Why scripting made one franchise and killed another

Scripting is a hotly debated topic in football titles and a fairly modern concept to help equalise the ability gap between new players and veterans. While EA have found a market winning formula that also lets the less experienced gamer into games on the fly, Konami always chose to let the user’s ability influence how a game unfurled. 
That was until 2017.

For many years the community was split fairly equally between FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) but between 2007 to 2014 a lack of game and platform evolution pushed PES to the brink of obscurity. This lack of evolution missed the growth of gaming in the late 2000’s and specifically people who didn’t follow football but wanted to play the game. When FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT) landed those new players were hooked and the online football SIM was king. Konami's PES continued to focus on offline and they naturally fell away from the gamer’s consciousness.

However in 2015 Konami changed the landscape of football games by making a clearly flawed but brilliant title that mostly focused on user input. It also had a great FUT like feature called myClub. Buoyed by market dominance FIFA went the other way, introducing a heavier amount of scripting or momentum into the game and letting cash decide how competitive you were. 

What this meant was that one title felt more polished (FIFA) but one played better with a more satisfying overall experience (PES). By 2016 that gap had closed and after a decade of dominance FIFA was playing catch-up in the gameplay stakes. Even the myClub mode delivered vast sways of satisfaction for even the hungriest card collector.
Konami’s PES had finally returned to the consciousness of floating buyers, like myself, and it had enamoured the loyal customer base. Things were looking up.

When the 2017 football demo's landed it was clear that PES was the winner for gameplay alone. But as the full game moved into gamer's hands a few things became obvious. FIFA had not lost market share and perhaps actually increased it, myClub finally found the balance between ‘micro-transactions’ and ‘play’, and that Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 was not all it seemed when taken online.

What seemed to be a fantastic game based on user input turned out to be a FIFA concept clone without the execution to deliver a equal gaming experience. Momentum really did equal scripting.

FIFA’s momentum/scripting was always annoying but in 90mins it swung both ways and you were not locked out for a large majority of the game.
Like the 2000's where FIFA sought the steal ideas from PES, Konami have copied FIFA but tweaked the outcome. You get momentum it but it doesn’t swing, it swamps. It’s not momentum as such, your players either start the game as footballers or barely animated hate figures.

And it’s that animated hate figure that frustrates the most. Your players are ‘stuck in the mud’ as they run, your weighted pass player cannot move the ball 5 yards and your striker waits to shoot after he has been caught. Did your keeper just spike the ball backwards into the net? Why is my central defender walking back from the half way line while the ball is in my box?

Yet the scripting is not most obvious when you’re losing, but when you’re winning. When losing you question whether it’s form based, or maybe a connection issue. But when you’re winning you watch your players win all 50/50s and make perfect runs and passes you see in your head but can rarely execute. Goals are a one button press from any distance, without direction. Your opponents Lacina Troare misses every header and you trounce even the highest rated players!

As a fairly honest gamer I have offered more apologies for winning than ‘gg’ when beaten, a trait not embraced since my FIFA 15 days. But I am at the point I was in FIFA14, where high pressure was unbalanced and enjoyment ceased. All Konami’s good work designing a very fair approach to spend vs play is now wasted, because they felt the need to influence user input from behind the scenes.

My biggest gripe with FIFA was that user input was taken away from the player, AI did the work and momentum finished the job. That was never PES. With roles reversed I am left questioning whether I’d prefer a game that plays worse but I can control (FIFA) or the agony of literally rolling an enjoyment dice which could go against me for extended periods of time.

This is not to say the script cannot be broken. The time to shine is after any kick off because your players get a clear boost (very FIFA). And I have scored early/late and won games even when for 88 minutes I am not in the game. But it doesn’t really matter; the game is scripted to a degree that is not only uncomfortable but downright debilitating. Play a novice or 'rookie' to really experience this.

Gamers searching for the beautiful game created the momentum for PES to be competitive, but they’ve been rewarded with an ugly reminder of why we left Konami in the first place. FIFA won its crown by keeping FIFA true but taking the good gameplay from PES and leaving the bad design.
In 2017 we see PES taking the good design from FIFA's mode offerings but clambering to compete overall with the bad design model of equalising games. And this is a problem for Konami as well as the gamer.

EA aren’t worried about market share and will likely push out a tweaked version of FIFA17 next year. But Konami, well they have a lot to lose. Not just industry respect but the players who kept Konami’s only profitable game alive. Loyal fans are giving up or moving to FIFA, especially on the PlayStation. And there is a feeling that FIFA is much more likely to make something of note than PES.
But scripting is not the only issue, the list of problems overlooked by PES gamers is lengthy. Voided games, button lag, strange animations and an awful PC port are a few, but they stick with the game because it tries to make a football SIM and not arcade title.

Konami believed this title would build on PES2016 and cement themselves as competition, and to a degree they have. However bad press and obvious flaws have once again handed the initiative to EA's FIFA, a title who is very ready to evolve. In 2007, FIFA seized their opportunity and in 2017 the gap is open again. Things are not rosy in that Japanese garden.

Below I will start to collect examples of either scripting because players are designed to fail pre-match or awful coding. In my opinion neither is acceptable, especially when many players are expected fork out £50 annually for a title held together by loyalty.

How not to buy a PS4

In 2014 I got an Xbox One for Christmas. I chose the console but I really wasn't sure whether I should get a PS4 instead. I decided to try and find an excuse to buy one.
I came up with the table below.

Every month I'd put £20 away if neither 'Games with Gold' or the 'Gold Spotlight Sale' got me gaming.
If a month was only a 'Games with Gold' month I'd put £5 away instead (GWG 5).

Month	Fund £	Games with Gold	Spotlight Games	GWG 5	No Sale
Dec-14	20	Worms	Titanfall		0
Jan-15	20		Lords of the Fallen		0
Feb-15	20		PES 2015		0
			NBA
Mar-15	20	Rayman Legends		5
Apr-15	20	Child of Light		5
May-15	20				20
Jun-15	20				20
Jul-15	20				20
Aug-15	20				20
Sep-15	20	Tomb Raider		5
Oct-15	20	Walking Dead 1		5
Nov-15	20		Mass Effect		0
			Telltale Collection
Dec-15	20	Thief	Back to Future / Ori		0
			Alien / Sleeping Dogs
Jan-16	20				20
Feb-16	20		Metro Redux		0
Mar-16	20	Sherlock	Life is Strange		0
Apr-16	20	Sunset Overdrive		5
May-16	20		Unravel		0
Jun-16	20
				Total	Total
				£25	£100
					PS4 Fund
					£125

I only chose Xbox One games despite strong XBLA and 360 offerings. I also haven't included games bought from online retailers such as CDKeys because for me this is about MS giving me enough value to stay Xbox.

I chose £20 a month because I feel this should be the maximum price offered on an older digital game. I actually stick to a £15 limit on really enticing purchases and up to £10 for something interesting, such as Sleeping Dogs which turned out to be a blast.

I think MS have done a good job with their special deals and offerings and I'm well away from my £250 target.
In fact if I hadn't received Assassins Creed Black Flag with my console and Battlefront as a present I'd have added those games too.
With Sony releasing a new version of the PS4 my fund may turn into a Next Gen one. I feel mid-cycle upgrades signify a dedication to new tech rather than supporting the existing range. It that is the case I feel MS will give me enough value....Games with Gold and Spotlight, it's over to you.

PES 2016. How to start myClub with a bang.

Last week I received my first ever internet pre-order game, Pro Evolution Soccer 2016. Normally this time of year I’m at a supermarket at midnight picking up FIFA but the shambles that was FIFA 15 really didn’t inspire me, whereas PES 2015 did.

I bought PES 2015 in February 2015 (after giving up with FIFA) and started playing its myClub mode. After six months of enjoyment, great players that I could only dream of owning in FIFA and very little in-game frustration, I knew I made the right decision jumping to Konami and away from EA, so far 2016 has not disappointed.

This ‘guide’ will give you an idea of how I started in myClub 16. If you want a year of PES enjoyment you’d be wise considering this ‘guide’ as a potential way to start/keep afloat.

Before we start, there are two types of in game currency, GP (like coins) and stars, (FIFA points).

Much like on FIFA FUT you begin PES myClub with very little. However unlike FIFA there is no player/consumable market. The only way to access players without paying is to play games; each game giving you 1 free scout. That scout then lets you play roulette with a spinning wheel of coloured balls; black, gold, silver, bronze, white. Black being the best.

So let’s say you have 5 scouts, you spin them all and you get 1 of each type of ball. Black balls are the best (80+ overall), gold are second (75-80), silver is third best (65-74) and bronze and white are under 65. Most people who play the game want all the black balls, but there’s a cost trade off.
In PES contracts have a set price, unlike FIFA where you buy them on a marketplace.

Neymar for example might cost you 300GP a match, fine, but if you have 11 players of Neymar’s quality and your team earns 1800GP a game, you’re soon going to run out of GP to play the whole team! You can of course pay for them using real money and the coins system, but I won’t be doing that and any money I put in will be for a manager. Though you don’t need to do that for a while as unlocking tasks gets you loads of coins. Save them.

So that is a basic look at the player economics, to succeed you need to have enough GP to pay for contracts.

But that offers the question, how am I going to afford all my stars contracts in one team? With some planning it’s possible.

I want to give some background to the rules of success –

Players can be trained; you might get a level 1 Neymar. His normal level is 30 but you can train up to level 50. Prices of contracts increase as the player increases his level. So does his ‘cost’ to the manager.

Managers have contracts but also costs,  a cost stat which translates to your teams strength. If your manager can only manage up to 250 costs then you can’t have a team of Neymars whose cost might be 80 each. You need lower rated players. Or a blend of players, I believe they call it a team.

Managers also have contracts, though they can be extended by hitting targets like X amount of points, or you can pay for them with GP or coins. When you get a manager they always come with a generous 25 game contract, renewal is 25 games too.

So with these things in mind you need a manager who can actually afford to manage your team.

This is my manager –

And this is my main online team -

If you look at the team I have high team spirit, 1020 team strength, all the players are low rated silver balls and Ventura who is selected is at level 22 and 71 rated. His maximum at level 30 is 73. He also has a manager cost of 6. He has 46 contracts.
The manager (on the left) can manage costs of 250 but my team spend is only 96.

My team started life at a much lower cost but by playing with them their ‘team strength’ or the players themselves have improved and so now they cost more to manage, as do their individual contracts.
However I planned for that and my manager can probably manage this team even if all players hit level 50.

I have my team but with every game they get more and more expensive, so I pick players I know I can afford.

PES myClub is a long term project and before settling on these players I played around 100 games and spun 100 scout balls to get a team I thought could win games. To do this I played tournaments against the CPU and used an ever rotating bronze/white ball team.
I also developed a second silver ball team that I use for SIM games. Same manager.

But I’ve still not told you about building up GP with minimum effort. Well here’s how I have 300,000GP, over 1200 coins and three really fun main teams. After 7 days. Btw I work full time ;)

Three competitions are your friend, all against the CPU. The ‘Novice Cup’ the ‘Team Spirit Challenge’ and ‘SIM seasons’.
You could go and win each tournament; it’s only 3 games in Novice and Team Spirit. Plus you get a 500GP bonus if you win them. But if you’re just looking to maximise time, team spirit and GP you’ll only play two games of each tournament.

The reason? The third game you actually have to play to win, the first two you only have to play until you score, then pass to your free player and put the pad down.
When you’ve played those two games exit the tournament and start the other one.

So this is what you do, you play those two tournaments religiously with your most useless players got from the free spins. If you score a few with low rated player you will gain you around 1780gp every game, plus a scout.

After 10 games you’ll have around 18000GP and 10 scouts. The next decision is up to you.
You can either renew your crap players contracts or open the 10 scouts. I do a combination of both.

Renewing cheap player’s costs between 350 and 500GP each. If you renew your whole team it will cost you around 5500GP so you’re left with 12500GP profit and 10 scouts. Not a bad return.

Can you guess where I am going with this?
That’s right, play, play, play. If you put the time in you can end up with a major amount of useful GP.

So you’ve now got a lot of GP, you are building up your scouts and you have some great players. Should you spin the best agents for 10000 coins? Well it’s up to you, I haven’t spun one top agent (apart from the Day One specials) and this is the team I have but haven’t played with.

Notice the same manager from earlier cannot afford to manage this team. My team spirit is 99 but when I add Neymar it all becomes too costly. The bench counts toward your final cost.
Notice that Neymar has a cost of 44, whereas Ventura from earlier has a cost of 6. Top players cost a lot more.

Certainly not a bad team, and here is the second ‘team’ that eventually I'll use casually or in SIM games with a view to using players as trainers.

It just needs a few more players, not sure about Chamakh at centre back.

It’s a week since release and I have a whole season ahead to add stars, why waste GP now?

Instead I’ve used my GP on other things.
1. Extra player slots
2. Extra scouting slots
3. Player contracts for players I am committed to playing with/developing

Player slots because you get so many scouts through playing you might as well use them. Scouting slots, because at some point you’ll have too many players and then run out of scouting slots, and contracts because as players levels increase their contract costs go up.

As an example, after my 75 rated level 1 Lampard went to level 2 he cost me an extra 20 coins per contract. Now at level 3 he is costing me 1780 GP to renew and not 1680 GP. I know I’m going to play with him so I put on 50 contracts This will save me GP in the long term.

However this is where planning comes in, shortly after putting the contracts on Lampard I got Renato Augusto, a great AMF.  If I’d have got Iniesta I might not have used Lampard so I’d have wasted all that GP on his contracts. I then understood the importance of being patient.

With this new found knowledge I built an affordable good silver team for online play (the first team), while picking up GP and scouts using a low silver, bronze and white ball team.

Many of the players in my high silver team started at an overall rating below 68 and came with low contract costs. Because of that I increased their contracts to 60.
All in all I spent around 30,000 GP on the silver teams contracts and now I have a team which can play 60 games without needing a contract extension.
For now this will be my main online team and I only need to win 19 games to break even.

A good tip is to put your online teams players on your novice and team spirit teams bench, their team spirit will improve with that manager so if you use him again for the online team they will automatically have high team spirit (chemistry, if you’re coming from FIFA).

So to recap, the ‘farming’ of GP from the novice and team spirit tournament allows you to start building your club. While doing this you build up GP and players from the free scouts and when the time is right you’ll have enough GP to give your top players a lot of contracts.
The maximum contracts you can give is 100 (thanks Geninho from the PESfan forums), so kitting out a top blackball team with 100 contracts will cost anywhere between 200,000 and 350,000GP. You also get a free contract renewal with every winning season, though these can only be used when a player is out of contract.

In PES you’re rewarded for merging your purist love of football and gaming. The game requires planning and thought like a good RPG and like the real game a successful team doesn’t always have to be bought.
This article barely scratches the surface of the game, with training a major aspect of any long term plan. However if you farm and plan at the start you’ll have a great year of PES ahead of you and you’ll wonder why you ever spent your free time trading for cards when you could’ve been playing for greatness.

Update -
Recently I've been SIMing games and moving up the divisions, at division 8 I am gaining 2000GP per win. While you're not guaranteed to win every game it's a good way to farm and use up those players you don't care much for. This season I've won all my games and drawn 2. A nice return.

Also the higher your team the more coins you will get so consider putting your highest rated player on the bench when you farm. If it's a level 4 team you'll get near 2200GP instead of around 1800GP.

PES 2016; myClub menus and the surprise Football Manager fans might enjoy.

PES 2015 was a gameplay success but much of its finer pieces like the myClub menus, were a convoluted, frustrating laggy mess. In PES 2016 things seems to been changing, while throwing in some surprises along the way.

When you go through the learning process you quickly discover that lag has mostly gone. Menu’s are swift and loading is adequate for a server based game, but more importantly things you want to do, you’re allowed to do.
Then you’re treated to something new, something different; training. 

Many years ago we watched a flashing bar tell us how our custom team was doing, then we got dots running around a field, and now we have a side on view of good animation. But something was always missing; sometimes you wished you could control your team.
PES 2016 gives you a taste of that, it lets you make your favourite underdog better, perhaps even tp exceed your expectations.
We will see whether it’s too artificial as the year progresses but if you were that ‘FM’ or ‘Champ Man’ kid who loved his adequate greats, PES might make you smile.

Rather than making an essay out of improvements I’ll list them.

- Faster menus and much less lag

- Players are now easy to recognise without a need to look right for their basic stats

- You can release a player straight after signing them

- SIM mode now uses other peoples 'cloud teams' so you always get a game. Also has a football manager look and feel to it. Very nice.

- Players start at different levels, you could get a level 1 top player who needs to play to improve…bit like the football manager top youth….

- All players can improve! Holy crap…is this football manager…

- Players can improve by training. They even improve more when they have links to the trainer, eg: same nationality, club, position….no wait…is this football manager?….

- Reserves are now accessible from the main menu without the need to go into a separate menu….this is definitely football manager….tenuous…

- Managers can earn contract extensions by you winning. Eg – 5 points in divisions

- In the ‘train player’ menu you can convert players into trainers; you lose that player for good.

- Though the trainer face doesn’t appear you can see their basic stats before using them.

- Managers have 25 contracts.

- You can change a player’s position tactics wise, so a CF can play as a SS. That position must stay within the attack/midfield/defence section.

- Gamepad buttons are more customizable with each action being able to have its own button

Probably a lot more improvements but I have work to do. Brilliant that Konami gave the non-match experience some serious thought and development.

For me this makes the gameplay debate the only one. Rumour has it FIFA is plodding along without much desire to make a simulation game, for my football game wants it can only be PES. I guess we’ll have to wait a few months until EA decides their final crippling/perfecting patch.

PES MyClub, the game for football purists

PES isn’t the perfect game, in fact it’s clearly like FIFA 14, a game in the development phase. However unlike FIFA 15, which continued building on FIFA’s mechanical animations the PES 2015 focus is clearly on user input. In this article I want to compare the mechanics of both games as well as explore how PES must change for 2016. I’ll even rank which one I feel is better, just for some controversy.

If we compare the techniques both games employ to replicate the beautiful game it’s clear to see one wants to put the user in control and the other relies on sharing this desire with artificial intelligence. Where you sit on that fence is the type of game you enjoy, I know where I used to sit but my new chair is very comfy.

Gameplay

Short passing
Short passing is a staple of PES, in fact as a FIFA player who sees a good through ball I’ve struggled in using short passes in the final third. In PES you’re able to pass short in most scenarios, it’s realistic because certain players are better at passing quickly, body position is key, and making space is imperative. In FIFA it’s very hit and miss, there seems to be little difference in passing very short and short and mistakes are rarely user generated. In FIFA when you get a move truly going passing can be perfect, so much so that you’d be forgiven for thinking you’re not Barcelona. The commentary highlights the problem ‘they’re passing like it’s a computer game’, and they’re right, we are, because FIFA is mechanical and the opponent isn’t part of this set of numbers.
PES follows a different route, your manager helps your team play a certain way, possession for example, but don’t expect to flow up the pitch in a perfect sequence of short passes, you must beat the opposing line and draw them out of position to even get the chance to find your triangle. It’s football as it should be.
Winner – PES, it’s integral to the game. That’s how it should be.

Long passing
Long passing on PES is tricky but it allows you to utilise a variety of attacking options, for example if you have a target man a high long ball really will act like a long ball, not just a random punt. Long passing to a small wide player also produces great results too; they will take a great touch if the ball is low but lose headers regularly. The game mechanics are user influenced and both the attacker and defender can play to their strengths. In FIFA these mechanics are not all that present, a pacey player will win as many headers as they lose, perhaps more, because long passing is either hit or miss, it’s either going to your man or it isn’t. Player positioning and attributes do little to influence this outcome, a great example is Giovinco’s agility to win headers.
Winner – PES, no contest. The long ball works how it’s meant to, it’s more than a chance weapon and using it requires attention to detail.

Through balls
Through balls have become an integral part of how football games produce goals, in FIFA the long through ball has been abused and never reeled in thus causing defenders to topple and strikers to take perfect touches, quite literally nothing like real life.
In PES through balls can be just as dangerous but defenders actively spot passing potential, attacking players first touches are less influenced by pace and agility and more on ability and only the best players play the perfect pass. Then we have attacking options for the through ball, in PES you can influence the run your player makes and a well timed pass produces what you’d hoped for, in FIFA it produces what you’d expect, the difference is agonisingly obvious and a PES through ball sets up important not percentage chances.
Winner – PES, from a purist point of view FIFA isn’t even in this contest. If you’re just looking to throw some hail marys then head to FIFA, pick a pass with PES.

Shooting
FIFA has become so aim and shoot it’s agonising, in part due to some appalling programming in the goalkeeping department. Near post shots still produce goals for fun, long blasts are 50/50, headers are actions and finesse is a joy, not in a good way. The only shooting similarities are in chipping, where both games do an excellent job at making it feel realistic with chances very user focussed. Shooting on PES however is fun, really fun, you’re certain to miss and at times you get the feeling it’s never going to happen but it’s largely about attacker, keeper and defender positioning. With time and space you have a great chance but with a narrow angle you need to shoot early or find the top of the net; defenders really do influence accuracy.
Goalkeepers are integral to you not succeeding, and while there are some horrible animations that appear that the ball has hit the centre of the goal, 1 ft from the goal keeper, the frequency of this type of shot allows for the anomaly. Similarly running on a 45 degree angle toward the goal produces all too often, it’s just a good job keepers close well and good defenders snort at attacking agility.
Winner – PES, but not by much. It’s difficult to really judge FIFA when goalkeepers are so dire, I used to play on the 360 where keepers were better but on the Xbox One they can be superb or laughable, on either occasion this is pretty frustrating.

Dribbling
FIFA feels forced and clunky, especially with defensive pressure, but PES can feel slow to respond. Where FIFA is very much about stop start or skill PES lets you choose a variety of movements to beat the man and encourages a few well timed skills rather than a sequence of animations to beat the mechanics. The FIFA update ruined dribbling for me, but in reality it was too overpowered anyway.
The new mechanic destroyed dribbling unless you used a few key skills though I suspect a lot of this was down to AI pressure creating poor touches. Turning circles are now huge.
In PES body position is very important, stopping and starting is at play but if you run a yard away from your man he misses you and doesn’t home in unless he’s a few feet away ready to tackle. Dribbling for the best players is fun but the aim is to beat a man and get into space, you cannot simply dribble or skill your way through two players. It’s realistic, and when well timed a really fun exercise which makes you feel you actually beat a man rather than escaped the AI animation.
Winner – PES, again it’s about context because they both stutter a bit in this department. They’re both imperfect but then dribbling in football is very measured, very few players have ever possessed enough skills to beat a whole team and PES recognises that, playing against Messi examples this.

Skilling
FIFA is a mixture of animations bringing success whereas PES is about timing and surprise, where I love the ease at which they occur in FIFA I loathe the mechanics and enjoy the PES motivation of using them precisely.
Winner – Draw, different strokes for different folks. Neither are impressive enough to win me over.

Defending
This is another no contest. PES has a quality which leaves you panicking in your own box and able to defend space outside it. It’s not perfect, players movements are too slow for the gamer to fully defend space but it’s very user intensive and relying on the AI leaves a lot of space. In FIFA the AI control is incredible, even when the user is rushing in, 5 yard forcefields are not fun and high pressure/aggression makes it a game of ping pong. Football at its absolute worst.
PES also has two other bonuses, you can learn to beat a team by getting used to a management style (defending or attacking), and you can see whether your opponent is using the AI to rush in or whether they are tackling themselves. This has proved really beneficial in an attacking sense and a superb piece of simple programming.
Winner – No contest, PES. FIFA is a mess in defence, it needs a complete overhaul with the user input being more important than AI.

Player movements
Both superb; player runs are great, supporting positioning is brilliant and it’s always nice to set a player on a run. PES does have one improved feature, choosing and timing your supporting players run, it’s a nice feature, but then FIFA is so pretty.
Winner – Draw, both do a great job at making you believe that even Agbonlahor can make a quality run.

MyClub vs Ultimate Team

Menu’s

Loading speed
MyClub is dreadful, really slow, makes you worry that your connection is dying. It’s basic and judders and in general very primitive. FIFA is superb, the menus are a joy, especially after playing with PES, the developers have done a fantastic job at making sure everything looks and acts brilliantly and quickly.

Usability
I might prefer the tactic and manager approach of PES, which for gameplay purposes improves on FIFA, but the information delivery, for example player/game stats is appalling. Adding or removing players to a squad is a palaver, further frustrated by slow loading, it feel extremely primitive and nothing like the gorgeous, sweeping simplicity FIFA delivers. FIFA will have you wanting to check stats, enjoy the concept squads and tempted to explore, in PES you focus on getting it right because making a mistake, for example with your team sheet, takes time to rectify.

Winner, FIFA in a completely different class. PES, this isn’t 2005 anymore!

So you want to play a game

Menu’s, gameplay, they’re just the flesh, what about the bones! Why are you playing? Ultimate Team created a monster, one I wanted to be part of but it limits the user by advocating micro transactions and not gameplay. PES does the opposite, your squad is your squad, you’ve earned it and playing has unlocked its potential.
That to me is a joy, plus Konami regularly give meaningful gifts when things go wrong, for example my 50k gift was saved for the final weeks of the Champions League where I picked up some top quality black ball players thanks to a 70% chance of success.  Packs in FIFA are fun but they’re awful and demoralising, whereas in PES you look forward to getting a new player, especially in the early months of gaming. Though many believe the spinning balls of PES are decided from the outset it’s a good way to play, and building up agents simply encourages this because it’s about improving your team, hopefully adding one or two better players and not just making a whole team of world class talent. The best of the best can be beaten with the right average team!
Agents after every game is a masterstoke, and I’m very happy if 60 agents later I get 3 gold players and a black one.

Squad size limits on PES could be more generous but this should be offset with improved contract sizes, for goodness sake Konami encourage us to play with the limited squad and not scrimp to do so. In FIFA the contract system is great even if the market is a disaster, but you can build a team like a sticker collection which I always enjoy. The marketplace is great fun, even though you’ll never really try the top guys unless you pay, but those same players are available in different modes so in my mind MyClub is a real Ultimate Team competitor.

Tactics are important and while I appreciate what Konami are trying to do with manager style I do prefer the flexibility of FIFA, however if PES bothered to tell us how to unlock the highest managers this wouldn’t really have mattered. Microtransactions for a better manager, that’s a very EA thing to do.

Winner – PES, its close but I ended up preferring the delivery of quality rather than the desperation of affording it. The marketplace on FIFA has ruined Ultimate Team, where coin seller lurk clueless developers procrastinate; PES showed UT fans it could be done,  and done well.

Online

Both can be average to good however where FIFA wins is the sheer amount of players, I rarely find myself waiting 20 minutes to get a game whereas with Pro Evo that can be the standard waiting period. Also slow connecting and loading! Then we have the courtesy rating on PES, it’s a good concept but it threatens people with bans which in principle is fine but in reality can create a real headache for the honest player, especially when playing against a dishonest one. FIFA might crash and disconnect but it doesn’t penalise you by losing precious contracts and fitness, PES has some thinking to do on that front.

Winner – FIFA. PES is behind in developing an online service which represents 2015. FIFA might be down a lot but because they have so many more players people draw attention to it.

Final opinion

Overall both games are unfinished, from a development point of view PES is moving toward gameplay as its core ethos with functionality progressing on the side, whereas FIFA wants to give you an experience and change things if time allows it.
if you’re after a kick around you’re better going with FIFA, it’s the light entertainment that something like Community offers, nothing brilliant, nothing poor, passable with some moments of absorption.
If however you’re after an immersive experience that encourages creative gameplay and want to extend your hobby virtually you don’t really have a choice, it has to be PES.
In 2015 FIFA knows it has a competitor, as PES knows it has a platform. I’m really looking forward to seeing whether FIFA has stopped adding plasters in favour of making gameplay its focus or whether PES has finally matured into a gaming experience in more than gameplay and concept.