yeah the feeling u get when squeezing one through a few defenders in PES 2010 is sometimes better then the resulting goal so i think they
nailed that aspect of the game.
your understanding of the game also comes into play i think because gone are the days were u just pointed to the player u wanted the through ball played to and the AI chooses how to execute it.
now u put it into the open space between the defenders were u think your player will get to it first just like the real game itself.
makes it that more difficult to defend especially when playing another person.
Yeah, I specifically enjoy sending very long ground passes to my forwards, I find counter attacking tactics + long ground passes, as the most enjoyable way to play the game.
Some people like it better with PES5 or PES6 because it feels as though the STATS have more relevance; personally, I don't agree with that... I feel passing stats or attributes have more relevance in PES 2010 than any PS2 version of the game.
Like you mentioned, your understanding of the game is now more important, I want Konami to continue going in that direction; no more mindless "pin-ball" football.
If you use the L2 Strategies, you will find that by using the "Formation A" and "Formation B" tactics -- used for changing both the formation of your team and the style of your team without needing to pause the game -- you can consciously decide when you want to create certain passing angles.
And you can even use the "Formation A" or "Formation B" tactic + the counter attack tactic; so you can maintain a counter-attacking approach to your game, whilst at the same time changing your formation (on-the-fly) whenever you feel you should.
What I do is that I use the "Formation A" and "Formation B" tactics, and I do not change the formation, instead I only change the position of one individual; and in turn, I create new passing angles that would be impossible without the use of the L2 Strategies.
So I agree, with the new Sliders and Cards, plus the old L2 Strategies, your understanding of the game is now a bit more relevant,
My key disappointment with the game, besides the dreadful animations and overall feel of the game, is the lack of player individuality in terms of off-the-ball movement; or in other words, the generic behavior of the players when they don't have the ball.
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Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard have a very similar approach to their off-the-ball game.
Carlos Valderrama and Xavi Hernandez are very similar in how they move without the ball, even though Valderrama played in a different era.
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That's my disappointment with PES, everyone feels identical when they don't have the ball... and off-the-ball movement is extremely important because it determines what type of passing you can do.
So I think the game needs a couple of new STATS for PASSING ability, and also new stats to define further player individuality in terms of how they behave without the ball.
I don't know if such a detailed level of player individuality is possible in a 10 minute game, but it is a FACT, that this is where PES 2010 and FIFA10 need improvements.
People talk about "vision" or "a visionary player, he can spot things no one else would see" -- vision is all about off-the-ball movement -- a lot of people have good passing accuracy, but this rare gift called "vision" has more to do with off-the-ball movement and knowing the position of your team-mates.
So really, what is the point of "vision" in a game like PES? we can already see everything from the wide view perspective, we can always move in accordance to what we see from the wide view perspective, and we can only control ONE individual at a time -- and -- all the players that we are not manually controlling... they move identically.
That's my key disappointment with PES, it has failed to Evolve... PES was the first football sim to really emphasize the importance of individuality -- and -- they never evolved, their revolutionary concept stayed the same, only focusing on the on-the-ball part of the game.
So again, if "vision" continues to be overlooked by both PES and FIFA -- the game will continue playing like a "pin-ball" game with very generic and outdated player individuality.
This formula worked, it has worked for 15 years; but it's time to move on...
Otherwise, we may have new features such as: Sliders and Cards, 360-Passing, Motion Cap Animations, Photo-Realistic Graphics, etc, etc; but these are just details that will never alter or revolutionize the Football Genre, the game will still play like a "pin-ball" game.
So yeah,
I agree with your points regarding PES 2010, but at the same time, I can't help but feel disappointed because I'm pretty certain that it will lead to nothing,
A game non-restricted by an 8-directional concept, requiring more precision from the user; but at the end of the day, the individuals on the pitch all have: generic off-the-ball movement, super-human vision, super-human stamina, etc, etc.
There are no ground-rules to follow, the game is broken from the ground up,
hopefully you are ok and yeah i like the fact that you now have to point to the space you want to play the ball to instead of pointing to the player because it gives u much more possibilities.
