eFootball PES 2021 SEASON UPDATE

The last entry in a legendary football series, eFootball PES 2021 Season Update offers Konami’s soccer simulation at its best. Despite its confusing marketing and even weirder DLC plans, this version of eFootball is the culmination of years of legacy soccer games that might never return to its former glory.

Despite some minor annoyances with the game’s AI, this is a great game for soccer fans and an even better way to say farewell to one of the most influential game series of all time.

Football at its Peak

eFootball is the spiritual successor to Konami’s PES series. Pro Evolution Soccer has always been the direct competitor to EA’s FIFA series, so it stands to reason that Konami would release a game to compete against EA’s latest entry in the series. However, in a move that took everyone by surprise, PES is no more.

Now, eFootball has taken the place of FIFA 2022’s only competition, and it does so with a radically different business model. While EA’s game is still a fully-priced title, eFootball 2021’s base edition goes for a “games as a service” model. The base game is free, along with this year’s Season Update, but there are still tons of DLC to buy to add content to the game.

Fortunately, most of this content is purely cosmetic, or it adds something to some of the clubs present in every version of eFootball – even the free one.

As the last entry to be officially labeled “PES” by Konami, eFootball 2021’s Season Update offers players a look into the franchise’s 25- year history. Of course, considering the disastrous release of eFootball 2022, Konami has also made the right choice including a much-needed roster update for eFootball 2021, even if the base game is still the same old PES we first saw in 2019.

Same Old Game

That’s right: behind all of its bells and whistles, eFootball PES 2021 Season Update is built upon the same engine of PES 2019. That means that everything from visuals to AI and physics comes from a nearly three-year-old game.

In terms of visuals, the game looks serviceable enough: player models are up to date compared to the real-life look of football players; arenas and stadiums look great, with proper shadows and excellent volumetric lighting.

Performance is also a great element of eFootball. However, all of this comes at the cost of the game having some questionable ball mechanics, and that’s not even mentioning how subpar the AI players can get.

If your plan is to play against other players: congratulations, you got yourself a great game. However, the AI-controlled opponents are some of the dumbest ones we’ve ever seen in a sports game. Additionally, it seems like the referee always sides with the AI, heavily penalizing the player for any mildly aggressive play.

All in all, this Season Update offers players the best way to play eFootball. Konami made a great choice keeping the roster up to date, and it proves that PES 2019 was one of the last great football titles.

Pros

• Updated team rosters
• Great visuals
• Tons of licensed teams and uniforms

Cons

• Terrible AI
• The referee feels unfair
• Questionable DLC plans and business model