eFootball PES 2020 - Review

eFootball PES 2020 - Review

Review for eFootball PES 2020. Game for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 10/09/2019

“We are at the last minute of the most important match of the season. The decisive shot is entrusted to the captain, the undisputed leader of a team that makes unanimity its best weapon ”. Imagining that we are at the end of a football season, which has actually just begun, we could thus define the imagery created by Konami for its eFootball PES 2020. The new course of the Japanese company, called this year to its decisive consecration and - why not - upon the definitive engagement (and perhaps even overtaking) with his historical rival FIFA, he arrived on the market pervaded by a lifeblood never so vivid, with many certainties and some small - but significant - step forward used in the darkest points of the past years.



After a first contact with the various pre-release builds and the demo, released in the heart of summer, we were finally able to get our hands on the full version of the game, happy as children in the full Christmas mood. We want to immediately reveal to you that, after a weekend full of gaming sessions, our good feelings of the eve of eFootball PES 2020 have been largely confirmed. At least as regards the level of simulation and the naked and raw gameplay, it is a title that borders on perfection in several respects but which, however, continues to show the side in some passages, slightly subdued compared to the overall beauty of a capable play system. to improve year after year.

For an overall evaluation we reserve the right to test the online production sector with our own hands: thanks to the closure of the game servers, in fact, we "limited" ourselves to test the offline modes of production, above all the well-known Master League, this year awaited at the gate with a wealth of important news. How did it go?



eFootball PES 2020 - Review

The Tiki-Taka is served

It is no mystery that the "historical" strength of Konami's little boy can be found in the gameplay, which in recent seasons has undergone targeted adjustments - marginal or more massive - to complete a project started a few years ago and which now it can be defined practically concluded.

Once on the field, eFootball PES 2020 almost blew us away, thanks to an enviable depth and quality of playability. The flagship is certainly linked to the construction of the maneuver which, never as this year, appeared to us of an imposing beauty and fluidity.

eFootball PES 2020 - Review

The touches to the ball, characterized by a physics always very convincing but slightly "lighter" than usual, accompany a waltz of tactical emotions impossible to experience elsewhere. In eFootball PES 2020, game construction once again plays a focal role and will make you realize how important it is to have the right players in the right place. Although having to admit a general imbalance generated by the production of the game on the flanks, slightly "out of phase" and perhaps to be reviewed, basing the offensive maneuver is always a pleasure. In fact, players tend to make very realistic and above all continuous movements, trying to find space between the opponent's shirts with diagonals, movements without the ball and various blocks, pushing the player to always try new solutions to each action.

Precisely the quality of the passes, clearly the prerogative of the best players, was fundamental to us for the realization of clean shots, which have higher percentages of leading to a goal or in any case in a dangerous action. Spinning the ball is a necessary choice at times to be able to go to goal, also due to the strong boost received from the rearguards, clearly more awake than in past seasons: the central players always have problems keeping up with the fast tips on the throughers, but in generally there is a greater effectiveness of the defenders when it comes to anticipating and above all to counter the opponent.



eFootball PES 2020 - Review

In general it is the whole defensive phase, in eFootball PES 2020, to have received a more papable "malice". Already from the middle of the field, the opposing midfielders will try to steal the ball continuously, making every pass difficult and the choice of who to entrust possession of the latter to is fundamental. This aspect brings with it several others, all very important for the overall evaluation of the product. First of all, also thanks to the strong opponent's verve, the shot from outside the area is more sought after. This highlights all the improvements made from this point of view. It is no mystery that in the last chapters of the saga these were generally a negative element, both from the side of the animations and of the general effectiveness. This year, however, the music has changed.

Thanks also to the aggressiveness of the opposing central players, trying the conclusion from outside the area is one of the best choices possible, also because, with the right players, it is possible to put the opposing goalkeeper in serious difficulty. The second point we were talking about comes by itself: goalkeepers. The extreme defenders - even in overall modest overall - are almost flawless, extremely reactive, and offer great security in the defensive phase. The extreme effectiveness of the goalkeepers, however, is not badly balanced. Their reactivity rate is above average, but it will also not be impossible to surprise them with volley shots, involuntary rebounds or - more simply - seeing them come out badly, as also happens in real matches, and conceding questionable goals.


eFootball PES 2020 - Review

The strong point of eFootball PES 2020, in light of these small factors, is therefore one: the unpredictability. It is not difficult, in fact, to come across accidental rebounds capable of ruining an entire game, or making the defensive center lose the ball and find yourself alone in front of the goal, which, in sports games, usually rarely happens. Konami's title, on the other hand, opens the doors to this human and truthful indecision, which once again increases the quality and uniqueness of every single game.


War of nerves

Taking home the victories, however, is not at all easy. Although characterized by a very low level of challenge to the most modest difficulties, the discourse changes radically when the bar is pushed up. At high difficulty levels (which we advise you to select right away) the enemy AI proves to be very witty, without ever being suffocating and flawless. Blunders are commonplace, on both sides, and they hurt equally.

eFootball PES 2020 - Review

It is clear how the gameplay of eFootball PES 2020 is a little playful gem but clearly it is not without flaws, some even glaring. First of all there is the play on the flanks, which in the hands of the AI ​​becomes even more unbalanced than normal: when the opponent crosses in the center (but also the player, be careful) and the team is equipped with a good jumper, finding the ball at the bottom of the net is quite frequent. Very similar speech for the speech related to the restart.

It is quite common to be hit on the counterattack, with the central players once again subject to delays in coverage on the through passes. We were really surprised by the almost maniacal effectiveness of the CPU, for example, on set pieces. In particular the free-kicks - we counted 3 goals and a crossbar on 6 attempts from a position within 30 meters - seem clearly unbalanced, and we hope that Konami can fix this detail, perhaps with the long-awaited day one patch. Although characterized by a host of new animations, which also make the entire maneuver more fluid to the eye, some movements, especially in front of goal, are even less natural.

eFootball PES 2020 - Review

It happened very often to miss the appointment with the goal due to strange behavior of the attackers, from the choice of the foot for the shot or the inexplicable desire to hit the head from almost outside the area but we still feel to label everything as trifles, especially compared to the depth and fluidity of a much sought after and overall fun gameplay. The situation changes if you try to master it more, setting the various commands related to game assistance on "Manual". Unlike the competition, the manual controls are very complicated to assimilate and use, and make the overall experience noticeably less fluid, especially at the beginning. In the long run, however, this obstacle becomes almost a liberation, when everything becomes within your reach and you will find many possibilities for action on your hands, with the exception of (manual) shots, which always remain fairly complicated to manage.

Master League 2.0: is the revolution coming?

Every good fan of Konami's football was waiting with open arms for the much desired new Master League, defined by Konami as a sort of “Remastered” version. And we too immediately jumped on the modality in question, hungry as never before for news from one of the most played but also the most ancient and to be modernized modes of Konami's football. Once started, here is the first novelty: as announced in the various launch trailers, it is possible to select an icon of the past as a coach, and we can choose between sacred "monsters" such as Diego Maradona, Gullit, Roberto Carlos and many others. The choice of the coach, however, did not seem to affect the management of the team, also linked to another of the innovations introduced: the press conferences. Konami had promised a great deal of attention on the latter, which, in reality, does not happen that much.

eFootball PES 2020 - Review

The answers given in the conferences in which we took part do not seem to have affected the general performance of the athletes, whose management on the field is once again important. Knowing how to manage the squad, having many commitments (we started with Lazio, committed on three fronts) is of vital importance, to avoid running into players who are tired or out of condition. In short, the new version of the Master League brought as a dowry with eFootball PES 2020 is less revolutionary than expected, but it still left a good impression on us. Thanks also to the cutscenes, feeling closer to the team is almost a must, and this increases considerably when it comes to launching on the market in search of new players.

Players can now be borrowed (or sold) with redemption rights, and in general the whole observation system seems to work better. The general prices of the players, on the other hand, have remained basically unchanged, set too high, which once again makes many negotiations practically impossible. If you aim for goals that are more within the reach of your team, on the other hand, you notice how codes have been inserted in the game with the aim of making everything more realistic and satisfying, both in the purchase and in the sale.

eFootball PES 2020 - Review

However, if the market has only half convinced us, it has instead created a genuine feeling of pleasure in the choice of introducing seasonal objectives with a lot of repercussions on the with the management. And if being able to choose your favorite players, or receive offers from other clubs (including national ones) has made us smile with satisfaction, the same cannot be said for the issue linked to the most important matches. Konami had anticipated great things for games like the derby, which, at the moment, we don't feel like confirming, even after having pierced the yellow-red rearguard in the 2020rd minute with a super goal from Ciro Immobile. The revolution is there but it is still tending to self-relegate to a larval stage and therefore postponed to next year. However, it remains to be evaluated how everything will behave with open servers. In eFootball PES XNUMX, in fact, the Master League will also be influenced by the real general trend of the various players which, at the moment, we have not had the opportunity to try.

My Club, Matchday, Divisions: Konami's “e” factor

Another test bed for the "new" eFootball PES 2020 course was certainly the general online system of the structure. Not only the modalities, the novelty Matchday, the classic My Club and the now inevitable Online Divisions, but more generally the stability and structuring of a product that, starting this year, wants to make the online component one of the main strengths, as and more than before. Let's start immediately with the most painful tooth: after trying the My Club mode, we immediately realized that the news regarding the equivalent of the competition's Ultimate Team are very few. The structure of the market, therefore, with the "unpacking" system of the balls, which starts the construction of the team is all in all casual and not targeted, as is the case in FIFA, and has remained almost identical, if not for some small changes that we feel we can categorize as “of little consequence”. For example, daily challenges have been added, which blend a little with the less than attractive (let's face it) Challenge Cups, mwhile the balls (always divided by attackers, midfielders, defenders and goalkeepers) now contain three players instead of one, but they have a higher purchase price than before. The online ranked matches remain unchanged, the possibility of playing the friendlies in co-op, but the general feeling is that there is less to do, than in the past, once the mode in question is started. From our point of view, this is a great pity, because the choice to keep everything as less "pay-to-win" as possible is certainly a winner, but should be accompanied by a much higher amount of content, even "offline". Certainly welcome is the addition of the players "to follow", the equivalent of the players of the FIFA team of the week. Every week, in fact, in view of the new challenges, players with a higher rating than the norm will be added, therefore “enhanced” by their state of form.

eFootball PES 2020 - Review

Double-sided speech, however, with regard to matchmaking and server stability. Overall pairing works well, at least in My Club, but shows the flank at a not always lightning-fast match search speed. Different speech if we analyze the matches of the Divisions instead. The matchmaking, while remaining not very fast, it makes some clashes impossible, coupling teams of clearly different strengths. In two games with the Latium we found ourselves facing Barcelona and Arsenal, two much stronger clubs, with obvious repercussions on the final result. On the other hand, there is really nothing to say about stability. In view also of all the violent mass of players on the servers for the hottest news, the Matchday, however, the actual value of which must be measured over time and which, above all, was hit by a throw that was anything but divine. The mode in question, which allows players to compete in new online challenges every week, in exchange for various prizes and rewards, is one of the most interesting additions to the eSports package and seems to have good potential, but, clearly, the season is long. and you have to understand how it will hold up in the long run. Ultimately, Konami has put in place a more than functional infrastructure. Only in some cases did we find ourselves faced with low latency situations, mainly due to the opponent's connection. Finally, we are curious to find out how the real variations will affect the players also in the other modes, feature promised by Konami, but which, once again, must be evaluated in the long run. However, we feel confident enough to say that we don't believe it could be something that revolutionary, but it could work anyway.

"The whole stadium!"

If the gameplay reaches excellent levels, the same cannot be said for the graphics sector. The big picture of production, even on the modest PlayStation 4 slim, offers an enviable glance, thanks also to the new camera, “Stadium”, which makes every game difficult to distinguish from the real ones with the naked eye. Konami has paid great attention to animations and the introduction of new mechanics such as the Finesse Dribbling, able to return a much more truthful feedback to the player, both to see and pad in hand, succeeding almost completely. eFootball PES 2020 brings to the stage graphics at the limits of photorealism, with faces, movements and attitudes of the players who have nothing to envy to the real counterpart.

eFootball PES 2020 - Review

Thanks also to a good use of HDR, the color choice adopted in general for eFootball PES 2020 seemed more convincing than in the past, although it pervades that usual palette of colors that is excessively tending to "warm" that seems, on some rectangles of game, excessively "green" and literally ignites the eyes. Added to this is also a dynamic weather that is really well done, but not very incisive. On several occasions we have seen sudden gusts of water invade the pitch, and we are sincerely surprised.

What we noticed instead and that made us turn up our noses a bit is that, in all honesty, the movement of the ball on the ground, even in the wet, does not change that much.

eFootball PES 2020 - Review

The new graphic design of the game menus was dutiful and pleasant: the aspect that perhaps needed a major restyling was just that and we immediately found ourselves at ease with the new look that gives the choice of game mode a fresher aspect. Final comment on the sound sector: choirs, voices and commentary (actually slightly higher than in the past) in eFootball PES 2020 have been almost completely recycled with minimal effort, and deserve a total overhaul, in view of the transition to next-gen that should take place next season.

eFootball PES 2020 - Review

eFootball PES 2020 knows it has all the credentials to be able to make the leap in quality and has decided to try seriously. The gameplay is the flagship of the production, capable of being a perfect middle ground between simulation and pure fun without abandoning that style made up of unique mechanics developed and perfected. This year Konami has also been able to push hard on licenses (although they are still too few compared to the competition) and above all on the Master League, starting a path of necessary revolution that seemed to us to be respectable. Some modes such as "Become a Legend" are more marginal but the various local matches are a pleasure: children of almost perfect gameplay. The most interesting news in terms of online modes, on which a large part of the fortunes of eFootball PES 2020 will be based are substantially few, but the Matchday is one of those features that can have its say in the long term, if, of course, properly supported . Too bad for the few changes to the My Club, once again all in all anonymous, although Konami has tried to insert (only partially succeeding) some small appreciable addition. Anyway, Konami made a nice “golazo” from outside the box and all football fans can rejoice. With the name of eFootball PES 2020, PES, the real one, is finally back!

► eFootball PES 2020 is a Sport-type game developed and published by Konami for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 10/09/2019

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