If you like the good parts of 21 I'd consider switching to pc, the mods fix the bad and improve the good. I bought a steam deck just to play it. I realise not everyone can afford it but if its doable I definitely would
eFootball PES 2021 Discussion Thread (CONSOLES)
- Thread starter flokiman
- Start date
- Staff
- #5,042
I don't think it's fair to say mods "fix" the game and create unrealistic expectations. No game is perfect for everyone.
I'm enjoying PES 2021 in multiplayer too thanks to gameplay mods, but they only rebalance the game - not "fix" it. I still feel the "rails" a lot of the time, and the AI is still prone to just hoofing the ball from CB to ST all day long even with a modified database/tactics for example (it's nowhere near as variable as previous games IMO). Not everything can be "fixed".
millossobek
The 3-Stars Cup
@Chris Davies There are several gameplay mods which, IMO, give way more variety to CPU attacks, with very little long-ball spamming. Holland's Ultimate Gameplay with his own dt18 has plenty of CPU attack variety. Alex's Poltergeist + Liberty Gameplay 4.1 is another, you might want to give them a try. Needless to say these apply to the PC version.
Anth James
International
- 22 September 2017
This pretty much sums it up for me. I find Pes 2021 (gameplay mods or not) incredibly one dimensional. I’ve tried to love it countless times. Sometimes I’ve even come close, but ultimately the extremely limited possibilities for what can happen in a match is what I find to be it’s weak point. It just feels so rigid. Players feel the same, teams feel the same, goals feel the same, patterns of play feel the same. Opposite to everything PES was previously.
Fair enough but in the DT and EXE im using hoofing the ball is definitely fixed as is the AI turn and shoot that consistently happens on ps5. Maybe fixed is the wrong terminology , vastly improved maybe better
MKC
Garra! Força! Tradição!
I've been playing some more of eFootball: Pro Evolution Soccer 2021 - Season Update, which has the best name of any video game I've ever played for not only how long it is unless you forget that PES stands for Pro Evolution Soccer, but also because they managed to put both "football" and "soccer" in its name, at times I wish they would've gone with the simple title of Winning Eleven worldwide as it avoids this controversy and also just feels sophisticated and iconic. Anyways, I've been enjoying how it plays so far, especially with how stats seem to matter more than in earlier PS4 installments, there's more randomness and body positioning seems to matter more when passing, also there are way less back heels unless players have the stats for it, which is nice to see, though I'm still on Normal difficulty, so maybe it gets worse in that regard as it goes along. I've been noticing the CPU's preference for long balls, which can get a bit dull, also how there feels to be so much space no matter how well you try to cover passing lanes, also... the free kick thing has been a genuine problem, I'm just speechless at how often the CPU manages to do the most perfect free kick even from long range, I'd rather concede a penalty at this point... PES2012 vibes.
I've managed to find the camera I enjoy the most for FUMA, and so far that's Pitchside as there's little angle and I can see a lot of the pitch, I wish there was a camera more like FIFA's Tele, I've tried making something like it with the Stadium camera by decreasing the angle, but the constant zooming in and out isn't for me, even if slight. I've also found some decent settings for brightness and contrast, and that's 25 for both of them, day matches look very real with these settings on my TV, though night matches are still a problem as they've always been for me in PES, don't know why Konami can't get lighting and colors right.
I've managed to find the camera I enjoy the most for FUMA, and so far that's Pitchside as there's little angle and I can see a lot of the pitch, I wish there was a camera more like FIFA's Tele, I've tried making something like it with the Stadium camera by decreasing the angle, but the constant zooming in and out isn't for me, even if slight. I've also found some decent settings for brightness and contrast, and that's 25 for both of them, day matches look very real with these settings on my TV, though night matches are still a problem as they've always been for me in PES, don't know why Konami can't get lighting and colors right.
Anth James
International
- 22 September 2017
Spot on with this. Space is another huge issue of this game unfortunately. I wish we could make the field smaller with mods. There's just so much space that defending via positioning is a little pointless.
MKC
Garra! Força! Tradição!
Indeed, I recall when PES2018's marketing campaign was going on during 2017, and Adam Bhatti was on a stream with journalists to talk about the changes from that year that they were hoping would make it a substantial jump from PES2017, the start of their 3 year plan or something like that, and one of the main changes was that the pitches were going to be bigger in an attempt to feel closer to real life pitches, since they're very big, and it was also a sort of nod to old installments like PES2011, PES2012 and PES2013, which all had somewhat big pitches... but even in those, I didn't feel space was this much of an issue like in here, but I can't help but notice it when playing, especially if you're like me and prefer to play with smaller teams in a sort of realistic style, so avoiding to do things common for stronger teams, like pressing really high up, I want to defend in a low and compact block, so of course I'm going to give space away while they're building up from the back... but in the middle and at my own defense? It should be more congested, and the middle is probably what upsets me most, because I enjoy these midfield battles in football, and here that isn't a thing due to all of the space, matches always feel purely attack vs. defense, with teams taking turns on who's going to be the one attacking and who's going to be defending, in a way that's what football is in concept, but here it feels like play can only take place in the finals 3rds. I do get some decent plays in the middle, pleasing passes and all, but maybe that's thanks to the lower difficulty setting...
Marlon Anthony
Purist
This is very true regarding that repetitive feeling and there only really being a handle ways of scoring. I think one cause of this is just how much lethargy there is with players on this one too. I think in trying to make it the most realistic of the Fox engine PES's, they made it the slowest and least responsive. So when it comes to dribbling or even trying out quick passes in that final third to bring an idea to fruition, you're let down by clunky responsiveness and oddly heavy touches or striding lunging movements which sucks all the urgency out of a play.
I think nothing will surpass PES 2017 in getting the best of both fast responsiveness and simulation but also its AI was the best, They'd constantly surprise you with innovative or creative attacks that rarely look the same. Even 2018 & 2019 have various challenges in AI.
I think also once they started their fetish of messing around with the control layout and that shitty auto shielding mechanic in 20/21 that it just spoiled a lot of the experience.
MKC
Garra! Força! Tradição!
I'm starting to think that my jump from Regular to Professional will happen sooner than I thought, which is a bit of a shame because on the ball I'm really quite loving PES2021 on Regular, it feels great to pass it around on FUMA, players have a lot of weight and feel solid, there's more passing error when trying to go through with a pass without properly adjusting one's body positioning and trying to force a pass with a player that has lower stats, shooting and crossing have been satisfying, it's been good so far. Still, defense has been a bit off, in some ways it's frustrating because free kicks go in way too often, and sometimes the referee calls for fouls that to me look like good tackles, anyways that's not as much of a problem most of the time... because, at least on Regular, the AI loves some good old hoof ball... most of the AI's passes are long balls from the defenders to the attackers, they try to beat my defenders in the air and mostly lose, so gaining back possession isn't much of an issue. I do think that the AI can be quite deadly still, they know how to punish a slip and poor positioning or even timing, but it feels lacking in variety, teams don't really play any differently from one another, at least on Regular, Flamengo plays just like 2nd division clubs...
I don't know if Professional will be any different, and I'm still having fun on Regular, so if the switch ends up upsetting me more than anything I might go back to what I was playing with, anyways while I'm still enjoying PES2021, quite a lot in fact despite it's clear issues, finally owning this makes me even more upset with Konami... we had a lovely core here, good physics and physicality during play, FUMA felt perfect, passing and shooting had more error and felt based on stats and body positioning, having the ball felt good, there are more fouls sometimes... if only we had actually gotten a PES2022 on PS5/XSX/PC... if only...
I don't know if Professional will be any different, and I'm still having fun on Regular, so if the switch ends up upsetting me more than anything I might go back to what I was playing with, anyways while I'm still enjoying PES2021, quite a lot in fact despite it's clear issues, finally owning this makes me even more upset with Konami... we had a lovely core here, good physics and physicality during play, FUMA felt perfect, passing and shooting had more error and felt based on stats and body positioning, having the ball felt good, there are more fouls sometimes... if only we had actually gotten a PES2022 on PS5/XSX/PC... if only...
El Ogro De La Norde
Non-League
- 25 March 2023
Actually the game was called "eFootball PES 2021 SEASON UPDATE". In the end, PES was just being used as a brand name. It wasn't supposed to be the abbreviation of "Pro Evolution Soccer" anymore.
MKC
Garra! Força! Tradição!
I know, it's a shame that over time digital stores stopped listing it as Pro Evolution Soccer and it just became PES instead, though it's still funny to think about PES2021 if they still did use the full thing. I just wish they would've kept making PES normally instead of eFootball, and changed the name to Winning Eleven.
MKC
Garra! Força! Tradição!
I was watching the highlights for Flamengo x Racing in the Libertadores, and this particular ESPN shot caught my attention, it reminds me of FIFA's old Tele camera, from FIFA08 or FIFA09, you can see the whole pitch from one flank to the other, and yet players don't look too small, and somehow the players on the top side of the screen, farther away, don't look much smaller than the ones lower on the screen, closer to the camera, it's lovely and would be perfect to play with, I'm using the Pitchside camera to get a similar effect, and tried doing something like this by reducing the angle on the Stadium camera, but not one of those settings look like this, or maybe I just didn't mess around enough, anyways it's at times like these that I consider building a PC more seriously, so I can mod whatever I play to be closer to what I consider ideal. Well, for now I'm sticking to Pitchside, it feels great to play on, especially with FUMA and stuff...
Attachments
MKC
Garra! Força! Tradição!
Thanks! It looks good, almost identical to the picture I posted when I'm playing on the bottom flank of the screen, the problem with PES' cameras is that, as soon as I go to the top flank, the camera follows it and then I can't see what's happening in the bottom flank anymore without the radar. I wish I could have a fixed camera that always showed me both flanks even if it makes the pitch look a bit narrow, kind of similar to Emlyn Hughes International Soccer on Amiga I think, sadly I think only modding on PC could achieve that, as the standard camera zooms in at the top, and the stadium camera zooms in and out constantly.
aleksandar@1984
Non-League
- 17 May 2020
Friends,i need patch for PES2021 for PS 5.
Thanks.
Thanks.
MKC
Garra! Força! Tradição!
I've been trying to go up from Regular to Professional on PES2021 recently, just for context I'm playing FUMA. All of my mixed feelings towards how this one installment played have taken a turn for the worst with the difficulty increase, as it tends to happen with FOX Engine PES in general... I'm still enjoying it, and over the years I've been trying my best to be less of a sore loser and just enjoy my experiences, my football in this case, but honestly... it's just disappointing, I looked for an used copy at a decent price for quite some time, and was so excited when it arrived, the last PES, full of support from the editing community...
I mean, it should've been perfect, and it started out well enough, I saw praise for PES2021 among most people I know that play football video games, and on things like YouTube and stuff, but now I'm starting to think people go a bit easy on it due to it being the last PES before eFootball ruined everything and/or all people think about is the PC version which has ton of mods to essentially turn it into a completely different video game... I've had some decent matches after switching to Professional, but haven't won any of them, and can barely score, also have been conceding the exact same goal, over and over again, non stop.
As the difficulty goes up, the CPU wants to score more than before, they become more direct and accurate, and how do they go about this? Well, the defense AI doesn't seem to make any effort to block passing lanes, so they usually get close to the box in a few passes, and at that point there's a risk of a foul being given even if I tackle them pretty much perfectly, as the referee is very poorly programmed overall, often having nonsensical criteria for fouls, and ending one half or the whole match during a dangerous counter, anyways a free kick near the box for the CPU is a goal, it makes defending a chore, 50% of football... Overall, compared to PES2018, the latest one I owned before this, FUMA feels more off, with the player switching being way worse here... also, the shielding mechanic is somewhat exaggerated, not only that, but physicality has become more relevant, and as the difficulty settings increase that only gets worse... it's barely possible to beat the CPU defense on a run when you're on Professional even with a head start, they catch up and start getting physical, and it's never a foul, but my good tackles on the ball? Oh, those are fouls, and often end up in goals. I'll insist on Professional a bit more, get better at it, but this isn't fun...
PES2021 really is just another FOX Engine PES, a solid core, lots of good stuff, full of potential... and none of it is ever fulfilled, so we wait for next year, but now we don't even have that anymore, no hope of improvement, this was the last PES, and it was solid, but mediocre package overall. I'm disappointed in it.
I mean, it should've been perfect, and it started out well enough, I saw praise for PES2021 among most people I know that play football video games, and on things like YouTube and stuff, but now I'm starting to think people go a bit easy on it due to it being the last PES before eFootball ruined everything and/or all people think about is the PC version which has ton of mods to essentially turn it into a completely different video game... I've had some decent matches after switching to Professional, but haven't won any of them, and can barely score, also have been conceding the exact same goal, over and over again, non stop.
As the difficulty goes up, the CPU wants to score more than before, they become more direct and accurate, and how do they go about this? Well, the defense AI doesn't seem to make any effort to block passing lanes, so they usually get close to the box in a few passes, and at that point there's a risk of a foul being given even if I tackle them pretty much perfectly, as the referee is very poorly programmed overall, often having nonsensical criteria for fouls, and ending one half or the whole match during a dangerous counter, anyways a free kick near the box for the CPU is a goal, it makes defending a chore, 50% of football... Overall, compared to PES2018, the latest one I owned before this, FUMA feels more off, with the player switching being way worse here... also, the shielding mechanic is somewhat exaggerated, not only that, but physicality has become more relevant, and as the difficulty settings increase that only gets worse... it's barely possible to beat the CPU defense on a run when you're on Professional even with a head start, they catch up and start getting physical, and it's never a foul, but my good tackles on the ball? Oh, those are fouls, and often end up in goals. I'll insist on Professional a bit more, get better at it, but this isn't fun...
PES2021 really is just another FOX Engine PES, a solid core, lots of good stuff, full of potential... and none of it is ever fulfilled, so we wait for next year, but now we don't even have that anymore, no hope of improvement, this was the last PES, and it was solid, but mediocre package overall. I'm disappointed in it.
slamsoze
International
- 28 September 2010
I know difficulty is always subject to each player's perspective, but as someone coming from PES 2018 and 2019 finding them unplayble on Superstar, on PA 1 always, i feel that the difficulty levels and gaps are better zoned in 2020-2021, at least for the 3 levels i have tried, Top Player and Superstar are more similar, and only Legend seems completelly allien.
I also remember someone, can't recall who sorry, that Professional Level on 2020 & 2021 has some strange shortcomings like a lot catch up, which is not so much the case on TP and SS. In short words the Professional Level is not working as it used to on PES 2018, cause i tried it back then and it was OK.
For sure there is a lot of handicap/scripting, CPU cheating, especially in Master League matches, but i feel it's better on SS level in 2020-2021 than it was in 2018-2019.
Some suggestions i could give:
-Try Top Player (maybe it plays better than Professional, despite it sounds crazy)
-Try PA1 (if you want of of course)
-Try match duration from 15min and on ( this made a lot of difference for me back in 2020, cause i was playing 10minutes, now i am always on 15min in 2020-2021)
The flaws you describe like CPU super-shielding, or Blatant referee against the Human Player, or handicaped moments, is a legacy issue of every modern PES after PES 2017, and it's the wrong perspective KONAMI understands a video-game difficulty. You can't fix them with any mod, or modification, or patch, or stats editing, or whatever, but you can make it a little bit more user-friendly.
MKC
Garra! Força! Tradição!
I've thought PES2021 had a decently balanced difficulty ever since playing against the CPU on PES2021 Lite, I loved how Regular felt fair and that I could lose if I wasn't careful enough, and how Professional felt like a real challenge, which meant I wouldn't have to switch up to Top Player, Superstar or Legend, can't stand those in any PES I've played that had them, besides maybe Superstar on PES2015 as I felt that was a less challenging PES overall, I don't get what happened between those PES2021 Lite sessions and now, but the shortcomings, mostly the free kicks being too deadly, and fouls being called for a good tackle, are really taking center stage, but the worst part is probably how I seem to concede the same goal, a few passes to go up the pitch until they pass to the striker to turn and shoot, it'd be easier to stop if I could tackle more freely, but I know I can concede a free kick, and a goal, unless I'm careful...
I'll give Top Player a shot to see if those shortcomings really are more evident on Professional than on other difficulties, but I feel that even on regular they take the ball with physicality way more easily than something like PES2018, where dribbling with sudden bursts of speed and direction changes felt like an excellent way to get past opponents when needed, now I barely attempt it anymore, even on Regular. I'll stick to FUMA for now, though I think it feels a lot worse than PES2018 in terms of programming and bugs, and how the CPU interprets what you're doing and who you want to pass to, with player switching not helping much, I still love the feel of manual passing and shooting. I did play 15min at some point, though eventually came back to 10min, maybe 15min can be a good idea, so I have more time to create chances and maybe actually score more, I'll give it a shot. I'm still loving PES2021, just less than before.
I agree that the flaws are in pretty much every PES, it feels like every PES installment over the years had some genuinely ridiculous issues, those that make us wonder how it got through testing and/or if it was intentional, and we'd eagerly wait for the next PES to fix it, and sometimes it did... only to add new flaws in it's place that were just as baffling, the FOX cycle went like this and it's really a shame, I had high hopes for PES2022 though... but we know how that went.
MKC
Garra! Força! Tradição!
I think I've figured out what was truly hurting my experience the most ever since I went up to Professional coming from Regular... I was playing too many rival matches, too many derbies. I love playing custom cups most of all, don't have the patience and attention span for Master League, never did, though once or twice I got 3 or 4 seasons on a save, but it's tough for me, I loved my experiences, but I prefer my shorter cups for some reason, making custom kits with an unique custom logo for the Konami Cup depending on what I feel like playing, reviving an old cup or making something completely new... anyways I've been having the genius ideas of putting clubs from the same region, often rivals, in the group stages of the competitions I'm playing, so a lot of derby/rival matches were the result... those have always sucked in PES, all that happens is that the referees get more questionable and the CPU becomes aggressive at the back and in front of goal, more direct, it's not very fun to play against, appropriate for a derby, yes, but not something you'd want to play often, and I was. Now I'm trying out Professional/10min/FUMA yet again, but with clubs that aren't rivals... and it's fun again, very fun! Still flawed, a lot in fact... but I can look past it.
What I can't look past, and this has frustrated me all through out the PS4 era, is the limits for files... why can I only have 5 cup save files? Why can I only save 5 replays? It's my hard drive! I get to choose it it's worth saving or not... now for everything I want to save they want me to use the Share button, but what if I want to save a cup without deleting the one's I've completed before? What if I want to control the replay's camera or something? I miss the PS3 at times like this, a lot of storage and, while there were limits, they were so much higher you barely noticed, except for replays, and to think I thought 50 was a low limit...
What I can't look past, and this has frustrated me all through out the PS4 era, is the limits for files... why can I only have 5 cup save files? Why can I only save 5 replays? It's my hard drive! I get to choose it it's worth saving or not... now for everything I want to save they want me to use the Share button, but what if I want to save a cup without deleting the one's I've completed before? What if I want to control the replay's camera or something? I miss the PS3 at times like this, a lot of storage and, while there were limits, they were so much higher you barely noticed, except for replays, and to think I thought 50 was a low limit...
You can't do that on console.
slamsoze
International
- 28 September 2010
AFAIK, on PlayStation, when a game is down/removed from PS Store, it's not possible to do shareplay.
Someone/anyone correct me if i am wrong, cause i am not superfamiliar with how PS community shareplay works.
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Can somebody recommend an OF?
Loinerpete
Non-League
- 12 September 2018
- Leeds United
efootball universe have great option files
Before PES 2021 ----> Press R1 (Dash) all of the time, Press sliding tackle of all the time..
In PES 2021------> Press R1 (Dash) only when my player is going 1 vs 1 with keeper behind the defenders and for a short time when my full backs or my wingers want a little bit boost for running... And i never used sliding tackle because i will earn yellow card...
When i spam the dash my half of passes are wrong and my long passes-crosses are 100% fail...
In PES 2021------> Press R1 (Dash) only when my player is going 1 vs 1 with keeper behind the defenders and for a short time when my full backs or my wingers want a little bit boost for running... And i never used sliding tackle because i will earn yellow card...
When i spam the dash my half of passes are wrong and my long passes-crosses are 100% fail...
TheWolf
Premiership
Agreed. I’ve tried so many times to settle with it but the last true PES, 2019, was the last title to feel like PES to me. From 20 onwards, the eFootball vibe was ingrained and strengthened every year to the point I don’t even equate eFootball with PES/WE nowadays, it’s just a different game entirely.
Hels The Ronin
Premiership
- 15 November 2019
Lolololololol Literally PES 2019 was full of scripting bullshit with the COM always taking the ball away from you (and I mean always) when 1vs1, always knowing where you were going to go, the movements where hyper followed by the COM, like they had crazy reactions... Nah. Last good PES was 2017. 2018 and 2019 are full of scripting, 2020 takes a bit away but movements are clunky, and PES 2021 is a perfection of 2020. The problem I see with PES is the little tools you have to make players move as you want, and how much they run all the time. But that happens not only in PES 2021, also in good old PES, games were fast aswell.
That's one of the reasons I changed for FIFA, I didn't have the tools to modify PES as much as I wanted.