Early thoughts...
First thing is that it doesn't feel as polished as FIFA, from the menu system right down to the pitch, but that is to be expected, it has never really been better.
The graphics are different, not quite as good overall, but decent all the same, however, the whole PES experience has a sort of old and washed out feel to it.
Obviously the lack of licences are an annoyance, but they will be resolved when the Option File that will fix all the names and kits etc is out for the UK version, very soon.
The sound is no where near as good as FIFA, though it isn't terrible. The commentary is notably worse but the crowd dont sound too bad.
Gameplay. FIFA definitely feels more 'automated' on its default settings, if you go and change it all to Manual its very different but most people ignore that, and it just works against you online.
I can't really say one is better to play than the other, it depends on what you prefer but PES is certainly more of challenge to string moves together on and it does feel slightly more rewarding in some situations when you score a goal, or even come close.
Offline, the AI is much better, it doesn't seem to think ahead of you and you seem to have more room on the pitch, which adds to the realism and doesn't force you to have to pass instantly which can often be an issue on FIFA. The Master League looks pretty good though I haven't looked into it much just yet.
Its difficult to explain how it is better, but plenty of the aspects of the gameplay ARE better than FIFA, and plenty of others aren't.
Controlling your player with the ball for example, can be very hit and miss, where as on FIFA it feels more complete and comfortable to control.
Passing isn't that much different between the two, its slightly harder to pass on PES but you can ping-pong quite a bit and its certainly not 'hard'.
I would say that realism slightly favours PES, FIFA can feel somewhat automatic at times and that can be annoying.
Shooting seems more challenging too, you can usually tell immediately on FIFA if you will hit the target or not, its not always so clear on PES, which adds some extra suspense!
Online seems quite fine, no lag and its certainly not as punishing as FIFA, where you make one small error and it WILL cost you a goal, finishing is much, much harder on PES too.
All in all, I'm impressed, I would still say at the early stages at the moment that FIFA is the better game overall but that is subject to change.
Oh, and it doesn't feel that much different to the demo but there are a few tweaks here and there, so if you aren't sure about it, give the demo a few hours and see if it grows on you!
Any questions, ask
