The Retro-PES Corner

Pes 2008

I like how certain players seem to excel despite what their player attributes might tell you. During my Tottenham ML, Modric is having a stellar season. I know he is young in this game and has pretty good ratings already, but he is playing at a high level for me right now. He plays out SMF,CMF, and AMF and does all 3 quite well. I am curious to see what Bale and Modric will be like in 5 years. This time I will rewrite history and keep them both as Spurs players!
 
We finished bottom of the league in my first season on PES2008 PSP.

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I think Pukki must have been player of the Div 2 season...

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Without sharing too many pictures, Juventus won Champions League 4-1 against Barcelona and Bayern Munich beat Chelsea 1-0 in the Europa Cup final.

Here are all time topscorers...

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In preseason i got quite a lot of offers for my players which is good but i am on high transfer frequency so will drop to medium when i start my proper ML on PS2.

Two things which are slightly annoying. When doing preseason training you can only select auto or rest, not individual. So that means that every stat increases by 2 on auto. On the PS2 you can train individual players in certain stats.

The other problem which is REALLY ANNOYING is now that i have started season 2 the dreaded 5000 salary player has appeared. It is John Ruddy of Wolves. I really thought i had eliminated this by not editing over secret or classic players.

When i did testing on my PS2 they did not appear in the 3 seasons I played so hopefully this is just a PSP thing.

@miguelfcp is it possible that when you get a chance you could start a ML as Wolves using my OF on the PS2 and let me know if John Ruddy’s salary is 1 or 5000? I am away at the moment so i am not able to.

Thanks, hope everyone is ok and staying safe.
 
Pes 2008

I like how certain players seem to excel despite what their player attributes might tell you. During my Tottenham ML, Modric is having a stellar season. I know he is young in this game and has pretty good ratings already, but he is playing at a high level for me right now. He plays out SMF,CMF, and AMF and does all 3 quite well. I am curious to see what Bale and Modric will be like in 5 years. This time I will rewrite history and keep them both as Spurs players!

Yes i know what you mean regarding players performing better than their stats. Nketiah for me has been brilliant but his stats are not great and I just noticed after the first season he is in decline and he is only 20 i think. It would be good to see if his stats pick up again as he gets older.
 
@geeeeee He saved him self a lot of grief after almost putting it in his own net! It is those moments that make this game special. I tried playing Pes 2020 earlier and it's hard to explain, but the game lacks the magic of these older PES games. The graphics look great, the passing is fantastic, but then playing the game I get bored by half time. Then I go back to playing PES 2008 on PSP and it looks and sounds quite shabby, but the game just feels and plays like you want it to.

Is that your own option file on the PSP? The last updated option file I tried had a lot of classic players and it really messed up my Master League, so now I am just playing with default rosters for Master League.
 
@geeeeee He saved him self a lot of grief after almost putting it in his own net! It is those moments that make this game special. I tried playing Pes 2020 earlier and it's hard to explain, but the game lacks the magic of these older PES games. The graphics look great, the passing is fantastic, but then playing the game I get bored by half time. Then I go back to playing PES 2008 on PSP and it looks and sounds quite shabby, but the game just feels and plays like you want it to.

Is that your own option file on the PSP? The last updated option file I tried had a lot of classic players and it really messed up my Master League, so now I am just playing with default rosters for Master League.

Yes it is one that i am working on so it is not complete but i am playing a ‘tester’ ML while i am away. There are no classic players or teams unlocked as i think it spoils it too. I could upload when I get back from my holiday if you want?
 
@geeeeee: Sure mate, I'll test it out later. Doesn't that blue ball you're using feel heavier than the others? I always play with the classic one and this one has always seemed lighter. Or maybe it's just me :D
Well, Pukki as top scorer just goes to show how realistic is both your OF and the game itself!
 
Literature for the coronapocalypse: a retro-review of the unforgettable PES5:
https://liberomagazine.wordpress.co...to-cuanavale-a-pro-evolution-soccer-5-review/

Hope you enjoy it.

A messiah of an article for a messiah of a game. I'm sure you aware of the pressure of doing arguably the highest point of the series justice in written tribute. Kind of ironic considering just as you must have a sense of pride with your blog entries maybe Konami back then felt a great sense of pride with topping and doing it's own series a sense of justice even though it was under no reasonable marketing obligation to with FIFA's commercial success being written in the stars even back on the PS2 when the FIFA series was at it's all time worst on the pitch.

I loved the opening observation on the state of modern gaming culture and the discussion we cannot help our selves and regurgitate in the corner. The idea that these are no longer football games, These are games based on football. PES (& FIFA last gen tried) used to be Gran Turismo football, Now it's NFS football. It's a condensed experience of allowing the player to casually feel like they're able to spray like Barcelona and blow open goal nets like De Bruyne with out the committed learning curve.

PES 2020 is the better compromise since 2017 this gen in my opinion but it's still unbalanced and still heavily teeters towards the aforementioned, Consequence free, Participation trophy nature of modern "competitive gaming. I'm all for accessible gaming, There's games i like more than their simulation counterparts like NBA Jam & I've recently got into an addictive indie/retro racer called Horizon Chase Turbo... I don't have any interest in real Basketball or Motorsports but this casual affairs are transparent about what they are and they're fun. Like i mentioned - I'm all for the casual counterparts of games - Just don't lie and tell me these are simulations when the aren't.

But back to PES 5, It's hard to pick a favourite PES as i've used the analogy many times... Asking me to name a favourite PES is like asking me which of my 15 kids i love the most when they're all unique; Strengths and weaknesses et al. But if i must go with the one that has the most sentimental value to me, PES 5 would be it. Much like Metal Gear Solid 1 formed by tastes in narrative games and my lust for atmosphere, mood and storytelling over reflexes and visceral sights and sounds - PES 5 formed my taste for realistic football gaming that encouraged you to understand patience, Risk/reward and the consequences of rushing or playing ninja football.

It didn't need challenge training, disruptive Pop ups or hints on how to take throw ins or corners in your first few games... It was intuitive and comprehensive. Good old fashioned trial and error. It was a common understanding in this era of PES amongst fans that you wasn't going to win your first 3 or 5 games, That these we're simply your learning experiences. Stick with it and you're in. A stark contrast to the rapid uninstalls, Threats of refunds or pre order cancelling of today's entitled gamer.

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For those who have caught up with the first 3 episodes of my CL 08/09 series - We've reached the knockout stage. Some cracking games in here. I appreciate PES 6 for all it's merits, I really do but if i have one complaint about this game, It's the damn shooting. I don't just mean with the feet but generally any attempt on goal via a strike or a header; Just rises and rises! It gets a little repetitive. 9 out of 10 headers just balloon into the sky like there's little effort made to aim downwards and i understand and love the context applied to shooting, If the player is unsettled or rushed when trying to squeeze of a shot, The power bar seems to fill up twice as quick as if to represent the players lack of composure but even tapping it or taking time seems to rifle it out of the stadium - Which is counter intuitive i might argue.

Still, It's PS2 era PES and is algorithm based not to mention when you do score, It feels like a triumph when you do find the net. From a psychology standpoint it was really clever from Konami before they moved onto dopamine triggers from picking black balls. Though might i add, I feel shooting is near perfect in PES 5 and just about flawless in WE9:LE - Both of course are PES 6's predecessors.


It's February 2009, The winter break is over and The Champions League resumes with the hotly anticipated knockout stages! Find out what went down in the first leg of all Eight, Round of 16 fixtures!
 
Find out what went down in the first leg of all Eight, Round of 16 fixtures!

The golden boy, the eternal, Totti. :LOVE:
Most complete AM/SS of atleast the last 20 years.

Meanwhile I'm looking for a PES3 OF or patch, the wendetta has some changes I dont like..
 
Literature for the coronapocalypse: a retro-review of the unforgettable PES5:
https://liberomagazine.wordpress.co...to-cuanavale-a-pro-evolution-soccer-5-review/

Hope you enjoy it.

Thoroughly enjoyed reading your PES 5 review.

I agree with the CPU not bothering to attack, and it can make playing PES 5 really frustrating. It reminds me of FIFA's Champions League 2005 game, which IMO, is probably EA's most rage-inducing football game of the 2000's. But Konami's addictiveness and fun of PES games means that you can't just quit, which is a testament to how good PES was at that point, and that you can always go back to playing them and take a break from the online-centred, micro transactions of today's world.
 
@geeeeee: Sure mate, I'll test it out later. Doesn't that blue ball you're using feel heavier than the others? I always play with the classic one and this one has always seemed lighter. Or maybe it's just me :D
Well, Pukki as top scorer just goes to show how realistic is both your OF and the game itself!

Thanks, no rush regarding testing. I really hope he has ‘normal’ salary otherwise i will just have to accept the ‘5000 or extremely low salary’ bug.

I am not sure if there is a difference between balls. It would be good if there is.

I will read the article when i get some time. Thanks again
 
I find both PES 5 and PES 6 easy and PES 2010 have poor CPU AI. How is people finding PES 2013? The main two issues for me was the lack of speed difference between slow and fast players and there being no midfield battle at all. Midfield was empty. Has there been a gameplay patch that fixed those two issues?
 
I find both PES 5 and PES 6 easy and PES 2010 have poor CPU AI. How is people finding PES 2013? The main two issues for me was the lack of speed difference between slow and fast players and there being no midfield battle at all. Midfield was empty. Has there been a gameplay patch that fixed those two issues?

That’s why i moved to PES2008 ;)
 
I really wanted to like PES 2013, but the lack of midfield play just ruined for me. Counter attack after counter attack. Some good things about the game were the improved AI attacking, passing looked great at the time, and graphics were good.

@geeeeee If it's not too much trouble for you, I would love to get an updated OF for PES 2008 when you finish it.

@miguelfcp Fantastic review! Loved every second of reading it.
 
@miguelfcp Nice find. Not having played much of any pes in recent times other than 17 does anyone know if the refs even have different 'levels' of strictness now. I don't recall noticing that. Wouldn't be a surprise would it to be yet another good thing removed?
 
@miguelfcp Nice find. Not having played much of any pes in recent times other than 17 does anyone know if the refs even have different 'levels' of strictness now. I don't recall noticing that. Wouldn't be a surprise would it to be yet another good thing removed?
Referres have some kind of strictness ,but it is forshadowed by other problems that make it almost invisible. IE:
it is mostly generic, not as a persona, the same referree can let you away for shooting with a rocket launcher and in an other match same referree can book you for coughing.
I mean different referee is like a cosmetic skin no different ID.
Then there is the problem, especially in 10min matches, that the average fouls P1 wins is 0 or 1.
Then there are sub problems lke on 2018 there are not any collision resulting no fouls. On 2019 and 2020 physical game is back but the refferee is more a 12th CPU player, favouring CPU teams 90-10 against human player.

TL;DR : No there is not variation neither referree ID. Forget the old:
Ref is Pabro Sofia the greek referree => "Lets take my adamandium Katana sword to mark opponents "
Or ref is Kazuki Ito => Holy crap i don't touch the gamepad while in defence for the next 90min.
 
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Also i do not know if anyone else is a semiologist like me, or i am just crazy but in the 2010 period and after on 2011-2013 even on 2015 there were some referres who were just official scanned-faceplayers re-skins.
The most noticable and iconic i remember was the "Bald-Iniesta" , a refferee with Iniesta face but no hair, when Iniesta used to have medium hair.
Then there is the blackhaired-Podolski and then the Bald-Drogba, when Drogba had ponytail.
 
Also i do not know if anyone else is a semiologist like me, or i am just crazy but in the 2010 period and after on 2011-2013 even on 2015 there were some referres who were just official scanned-faceplayers re-skins.
The most noticable and iconic i remember was the "Bald-Iniesta" , a refferee with Iniesta face but no hair, when Iniesta used to have medium hair.
Then there is the blackhaired-Podolski and then the Bald-Drogba, when Drogba had ponytail.
I know they started using dedicated face models for referees post '11 but I didn' t know they were reskins of players?

What game exactly is that?

I know on PES 2020 they've used some players for crowd models like Neymar.
 
I know they started using dedicated face models for referees post '11 but I didn' t know they were reskins of players?

What game exactly is that?

I know on PES 2020 they've used some players for crowd models like Neymar.
I cant tell the exact game now. I must make research and take screenshot, which i can't right now.
I don't mean he is straight basecopy.
He looks very similar, like they took his model from a previous game and edited the hairstyle and some values. Speaking always about the "bald-Iniesta", who is the one i noticed the most.
Maybe he is similar according to my standard and sense. I will wait to see if anyone else things anything similar.
 
Definitely i will continue to use the dpad on the PSP but will use the stick on the PS2.

I also find that there is quite a lot of freedom despite there only being 8 directions and, supposedly, on rails.
I wasn't getting any update notifications for a few days so just going back over posts. Anyway, I think the whole 'on rails' thing is a bit of a misnomer/injustice when talking about the older games. Yes, they only had the 8 directions for the digital d pad (16 or 32 when using the stick I think), but with the overall game mechanics and philosophy behind the games it's not really an issue. I actually think some of the newer Pes/Fifa games with full analog 360 control can feel more on rails in various ways, whether it's too many animations, the AI, the way the ball behaves and so on. Less is more sometimes, and despite their limitations, the older games really nail that 'anything can happen' feeling. They're also more fair, fun and grounded in reality.
 
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A question for you guys: is there a setting in PES 6 (or other retro titles) to show the cursor above the player CPU is controlling?
Unfortunately they didn't introduce this until PES 2011, But you got the same line of thinking as me.

I like to remove all HUD, power bars & interface apart from names above head & the scoreboard.

Older PES titles don't even allow you to have player names above your own teams heads.
 
So I fancied a pop on WE9LE and downloaded @Sany023's installer for a 2014-15 patched version (https://evo-web.co.uk/threads/winning-eleven-9-le-season-2014-15-patch.74498/). It's a really nice patch, and I'm enjoying the WE9LE gameplay.

After playing Atl Madrid vs. Deportivo (chosen at random), I decided to try a game between French sides. Monaco vs PSG (CPU). What really stood out was the performance of Joao Moutinho. Every time I received the ball with him, everything just clicked.

He scored the first goal, which was an absolute pearler - the goalkeeper basically said "fair enough" - and assisted two goals during the match. The cheeky dink cross for the final goal was nice. He was instrumental in setting up the other goal too, playing a quick ball out to the wing for the feed into Berbatov. There were several through balls he played that caused havoc in the PSG defense that weren't included on the highlights at the end.

It's really rare for me to have a player performance be so much better than everyone else on the pitch, but it was just so much fun to channel most of the play through him once I realised how on form he was.

Here's the highlights if you're interested. I should note I was on 6*, and I'm fairly shit at WE9 in general.

 
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Hey guys, first post.

Started an ML on PES6 (PS2, default option file)

Something I've long wondered. Are there handicaps in certain games? I'm playing on max difficulty with a poor team, so currently I'm hovering around the top 6. I really like the challenge of it. However, I played Chelsea (the runaway leaders, W10 D1 L0) and destroyed them 5-0. This often seems to be the case on PS2 PES games. The matches that should be the hardest end up being boringly easy.

Has anything ever been proved regarding this?
 
@Special4988 that will be no problem at all. :) I warn you though that it won’t be very soon. I still have a number of club teams to finish off but what will slow me down is pesstatsdatabase running slow at the moment :(

@Lexypoooo i agree with everything you say. I don’t see it as being on rails i see things very much stat based with plenty of freedom.

Also one thing that i was thinking about the other day was to do with scripting and momentum. I have always believed that scripting is something that can be stopped with tactics and concentration unlike newer PES’ where the CPU will score regardless.

I was playing my ML and my team had many red and orange arrowed players. Having these players meant i had experimented with my team by leaving some green arrowed players out.

But playing the first half was a bit of a struggle, the CPU was building attack after attack and we could not keep the ball up field. Every time we lost the ball from a silly pass that i did not mean to do (Like passing across the pitch instead of forward) i was thinking that maybe that is a script kicking in and i will concede a goal. But my defenders continued to defend well (i had not changed those players). In fact sometimes my defender would bring the ball forward after holding off a couple of challenges and pass it out and that would really change the momentum a bit. A bit like in real life when a player goes into a crunching tackle and then the fans get encouraged even when the team is playing poorly.

We managed to hold on for 0-0 at half time and i decided to make 3 changes bringing on my usual midfielders and striker and we played better. We managed to win the game 2-0 though we did not deserve it and even had a player sent off.

When we scored the first goal you could feel the swing in momentum as the CPU started to panic a bit. When we had our defender sent off at 1-0 with 20 mins left i thought now it will be all hands to the deck. Thankfully their defender made a silly pass across the midfield to Huylens (we bought this classic ML player) and he took on the defender and finished it cooly. The CPU heads dropped. A great match proving to me that the script can be ripped up and momentum plays a huge part.
 
I loved this left foot control and shot by Nketiah shame the keeper saved it but we still scored.


This game i was playing the leaders and under the cosh. Our signing Knockaert was struggling to get into the game until this...


After that he played better, once again all to do with momentum and mentality stat. This game is superb.
 
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