It's nice to see people mentioning PES2015 here, it was my main footy game for quite some time, I owned the PS3 version, but I imagine it's very similar to the PS4, it was only when I finally bought a PS4 with FIFA19 bundle in that I moved on from this title. I hadn't played it in a while, but seeing it being talked about here made me want to give it a shot again, for old times sake, so that's what I just did. It was a lovely experience, I made sure to load a bunch of my League save files just to take a look around, seeing how I was doing in the league and how I did in the cups, looking back on eliminations and titles, League was my main mode in this title alongside Cup. I also made sure to watch some of my saved replays, I didn't save many, but I did save every goal scored in finals, and I made sure to check every single one of those, it made me remember the joy I got when scoring them, a very special experience. Of course I played a couple of matches too, and it all came back to me, all of the pros and cons of this title. It helps that my first impressions of this title back then were influenced by the fact that I skipped PES 2013 and PES2014, and just now I've finished a PES2012 ML, so it almost feels like it did back then, the feeling of going from PES2012 to PES2015 and comparing my experiences.
Overall I felt the same things I did on my first time playing this, there's so much to like here:
+ The game is nice to look at overall, especially from afar, it looks like a real match, the lighting and turfs do a good job, this is also when they added rain again, after it was absent from PES2014, it was nice to have this back, especially because I adore the atmosphere in rainy matches, it feels more epic.
+ The animations were natural and way less robotic than before, especially the running animations, this also contributes to the overall look of the game, it finally felt like a genuine generational leap in this regard, which is something we had waited for a long time by then.
+ Movement felt 360º, I did enjoy the movement on the titles made with the previous engine, they were already a step up from the first few PS3 titles, but this was on another level.
+ Passing felt so free, all kinds of it, a low pass, a high pass, a cross, a lobbed through ball, it was like I could play the ball anywhere to make any play I wanted, so much less restricted than it felt before, at times some aspects of the previous games felt like we were still stuck on the PS1 days with how robotic and restricted it could be, this however felt like a genuine PS3/PS4 game and I loved it.
+ Shooting was satisfying because the ball felt like it had real weight, and it was all determined by my input, in PES2012 it felt random a lot of the time, and I dreaded being 1-on-1 with the GK, because I usually missed, here it was simple to score a 1-on-1 chance, like it should be, also the added weight on the ball made long range shooting satisfying again, especially those dipping shots you can pull off when the ball is falling and you shoot at the right time.
+ Players felt like they had real weight to them and it made the matches more physical, it was always a treat seeing players colliding and fighting for the ball, especially because stats mattered, a strong player would usually out muscle a weaker player, this was also much better than PES2012 where players felt too light.
There are many flaws though, and it's very depressing looking back on them, not because they ruin the experience, but because it reminds me of how hopeful I was that when they fixed those issues in the future we'd have the perfect PES... Most of the flaws were never fixed, or when they were Konami inexplicably broke it again later:
- No fouls, this is the game that really started this trend, and the series has had this ever since, the best ones in this regard lately have been PES2020 and PES2021, but I wouldn't say that it's genuinely fixed.
- Modes lacked content, this is another one that also got better with time, but never actually fixed the issue, just made it not as bad, but it's still bad, this is also the PES that introduced myClub and microtransactions, the beggining of the end.
- Superstar is too easy, like I mentioned earlier I played a couple of matches, both were on Superstar and I won both 3x0, of course friendlies are usually easier, and on my League saves I'd usually be midtable on the league and get knocked out on the cups, but I do recall this game being more straight forward than previous titles, this can be bad because once you conquer Superstar the game is done and this is a nightmare for more skilled players, thankfully this was eventually fixed with the addition of Legend difficulty for all of the masochists out there.
- CPU AI, while the addition of Legend difficulty made it so it's less likely for it to be too easy, they never really fixed the source of the issue, I actually believe PES2015 has some of the best CPU AI we've got in the last few years, with team individuality being better than most of its successors, but there were flaws, mostly the lack of variety at times, like how every CPU player becomes Messi on the wing and wants to get past everyone instead of just crossing. It also felt somewhat empty on the midfield at times, but this is another aspect that just got worse on later titles.
- Menus and overall presentation, it wasn't awful, and I'd say that some parts of it are better than the titles that came after it, but it was a downgrade coming from PES2011/PES2012/PES2013, those not only looked sophisticated, but they were also quick and snappy by comparasion, they haven't made something like those again since.
- Models and textures, while the game is nice to look at overall, it could be better, the players were too bulky and the shorts were too long, they actually improved this in PES2018, only to make it worse again with PES2020 and PES2021... Turfs also could be better, and while they got worse in PES2018 which looked cartoony, PES2019 had stellar turfs, and then Konami ruined it again in PES2020 and PES2021... I don't understand what's wrong with them.
Overall I enjoyed the experience, and I adore PES2015, I didn't mind that it was my main footy game for so many years because it was a genuinely solid entry in the series, I didn't feel the need to upgrade to a newer one, of course it wasn't perfect, but I recall being filled with optimism that they had a solid foundation to work on and develop, and that it was only a matter of time before we got something stellar. Konami never fulfilled PES2015's potential, FOX Engine's potential, and that's very dissapointing, however looking at PES2015 by itself I'd say that, while it's a flawed experience, it gets a lot of important things right, and it's worth giving it a shot, if you have it I'd suggest playing a couple of matches, if you don't then I'd suggest trying to get a used copy since it must be cheap these days, it's worth every penny.
