Pro Evolution Soccer 2019

Konami will be able to appease the PES fanbase with PES 2019. The improvements to the visuals brings the game to life at times. With over 400 teams and 10,000 players, the hardcore football fan has a lot to marvel over. While losing the Premier League license hurts, Konami hopes adding some other major regional leagues will help.

Pro Evolution Soccer remains the best, most accurate representation of football you can play without suddenly realising you can play out from the back like Harry Maguire. It’s full of lovely touches that make it joy to get sucked into and try to master. But the same issues are still here: It lacks the in game variety of FIFA and now it misses out on all the benefits that came with the UEFA license.

For as long as EA continues to develop FIFA and hold a monopoly over official licences, PES will be the scrappy underdog just hoping for a surprise upset, even when it's fielding the likes of London Blue and PV White Red. The lack of licences for top-tier leagues remains a disheartening sticking point, but PES continues to make brilliant strides on the pitch, building on what was already an incredibly satisfying game of football to produce one of the greatest playing football games of all time. It might be lacking off the pitch, but put it on the field against the competition and a famous giant killing wouldn't be all that surprising.

You shouldn’t buy PES 2019 for its new modes - there aren’t any of note. Nor should you buy it for major changes to existing modes - the ones made are minor. If you do opt in this year, it should be for the focus on player individuality that sets this iteration apart from all previous years. It’s not just a case of introducing bespoke animations, but accurately reflecting each player’s ingrained habits, too. Football, after all, is a battle that’s both physical and psychological. From PES 2019’s crisp and robust action to the mind games unfolding behind the scenes, this is a game successfully capturing both sides.

It’s easy for me to sit and revel in what I love about PES, jogging through instant replay just to gawk at a foot flick a ball on to a teammate or charting out the future of my Master League club. But occasionally that reverence is broken by an ill-suited moment that illustrates that more work needs to be done. The franchise is steps away from greatness, which makes some of its foibles frustrating.

Regardless, of all that, PES 2019 is a game you’ll like, and very much enjoy in extended spells. The nagging feeling, despite the superb football, remains: more could have been done to set it apart from its contemporaries, and even past Pro Evo entries – but you’ll be having too much fun to care otherwise.