments!

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lastbreath said:
This is not true. PES19 is PES18 on steroids. Better response, more tackles and fouls, fixed AI's tiki-taka in its own box etc. Of course PES19 has its own flaws but in general it was PES pinnacle IMHO.

PES17 was good, but I played only PC version and PC version was running on old engine. But even that version of PES17 was dope! I still remember many great moments!

8130480E1D7E5B0B8061CFEF09182CEA7B9E8C9F
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Nah, the pitch in 2019 started the (short lived) trend of the really heavy and monotone pace of the game till 2021. At least at final DPs - which wasn't the case with the initial versions of 2020 and 2021. On ball all 3 games feel really nice (at least when you pass and all) - but after that they really fall flat
 
You guys are wrong. Heavy movement and unresponsiveness started in PES2020. PES19 movement is so light you can trick defence players without feints, just by direction stick. Inertia was really good there.

That's why I said PES19 was closer to PES18. It was PES2020 who started this sluggish dribbling.
We can clearly see KONAMI's 2-years development cycle here. PES16/17, 18/19, 20/21
 
PES 2020/2021 had more animations it took longer for player to responde, yet it was very realistic.

PES 18 was a bit to fast, i love to play it on -1 gamespeed.
 
millossobek said:
I agree with this. I think it's one of the better PES out there.
Even if the PC 2017 port didn't have the same graphics, the playability of it was really good. I always thought it was very smooth, even without gameplay mods, and I really didn't detect much (if any) script.
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I still play Pes 2017 up to now and i will never get rid of it from my SSD. With gameplay tweaks with sider from juces is really great. Lots of aerial battles, ball physic very very close to reality, speed adjustable to your likes, shoots power and ball weight as well. Super game, the only downs is not so great graphic, but who cares? I just want to have fun playing a footy game!!
 
Im sorry but i don t agree, pes 2017 has very generic shooting mechanics, no variation whatsoever, and ai will always look for the long ball to striker, who.almost always shoots the ball bottom corner same place every friggin time, so repetitive....
 
Hatrickhero said:
Im sorry but i don t agree, pes 2017 has very generic shooting mechanics, no variation whatsoever, and ai will always look for the long ball to striker, who.almost always shoots the ball bottom corner same place every friggin time, so repetitive....
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If u tweak it good with juce gameplay mod (include ball physics,ball weight,ball bounce, ball friction,shooting power and speed to tweak) from sider 3.5.1 is not so...it's a totally different game, believe me!!Well, of course that doesn't change AI scripts but these long balls to strikers as u say, happen a lot less than vanilla GP.
 
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1. 2019 :KING:
2. 2021
3. 2020
4. 2018

I spent a few weeks trying to find the best Fox Engine PES. I've played almost every title since 1995, including the Japanese Winning Eleven. The simulation in 2020 or 2021 is super successful as a football simulation feels more like work but this is also very rewarding. However, I bought an Steam key for PES2019 because I only had it for the PS4 and hadn't played that much.

My opinion :

PES2019 (vanilla gameplay Version 1.06.00 Datapack 6.00) is the perfect mix of simulation and arcade.

- AI plays extremely varied (crosses, through balls, short passes, combinations)
-> Like a human player
- 10 minute matches are full of highlights
- The CPU occasionally fouls under pressure
- The graphics are nice, but I had to get used to them at first
- The CPU moves can also fascinate me when I concede goals
- The game feels rewarding to execute beautiful moves/combinations and make me feel like a world star
- Player skills count when you play against a second division team, you can feel that you are playing the favourite. The same applies when I play a weaker team, I can feel the difference to a top team.

The game is ‘the beautiful game’ like an art -> It's Ronaldinho

PS: I probably don't have to write that I am NOT satisfied with the development of football games since 2022, neither with Efootball, EA FC, UFL and Goals.
 
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I'm still playing PES 2015 on PC and 5 seasons in on ML superstar level

I'd never played it before and skipped straight to 16 after playing fifa for a couple of years. I'm really surprised it doesn't get more praise than 2016 at least.

My ranking of the games was 18-17-21-16-19 I think I would place 2015 somewhere in the middle.

I don't understand why they took out the AI build up play and ability to keep possession that was in 2015 its easily the best of the series for that it's just it falls apart and the AI becomes mostly basic in the last third of the pitch that let's it down. I love that the AI use skill moves frequently and can actually beat you with them.

The scripting is insane though worse than any other PES but weirdly it's not too frustrating? Maybe I've mellowed over the years and enjoy the challenge since you can overcome it if good enough and break the patterns.

If you could adjust the AI to have more varied shot placement and creativity in the box I would probably rank it higher. The issue with the vanilla game where the AI rarely crosses is easily fixed with editing thankfully.
 
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