At the dawn of the Post, when the editors had not yet got their heads together, the football fanatic part of the editorial team often occupied the after-work evenings playing FIFA on a recovery PlayStation 3 and with an old edition of the game of a couple of years. A little out of habit, a little out of laziness and a little bit out of nostalgia, they had developed skills like almost professionals on a support that the world had in the meantime abandoned, and they had become fond of the gesture of restoring some kind of sporting relevance to players who, in some cases, had in the meantime retired.
At a certain point the Ten years also arrived at the Post: and therefore, bent to the will of the strong powers of the videogame industry, they arrived new consoles and more updated games. For the start of this new season we tried the new FIFA 19 and PES 2019, on a PlayStation 4, to decide which of the two in the coming months will be the basis of fierce quarrels and bitter humiliations that certainly will not have any professional consequences.
Premise: we have tested them in a very limited percentage of their potential, which however are those that interest us and that probably also interest most of the non-hardened players: which is better to play in four, two against two. From what we read, from the point of view of online gameplay FIFA and PES are the same, but in the first there is a larger community of players and there is the well-known Ultimate Team function, capable of thrilling the youngest and confusing the elderly. in equal measure. We trust, but we prefer to focus on the more social aspect of the game.
PES 2019
“In 2018 no you can still play with the fake names of the teams », says Francesco Costa as soon as the initial screen of PES appears, which had earned many points for the speed of the installation phase, compared to the eternal one of FIFA. As you know, in fact, PES does not have the right to use many names of teams and leagues (those over a certain age will remember when even the names of the most famous players were invented). Gianni Barlassina instead approves, arguing that calling Juventus “PM Black White” and Manchester City “Man Blue” is a “very punk” gesture. Everyone agrees, however, that the fake Serie A logo is more beautiful than the real one.
After banning Pietro Cabrio from choosing his usual teams from the Polish second division , with whom he often forces resigned editors who after a day's work would just like to shoot from midfield with Cristiano Ronaldo to play, we find a compromise on a classic Eredivisie, Ajax-Feyenoord. The animations and graphics of PES immediately strike us for their realism and attention to detail, but being used to FIFA it is not easy to get carried away with the different style of play. Ajax-Feyenoord ends with a 1-0 stretched and spoiled by an unwarranted red in the 15th minute .
We decide to exploit the game to its full potential and decide to repeat the last Champions League final. Stefano Vizio and Gianni Barlassina rush into Liverpool overestimating their ability to play two touches, while Costa and Cabrio linger between the Spanish league teams. When they realize that Real Madrid are referred to as “MD White”, their frustration is palpable. When they discover that even the shirt is as far from the original as possible, they swear.
The game, however, is immediately different and more fun. After the first running-in match, it seems to some that it is much easier than normal to build successful and elegant team actions, and the impression is that PES 2019 favors choral rather than individual play. Liverpool seem to take their revenge after the humiliation of Kiev by enjoying a spectacular football, but their momentary advantage is recovered by a lucky draw by the “MD White”, probably spurred on by the great and noble history that bears their name. .
To choose PES 2019 you must first decide that the issue of missing licenses is not only secondary, but totally irrelevant: Bayern Munich is completely missing, so to speak, and the entire Premier League has their real name only Arsenal and Liverpool. But it is a game that has strengths: the way the players kick, control, pass, is very realistic and rewarding, and certain game animations – a full-back rolling on the backcountry billboards after a cross, for example – they sometimes forget that a video game is being played. In short, a Barcelona-Napoli played on PES 2019 could be a more realistic experience for many than the same match on FIFA 19, but in the last matches of the test in reality all the editors can't wait to change the game.
PES 2019 costs 48 euros for PS4 and 54 euros for Xbox One on Amazon, 46 euros for PS4 and 46 for Xbox One on ePrice.
FIFA 19
Needless to do it on purpose, the change of register is announced right from the start of FIFA, during which the thunderous and almost arrogant anthem of the Champions League resounds, accompanied by an animation very similar to that of the matches on TV. From this year, in fact, even the license for the Champions League – one of the last PES exclusives – has passed to FIFA, which has chosen to make it weigh immediately. The graphic interface of the game is immediately more relaxing and intuitive than that of PES, and taken by a slightly adolescent enthusiasm we decide to play PSG-Bayern Munich.
Two things immediately strike us: Mbappé is too much stronger than the other players, and certain automatisms that made the games monotonous on the old FIFAs seem outdated. It seems to us that the variety of solutions to be adopted and that of the movements of the players has greatly improved, as well as the realism of certain trajectories of the ball. Someone has something to say about how depth is rendered in the farthest part of the pitch, and we immediately realize instead that for some reason FIFA is unable to solve a problem it has had for years: the ease with which, at kick-off, yes can discard the entire opposing defense with a good attacker.
On the one hand, the graphics, and especially the faces of the players, actually seem a bit inferior to us compared to PES (on FIFA, however, they have have their own tattoos, unlike PES where the effect of this absence is a bit alienating). On the other hand, the possibility of scrolling through dozens of real teams and choosing them based on the beauty of the original second or third jersey gives us a nerdy thrill that, although not tied to the more concretely football aspect of the game, makes us happy. . We decide to try a Champions League final and bring Sampdoria back to us, 26 years after the last time. As opponent we choose another Italian who had a chance to climb-on-the-top-of-Europe, Fiorentina, who arrived there in the European Cup final in 1957.
The game is played at the beautifully reproduced Wanda Metropolitano stadium in Madrid and is a good example of how FIFA buys you right away with fireworks. But for those used to playing it, in the end the familiarity of the dynamics of the game and the movements of the players, even if at times less realistic than PES, makes the experience more rewarding and fun. The accelerated pace favors this impression, as well as the spectacular plays that sometimes even non-geek players like us manage.
In short, it seems to us that between the two FIFA games it is the one that best suits our needs. A game to be played without great consistency and with different people: even those who attend the after-work only occasionally, but who each time ask to be able to move the players with the directional arrows instead of with the analog lever (we will not mention names, but there are one in the editorial office). What FIFA loses in the realism of the game it gains in immediacy and fun, and it takes everyone away from the embarrassment of having to explain to guests that if they want Everton they must choose the “Merseyside Blue”.
Champions League final ended with a humiliating 3 to 1 inflicted by Sampdoria to Fiorentina: obviously with a hat-trick from Fabio Quagliarella.
On Amazon FIFA 19 it costs 62 euros for PS4 and 57 euros for Xbox One. The prices are more or less the same also on ePrice: 62 euros for PS4 and 58 for Xbox One.
Disclaimer: on some of the sites linked in the articles of the Consumerism section, the Post has an affiliation and obtains a small share of revenues, without price changes. But you can also google for the same things.
