We go through the reasons why PES is better than Fifa, and a lot of it has something to do with their slogan “The Pitch Is Ours”
1.The pitch
The slogan for PES this year is “The Pitch Is Ours” and they almost certainly have the better pitch in general. A problem with Fifa is that the pitch feels like it’s unrealistically sized, almost as though it’s too small and this is evident when people spend all game sprinting at you without you being able to punish them for the space they leave behind because there is no space there to begin with. This is evident in game modes such as Clubs when multiple opponents can run at you and if you move the ball around they can practically reach where the recipient of the ball is at by the time it reaches its target. On PES however the pitch feels far bigger, the midfield is more spacious like in reality and you can build up an attack in a way you simply cannot on FIFA. People who spend all game running around and closing down like a headless chicken all game like on FIFA will be swiftly punished.
2. The passing
This is partly due to PES having great passing and the passing on Fifa this year being a massive own goal. The passing on PES is crisp and precise and the introduction of a button to allow you to manually aim through balls and passes, putting them exactly where you intend them to go is a fantastic idea. You can play some fantastic passing football on this game and it’s left Fifa in its wake. Fifa this year has some of the worst passing the series has ever seen. The have introduced a new power pass button which is supposed to allow you to zip the ball into pockets of space in the midfield and “Play beautiful” but the pass error is so high, as well as the first touch errors, that many players seem to ignore passing altogether and dribble diagonally across the pitch instead which seems to be far more effective. They’ve also ruined the average ground pass by making it still too underpowered and the pass reception is awful, and this is after a patch! If you like passing, PES is the game for you this year.
3.The Animations (particularly some skill moves)
Some of the animations on this year’s PES are a thing of beauty, FIFA may have more skill moves and introduced their fancy no touch dribble but some of the skill moves on PES just look far better and are a lot more realistic at the same time. The overall first touches are a lot better on PES than on FIFA, as on Fifa players who in real life are technically astonishing like Kevin De Bruyne or even Neymar sometimes control a football like they’ve never seen one before. Also, defenders like Pique may not be as technically gifted as the likes of Neymar, but he’s still one of the best ball playing defenders in the world and most of the time on FIFA he will fail to control a 5 yard pass compared to PES where he feels more like his real life counterpart.
4.Tactical flexibility
PES has always been seen as the game for those with a deeper understanding of the beautiful game. The amount of tactical options on the game is outstanding, the amount of formations, and the control over the way your team plays, presses, where players position themselves when their team is out of possession seems to actually make a difference on the pitch where on Fifa it doesn’t seem to make much of a difference at all. The ability to create a unique playing style for your team and to make players play in the way you want is something FIFA can only dream of.
5. Editing possibilities
With the lack of licenced teams it’s important that PES has something to compensate with and it doesn’t disappoint. The ability to edit kits alone is something that FIFA does not include, and it’s great to be able to create your own team, along with kit and badges to use. Being able to start your own team from scratch and start a career mode with it is great fun and FIFA would do well to reintroduce a feature they took out after the move to Xbox One and PS4.
There are our 5 reasons as to why PES is a better game than FIFA.
Do you agree with our list? Do you disagree? Is there anything we missed out? Let us know in the comment section below!