Here are a few more thoughts:
- At the time of my earlier post, I was playing with the default assistance settings - which are atrocious. Advanced shooting and through passes just don't work IMO. And without assistance for short passes, it's too easy to make wrong passes. The analog stick of a controller is not a joystick such as those one uses to play airplane games. It's just not accurate enough IMO.
- The most noticeable improvement in PES2014 is the incredible advancement in graphics, and particularly in animations. The animations in PES2014 are stunning.
- Another somewhat less noticeable improvement is the new physics system - players move and jostle in a realistic manner; the pressure on the ball is intense, and one is forced to pass around in a way strikingly similar to the flow of a real match.
- Dribbling has also been improved; mostly, it is now impossible to sprint around at all times. You only sprint in space, and unless you are controlling Ronaldo, you have to slow down to beat players - just like in real life. Tricks are difficult to pull off (might become easier with practice), but when you do manage to make a trick work, the satisfaction is immense.
- The shooting and goalkeeping system is actually quite good. One scores plenty of realistic-looking goals. These kinds of goals have always been the reason I have preferred PES over Fifa - goals in PES feel natural and unique, while goals in Fifa feel weird and scripted. I played around with free kicks in training, and it is possible to score beautiful free kicks, including blasts from up close and also shots with outside curl - like this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4Jj1PTKuAg
The two major peeves I seem to have after a few days of playing are:
- First, the AI is as dire as ever. It only ever scores against me in one of two ways: With a run down the wing, a low cross, and a tap-in from two meters out; or with a magical through ball or an unstoppable run, in consequence of which an AI player gets a one-on-one with my defenders 10-15 meters behind the ball.
(- Also free kick sniping, but that seems to have been toned down, so that only players with 85+ FK can snipe you at will. In PES2013, AI free kicks were worse than penalties :/.)
- The other problem I have is the inconsistent fouling system. The AI fouls my guys all the time, but the ref never blows his whistle. Fouling frequency would be easy to tune up, but then the game would become like basketball or American football - ten seconds of play, ten seconds of foul.
All in all, the more I play this game, the better I like it. The animations are gorgeous, and the major components of the game - passing, dribbling, and shooting - are deep, natural-looking, and fun for the player.