Anyone playing PES2012 recently?
I skipped 2013 and 2014, so this was my main footy game for years, i come back to it from time to time, tho not too much since i have 2015, 2018 and 2021 Lite.
Gave it a shot recently and, well, every once in a while when i picked this game up i could still play on SuperStar and do well enough.
Now i lose every match and can't keep a clean sheet to save my life, i used to love this a lot, and still do, but mostly the attacking side only now.
I recall the defending being tough, as in every opposition player was Messi on the ball pretty much, it was hard to tackle, mostly they got past you, or were fouled, and trust me, you don't want to foul the opposition here, conceding a free kick near the box is worse than a penalty.
Also, crosses are a pain because for some reason your defenders stand still when a cross is made, then the striker does this bullet header and is usually a goal.
It's weird, it was always tough, but now i lose literally every match, conceding many goals sometimes, PES is such a weird franchise, sometimes if feels like the games just change from one day to the next.
It's a shame because there's so much to like in PES2012.
This game's pitchside camera, to me, is the best version this camera has ever had, and it's one of the franchise's best overall.
The look of the game as a whole is great, the turfs are better than 2018, 2020 and 2021, no joke, the player's anatomy is also wonderful, the sweat effects, the animations (Apart from running, looks like they have something up their...), the looks are also good outside the pitch, i mean, these menus are incredible, just like 2011's, Konami made these games look so much more sophisticated and polished in that time.
Having the ball in this is a bliss, i love the attacking side of this game, even the weird shooting since it's so unpredictable, just a shame that the defending, while i get the idea behind it, was poorly executed.
I like the emphasis on timing your tackle, on the jockey, they were trying to make defending a bigger part of the game, as it is pretty much 50% of what you're doing in a match usually, they just overdid it i think.
It's not all doom and gloom however.
I've decided to do exactly what i did to recent FOX Engine PES games, in which i also thought defending was a pain and unrealistic at times.
I turned down the difficulty to Professional, changed the controls to FUMA, and in this specific case, since this is much faster than newer games in the franchise, i put the speed at -1.
Honestly, this is so much better to play, doesn't even feel that different from the newer games tbh, it's a good simulation of football, just has worse animations and more limited movement, also the players lack weight, which is another big flaw, but hey, it has a lot more fouls, more than 2021 tbh, and also they are much more consistent, the opposition actually fouls me to put a stop to my play, without me having to draw in a foul like i have to most of the time now.
Tbh i think these setting changes i've made do work as a general tip for footy games, if you ever feel that the higher difficulties play poorly, cheap and unrealistic, turn it down and put on FUMA, or just less assistance without going all the way, to compensate, it never fails (Except for FIFA, FUMA for me feels really weird in those games, but maybe that's just me).
Does this mean i think PES2012 is amazing again? Yes and No, i mean, like i've said before, PES games can be completely different from session to session, so my feelings can always change, but right now i'm much happier with the game, Seabass' last game in charge was a good send off to the legend.
Definitely recommend it to anyone that still has their copy lying around :3
