Well, FIFA12 is better at creating the illusion of organic play, as it looks like the little dribbles are actually “organic” when in actual fact they are not. But other than the mentioned “organic feel” to the game, the game gets repetitive and predictable very quickly.
PES12 I would say is a little better in terms of collective play and the basic things, but in terms of “organic play” it is inferior to FIFA12.
With both games, PES in particular, I’m a little frustrated with the fact that fundamental improvements would take the game to a whole new level and Konami continues with the superficial tweaks; for example, the link up feints or dribbles, although very useful and effective, it is inevitable not to question why you only get to chose four identical preset copies for all the players.
I mean, is it that difficult to individualize the preset dribbling tricks? Well the idea of Xavi Hernandez having four trademark preset dribbling tricks and Lio Messi having a different four trademark preset dribbling tricks, it sure doesn’t sound complicated….. and it makes you wonder if Konami is intentionally not doing enough to up their game.
I mean, individuality was and nowadays is supposed to be the selling point of the PES franchise, yet why do we have a total of four link up dribbling tricks for the ten players on the pitch? It is in effect a clear contradiction of “player individuality” when Xavi Hernandez and Lionel Messi have the very same exact preset copies known as “link up” dribbles.
In addition to all that I have mentioned: why, if we have a total of at least four link up dribbles or feints, if the link up dribbles are attached to the right analog stick, why do we only get one identical copy per direction? And what I mean by that is simple, if I direct the right analog stick as far towards the west as the right analog stick can go, and then I direct the right analog stick slightly towards the west, why does it produce the same exact copy of the link up dribble that you have assigned to the mentioned direction (the west)?
Is it that complicated, to have ONE type of link up dribble per direction, but that the ONE type of dribble can be organic, so that if you (1st) direct the right analog stick as far towards the west as it can go, the dribble is more stretched, whereas if you (2nd) slightly direct the right analog stick towards the west, the dribble is less stretched: therefore you would have variation and an unmistakeable “organic feel” even though you’d only have one type of dribble per direction; or in other words, even thought the type of dribble would be preset, the range of movement within that particular preset dribble would be completely organic.
Then you implement a NEW STAT for it, you call it “movement within space”, so that the higher the “movement within the space” stat is, the more range of movement the player will have within each preset dribble: for example, an average player would only have one preset dribbling trick per direction with only one range of movement, this means that directing the right analog towards the same direction will always produce the same exact dribble, regardless of how far or how slightly you direct the right analog stick; on the other hand, a player like Lio Messi would have one preset dribbling trick per direction with four ranges of movement, which means that directing the right analog stick towards the same direction can produce significantly different variations of the same type of dribble.
And furthermore, on top of everything that I have said so far, why not have FIXED PRESET link up dribbles for star players the same way each character in Mortal Kombat has FIXED PRESET animations? It is a fairly simple concept, and I find it strange that Konami has not gone in that direction, considering the fact that “player individuality” USED to be the main selling point of PES.
So what I would do, is assign preset link up dribbles to star players, and I would maximize the number of dribbles which can be implemented into each direction: for example, Lio Messi has one type of dribble the first time that you direct the right analog stick towards the west, however, the second time that you direct the right analog stick towards the west, would produce a completely or slightly different type of dribble. This means that the diversity in terms of type of dribbling (as opposed to range of movement within one type of dribble), would be centered around the first touch of each star player: the first time you direct the right analog stick towards the west AFTER the star player had his first touch on the ball, the second time, the third time, would all be completely or slightly different types of preset dribbles, added to the organic range of movement within each type of dribble that each player will have (which is determined by the “movement within the space” stat).
Therefore, you would have a simple yet sensitive control scheme where one direction will offer both diversity in terms of type of dribbling and diversity in terms of range of movement within each type of dribble. That’s what PES12 needs the most, the preset dribbling concept although slightly outdated can work perfectly, but it needs to be organic when it comes to the range of movement within each preset dribble.
Like I said at the beginning of this rather long monologue, FIFA offers a good illusion of “organic” dribbling, but in actual fact, the dribbling is not organic at all, due to extremely logical reasons: such as the fact that there is no range of movement within each type of dribble, which means that although the dribbling tricks have an “organic” look to them, and although you can direct the right analog stick in more than just four directions, the right analog stick dribbling tricks are in actual fact just identical copies of the very same preset dribbling trick that is attached into each direction.
Konami does not need to copy the “organic” illusion that EA Sports has successfully created, attempting to do such a thing would only be detrimental for the PES series: no, Konami should not do that, what Konami should do, is go all the way, and simply produce a video game that feels “organic” because it is in fact organic.
In order to do that, Konami does not need to get rid of the preset or “scripted” concept, what Konami needs to do is simply implement a range of movement into each type of preset dribble: therefore, even though the heart of the game would remain preset or scripted, the outcome of each one versus one confrontation would no longer be scripted in any conceivable way, because within each scripted or preset dribble there would be a range of movement, and when you apply the same concept into the defensive side of the game, it creates a video game where the outcome of each one versus one confrontation is determined by the ability of the person whom is playing the video game.
That’s what I think Konami should do in order to win their hardcore fans back: no, it’s not copying FIFA12, but reinventing the old PES into an organic analog based experience. The problem that Konami has right now, is that the game is simply scripted to an extent where it just becomes intolerable, whereas FIFA12, although highly scripted, offers an “organic” illusion that Konami has failed to replicate successfully.
At the end of the day, many of the fans who used to be hardcore PES fans, are now playing FIFA12 because the “organic” illusion makes it easier on the eyes and easier on the touch, and just as influential, is the fact that PES does not offer anything that can truly compete with what FIFA12 offers: yes, you could argue that PES12 is smarter than FIFA12, but in comparison, is FIFA12 that much dumber? That used to be the case back in the PS2 days, PES6 was much smarter and superior in every conceivable way when you compared it with FIFA06, and that’s why PES6 could compete at that level even though FIFA06 had the clear advantage when it came to official licenses and marketing.
Nowadays, when you compare PES12 with FIFA12, you have to go into the details when you want to argue which game is smarter or better: PES no longer has better animations than its competitor, PES no longer feels more “organic” than its competitor, and PES is no longer head and shoulders above FIFA in terms of how smart the video game is; as a result, PES can no longer compete at the level that it used to compete.
To end this miserable rant, I must say that I think everything I’ve said pretty much explains how I feel about both PES12 and FIFA12; I think it’s clear that EA Sports is simply adding little gimmicks at this point, not really going for fundamental progress, and instead preferring to perfect the “organic” illusion that has become their trademark; whereas Konami is trying to remain competitive without really compromising itself to one specific and well defined direction.
So, for the last time, I must say that EA Sports has produced a better PES than Konami ever could: FIFA12 is just like the old PES, organic and fluid, yet extremely scripted in every area of the game. EA Sports not only did a better job, but also did it before Konami even had a chance to compete. This is why, I will say, again, for the last time, that Konami needs to reinvent the PES series, because that’s the one thing that EA Sports has not done, because that’s the one thing that EA Sports cannot do, because EA Sports is a follower, not an innovator; EA Sports has not reinvented PES nor has it reinvented the football genre as a whole, what EA Sports has done is simple, EA Sports simply produced a PS2 era game with an extra layer of “organic” illusion, which is why, at the heart of FIFA12, the d-pad identity can still be felt in all the areas of the game: PES on the PS2 was based around an eight directional button with no range of movement within any of its eight directions, FIFA12 is based around a 360 directional button with no range of movement within any direction, every single movement is preset or scripted, yet there is no range of movement within each type of preset movement that is implemented into every direction, because we are not talking about a video game which is based around a 360 analog stick, we are talking about a video game which is based around a 360 d-pad button…. Yes, going from an eight directional d-pad to a 360 directional d-pad is a perfection of the method, but I wouldn’t describe it as a reinvention.