PES 2021, analysis. Review with gaming experience and price for PS4, Xbox and PC

In their 25 years of history, the saga Pro Evolution Soccer has never been content to be a simple alternative when it comes to bringing the beautiful game to consoles and PCs: with its pluses and minuses, its deliveries have arrived every year with the aim of retaining what makes its own acronyms great, being aware of the inevitable comparisons with FIFA. Precisely for this reason, what it poses to us eFootball PES 2021 It is so unique.

After the PES 2020 cycle is closed, Konami made his plans official with good news and bad news for his faithful community: the most ambitious and important installment of the saga was taking shape and the jump to the Unreal engine will promote the definitive push for quality in terms of technology, physics and its visuals for the new generation of consoles.

Now, focusing entirely on the rebirth of PES involved making a delicate decision: PES 2021 is literally a Seasonal Update.

Those who enjoyed the previous installment will find almost everything on their site and where they left it: the same modes, the same physics, the same gaming experience … It’s the same game that arrived in September 2019, updated with player data and club rosters for the 2020/2021 football seasons. Although, being fair, there have been new signings in relation to the particular licensing war that Konami has with EA Sports.

The game sensations are the same with an important nuance: eFootball PES 2021 Season Update it is the sum of all the changes made after the launch of PES 2020 and incorporates regular adjustments and template updates. So if a player is on a hot streak or is poorly motivated, it will affect their counterpoint in the game.

With that premise ahead, the question that arises is natural: to what extent is this season update worth it if we start from the previous game edition? Well, that their news are what they are does not prevent us from being in front of a real great football game with its own weaknesses, but that knows how to achieve excellence command in hand.

The double challenge of eFootball PES 2021 in its most complicated match

Seen from a distance, all football games look similarly. In the game, the differences greatly reveal the differences between one and the other. And the playable character of the saga Pro Evolution Soccer is exquisitely palpable in PES 2021: your way of taking advantage of One against one or the way he has to thrill with each cannon shot that is resolved into a goal they are part of the saga’s DNA.

A hallmark that eFootball PES 2021 must wield this season before two really complicated measuring sticks: although there is no only differences between the previous edition beyond what was integrated through the post-launch patches of both deliveries, in essence Konami faces the battery of changes and news of FIFA 21 and, at the same time, to the next generation version of EA Sports’ own hit.

From the outset, and with regard to licenses, this year there have been very unique movements. Without going any further, with the season update the AC Milan and the Inter de Milan, the juicy exclusivity of the Juventus and in the process, Konami snatches from EA Sports nothing less than AS Roma.

In fact, PES 2021 exclusively retains key Latin American teams such as the Argentine Titans Boca Juniors and River Plate or the Chilean stars Colo-Colo and University of Chile. Not to mention especially curious cases thanks to its new and powerful exclusivity agreements, leaving FIFA 21 with the official kit of Brazil but without their players, just the opposite happens in the case of the Portuguese team.

That does not prevent that when improvising pachangas we meet too many outfits created for the occasion. Some, too famous. In other words: see that when Real Madrid as Madrid Chamartin It is still a chore, but at least it has stopped giving the impression that the PES saga is the official video game of FC Barcelona. And it must be recognized that Konami has been able to give fans of the clubs associated with PES just what they were looking for.

With that ahead, where PES has always known how to shine with its own light is in its playable nuance, offering from the previous installment a scheme of passes, shots and centers that represents the natural evolution of all previous shots.

And although it must be said that, on paper, no changes beyond adjustments made in updates, the entry on the scene of dynamic dribbling, subtle dribbling or its premise of control without the ball is still fresh and current a season later.

On the other hand, eFootball PES 2021 it lacks that visual boost that Konami is saving for the next installment, but there are subtle details that make all the difference and reveal that there is a latent work throughout this season: with each new major update, PES 2021 accommodate the faces of the most prominent players and take the opportunity to update the appearances of the superstars of your preferred partners.

And despite the fact that -seen at a very close distance- many of the movements do not have the fluidity and physics of FIFA, broadcast view and from an Xbox Series X eFootball PES 2021 maintains the type without being surprising. Knowing that, deep down, it is a title of the generation that is in its own decline.

Which does not mean that eFootball PES 2021 continue dragging the weaknesses of the previous season and retaining the best of the maximum claims of the saga itself.

Intense matches for severely addictive modes

Konami withdrew from digital stores eFootball PES 2020 Coinciding with the launch of the free-to-play version of this season’s edition, and it makes sense: it makes no sense to offer the same game twice when only one of them is receiving updates and content.

Because, as we all know, for some time now the epicenter of the experience Pro Evolution Soccer goes through its two star modes: myClub and Master League.

It’s not that there are no options when it comes to improvisar pachangas: PES 2021 offers the possibility of taking quick and alternative games online. However, the lack of many of the most powerful licenses in the football scene and the online matchmaking system they continue to seriously weigh down those sections.

Online alternatives beyond myClub and the process of matchmaking pale compared to other current competitive games, regardless of the genre we are talking about, and the fastest and easiest way to find a rival is to open the door to any type of connection, which implies very specific jerks that irremediably taint the experience as a whole . A shame.

The online cooperative game and sofa sharing alternatives introduced in past editions are still there, of course, but they haven’t quite taken off compared to the star modes of PES. Which, by the way, continue to be the true claim of the Konami football experience.

The mode myClub is designed to become our priority and main obsession. Ultimately, it is where we will truly be invited to progress, prosper and play online. But also to strengthen our search to be the definitive club. Rewarding each achievement and inviting us to return successfully daily.

For his part, although the Master League it does not need too many presentations, it is worth highlighting the set of news that it received last season. Giving much more prominence to transfers and the figure and relevance of the coach. Making us hook one game with the next inevitably.

Konami castles its soccer proposal in its star modes by inheritance from the previous installment, but – being really fair – those who renew the season with PES already had it.

And, although the game itself offers reasons to continue to progress steadily, the introduction of an increasingly necessary playable alternative in terms of its mode selection becomes even more evident in this Season Update and, inevitably, makes us fix our eyes on upcoming deliveries.

iGamesNews’s opinion

The question around eFootball PES 2021 no longer turns to if it is so good like the previous one: they are identical except in the most superficial details. What is truly relevant is to what extent it is worth betting on an openly confessed transitional delivery.

We agree that the lack of news is its biggest point againstBut not enough to overshadow the perpetuation of the PES sensations and the expanse of the experience around myClub and Master League continue to be powerful claims for fans, veterans, and the vast community behind the series.

It can’t be said that there is no reason not to give the experience a chance or make the transition from the previous season: in addition to launching at a discounted price, Konami offered holders of eFootball PES 2020 a promotion to get the Season Update through a discount. Not to mention the trimmed and free version (with payment options) from PES 2021 Lite.

However, it is inevitable that we ask ourselves if in this case, with the 25 years of the saga as a pretext – and exceptionally – an upgrade could have been offered at no additional cost. Logically, leaving the door open so that anyone who did not have it could purchase it separately.

The landscape you face eFootball PES 2021 it’s completely unfair, especially considering that the EA Sports saga has already made the real leap to next-generation systems and its sole purpose is to buy time for the next installment. And yet neither one nor the other prevent it from being a great game.

Because, in his own way, eFootball PES 2021 It is a second chance for a love letter to the beautiful game dated in September 2019. And although it will not be the revulsive that the saga needs, the words of that letter is still valid for one more season.