Pro Evolution Soccer 2021 review

Reviewed on: PC

By Rafrix

Save Point’s editor-in-chief can curse me out later, but here’s a warning: if you’re looking for an in-depth review of Pro Evolution Soccer, maybe this review isn’t for you. But don’t leave! Maybe you’ll relate to my review.

For me, football games have always been about gameplay with friends, since childhood. I loved playing Super Star Soccer (by the way, a much cooler name than Pro Evolution Soccer) with my friends, whether co-op or versus, guaranteed laughs every time. I miss turning the referee into a dog and the big-headed players in the Nintendo 64 version.

Well then, my gameplay in PES2021 was the way I like it: I grabbed a friend by the ear to play with me, obviously two noobs in their 30s playing, but I’ll try to pass along a bit of my experience.

Team ready, crowd going wild, two football idols on the pitch, the ref blows the whistle and the ball is in play.

Fun, for casual players like me, is the main factor of a multiplayer game. Guaranteed laughs with the commentary; I always find the names of some players funny, “Azpilicueta” is going to stay in my head for a long time, the intonation of some names narrated here is hilarious. This guy is already my idol without my ever having seen him on the pitch. The negative here would be the commentator getting the game’s score wrong at some moments… it would be… if it weren’t even more laughs when it happened.

The controls seemed quick and very precise to me; in the hands of someone who knows how to play well (which is not the case of this writer, much less his friend who wanted to shoot at goal using the wrong button) it must be a marvel. Of the versions I’ve played so far, it gives me the impression of being the most technical yet; I don’t know if there’s a simplified control mode, but for casuals like me it would be a godsend, we could even pull a few tricks.

I found the menus too complex; everything’s in there, but a warning that the ideal is to play calmly alone before venturing out with your friends, at least to be able to set up the match the way you prefer.

Nicely done graphics, I didn’t see any strange bug, no player turning into a slingshot or getting stuck on the goalpost like the competitor in some earlier versions (although, as I said, if there had been, it would have been one more point of fun and plenty of guaranteed laughs). My only complaint (from a nearsighted guy) is playing in open stadiums with the afternoon or morning sun, because one area is quite bright and another darker, but it’s like real life, watching on TV it’s exactly like that; I can’t and shouldn’t blame the game, but when playing I’ll always prefer night matches, where the pitch is easier to see.

The sound is competent; on the home theater it was quite immersive, I still need to test with my headset, but it should be even better. Technically I’d give it an 8 for some flaws in the Portuguese commentary, but I’d have to give 12/10 on the fun side to compensate; seriously, it’s very funny, and the guy who gets angry about it must have terrible humor.

The replay factor is extremely high; I only scratched a few game modes, but in co-op I always wanted a rematch. I’m still choking on losing to Guarani using Barcelona; I was happy and pissed off many times, and that’s great! My friend left my house at around 4 AM, and the women had been passed out on the couch for a while.

I intend to play more, and, if the football gods allow, I’ll still get my thrashing victory over the damn Guarani (have I said I’m pissed at Guarani?)

I’m dying to get past this pandemic and gather 3 more friends to play a 2v2 here at home, it’ll be epic!

PES vs FIFA

Although its direct competitor has more licensing and image rights than PES, to me it didn’t make that much difference; I believe for those who always update to the newest versions it might be more relevant, or for fans of some clubs like Palmeiras, which was left out, it may be a kick in the shin! On the other hand I think it’s really cool that some Brazilian Série B teams are there, I’m happy for my fellow Campinas natives who can play with the local team, the damn Guarani (!!!).

Final thoughts and the future.

From what I read out there, the 2021 version doesn’t change much compared with 2020, so much so that it’s even cheaper than what we usually pay for football releases, so it’s a great chance for players who have older versions to update the game to a newer one.

In the 2022 version, Konami intends to use Unreal, so the graphics should come out even better; although some pessimists think they’ll take a while to fine-tune PES with Unreal, I give my full vote of confidence, since it’s an engine I like a lot and has proven its worth several times in other games. In fact, I’m excited to test the next version.

My only plea to Konami is to make a definitive version and sell the year-to-year updates for a friendly price. Ahh… and the cheat to turn the referee into a dog too, please Konami! I never asked you for anything!