PES 2017 review

Konami strong of the success had with PES 2016, try again with PES 2017!

Xbox One tested version

The new chapter of Pro Evolution Soccer, the football saga that, although it has had more lows than highs in recent years, has managed to be reborn and return all in all to the glories of the past, thanks to the excellent work, started last year with PES 2016 (which was hugely successful) and shaped by developers with PES 2017. The latest effort of the Japanese software house, therefore, represents almost a job superfine e mature as we have not seen for at least a decade at Konami, which has managed to erase the years of "oblivion" and bring back the football game, which even in moments of greatest difficulty, has had and continues to have millions of fans in Worldwide.



Therefore, returning from the good commercial success obtained last year, the developers were called to a rather arduous task, that is to be able to keep the good showy in PES 2016, without substantially distorting the game mechanics but rather amalgamating the latter with the new elements that were introduced in PES 2017. Konami will therefore be able to respond in the right way to the requests of the fans or not?


Find out with us in the review by Pro Evolution Soccer 2017!

Revolution? No thanks!

PES 2016, has brought Konami to no longer be considered as an "alternative" to its bitter and undisputed rival, but to fight for the "scepter" of the best football simulation on the market; therefore it is clear how the Japanese software house managed to obtain the result achieved last year, thanks to the mistakes made in the past. In fact, although they have partly "destroyed" the reputation of Pro Evolution Soccer, on the other hand they represented a real "godsend", causing Konami to renew the franchise as never before.


The goal therefore, to reach maturity, was that of do not revolutionize the formula, which remains substantially unchanged, also in this PES 2017, but trying to go to file those flaws emerged in the past "football season". The first substantial difference, which stands out after a few minutes of play, is given by the new "Real Touch Control"That is, the control of the ball has been rewritten from scratch, thus representing the real" revolution "compared to last year. As in reality, even in PES 2017 each player has particular characteristics, so the more technical players such as Ronaldo, Neymar , Messi, are able to stop the ball with precision (in almost all actions) compared to those less technically gifted, which do not allow you to make particular plays.

To the ball control system, “l'Advanced Collision System”, Introduced last year in Pro Evolution Soccer 2016, which allowed the title to rise further compared to the past, thus showing off movements on the field, contacts and an overall fluidity of the unprecedented animations.


These additions have led the developers to significantly improve the dribbling, as it is now possible to perform plays that allow to avoid the suffocating pressing of the opposing defense, which, as seen in the past chapter of the series, will basically tend to adapt rapidly, during the match, to our style of play, forcing us to perform tactical changes to breach the defensive wall that will be placed before us.

Also, since Konami has now deviated from making the game a run run general to get to goal, focusing more on realism rather than on a purely "Arcade”, He decided to improve the pass system, which in PES 2016, perhaps represented the real weakness of the game (not because it did not work properly, but on the contrary it seemed to be too trivial to arrive at the goal) and that instead this time, although it continues to be an extra weapon, as it will give us the opportunity to override the opposing defenders especially thanks to the improved through passes, it requires a certain application, as it will be more difficult to perform a perfect pass. In fact, while making the pass, it will be necessary to take into account various factors such as proximity to the defender, the impact on the ball and the position of the body.


"PES 2017 returns a truly realistic and convincing ball-to-foot feeling, not only in terms of fine, dribbling and tricks, but also thanks to a system of construction of the game, much slower than in the past, characterized by a thick network of passages and a series of well-reasoned tactics "


A diametrically different speech must be made regarding the crossers in the area, which are too effective, thus guaranteeing a good outcome in the vast majority of cases. In fact, it is enough to go to the bottom and cross in the center of the opponent's area to go to the goal and although, it does not mean that the goal is guaranteed, it still represents an element a little too little balanced. In particular, when we have the opportunity to take a corner kick, about 3 times out of 4, our attacker will be able to easily hit the ball with his head, thus going to worry the opposing defense but not the goalkeeper. In fact, failing to score is due to the fact that, the software house has greatly improved the goalkeepers (implementing new animations to ensure greater reliability between the poles), which in PES 2016, had not proved so effective and which instead this time turn out to be able to give that security that was definitely lacking. The extreme defenders are now able to better manage the attacker's advance, even in situations where the goal is almost certain, making decisive saves, for the purpose of the result, even on the occasion of conclusions from outside the area or on set pieces. 

Even in the most agitated situations, i.e. during a scrum in the area, the goalkeepers are really responsive, thus avoiding that the door remains uncovered after a parade or in case of being rejected, the latter will no longer take place exclusively centrally, but also laterally, thus avoiding taking those goals, in tap-in, bordering on ridicule. However, it should be noted that some little uncertainty remains on corner kicks (which appear to have been revised this year), with the goalkeepers who remain fixed on the goal line, leaving the attackers free to hit the head and then responding, with spectacular saves that essentially go to save the result. Therefore, it is clear, although it does not represent a real criticism, how the system turns out to be a little unbalanced, precisely because, to gross errors, there correspond situations in which the opposing goalkeepers will be practically impenetrable, consequently increasing our frustration in not being able to to breach and then to score.


Not only will the goalkeeper hinder us from effectively concluding our attacking action, but, we will also have to deal with the new adaptive Artificial Intelligence, which makes each game unique, different from the others and leading us to change the way we build and conclude our actions. We will not be able to get rid of trying to get to the goal only in one way, as the opposing CPU, just like a computer that learns, will tend to adapt quickly, thus forcing us to vary our attacks (intensive pressing, tiki-taka and tight marking) to arrive at the conclusion. We can use the tiki-taka for build a dense network of passages, or bet everything on quick restarts or play on the wings, in the event that we have players with excellent running skills, while in defense we can aim to tighten the markings on the ball carrier or concentrate on the defense of the penalty area. We also have on our side the possibility of choosing the level of aggression of the team, thus managing the center of gravity of the same and modifying it in relation to the result of the match; for example we can close in defense, to defend the result or increase the center of gravity to crush the opponents in the area, when we are under a goal.

But it does not end here, as the CPU also in attack actions will modify the approaches in relation to our defensive phase, which makes the whole system, on the whole, truly exceptional and varied, as never seen before.

Then, the variety of play it is the real cornerstone of this Konami production, which is further embellished thanks to adaptive AI; it will be our opponents above all to properly use all the tools at their disposal, adapting to specific game situations; if for example they are ahead with a team with a Rating lower than ours, in the final minutes they will tend to waste time to bring home the result, or on the contrary if we are playing a qualification for the Champions League they will not hesitate to bring everyone in attack and try everything.

My Club 2017

The game was delivered to us on the day of release so we got to try it online mode, right away; the first news, which has really made us happy, is the fact that Konami has decided to guarantee a greater steadiness (weekly) in updates, which in the previous chapter had been abandoned to say the least. Speaking more in depth of the modes present in the multiplayer sector, we basically have those seen in 2016; we will be able to select a team and try to win as many games as possible to reach the promotion to the next category or try our hand at the “Team Play Lobby”, an alternative version of the Pro Club present on FIFA.

However, the modality on which Konami has decided to bet all its strength is the My Club (alter ego of the Electronic Arts Ultimate Team); in particular, to meet an ever-increasing number of new users, the developers have decided to create several tutorials that will guide newbies to discover every detail of this exciting mode (which does not differ particularly from the past football season Unlike what happened in the past, in which it was practically impossible to accurately sign a player, PES 2017 introduces a new figure within My Club, namely that of observers (the Scouts), who will give us a big hand to sign the best players. You can use up to three observers at the same time (entrusting each of them with certain parameters to carry out the search), thus allowing you, with the right combination, to go through the list, the profile that is closest to the one you requested and that could be part of your team.

Each observer has particular characteristics, such as the ability to identify only players from a certain nation, belonging to a specific league, in relation to the age group, the characteristics we are looking for and so on. Obviously the more specific observers will also be the most requested. Also, to accommodate the depth of the game's tactical system, it has been introduced a section of analysis of the opponent's habits, in order to choose from time to time the most suitable tactics for the specific match. Other interesting features are related to the ability to train your team so that not only our players can improve their chemistry, but they can even improve their performance. Everyone can be improved, but it must be said that surely the poorer ones will level up faster than players who have already "arrived". Experience is gained both by completing matches and by converting players you no longer use into coaches. A small managerial component has also been implemented to the overall gaming experience, as the number of cards you can collect or the coaches you can keep will be upgradeable.

Once you have "arranged" the team of your dreams, it will be up to you to decide whether to challenge the CPU or look for opponents online, in order to gain additional experience or valuable currency to spend to buy new scouts, agents or objects to improve the fitness of the players or renew their contract. Online mode, although it does not differ particularly from the past, seems to work quite well, matchmaking has been improved and except for some small lag and slight instability on the Xbox One front, the sector does not present any noteworthy uncertainties.

Fox Engine, now at the limits? Far from it!

Graphically, the Fox engine has really reached an unparalleled level of photorealism and although there have been no particular upheavals even from this point of view, the Japanese software house has included a series of "Features”Designed to make the gaming experience even more realistic. First of all, some polygonal models have been improved, albeit in a not very evident way, especially as regards the outline elements which now turn out to be really well done; the turf, dynamic lighting, weather effects, fans in the stands and details on the sidelines have been improved compared to last year, which makes the experience more immersive. All the players have been reproduced with particular care and attention, from the hairstyle, to the accessories they wear on the pitch, to the movements, up to the celebrations. These small improvements represent an evolution of the excellent work done in these two years. As for the resolution of the game, the version we tested, that is Xbox One runs at 1360 × 1080 while the PlayStation 4 version regularly goes on 1080p.

Speaking of the audio compartment, also this year we find the pair of commentators SKY Fabio Caressa e Luca Marchegiani; unfortunately the commentary continues to be lacking and not very appropriate, although new phrases have been added, the feeling is that often the same "lines are repeated over and over."

More than a club

For the most loyal fans, it will not be a big problem to play with unlicensed teams, but in any case it must be said that the biggest flaw for the Konami title is once again the "skimpy" amount of licenses available compared to the direct rival. , which, on the other hand, can count on a much larger and more complete license pool. However, something was also done for PES 2017, as, in addition to confirming the rights relating to the UEFA Champions League e to the Europa League, the Japanese house has signed important Partnerships with some of the most famous clubs in the world; especially with: FC Barcelona, ​​Liverpool, Borussia Dortmund, River Plate, Flamengo and Corinthians. Among the leagues completely "fired", we find the Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, the Eredivisie, the Argentine, Chilean and finally the Brazilian championship. As for the Italian Championship, we find all the fully licensed teams, with the exception of Sassuolo (now Sansagiulo) and Juventus (PM Black White), also leading the latter to lose its officially licensed stadium which instead was regularly present in PES 2016.

The other licensed European teams are: Club Brugge, Dinamo Zagreb, CSKA Moscow, FC Basel, Besiktas and Dinamo Kiev. Although the licensing factor can be overlooked, it should be emphasized that the lack of these penalizes the competitions for which Konami has now had the exclusive rights for years; in fact it is strange to see that fewer and fewer official clubs take part in the Champions League or the Europa League. If we add to all this the lack of licenses for other big names such as Real Madrid, Seville, Manchester City, Porto, Tottenham and Leicester, the Champions really loses a lot of its charm. It is no better with regard to the "fired" states, as one of the major shortcomings is that of the National Stadium of Wales in Cardiff, which will host the next UEFA Champions League final. Among the most famous we have: however the Camp Nou, San Siro, the Olimpico and the famous (although invented) Konami Stadium. Compared to last year, the Copa Sudamericana and the Copa Libertadores with their participating teams are also missing, while the AFC, or the Asian Champions League, remains. The situation, like every year, can be managed through editing, thanks to which it will be possible to create uniforms, logos and official stadiums to share.

Final comment

PES 2017 - Konami, after several years of cosmic darkness has finally managed to make a clean break with the past and bring the Pro Evolution Soccer series (almost) back to the glories of the past; the road is the right one, thanks to a more solid and reasoned gameplay, to the tactical options available, to the new adaptive Artificial Intelligence that will make every match different from the others and that will force the user to change the approach to the game. The result is a really well done and fun title as it has not been seen for years at Konami which, alas, suffers from the loss of important official licenses (Juventus, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich above all) which also affect the appeal of competitions. such as UEFA Champions League and Europa League. If you are a fan of editing and patches, these shortcomings will certainly not be a problem and therefore the advice I can give you is to buy PES 2017 without batting an eye as it is certainly the best football simulation created by the software house “made in Japan. "

For Cons 
- Graphically exceptional
- Adaptive Artificial Intelligence
- Solid and varied gameplay
- Return to the "origins" thanks to the options file ...
-… Unfortunately only on PS4
- Really skimpy licenses
- Commentary still dull and uninvolving
  Overall rating: 87
 
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