I want to get into the Master League mode which I believe is the saddest part of PES.
First, I’ll second some of the other points mentioned on this thread:
- Music
- Stadium atmosphere
- Commentary – simply subpar for this day and age
Also,
- Camera angle: Try Fifa's version of BAL – they have developed a smart camera that zooms in and out according to the development of the play. This camera is far superior to PES’s Wide- which for BAL purposes is both too far and not wide enough at the same time.
- Why is the start button so weird? I always had an issue with that. You can’t use it when the keeper is taking a goal kick. For instance, if you are getting a phone call right after taking a shot, you can’t pause until you skip the replay, and wait for the keeper to take the shot – by then I’ve pressed start 18 times and the phone is on the fourth ring. The start button should not be the menu button and also the skip button. The menu/pause should always be at hand – once again see FIFA.
- On field player interactions: every now and then we see a confrontation cut scene, but there’s much more that could be happening on the field in terms of chatter, signaling, and camaraderie. This would add significantly to the atmosphere – and not to mention typical high-stakes drama. Think about it: The worldcup final had 13 yellow cards; and when was the last time that Real Madrid played at Barcelona and there was no drama? We need to see Iniesta take an elbow to the face, while Xavi starts yelling in Ronaldo’s face, Puyol get’s his hair pulled and leaps into the air theatrically, and Ramos gets a red card for slapping someone on the face for no good reason (extra points if Mourinho spits on someone’s shoes or attempts a grab at someone’s ear.)
Master League
I concur that for a game as loved as PES, the manager mode has never been on par, and this year has been steps in all wrong directions.
Scouting – Why is there no scouting in PES 2012? You can simply look at a 50-point breakdown of every single player, complete with skill cards. As a result, moving through the manager mode is dead easy: buy the cheapest highly-rated youngsters, and wait two years. Also, you can’t reuse the names. As much fun as it is to sign Eto’o and Torres for next to nothing at 17, that’s a sure way to end the game’s replay value – as it reads above: keep buying the power names when they are in their teens and wait two years.
Player information interface – This must be improved. When deciding on a purchase, how is it that it is impossible to see a list that includes market value and rating at the same time? There should be a table to see not only value and rating, but also age, perhaps assistant recommendation, height for CBs and CFs, etc (nationality, league, club status). It seems that the interface was not designed at all with Master League usability in mind – how do the programmers figure we are comparing players and deciding on purchases?
Manager room cut scene – good concept, except there’s nothing going on. What’s the point of coming into this room if nothing happens in it? See below for some very important management-related actions that could take place in this room.
Manager actions:
Player Complaints – the way this has been implemented is just unworkable. Not only we are forced to watch these constant, repetitive and absurd complaints, but for the majority of the issues raised there is no solution leading to an agreement. Player communication needs to be significantly richer, or don’t have it.
Players may be at various levels of satisfaction regarding teamwork, results, training, relationships, media, contracts, offers, listing status, position competition, team’s strengths and weaknesses, etc, and for each and everyone of these there are multiple ways in which a competent manager could improve the player’s satisfaction level – including a dead-simple “give me a chance to fix this” for which 90% of times the player will walk away happy, hopeful and looking forward to the manager’s corrective actions.
In real life, some managers also use the mildly effective “You are out of line,” which fits well into certain management styles and actually performs better than most of the ridiculous interactions seen in 2012.
Seriously, if you won’t bother dealing with this level of complexity, then do as in years before and simply ignore management, but touching on it with such incompetence and forcing it on the screen as in 2012 amounts to garbage.
Motivation management – An incredibly important aspect of a manager’s job is to communicate expectations to the players. The manager should be able to bring a player into the office and tell him about the last game: as simple as “good job, keep it up,” or “that was unacceptable.” Ideally, an example of something more complex and realistic would be “our starting player in this position is injured, so we need you to step up and take this opportunity to break into the first team,” which could result in increased determination from the player, or a bad performance due to nerves depending on the player’s personality, in which case the manager may choose to say instead “we are going to be playing you more often now that SOSO is injured, and I want you to know that there’s no pressure on you. Just give it your best.” That’s what motivation is all about, a hugely important part of the manager’s job, and completely lacking in PES.
Interaction with the chairman – The chairman should come into the management room for requests both ways. Currently the assistant tells us that the chairman sent a letter or something, asking to see a player on the field or to play clean, but this could be expanded to include other typical things such as asking for a good result at a particular tournament or intercept the sale of an important player. By the same token, the manager may ask for things like additional funds, or one-off help to purchase an important player.
Assistant’s overview of the position – This is a nice addition but it doesn’t do much for the game and it doesn’t seem realistic. Is the assistant coach schooling the manager? This might make more sense if it stops being a mandatory cut scene, and instead is a feature in one of the team management menus. We should be able to interact with the assistant: if he is saying that we should worry about the quick pace of the wings, then are there any formation or tactical (ex: play possession or counter) recommendations? Who should we play on the wings, and how, to deal with this threat?
Voices - Is it too much to ask that some of these cut scenes actually include human voices? What game in the last 10 years uses written dialog? Is this meant to feel like a 90's RPG?
