The first surprise, perhaps, is that Konami is still actively making big budget console titles. Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 isn't a new Pachinko machine - it's a proper, bona fide video game. It's a very good one, too, as you might have expected if you've been paying attention to PES's return to grace in recent years, topped off in in 2016 with arguably the most exquisite PES yet, even if it it was let down slightly by its stunted roster updates that saw it lag behind its competition even as it trumped it in most other areas.
The second surprise is how slow this new Pro Evolution Soccer feels. The last few PES games have, in my hands at least, offered a faster, more frenetic brand of football, alongside the exceptional level of fluidity that's also been offered. Pro Evolution Soccer 2017, on the other hand, feels much, much more considered. The free flowing football that's marked out recent games, and the sense of brilliant unpredictability and near infinite possibility engendered by PES's current philosophy, are all still very much present. It's just that what once ran like so much fizzy pop, bubbling and bursting all over the pitch, has now thickened to a sweet molasses.
After just over an hour's play I'm still not entirely sure it's to my taste, but you can never jump to conclusions after a quick sampler of games like these. Playing to feet feels like it's encouraged more thanks to a new emphasis on first-touch, while goals are harder to come by through design (PES brand manager Adam Bhatti says there'll be no more 6-6 draws like we saw in last year's game - I'm too embarrassed to admit I've gone whole afternoons with the game happy with the brace of goals I'd bundled in off wayward shins), with vastly improved keepers quicker to pounce on follow-up shots.
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