I hope you guys don't mind about this post, it's a bit off-topic, but I think it reflects on the good old "magic" of PES -and- the things that have been lost since going Next Gen.
It's basically a comparison between PES6 and PES09. I have played the Two games recently, and because I have already given PES09 a good run, and have already played PES6 for more than two years..
PES6: A game well ahead of its time.
A deep system of (28) Stats and (23) Special Abilities, well ahead of FIFA's (25) Stats system which included no such thing as Special Abilities.
Gameplay full of subtle details of great quality for the time. You could feel subtle differences between many different players, the game was NOT only about the Messis and Cristiano Ronaldos, every different player had their own advantages and disadvantages:
* Gennaro Gattuso: a tireless worker, could push you off balance and win possession –but- was a bad passer of the ball. So once you did win possession with Gattuso you had to make a simple pass to your midfielders. This forced you to play “collectively” like in Real Life.
* Riquelme: Not a fast player, not a tireless worker –but- a player who could slip passes through with incredible ease, and a player who could hold the ball well because of his balance. This is the type of player who would receive passes from Gennaro Gattuso.
* Cristiano Ronaldo: Not the best passer of the ball –but- he could run past many players with his speed and technique.
* Clarence Seedorf: Not the fastest player around, not the most skillful player –but- a very useful player.. with his good balance and tactical ability, he was a very versatile midfielder as he could hold possession because of his balance, was always in good positions because of his good tactical ability, and could also give fairly decent passes.
This was an essential aspect of the good Old PES, every different individual had their own advantages and disadvantages, and although those advantages where “clear” there was a certain quality that made it extremely realistic for its time.
Individuals who are not good at passing the ball, like Gattuso, they where not completely helpless when passing the ball (like it happens so many times with PES09) –you- just had to limit yourself into making easy passes with them.
On the other hand, with players like Riquelme.. you notice a great deal of advantage when passing the ball, you have an edge when passing the ball with Riquelme. An edge that you don’t have when Cristiano Ronaldo or Leo Messi have the ball.
With players like Cristiano Ronaldo you can get past 2 or 3 players with the use of his Pace and Technique... but he wasn’t the best passer of the ball, and he didn’t had the best balance.. and it showed in the gameplay.
Other key aspects of PES6:
Fluid Gameplay: fluid movements, fluid passing.. It actually felt like Real Football. Because of the fluidity of the gameplay, the realistic proportions between players and pitch, and the balance between Attackers and Defenders, PES6 had a “never know what will happen next” factor that involved you in the gameplay.
The “anything can happen” factor is what made PES6 such an addictive and enjoyable experience.. you can still get a kick out of this game Today.
But the "fluid gameplay" wasn’t the only thing, if you look closely, PES6 forces you into Thinking Faster than you do when playing PES09. You get Less Space and Time on the pitch, which means that you’ve got to know what to do with the ball before the ball gets to you. This is closer to Real Football.
This also involved you even more, because you are always thinking when you play PES6, be it when Attacking or Defending.
Another Key Aspect about PES6:
TOP SPEED was NOT a very important factor. It could win you matches, it could make the difference every now and then, but PACE was not the most important factor. As even slow players could run the length of the pitch realistically.
A Football Pitch is relatively small, it doesn’t takes much to cover a good part of it.. the time-consuming thing about Football is creating that space, but not “running the length of it”.
Running the final third, the middle of the pitch, that’s relatively small. The hard part is getting the ball through the pitch, which haves more to do with tactical ability and passing ability –and- less to do with the Top Speed of a player.
Another key Factor about PES6:
The acceleration and thrill in The Final Third of the pitch.. it haves that “anything can happen” feel to it that makes each and every goal feel like a unique piece of work. An Essential Aspect of PES6.
Another Key factor about PES6:
The Dribbling Tricks, very limited, very few –but- like everything in the game, the Dribbling Tricks work differently in every different situation. The tricks give the impression of not having any practical purpose, but each of them does in fact have a purpose, and can prove decisive if used properly.
The “Drag Back”: always efficient for the middle of the pitch, you could use the “drag back” and then follow it up with a quick pass –or- maybe even by “Lifting or Flicking the ball over your opponent”.
This added a nice touch of “fantasy” to PES6, you could execute great moves by mixing different tricks: Drag Back + Flicking the Ball over your opponent – was one of those surprising moves that required imagination and timing.
The Classic “Kick-Fake” Dribble.. the most effective and intuitive trick in the game in my opinion.
The Roulette via the Right Stick, another fan favorite, and surprisingly intuitive considering it was arranged to the Right Analog Stick.
Negatives about PES6??
One of the most noticeable ones is that it can become something of a “pinball” game. At times, passing the ball becomes too easy, and as a result the flow of the game resembles something similar to “Pinball Football”.
This shows that although well ahead of its time, the ball physics are definitely not as realistic as it could be. Maybe as realistic as possible for a PS2 game.. but looking back at the game now, this is one of the things that could have improved on.
There’s barely any Animations and Tricks.. although looking back at it, it had plenty of animations for a PS2 Sports Game.
Crappy Graphics.
Although the differences between Individuals where great for the time.. if you look back at it, you can see some flaws, and it is easy to see that the game would benefit from New Stats and New Animations, and New Substance.
Bottom Line about PES6??
The Genial thing about PES6 is that it captures the essence of Football, it plays like Football.
Sure it haves crappy graphics, it barely haves any animations, it doesn’t haves the best ball physics, etc, etc..
But it captures the essential things about Football:
* Moving the ball around, working your angle.. it wasn't about "running the length of the pitch" -it- was more about creating space and scoring opportunities by actually playing Football.
* Every different individual had advantages and disadvantages. This gave the game a great touch of realism, you had to think and play like a Team, it was about the "collective" effort as a team.
* The practical use of Dribbling Tricks, they could be simple and subtle, but could also be fantastic. It wasn't about mastering some complicated controls, it only required imagination and timing.. and the actual Dribbling Stats.
* The Fluid Gameplay, the realistic proportions of the pitch, the balance between defenders and attackers, the thrill in The Final Third of the pitch.. it gave the game that essential "anything can happen" magic.
PES6 left you asking for more, it didn't mattered if the score-line was 4-0.. the "anything can happen" feel of the game left you asking for more and more and more Goals.
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PES 2009: “tactical” in Intent, but “arcade-like” in Execution. A completely different game.
Positives??
* The Shooting in-game feels better.
* Much better Graphics, much better Faces and Stadiums. Player likenesses are spot-on. A huge improvement over PES6 Graphics.
* Long Balls are very effective this time around, you can really alternate between Ground Passes and Lobbed Passes. This has opened new ways of “counter attacking” amongst other things. And Unlike PES6, it isn’t a game that forces you to play through the Ground.
* The R2 “strategies” does makes a clear difference, gameplan A and B is actually effective for in-game purposes.
Negatives??
Fluid Gameplay -- Gone.
Fluid Movements -- Gone.
Fluid Passing -- Gone.
The Execution has changed completely. The edgy and robotic animations are the main Reason for the game’s lack of Feeling and Intensity. And the limited amount of options for both “dribbling and marking” make it worst.
The Defensive Play is very arcade-like in that it requires Zero Thinking. There’s no sense of “work rate” going on, as I can basically defend well with every fast and agile player. Which means that it is usual to have forwards suddenly turning into world class defenders.
Passing is excessively assisted by the COM and excessively Rigid, it feels more 8-Directional than ever before. It becomes more and more annoying with each passing game, unforgivable in a Football Simulation – Passing can make or break any Football Simulation.
Acceleration in The Last Third of the pitch is very one-dimensional and arcade-like. With controls like having to hold the R2 and then tapping the R1 just so the player can go faster. The control isn’t bad, but — the execution spells “arcade game”.
Many things in the game feel very "watered down":
* Defending and Tackling feels very watered down, there's no responsiveness to it anymore.
* Off-the-ball movement feels very watered down.. to this day I still don't see the now infamous "TeamVision".
* That Old Trademark thrill in The Final Third of the pitch is nowhere to be found. It feels as though Konami actually "stretched" the Length of the pitch, at times it feels never ending. Giving you excessive amounts of Space and Time to think about whatever your going to do next.
The Dribbling Ability of every player is pretty much identical: in the game Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi are equally good at “Cutting The Ball” and at “dribbling through small spaces”. Which again, leans closer to arcade game.
This is where the “finesse” of Football gets lost:
* When everyone runs just as much as Gennaro Gattuso. The game losses credibility, this is where Stats like “Work Rate” should be taking place.
* When there are barely any controls nor options for Defending and stealing the ball. This is where Stats such as “Marking”, “Defensive Awareness”, and “Defensive Composure” should be taken into consideration.
* When you only have a “Dribbling Accuracy” and “Dribbling Speed” Stat to cover something as important as the actual dribbling technique of every player — Cutting the Ball, Shielding the Ball, Body Feints, Flicking the Ball, 360ª Roulette — all different abilities, all individual attributes.
Bottom Line about PES09??
That always important “anything can happen” factor is nowhere to be found. PES09 simply does NOT plays like a proper Pro Evolution game.
For one thing, Top Speed is ridiculously Overrated.. and to make it worst, the Length of the Pitch seems (at times) never ending, it truly gives the impression of “stretching”.
Running the Length of the Pitch should NOT take that long, acceleration in The Final Third should be a lot more explosive and responsive.
It seems like Konami, instead of making it harder and more challenging to create Spaces and scoring opportunities.. It seems like Konami decided to simply “stretch” the Length of the pitch.
And as a result we now have a ridiculous disproportion in the length of the pitch, we have too much Space and Time to Think whatever it is we will do next. There’s no thrill or intensity in The Final Third of the Pitch.
This has completely changed the gameplay, because it is (now) very SLOW Mentally and Tactically.
The Balance between Defenders and Attackers has been lost. The Attackers have a clear advantage over the defenders, and the defenders really have no tools to counter against the twitchy tricks.
There is so much time and space on the pitch, so much advantage as an attacker –that- the old “anything can happen” feeling has been lost. Everything is more predictable now. PES09 plays more like FIFA, everything in the game is predictable, and gets boring and repetitive very fast.. it’s definitely not the same level of quality anymore.
Long story short: PES09 is a step backwards from PES6. Instead of building on their "simulation roots", instead of adding new substance to the game.. Konami actually removed substance from the game.
