It's funny people being all apologist for PES2008 by saying it's the first bad game, first backward step, first declining version of the franchise, for me the franchise has been declining since about PES3 due to lack of innovation/improvement in the master league.....
I kinda agree with the lack of innovation in the masterleague etc since pes3. Pes3 im guessing was in line with the we7international (ntsc japanese version) game which like most of the winning elevens was much better than the later released pro evolution (pal)versions. And infact we7int, was one of my all time fav versions of the konami/seabass games.
Although i think we7int was one of the best titles, i do disagree that the the franchise has been on a total decline... since there is little doubt to me that jlwe10cc (Winning Eleven 10 JLeague Club Championship) is the best game of the series to date..infact the best football simulation on any system ive played to date... Yes pes2008 on ps3 is worse (dont know about the pes2008 for ps2 as i havent played it) and yes i like it better than fifa2008 on ps3..
It may be on the ps2, and lack some of the animations (well alot of them) of pes2008, but its the ultimate we/pes simulation. Jlwe10cc also has a great masterleague..
Although u cant start in a division 2 (can only do this for the japanese league), u can start out in a first league (eg. serie a), and qualify for all the major competitions in the world depending on what place you come, and it includes major cup comps etc, but to my amazement also the world club challenge, where the best teams of each continent play eachother, eg. milan representing europe, and wow.. they have Adelaide united representing australia's top team..
I think, apart from not having a serie b etc, its a great masterleague.. better than previous versions..
oh also.. ive noticed in we10jlcc (since ive been playing it non stop after seeing a disapointing pes2008 on ps3) that the keeps are so much more realistic than previous versions, running styles are much better than pes2008, and there are no more CUT-BACK GOALS... well there are, but much harder to do than in lets say pes6 or we10 where u could do it almost 100% with certainty of goal..
well to summarise, i think after playing pes2008 on ps3, and all the previous pes/we's on ps2 (excluding pes2008 for ps2), we10jlcc is the best version seabass has ever developed (2nd was we7int).. and infact is the the no.1 footy sim on any system to date.. even fifa2008 on ps3 which i think was a good attempt..
cheers,
steve