I had an absolute blast with last year’s edition of Pro Evolution Soccer, so I was curious as to what Konami was planning to improve upon. It turns out that the PES 2018 team is filled with perfectionists as their answer was quite a lot. Not content with merely being great, they’re looking to further polish the already satisfying gameplay, bring back features from the series’ PlayStation 2 days, and want to further compete with FIFA from a sales perspective.
I didn’t have many complaints about PES 2017 (as can be seen in my review), but I did mention that some of the animations looked rough. That was something the development team took to heart, as the animations have seen a complete overhaul. This is immediately noticeable in the game, as a lot of care has gone to making sure player’s body posture and turning look accurate to real life. A new lighting system has also been implemented, and it helps the overall package look considerably better than last year’s title. Another area where the game is seeing a major redesign is in terms of user interface. The menus, which never looked quite as clean as Electronic Arts’ sports titles, are getting all redone. I didn’t get to check this out in a finished state, as the work is still being done, but it’s certainly something to look out for come September. What I did get to see was that athlete portraits have been added for licensed players, so players won’t have to sta...