This is a review of the Lite version. I'm playing it because I wasn't going to pay €30 for a glorified roster update to the main game. For a free game the Lite version is fantastic. It's a wonderful football game most of the time and you really should give it a chance if you haven't already. That said, it's not without it's flaws.

One of the things they did this year which is a major regression in my opinion is changing the difficulty level of the VS COM games in myClub events, and reducing the number and variety of them. I'm a middle aged gamer who grew up playing single player or local multiplayer. I've played this game and it's ancestors for over 20 years. I have very little interest in playing against absolute strangers in the first place, but when matchmaking takes ages and the connection is done peer to peer I lose interest entirely. I did try in the past but the experience was not good. I DO NOT KNOW if it's still a problem but there was a lot of cheating, and poor connections. Perhaps others can weigh in with comments on this below.

This leaves me with the offline content but Konami obviously don't want people like me playing this version of the game. Which is understandable, because after all, people like me don't spend money on microtransactions. The offline events are boring and uninspired. Most of the time you're given little choice and the difficulty is set at Amateur, which any half decent player can smash at least 10-0 every time. Occasionally they have 'Legend Challenge' with Superstar or Legend difficulty. Here's where the balancing of the higher difficulties comes into question. I'm not the best player by any means but I have thousands of hours in these games over the years and I can't help but feel that the highest difficulty settings against the AI are simply unfair a lot the time. I'm not going to go on a rant about 'scripting' and 'dynamic difficulty balancing' because there's enough other people talking about that stuff and I appreciate that such systems are probably very difficult to balance. However, when really bizarre things happen during a match to conspire against you, it's hard not to feel like you're being unfairly disadvantaged.

I don't know how generous FIFA is with giving you resources but this game absolutely bombarded me with top players, agents, stamina recoveries, contract tickets, exp boosters, etc. Very generous it seems but it may just be that because I joined late, played last year's version, and bought the full fat version of 2020, that they gave me more free stuff to catch up. Again, if anyone else has insight on whether this happens or not, drop a comment below please.

In terms of gameplay it's not much different from recent versions. Lots of very slight refinements to be sure, but nothing game changing in my opinion. It's essentially been the same game for a couple of years now which is understandable as they're switching engine for the 2022 version and Konami probably don't have anywhere the ridiculous budget that's available to (and being squandered by) EA.

In conclusion: If you love football you really should try this game and give it a chance. If you love PES you probably won't be disappointed. If you hate that FIFA is a gambling simulator that hasn't had any core updates in years this might be a breath of fresh air for you. If you want to play offline only be prepared for limited options, and if you want to play online you might need to be prepared for a certain level of frustration.

Overall recommended, but I won't be spending any more money on this franchise until I see how 2022 turns out. I am optimistic though. I think there's a lot of talent in the PES dev team and I wish them all the best!

This is a review of the Lite version. I'm playing it because I wasn't going to pay €30 for a glorified roster update to the main game. For a free game the Lite version is fantastic. It's a wonderful football game most of the time and you really should give it a chance if you haven't already. That said, it's not without it's flaws. One of the things they did this year which is a major regression in my opinion is changing the difficulty level of the VS COM games in myClub events, and reducing the number and variety of them. I'm a middle aged gamer who grew up playing single player or local multiplayer. I've played this game and it's ancestors for over 20 years. I have very little interest in playing against absolute strangers in the first place, but when matchmaking takes ages and the connection is done peer to peer I lose interest entirely. I did try in the past but the experience was not good. I DO NOT KNOW if it's still a problem but there was a lot of cheating, and poor connections. Perhaps others can weigh in with comments on this below. This leaves me with the offline content but Konami obviously don't want people like me playing this version of the game. Which is understandable, because after all, people like me don't spend money on microtransactions. The offline events are boring and uninspired. Most of the time you're given little choice and the difficulty is set at Amateur, which any half decent player can smash at least 10-0 every time. Occasionally they have 'Legend Challenge' with Superstar or Legend difficulty. Here's where the balancing of the higher difficulties comes into question. I'm not the best player by any means but I have thousands of hours in these games over the years and I can't help but feel that the highest difficulty settings against the AI are simply unfair a lot the time. I'm not going to go on a rant about 'scripting' and 'dynamic difficulty balancing' because there's enough other people talking about that stuff and I appreciate that such systems are probably very difficult to balance. However, when really bizarre things happen during a match to conspire against you, it's hard not to feel like you're being unfairly disadvantaged. I don't know how generous FIFA is with giving you resources but this game absolutely bombarded me with top players, agents, stamina recoveries, contract tickets, exp boosters, etc. Very generous it seems but it may just be that because I joined late, played last year's version, and bought the full fat version of 2020, that they gave me more free stuff to catch up. Again, if anyone else has insight on whether this happens or not, drop a comment below please. In terms of gameplay it's not much different from recent versions. Lots of very slight refinements to be sure, but nothing game changing in my opinion. It's essentially been the same game for a couple of years now which is understandable as they're switching engine for the 2022 version and Konami probably don't have anywhere the ridiculous budget that's available to (and being squandered by) EA. In conclusion: If you love football you really should try this game and give it a chance. If you love PES you probably won't be disappointed. If you hate that FIFA is a gambling simulator that hasn't had any core updates in years this might be a breath of fresh air for you. If you want to play offline only be prepared for limited options, and if you want to play online you might need to be prepared for a certain level of frustration. Overall recommended, but I won't be spending any more money on this franchise until I see how 2022 turns out. I am optimistic though. I think there's a lot of talent in the PES dev team and I wish them all the best!