The Season Update maintains excellence with the ball in play, but is unable to add new weight both on and off the pitch.
The football season ended in an atypical way, it starts in the same way and it seems that the same thing has happened with PES 2021. Konami’s football game does not arrive as a new installment to use, but is an update season to prepare for the landing, the following year, with a new generation product. This meant, on paper, that the title would simply be an update of squads and teams, keeping the entire base of PES 2020. And surely we can say that it is, but that things could also be better communicated in the Japanese company. Because playable PES 2021 does not provide new mechanics or actions, but it does change how the matches develop, improving several elements of its previous installment that have been polished here.
It may seem like a small thing, but the reality is that this seasonal update also involves refining the gameplay of the base title. And the gameplay of that installment was possibly the closest to real football that we currently have. By physics of the ball (improved in this installment), by game rhythm, by variety of situations (there are more in 2021) … PES 2020 embraces the concept of simulation more than any other, and its update season maintains and polishes that essence . The problem is that the product is wildly vague. We were already warned. But for several years the game modes need an urgent renovation, something that is now even more in doubt while maintaining exactly the same structure.
“Take the ball, pass the ball” (Pep Guardiola)
Playing PES again means enjoying many situations that only occur in the title. The slower pace of play is accompanied by many hallmarks: from inaccurate passes depending on our position to a randomness of situations with the ball that breathe realism. You can see that in almost every game situation. A pass into space, in other games or arrives, or it goes too long or the defender cuts it. Here the variability is much greater. The center-back may touch it but the ball is stopped and benefits the player. It may deflect you and land on other feet. Seeing that many different things happen in the same situation is a great satisfaction.
Everything, so to speak, is much more organic and alive. Rebounds in different parts of the body leave different situations, as happens with shots bitten or jumps in disputes for the ball: no two resolutions are the same. That brings a great variety to the games, which take place to the sound of the ball. And it has improved a lot compared to the previous installment, with much more presence of the game in the center of the field. It is true that the passes into space are still devastating, but the defense AI has been improved, which does not leave as many gaps in the wings.
The game system is maintained as we saw in PES 2020, highlighting among them the presence of the pass and manual shooting, a delightful brand of the house. With no relevant news in new actions, it is in the response of the players in one-on-one with the left stick, with greater mobility, where we see another point of improvement in 2021. More agility and greater speed in the change of direction. Unfortunately, the right stick dribbling system is still less functional than desired, and the organization of the attackers also has room for improvement: to the uncheckers – we have seen how they hold offside on several occasions correctly – them There is a lack of more variants, and more seeing how it will be a key mechanic in FIFA 21. As far as shooting movements are concerned in centers and the like, the attackers do offer intelligent trajectories here that allow to see much more realistic plays in this type of situations.
“Come out and enjoy” (Cruyff)
We also feel more polished the mid-range shots, including quality ones, although it is true that we see a high effectiveness within the area, something that already happened in tight shots in PES 2020. The goalkeepers, with a large cast of saves in shots to Point blank and on shots from outside the area, they remain somewhat vulnerable when attackers step on the area. On the one hand, polishing certain elements of the development of the matches improves the previous experience, but on the other, the system screams for a renewal of mechanics, such as the defensive system (buttons to press or for the CPU colleagues to press) that it does not provide us with all the defensive options we would like.
In short: whoever has been playing PES 2020 throughout the year will notice the changes in the development and match situations, but whoever has not, will find a game that has not evolved its formula for a long time, that does not give an answer to new mechanics and actions necessary to continue taking steps forward and that, in addition, behaves very vaguely with the rest of the product. It maintains the good and the bad that it offered a year ago. And that cannot be enough.
“We played like never before, we lost like always” (Di Stéfano)
Where PES 2021 really pales as a product is in offering exactly the same that was already offered and criticized in the previous edition. Game modes far from being renewed and that maintain what we already knew, such as the Master League, all the leagues and cups available and the Euro 2020 that maintains the license. The experience is impossible to suffer. If we already complain about implausible signings, this will continue to happen. If we miss more management tools, this will not be our year because they will remain the same. Except for the presence of new technical directors, the reality is that the mode was already somewhat stagnant 12 months ago and now it is reaffirming.
In this sense, we find another problem: a season update that is not up to date and will not be fully updated until October. Espanyol still in the First Division, squads that have not been renewed and where players are missing (where is Ansu Fati?), The loss of important teams like the two greats of Milan … The Option Files continue to be our salvation on PC and PS4 for Having everything renewed at the image level and with incredible fidelity, in addition to being able to recover leagues that are not, like the entire Bundesliga, but not being able to load it on Xbox One makes playing with Álava, Madrid Chamartín and others lose entity.
Check here how to install an Option File on PS4
On the other side we have the great online mode in MyClub, which tries to renew itself with more facilities to get coins to acquire players, scouts and participate in auctions. The system maintains what we already saw at the time: playing championships for a limited time, online season-type matches, cooperative with a friend, simulated matches, against the CPU or friendlies with other online teams. Earning money we can make signings of all kinds, change our technical director and other aesthetic elements of our team. As usual, having a good starting 11 is relatively easy, especially if you buy one of the special editions of certain clubs, which gives you a not inconsiderable starting boost (paying…). In any case, the types of “envelopes” that we can access change every day, for example focused on a club (Liverpool or Arsenal were these days), on classic players, etc.
“In the end, the same eleven bastards play as always” (Toshack)
The offer of modalities closes with online matches in seasonal format and various types of local matches, set in the Eurocup, cooperative or versus, in addition to the classic lobby to play in Pro Clubs format but that is still not a really strong bet if not an addition without too much thickness in the current format.
On an audiovisual level, the title maintains the good finish of the previous year, both in the recreation of the grass and also of the fields, as well as an astonishing fidelity of the faces of the players that have been captured. All of this improves on the move, with the jerseys moving and responding to all kinds of animations and joints by moving from one side to the other. The head shots, volleys, feints with the upper body, the goalkeepers’ saves … Everything is close to a great level, although it does not present any great progress (except for new physics in fights and some more fluid animation) highlighted in this end of generation. The comments of Carlos Martínez and Maldini continue along the same lines, with details that do not fit too often with what happens on screen.
CONCLUSION
eFootball PES 2021 has something very in its favor: it has a first-level playable base and that has also been polished -slightly- in various situations that occur in the game. The problem is that the changes are more worthy of a patch than a new installment, and only those who have shredded for months PES 2020 will be able to identify and enjoy such tweaks. And it is that we miss new mechanics and actions that give us more options on the pitch. The Season Update is also the demonstration that Konami definitely needs to boost its saga if it does not want to lose more ground. Maintaining the same game modes, when they were already crying out for a revolution twelve months ago, and the lack of content update when it goes on sale (being a season update) make the final result far from what was expected. PES 2021 is still a great football game because the base on which it sits is solid, but immobility is increasingly taking its toll. On and off the pitch. Hopefully this step back is to gain more momentum in the new generation.
THE BEST
- It continues to offer the most realistic football, full of varied situations in each area of the field
- Small improvements in AI and player response
- Myclub rewards improvements
- The editor (PC and PS4) is still brutal and leaves everything as if it were official license
WORST
- There are no new mechanics or actions that expand our offensive and defensive possibilities compared to last year
- Online and offline modes were crying out for a renewal last year; now it’s time for revolution
- It’s a Season Update, but it won’t be updated until the end of October …
Okay
It meets the expectations of what a good game is, has quality and does not have serious flaws, although it is missing elements that could have taken it to higher heights.
