eFootball 2022 officially came out earlier this week and the reactions trailing its release have ranged from really sad to highly comical. This is the game that we have been waiting for, for two years now.

As a gamer, I love PES (Yes, I still call it PES). I started playing Konami’s PES from International Superstar Soccer 98 on the original PlayStation. I have gone through several generations of the game. From Winning Eleven through Pro Evolution Soccer and now up to eFootball.

Through the years, every upgrade and name change that has come to the game through the years have mostly served to improve the game. From ISS to WE and PES, the graphics have improved and the animations got better. The AI was sharper and more challenging. The player models were well-built. The player + ball physics were top-notch.

FIFA vs PES

This is why after giving FIFA a try several times, I could not get past the arcade style. The way FIFA forced one to play in a certain way. To master skill moves and play patterns. With FIFA, you barely had any time on the ball.

On the other hand, you could play an entire match in PES and not have to use a skill move. You had time on the ball to plan your moves. You could go with a slow approach or a fast approach, a possession-based style, or a long ball method. Players acted differently. Christiano Ronaldo ran like Ronaldo.

Read: eFootball 2022 update

With the releases of both eFootball 2022 and FIFA 22, it looks as though both games have swapped roles. EA is the one with the proper football SIM and Konami has gone the EA way.

Some FIFA players have complained about the new gameplay style but they are in the minority and a good number of FIFA players have silenced them. It is a football SIM, not an arcade game.

eFootball 2022 is summed in one word, bad.

eFootball on the other hand is (simply put) broken. It is that bad. The game is broken to its core. The argument can be made that well, this is a demo and it is free to play but it has never been this bad. They had two years to work on this.

It seems like this is not just a PES problem. It is a general problem with Konami franchises as they have been in self-destruct for a while now. First, it was Metal Gear Solid (goodbye Hideo), and then it was Resident Evil. Now it is PES. Konami’s self-immolation knows no bounds.

This new PES has so many problems. The physics is bad. Players are melting into one another, twisting into contorted shapes and the balls are passing through bodies. The game freezes for no reason. The ball sometimes hovers off the ground. Let’s not even talk about the graphics the lack of player awareness or the copy-paste job they did for player characters. The controls are useless and overcomplicated.

PC and Xbox players are the worst hit. PS 4 and PS 5 are not spared either. I am worried about how the Mobile would turn out to be.

What is going on?

The question now is, what is going on in Konami’s HQ? It seems as though the game was better when Konami had no licenses and focused on the actual gameplay.

This is still only essentially a demo, and further updates could improve it but the community needs to stay together and speak with one voice.

Read: UFL by Strikerz Inc. is here to challenge eFootball and FIFA

I have seen many players split themselves along platform lines and blame “mobile players” for this. The consensus seems to be that Konami caters more to mobile players. This is not exactly the truth. Mobile has a lot of issues which we complain about that are never addressed.

Instead of pointing fingers, speak with one voice to Konami that this is not acceptable. If they do not fix it, we’ll move over to FIFA or UFL. Simple.

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