PES15 for me was a very special game. I just couldn't believe how much of an inprovement it was over the hideous PES14 i previously played on PS3. Who remembers that PES14 was fully free for PS+ users? That's how bad it was. PES15 on PS4 literally revived my love for PES. It wasn't an amazing game, it was just 'ok' 'good', which is a lot better than the previous years. But then... PES16 destroyed all hope. Konami release a full 'arcade' game with the worst ping pong passing ever. PES17 was the last hope...
After playing PES17 for months i can say it is both the best thing ever and broken at the same time. It is for sure the hardest PES i ever reviewed. The core gameplay is the best of any football game ever made. Physics, contact, shooting, goal keepers, AI, while everything i mentioned is far from perfect, it is better than anything we played before. But everything can easily come crashing down with big game breaking problems, and PES17 has 2 major problems.
-Defending. I have a friend who quit PES because of the hold X and Square pressure. I don't blame him, the magnetism is far too strong. All PES games suffer from this problem but for example PES15 magnetism was not this strong. On PES the CPU defends more than the player. Which is why online people don't dribble you, the just eliminate players with... ping pong pass.
-Passing. Here it is... the biggest problem. Not only is the passing more assisted than PES15, it also includes pin point crossing, which as many know and complain about, it's gamebreaking with the right players. PES matches can be determined by who had the tallest player. 183cm tall RAMOS has given me some headaches vs 195 IBRA or 193 LUKAKU. Maybe Konami should make NBA games?
Online is the most important mode in PES. There is nothing like playing vs real humans. The servers are about the same as the last few years so expect to run into some laggy games. Online game modes are the same as every year too. Where is 2v2 ranked Konami? PES is clearly missing on features.
As an offline game PES17 is the best in years. The AI will actually attack you and defend very well this year. I don't recommend buying PES games to play against the CPU, but if you are really interested in playing Master League offline, give PES17 a go!
For last i leave myClub, the online team building mode where you spin balls to get new players. The mode Konami made to milk peoples money. myClub is everything i wrote but worse, OP crosses to 203cm tall TRAORE, plus scripting. Not much else to say about it, other than avoid it.
In conclusion, i bought PES17 only for the core gameplay. Very happy with my performance in it even thought its not my best PES game. PES15 while it did not play as nice it was less assisted than 17. Very unlikely i buy another PES ever again. PES17 was a two faced beauty.