- How does strategy/tactics changes influence the new active ai aggresiveness ?
Pretty well. With the 4 newly introduced preset tactics, you can switch formation, strategy and tactics on the fly. It’s a great new addition and tactical minded people will definitely benefit from this.
- Do you feel too repetitive ai movement regarding new active ai routine that can make a boring situation ?
Nope, not at all. I’m the type of player who likes variety in every match and what I’ve seen suits me very well. Player movements open up different opportunities for you.
- If one thing you want Konami to get it more polished the most in the final version, what is that ?
More animations and shooting, just the power though, as the ball feels a bit slow most of the time.
- The overall animation is looking fluid enough, though from videos shown sometimes the transition from passing to jogging/running is quite deliberate hence slightly unnatural/not smooth. Also for "heading to stumbling" animation. Please, ask them to polish it a lil bit more, it is almost there.
Noted.
- Would you ask Konami to pay a bit more attention to make sleek & stylish design of default scoreboard, also for pre-match/HT/FT match,score info boards, please. " . It seems some of us need a sleek refresh lami. We're playing with an lcd/plasma nowadays. Old scoreboard is for box tv. They can nail it with CL scoreboard for example, why not the rest?
True that. Noted.
- Is the ball a free entity now?
Well, I can’t really say it is 100% “free”, but it is the best I’ve seen in any PES version. The way it bobbles along the lush green grass and the various outcomes when shooting gives you that good feeling.
- Are injuries changed at all in the new game?
Not from what I’ve seen.
- I feel the amount of injuries in PES2011 was just about right in-match, also the Injury Prone settings were spot on. However in ML, there could have been a few more injuries picked up in the post-match screen or in training. How common are injuries in general?
Can’t really tell now mate. No FL in this code and I’ve only encountered one post match so far in my exhibition matches.
- Also, more injuries leading to long-term absences are definitely hoped for from me at least, are there more of these?
Sorry mate can’t really tell now as FL isn’t playable.
- How is shooting?
Shooting has improved over previous PES versions and found myself trying a few shots in different situations, resulting in different outcomes. I actually like that the ball sometimes hits the ground too early in some shots.
- How's the shot feint with Square + X? Similar to old times, or is it more like the current one?
Just like it used to be in the good old times.
- Lofted through-balls (L1 + triangle), do they work better than 2011?
I can’t say they’re better, but what I can say is that when timed right it can certainly unlock defenses.
- If you do get to play 2-player co-op, how's the player switching?
I’ve found player switching with L1 quite improved. It was an ache in PES 2011 at times.
- Passing settings, how do they affect the accuracy and ease of getting the ball where we want to?
Tbh, I’ve played 2 games on assist and the rest on manual and I can’t say that manual affects accuracy, it’s more to do with the power of the pass. Accuracy will have to be checked when using manual passing, that is L2+pass. And I can say it is pretty good, but I don’t use it much.
- Player movement, how is it? 2011 sometimes felt a bit clumsy, I guess.
It is improved due to more animations and probably syncing them together for smoother results. It’s not perfect though, but certainly better than 2011.
- R2 shooting?
It is good, but not that extra curl you’re looking for, if you are.
- How's the "off-the-ball controls" in FKs and CKs that have been talked about? Are they a gimmick, a cool thing, or maybe something that could be easily exploited?
I was a bit doubtful when I first read about it but after trying it I think it’s a welcome addition. You can choose to use it or not. And don’t think it can be exploited. It’s all up to you and the opposition to detect your movements.
- How's passing in FKs and GKs? Can we now pass anywhere - and if so, how?
With set-pieces, you use the right stick to flick through your players and press X or O to pass.
- How's CPU pressure in highest difficulty? Absurdly high, even to our defenders sometimes getting swamped by 2 opponents, or is it more reasonable?
From playing exhibition matches I’ve rarely seen that happen, if ever, even close towards the end. Think this is better tested in tournaments though, cups/leagues/ML, to have a better judgment.
- Are there glitches you can exploit to easily score? Like in pes 2011 three tap circle makes an almost undefendable cross
Not that I know of.
- How is player movement when we are in ball possession? Sluggish like in pes 2011 or more fluid and responsive?
Oh very fluid and responsive in a realistic manner. At times I’d thought I was going to lose the ball due to player’s sluggishness, because of the PES 2011 mentality, but to my surprise he pulled through quite nicely.
- What about goalkeepers? Are they reliable and quickly react to shoots or they still are slow and make cheap saves?
I think they’re reliable but nothing superhuman. I don’t think I’ve seen any of that belly landing stuff really. I’m not saying it isn’t there though, I’m just telling you what I’ve experienced.
- How is the pace of the game? Slow, fast, too fast, normal?
Thought it was slow and had to up it up to +2 when playing with slower teams. +1 or 0 with quicker teams. Definitely not arcady though, definitely.
- How is the ball trajectory? In PES gone by there are too few variances in the height that passes in particular get. Knee to shoulder height are the most under utilised areas in PES
I think it’s still the same really, but improved a bit with ball being more organic.
- Is there a difference in the ball physics when passing a ball with the instep our outside of the foot. In real life the ball has a definite curve when it moves unlike PES where it is very straight
It isn’t as straight as it used to be now. It curls nicely from what I’ve seen.
- Does it still take an eternity to bring a ball down. I use long balls pretty often and sometimes suffer from an opponent that applies pressure while the ball has barley touched my player.
Nope, it is better now like it should be. Easily move and bring the ball down in a direction, but it still depends on player ball control stat.
- Are low crosses, cutbacks and chipped throuballs from kick off still exploitable?
Not that I know of. I’ve tried doing a few of them but none worked.
- Is it possible to hold the ball up with a targetman through shielding?
I haven’t tried this one mate, sorry.
- Can you burn someone just using pace?
Yes you can to an extent. No more catch-up bug like in 2011 but it doesn’t mean harassing the sprint button will get you anywhere, which is a good thing as it means that people who use the sprint button a lot online won’t benefit much from it when playing against people who know how to defend. Passing is the way to go in this game.
- Do you notice any differences of movement between players? (i.e. Goal poacher more lively in the box)
I’ve noticed players utilizing space like they should, opening up opportunities, and strikers sprinting towards the box positioning themselves well for a cross.
- Any changes to the formation/tactics screen?
Just a few really, most notably the 4 new presets though, which has all the strategy/tactics in it.
- How fast can you turn player with the ball or make a circle with the ball comparing to PES2011? because for me in 2011 it was too clunky, like turning with a car, is it faster?
Yes it is. It is faster in a good way, nothing exaggerated.
- Are player cards still in or are player arrows in tactics menu back?
Player cards still in.
- Can you control AI behavior ie. how often player will make overlapping runs, dummy runs etc?
You can to an extent, using strategy and also depending on player cards and ability.
- Any new trick moves, animations you spotted?
I’ve been using the stepovers a lot using the right stick only, and shoulder feint sometimes using L2 +R. That’s about it for me. Noticed an animation when a player receives a ball and turns, he plays it between his legs and turns swiftly. Also another one when pressing the cross button, O, when a player is about to receive a long ball, jumps and kicks it in a cool way.
- How good is diving this year? it's L3+R3+L2+R2 in this version according to leaked controls pic, test it please
Sorry mate, forgot to try it. Haven’t ever tried this in any PES game, probably why I forgot about it.
- Penalties, tell me everything about them, and controls especially
It’s easier than last year’s. You press the shoot button first, hold it for elevation and pick the direction with the Left stick. I’ve tried hitting it wide but it wasn’t happening for me. I can only hit off-target if I over hit, as in hold the shoot button for long.
- When through ball is played and you are controlling a defender, is it hard to intercept such pass? do you have to use supercancel to get the ball? in PES2011 defenders got stuck and often missed a ball by half inch or behaved like the ball is not there and they were missing it like dumb goats - are defenders still idiots?
Nope! Haven’t had to use the supercancel here really. Thank God that awful thing hasn’t happened to me. One thing has happened to me though, not from a through ball, but the CPU passed a long ball to a striker and I tried to clear it, but for some odd reason my defender was just holding back. It just happened once, but I hope I don’t see this again though.
- (If you can play vs CPU match) how good is CPU? can they actually threaten my goal? are they any good
Well maybe it’s just me playing a new game but I’ve been hammered by the Ozzies and lost 0-2. They were pretty good from what I saw, and weren’t predictable. Actually I’ve lost all my games so far. But again maybe I’m just bad, and maybe I was busy testing things.
- Neymar, Aguero, Ronaldo and Messi overall stats please
Couldn’t take pictures mate sorry.
- Is the shooting still as sensitive as in PES2011? Do you still need a crazily tiny tap of the button to hit a slow shot?
I think it’s pretty good the way it is now. Not too sensitive, just about right.
- How does the new off the ball movement in set pieces work in reality? Do defenders still try and mark you when moving a player?
It’s a nice addition and opposition players do track you of course. You can choose to use it or just send the ball in as always.
- Do you now have proper control over the keeper when he has the ball? It's been bugging me for years!
Yep.
- Have replay camera angles been improved?
If you mean in-game then they’re still the same, plus a new camera called pitch-side, which I’ve been hammering. I wish they bring back angles 1-9 though. Miss angle 9 dearly.
- How does the through pass work this year? Does it still move in the same way and is it able to bypass tons of players on its way through? (I hope not!).
You’ll have to time it right from what I’ve tried. Observe the running the player and get the right pass in, if you can. About ground through passes should be intercepted if a cpu player is close enough.
- Does the AI still try and use crazy formations mid-match? (PES2011 would switch to seven at the back if winning for example, or go five up front with 20 minutes to go).
I haven’t noticed that happening in exhibition matches. I’ve noticed Australia parking the bus in the 2nd half after going 2-0 in the first half though. Just the way they play I guess.
- Has that 'staggering' animation when you get run off the ball now gone? I heard it has but would be good to know for sure.
Yep. CPU constantly tries to push me off the ball but my player kept trying to gain balance.
- How is the in-match audio - crowds, not commentary, that's a given that it'll be poor
Can’t say much here as I was playing on very low volume.
- I would also like to ask if body positioning seems to affect connecting with the ball cleanly/accuracy of passes, shooting and crossing.
I had different outcomes every time I shot at goal, of course depending on the situation I’m in, whether standing still, running, pressured from behind, front, or side. Not quite sure about the passes and crosses.
- My question would be about the advantage rule/bookings. Is it fixed?
Yep advantage rule pretty much improved, not sure if its 100% fixed though.
- Are off the ball challenges punished?
Sometimes yes, and sometimes not. Not sure how its calculated.
- Do we have a higher variety of trajectories for shots? Especially when they're taken from outside the box
Yes more trajectories definitely. They’re mostly backspin as usual, but I’ve seen topspin as well which is new to me.
- Has the ball control changed specially when a player is running and trying to trap a high pass ?
I think this one depends on a player’s ball control stats really.
- Are there too many replays ? Do shots who hit the woodwork get replays ? Basically have replays changed and if so how ?
Maybe I’m just used to 2011 I quickly hit the start button and didn’t notice
Sorry about that mate. Replays still look the same.
- Does fatigue actually impact players and their technical/physical attributes ?
I haven’t played any league/cup games to accumulate fatigue.
- Is still too long to launch a counterattack from keepers (slow bastards) when he catches a ball in his penalty box?
No, I’ve done quite a few quick counters using the GK. Not all are quick and not all are slow, but you definitely can.
- Is the CPU still too fucking good at free kicks ?
Nope, not from what I’ve experienced.
- How is the new 1v1 system from an attacking and defending point of view ?
I’ve noticed my GK coming out and blocking better than 2011. Haven’t been blessed with 1v1 situations myself though, I remember just once and failed miserably.
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