Don't really know where to put this - and it is of zero value... but... it happened...
I spent yesterday redownloading and reinstalling all the PES games I could find on PC. That's PES5, WE9LE, PES 10, 11, 12, 13, 17. Plus PS4 versions of 17 and 20 for good measure.
All this (and a good few hours work of installing, updating, patching) just to find a combination of gameplay and Master League that sucks me in. We must be absolutely mental here.
Anyway. PES5/WE9LE took me back. Fun, but I'm just too used to modern comforts (i.e. less rails) to enjoy them long-term. Weirdly, though, I much prefer ISS PE2 to them both - I'm sure it's purely a nostalgia thing, but also, it's slower, and I feel like I'm building attacks as a result (instead of just spraying the ball everywhere in a bit of a panic)!
PES 2010 I barely remember - it was good fun, but my God, the passes are like rockets! The overall pace (player speed, acceleration etc.) probably isn't too bad, but the pace of the ball totally distorts things and there's no speed selector!
It improved a little in 2011 (which has a speed selector but you can only increase the speed), and more in 2012 (which was my favourite at this point - slower speed, more responsive, bit more variety from the AI), but then I got to 2013.
I remember the midfield being non-existent and far too attack-focused, but coming from the previous games, the ball speed / physics were a revelation. The ball bobbles crazily sometimes (much like FIFA 20, weirdly) but passes take time to move, which gives players time to move into position. Playing as Crystal Palace vs Bournemouth, they were packing their defence so that I couldn't break through, and I had to work to create chances (most of the time losing patience and hitting a shot whenever I saw half a chance from the edge of the box).
There were no easy pass options to take - and it was a grind to make it through. I've always thought of PES 2013 as a great arcade-fun PES, but playing the earlier games first, I've realised that's a pretty bad reduction of the experience. Maybe it's just the teams I chose in each game (and I didn't play them all for long, only an hour or so each), but I had to use my brain more (and had time to think about what I was doing) when playing.
Coming from the modern games, it's difficult to accept the moments where your player just locks up during 50/50s (in some poor attempt at providing "physicality") and there's nothing you can do. But the killer is, this still happens in PES 2020, IMO. And the AI puts more passes together in 2013, to create a move that gets them up the field, than in 2020 (they don't just lump the ball to a winger or striker, over and over and over).
Jumping to PES 2017, I was immediately comfortable. On PS4 it definitely feels a little better to me - less "stiff" in certain moments. It almost felt like 2013 with better AI. Again, I was having to build attacks a little more, even though the AI "read my input" less and let me beat them - and when the AI got the ball, I just love the fact that they pass sideways, backwards, dribble inside, give the ball away when a player takes too long to make a decision, get sent off for terrible tackles...
The biggest compliment I can give it is that when the AI score, I'll occasionally go "wow", and it's not because of the shot - it's because of the things they did on the way to scoring. When they score in PES 2020, well. Usually I'm just angry.
I put 2020 on afterwards, and my first game was 2-2 at half time. Both AI goals coming immediately after I scored (and before the game I dropped the difficulty below Top Player just to see if helped). Much like this guy reported on Twitter:
Both AI goals were just pumps from defence to wing, back to a midfielder, pass to a striker, 180- turn and bang, goal. My defenders miles away from the opponents, nothing I could do to stop it (and someone will reply and say there is, but the problem is the laser-accuracy of the AI more than anything else, combined with passive defending). But my goals were similar.
There were way more shots per match than in the earlier games - because pass accuracy is higher, and the midfield doesn't exist. With Klash's tactics I bet the game sings, but in all honesty - and this is my issue, I guess - I just can't be bothered inputting them all when 2017 gives me a wonderful experience that doesn't really suffer in comparison (all I miss is improved animations, whereas I gain a more interesting AI, and even UEFA licenses)!
2020 feels close to brilliant, for me - but dribbling is worse* compared to the older games, pass accuracy doesn't take as much of an attribute penalty, and I really don't like the AI. It doesn't really play much football, they ping-pong way too much (especially when you're winning) and it's just dull, to me.
*What I will say about dribbling is that, playing as Wolves, it felt great to get the ball to Adam Traore and terrorise a defence - even more so than earlier games. But "ordinary" players should be able to dribble too (by which I mean move past a defender using the left stick, using the space available, instead of the defender just sucking up the ball every time). Maybe then, games would be less about passing around like Man City, and have much more variety (which PES 2017 does, and which is why I really love it).
In short... I've started a 2017 ML, and I've kept 2013 installed. The rest have gone. As for 2020, when Konami release the final DP and someone makes an option file with all Klash's tactics, I'll try again. Until then, no thanks.
(Bonus content: Comparing all the above to FIFA 20, on slow, I enjoy FIFA on-the-ball more than any of the PES games I tried. Truly. But I can't get past the AI's ping-ponginess, nor AI defenders just standing there watching things unfold. I'm going to reinstall FIFA 19 one night and see if it's too easy, and see what it's like when your defenders have brains...)
passes (the most safe ones) and very occasionally with through passes 
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