I've been playing PES14 for a while now, and at first I loved it. I wanted to rub FIFA's development staff's faces in it and say "See? That's what the f*cking game is supposed to be like!" I was playing on a lower difficulty setting, and as in FIFA, winning every game by at least 5 goals (usually 8-10). This got old quickly.
I upped the difficulty from "amateur" to "regular", thinking this would add difficulty. A foolish assumption, I know. Rather than the game getting smarter, it simply negates my input. I press "pass left" the game passes right. I can only move in 90 degree directions. Player switching absolutely REFUSES to select the player literally STANDING next to an empty ball with no pressure. The opposition gets it, and surprise, they score. Players miss easy passes a grade-schooler would be ashamed to miss at the worst possible time (i.e., right in front of goal). Not because I made a bad pass into pressure or something, just the game decided that f*ck me. Every game I've got 12+ shots on goal, maybe 1 goes in if I'm lucky. The CPU has 2 and they both go in. The CPU wins EVERY 50/50 ball. Every loose ball goes directly to the CPU. EVERY. TIME.
This doesn't feel like difficulty, it feels like watching an animation where I lose. The enjoyment of the game comes from picking out the right pass, timing and weighting it correctly, and executing a killer strike. It's not fun (remember, the point of a game is to be fun?) when my choices and input are overriden and mistakes forced upon me as a cheap way of adding "difficulty".
So my question is: is there a way to add difficulty to the game without making it feel like not a game?
I upped the difficulty from "amateur" to "regular", thinking this would add difficulty. A foolish assumption, I know. Rather than the game getting smarter, it simply negates my input. I press "pass left" the game passes right. I can only move in 90 degree directions. Player switching absolutely REFUSES to select the player literally STANDING next to an empty ball with no pressure. The opposition gets it, and surprise, they score. Players miss easy passes a grade-schooler would be ashamed to miss at the worst possible time (i.e., right in front of goal). Not because I made a bad pass into pressure or something, just the game decided that f*ck me. Every game I've got 12+ shots on goal, maybe 1 goes in if I'm lucky. The CPU has 2 and they both go in. The CPU wins EVERY 50/50 ball. Every loose ball goes directly to the CPU. EVERY. TIME.
This doesn't feel like difficulty, it feels like watching an animation where I lose. The enjoyment of the game comes from picking out the right pass, timing and weighting it correctly, and executing a killer strike. It's not fun (remember, the point of a game is to be fun?) when my choices and input are overriden and mistakes forced upon me as a cheap way of adding "difficulty".
So my question is: is there a way to add difficulty to the game without making it feel like not a game?