How to kill a franchise with a single release...
This game manages to take all that made Pro Evo special, the gameplay, the addictive one-on-one battles against a good friend, the realistic players, and throw it all in the trash.
Visually, it is no better than any game in the series. While there are more players with 'real faces', their bodies now appear that of the now old Winning Eleven 6: short and stocky. Their movement seems a mile away from the previous release, and while the ball control may seem more 'realistic', it will also make the game pretty much unplayable. The player will always move after he's set the ball in motion. Which means two touches on the ball are a rule, which is quite possibly the most unrealistic thing in the entire game.
If the defense was already crap in previous versions, they've managed to 'solve the problem' by making it virtually non-existant. When a defender should be covering a gap, he'll most likely be dashing forward for no apparent reason. When a defender should close down a CF, he'll most likely stop just before he reaches him, only to stare in impotence as the attacker just moves past him. The keeper is almost a midget in goal, and its reaction time is pathetic. In sum: No one does what is supposed to do.
Attacking moves will almost certainly be broken apart by the fact your passing will, 90% of the time, end up straight at your opponent's feet, some times taking a direction completely different than that which you commanded. Your best shot at goal will most likely be a byline cross to a header, and that is if you have a tall CF.
Team licences have all gone to hell, and if there's an irritating thing for an Arsenal fan like me it is to see his team in a 'fake' Arsenal jersey that is IDENTICAL to the Man Utd first kit. Player stats have, inexplicably, lowered in the complete opposite of the current world standing. While the English Premiership is quite possibly the greatest in the world, Premiership teams like Arsenal and Liverpool are significantly 'weaker' than teams like Barcelona (which failed to be even runner up to Real Madrid) and Milan (which failed to qualify for Champions' League this season).
The sound is as irritating as ever and the narration is as surreal as possible, but quite frankly, it's always been like that, so it's the least of the problems.
Konami has done the unthinkable: they've picked a world renouned winning formula and turned into one of the biggest let-downs of the year.