Between Gamescom and E3, there's a lot of positive buzz that many fans of the PES series will be expecting Konami to build upon as we move towards the release of PES 2016. While PES 2015 received critical acclaim, several notable enhancements went missing and prevented PES from reclaiming the soccer throne. It's what that in mind that I will take a look at what PES 2016 must get right.


"Gameplay is king" is a phrase you’ll often hear from European Brand Manager Adam Bhatti. After all, when it comes down to it, the action on the virtual pitch is what matters most, and the folks at Konami have been steadfast in their proclamation that it’s gameplay above everything else. In order for PES 2016 to come through in this department, several things need to happen:

Animations - A quick glance at Konami’s PES 2016 site will reveal that a ton of new animations have been added to the game. That’s a welcome addition because in PES 2015, animations can be an eyesore at times. Players often contort their body position in order to compensate for a lack of animations. Keepers also suffer from animations that aren’t up to speed, literally, with their outfield counterparts, which can make things such as stopping a penalty kick a tough task.

Fouls - Fouls in PES 2015 were inexplicably absent. From decisions by the referee to not blow the whistle for an obvious foul to the CPU’s muted aggressiveness, this is one area that needs to be addressed. Fouls are crucial to any footy game because they can curtail aggressive play, and they add importance to set pieces and substitutions. For example, I don’t know how many times I had to play the ball out of bounds in PES 2015 just to sub off a fatigued player.

Tactical Side - More attention, and perhaps simplicity, needs to be applied to the tactical side. “Fluid Formations” was a ground-breaking inclusion in PES 2015, but simple things like being able to change team mentality on the fly (the amount of pressure you want on the ball, all-out-defend, etc.) was noticeably lacking. Options such as these are crucial when chasing a result, which can invariably lead to more aggression (sorely needed overall by the CPU on defense), and in turn, more fouls (see above). Time wasting and more varied attacks (crossing) by the CPU also need to vary according to the match situation. Seeing the CPU pass the ball around in its own half while down a goal late was very frustrating and not very realistic in PES 2015.


Once a strong point of the series, Master League has quickly become outdated. From archaic menus to a “smiley face” based transfer system, Master League is in need of a huge upgrade. Thankfully, Konami has boasted that “every single element has gone under a complete overhaul, redesigned or reworked…" From what I have seen so far, a new user interface for the Team Management screen has been implemented, as well as more advanced stats such as a “Play Area” map, Times Scored/Conceded, and different types of Patterns for goals scored/conceded (e.g. Set Piece, Penalty Kick, etc.)

Other key areas that will need to be improved upon are:

• The ability to advance time by single-day increments (crucial during the January transfer window).
• Toning down the high sim scores (made it near impossible if your league came down to goal difference).
• Transfer-logic tuning to make it more difficult to acquire players.

Everything from match-day atmosphere to commentary to in-game overlays needs to be improved upon if Konami wants to enhance the overall experience. New commentators have been added (Peter Drury & Marco Hagemann) while still retaining the services of Jim Beglin and Jon Champion. Hopefully more commentary lines have been added as the game tends to suffer from long periods of silence.

The in-game match-day experience needs some beefing up, especially within the confines of Master League. Tables, statistics and references to the current league campaign should be sprinkled in to help split up the monotony of Master League, which can suffer from a bit of tunnel vision. Other areas such as replays and listing the names/times of the scorers after a goal are minor additions that would help the series take strides towards authenticity. Lastly, option files need to be sorted out completely to give both console owners the same added bonus of authentic kits, crests, logos and badges.


If Konami wants to build upon the largely successful PES 2015, the developers must not rest on their laurels. If the news released thus far is any indication, it looks as if Konami is continuing to push forward to try and regain the top spot atop the footy throne.

As we move closer to the release of PES 2016, what do you think Konami needs to do in order to continue to build upon the critically successful PES 2015?