• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 Review Thread

OpenCritic - 91
MetaCritic - 89

God Is A Geek - 10/10

So if my massive amassing of words hasn’t convinced you, let me put it plainly: PES 2017 is bloody incredible. It’s a football game that feels like football in every single way. From the tackles to the passing, to the close control, to the scoring of wonderful goals. It’s everything football is in reality and in dreams. I’ve always said that FIFA is the Match of the Day of football games: you only get the highlights, where as in PES you get everything. This couldn’t be truer for PES 2017, which really, really could be the greatest football game ever made

PSU - 9.5/10

If PES 2016 was the best entry in around a decade, then PES 2017 is arguably among the greatest in the series full stop. With extra care and attention paid to improving on many of its predecessor’s strengths, as well as tweaking and fixing adhered to its issues, PES 2017 comes out of it as a fantastic football game.

Metro - 9/10

In Short: More a refinement than a revolution, but this builds on the achievements of last year’s game to ensure one of the finest sports games ever created.

Pros: Newly improved passing, shooting, and dribbling is better than ever, and the goalkeepers are much better than last year. Surprisingly good graphics.

Cons: The referees are more unpredictable and frustrating than ever. The physics engine can suffer the odd hiccup. Few genuinely new features.

Gadgets 360 - 8/10

PES 2017 is not perfect or revolutionary, but it is a solid entry into the PES franchise that fixes some of the problems of PES 2016 and features enough AI improvements that make playing a bit more enjoyable. If you want a taste of how good the game can be, try the co-op mode at a higher difficulty level - that is how we enjoyed the game the most. If you've never played football games, PES 2017 is beginner friendly. Training modes and customisable controls are good enough for new players. Experienced players will also find enough of a challenge to have a blast this game. Its only major weakness is the commentary. If that doesn't bother you, then you should buy PES 2017.
 
Damn, would jump on this one immediately if it wasn't for the fact that I don't have time to bring over friends for footie gaming sessions anymore.
 
Been back for 2 years now

Yes and no.

PES has been on an upward curve for a while now but last year was a bit of a stumble. It's just that FIFA 16 was horse shit as well.

PES 2017 is just outright a fucking great football game on its own merits. It feels like a culmination of the last few years of progress and they've nailed it this year.

I'm convinced it's the best football game I've ever played. For my money this is effectively PES7.. just a 10 years late sequel to PES6.
 
image.jpg.CROP.promo-large2.jpg
 
Last year's PES got also very glamorous reviews despite being a football game without referees and keepers.

I'm not believing them again this year. Especially since PC version is a port of the worst version.
 
Is the PC version actually shit or just inferior to the PS4/X1 versions? I played the 2016 demo on PC and thought the gameplay was better than FIFA's, despite the mediocre graphics.
 
Last year's PES got also very glamorous reviews despite being a football game without referees and keepers.

my thoughts exactly

I have no idea what caused last year's sudden spike in review scores, and it seems to continue this year. Last year's game had rather notable problems so I am going to spend some more time with the demo before deciding to buy now or wait for usual xmas sales.
 
PES 16 was probably in my top 3 football games ever behind PES 6 and FIFA 12.

I can't wait for PES 17. 16 was so superior to FIFA. We finally have a top football game again.

My copy was despatched today, should be here tomorrow.

Reviews looking every bit as brilliant as I'd hoped.
 
Is the PC version actually shit or just inferior to the PS4/X1 versions? I played the 2016 demo on PC and thought the gameplay was better than FIFA's, despite the mediocre graphics.

Wondering the same thing. How exactly is it shit compared to XBO/PS4?

Very disappointed if this keeps happening, it's like the third time now right?
 
GAF, I know I'm asking in a PES review thread and it's possible it'll bias responses to PES, but...

I'm less than a filthy casual. I don't follow a single sport. Every few years or so, I get the craving for a sports game, and I commit to it for a month or so. It's been an honestly fulfilling experiment every few years.

I did Madden NFL in 2007. I did NHL in 2011. I'm feeling football (soccer for us here in the US) in 2016.

Since I don't watch any sports closely, I just need to know -- as far as football is concerned, does PES or FIFA hand in the more casual-scaling experience? I obviously have no strong ties to any teams or clubs or anything like that, I just need to know which game is going to scale down so that a completely ignorant player has a chance.

In the past, I've treated my foray into sports games like any video game I have zero experience in... I try to learn as I go. As an outsider, I kind of feel like sports games have really, really tried to hammer home authenticity and realism into their systems, and the "video game" aspect feels increasingly rewarding to those who have ties to the actual sport. I try to look at it like Dark Souls: I'mma get my ass kicked hard starting out but as soon as I adjust to the rules of the game, I hope to eventually ascend and git gud.

I plan to download the FIFA and PES demos to my PS4 and go hands on myself, but I wanted to still appeal to long-running football game fans to see if they could offer some guidance to what to expect from the fuller experience.

Thanks in advance if anyone tries to tackle my question!
 
Always loved PES in the 2000s but from 2009 onwards i played fifa as it was the better game for a while. Always wanted to return to PES though as i had great memories of it. Will try out the demo and see if its worth it.

Is there any mode in PES like Ultimate Team in FIFA? It is definitely my favourite online football system.
 
GAF, I know I'm asking in a PES review thread and it's possible it'll bias responses to PES, but...

I'm less than a filthy casual. I don't follow a single sport. Every few years or so, I get the craving for a sports game, and I commit to it for a month or so. It's been an honestly fulfilling experiment every few years.

I did Madden NFL in 2007. I did NHL in 2011. I'm feeling football (soccer for us here in the US) in 2016.

Since I don't watch any sports closely, I just need to know -- as far as football is concerned, does PES or FIFA hand in the more casual-scaling experience? I obviously have no strong ties to any teams or clubs or anything like that, I just need to know which game is going to scale down so that a completely ignorant player has a chance.

In the past, I've treated my foray into sports games like any video game I have zero experience in... I try to learn as I go. As an outsider, I kind of feel like sports games have really, really tried to hammer home authenticity and realism into their systems, and the "video game" aspect feels increasingly rewarding to those who have ties to the actual sport. I try to look at it like Dark Souls: I'mma get my ass kicked hard starting out but as soon as I adjust to the rules of the game, I hope to eventually ascend and git gud.

I plan to download the FIFA and PES demos to my PS4 and go hands on myself, but I wanted to still appeal to long-running football game fans to see if they could offer some guidance to what to expect from the fuller experience.

Thanks in advance if anyone tries to tackle my question!

If you haven't been played football games much I suspect the differences between PES and FIFA won't be all that noticeable. Having tried both demos, I would say PES, as in the old days, feels more fun as a football game than FIFA.
 
Videogamer
Strange refereeing aside, none of those issues are more than oddities and PES 2017 is a wonderful football game that just begs to be played. Give me another 200 hours and I'll tell you definitively how PES 2017 ranks against the series' best, but right now I'm enjoying it an awful lot. Fun yet unfair, thrilling yet at times borderline broken, but it just wouldn't be PES if it was perfect.
 
I was an IIS/PES/WE player back in the day before shifting to Fifa when PES went to shit last gen. I've got PES for the past 2 years but it's still had way too many issues for me to play it consistently over Fifa.

This years demo however is absolutely sublime. I've tried both the PES and Fifa one now and I honestly think the PES demo is on another level completely. I've probably played over 50 matches in it already and can't wait for my pre-order to unlock. I really think that it's going to be the best football game ever made.

It's just a shame that there's no online couch coop. That alone will mean I'll have to grab Fifa as well this year.
 
my thoughts exactly

I have no idea what caused last year's sudden spike in review scores, and it seems to continue this year. Last year's game had rather notable problems so I am going to spend some more time with the demo before deciding to buy now or wait for usual xmas sales.

I hated PES 16. I still can't believe the scores it got: not fun, not precise or refined, everything screamed mediocre, the menus the physics, the tactics. I guess it's a little bit less "scripted" than FIFA but oh man, it's so much worse in my opinion. And I used to love PES...
 
Last year's PES got also very glamorous reviews despite being a football game without referees and keepers.

Yeah, the refs and keepers were broken to a level that made the game so frustrating to play.

I have no idea how it got scores even close to what it was getting last year. I think people are just so desperate for a Fifa rival they've been really over-scoring when it comes to reviews.

That being said, the gameplay in PES 17 is amazing. I'd recommend anyone to give the demo a good hammering.
 
Nice scores.

Haven't bought a PES game since the GOAT PES 6, and FIFA has been steadily going down the shitter for the last couple years.

Will give the demo a go and maybe buy this during xmas, I've missed PES authentic footy gameplay so much.

Still feel a bit slimy giving Konami any sort of cash.
 
The impression I got from the demo, was that it controlled much better, more direct to be honest compared to PES 16 / 15, which felt sluggish. Anybody who played those now the bit of delay you feel between input and what happens on the screen.
That is gone, and to be honest it feels closer to the old PES of the old days and Gen6.

But I'm still not convinced about the dribbling and the passing. The passing feels great in the game, but a bit overpowered. If you want to play Guardiola style, you could probably do it and annoy (or bore) your opponent until he forfeits.

The dribbling though. I'll be honest never was a fan of the dual stick input. Can't say too much about since I'm not that accustomed with it nor, do I play a dribble heavy style, but I think it felt more suited to the weighty feel of the old games. Just my impression, but I have to admit I haven't played it yet against human opponents. If that feels fun and right, I don't care about the licenses, menus or all the other fluff.

The pitch is were it matters.
 
Top Bottom