eFootball PES 2021

 PlayStation 4
User Score
5.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 246 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 100 out of 246
  2. Mixed: 43 out of 246
  3. Negative: 103 out of 246
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  1. LonestarBR
    Sep 17, 2020
    6
    Essa atualização melhorou a gameplay do PES 2020 que já era boa. Jogo mais fluído, melhor resposta nos controles, jogadores mais ágeis e driblando melhor e o over fazendo justiça em campo. Messi finalmente é o Messi. E a IA da cpu melhorou muito mesmo.
  2. Russ_Poole17
    Oct 2, 2020
    7
    Season update. What it says on the tin. Very very similar too PES 2020, except for a few refinements slightly snappier and more responsive dribbling and passing. Otherwise the same as before which isn’t a bad thing, get a USB stick fire up the option files. Slight cons, some well know faces are still the horrible generic faces, I’m sure this will be addressed in later data packs for theSeason update. What it says on the tin. Very very similar too PES 2020, except for a few refinements slightly snappier and more responsive dribbling and passing. Otherwise the same as before which isn’t a bad thing, get a USB stick fire up the option files. Slight cons, some well know faces are still the horrible generic faces, I’m sure this will be addressed in later data packs for the likes of Leeds. Otherwise in the COVID way of life a solid if unspectacular effort whilst they wait for next gen and PES 2022… Expand
  3. oprd93
    Oct 29, 2020
    7
    Overall this is a very solid game, especially for the price. I do have some gripes however, which I will list. Hopefully they will fix these for PS5.

    1) The referees. They literally never award a penalty against the AI - I have played about 60 games and have not received one. In fact they seldom penalise the AI at all. Unless you are using the finesse dribbling, they can barge you off    Overall this is a very solid game, especially for the price. I do have some gripes however, which I will list. Hopefully they will fix these for PS5.

    1) The referees. They literally never award a penalty against the AI - I have played about 60 games and have not received one. In fact they seldom penalise the AI at all. Unless you are using the finesse dribbling, they can barge you off the ball with impunity and rarely concede a foul.

    2) Dribbling is far too hard, especially when attempting close control, simple because the standing tackle button is very overpowered. This goes for both the AI and the user.

    3) Corners are almost impossible to score from. Despite all the tactical options given, 9 times out of 10, the AI will simply head the ball clear, or the keeper will come out and punch it away.

    4) The player switching is very iffy, certainly on the default settings. Sometimes the player icon just seems to lock, meaning another one of your players near the ball will just leave it and ignore it.

    5) Long-range shooting is exceptionally difficult especially when the AI builds up players near the goal (which seems to be its default defensive setting). You will hit an AI player much more often than not.

    6) Your team's off-ball movement is shaky, players often just don't try to run in behind the defence and when they do, they can't time it so they end up offside a lot. Very annoying.    … Expand
  4. ShadowPeter
    Sep 23, 2020
    7
    7.5/10

    No, the sub-title doesn't serve to criticize the game, but to verify a fact. Football this year was very busy because of COVID-19 and the soap opera Lionel Messi. COVID-19, which still haunts everyday life, has postponed competitions, including UEFA Euro 2020, which has been postponed to 2021. And in relation to Messi, it was that soap opera about wanting to leave Barcelona and    7.5/10

    No, the sub-title doesn't serve to criticize the game, but to verify a fact. Football this year was very busy because of COVID-19 and the soap opera Lionel Messi. COVID-19, which still haunts everyday life, has postponed competitions, including UEFA Euro 2020, which has been postponed to 2021. And in relation to Messi, it was that soap opera about wanting to leave Barcelona and being tired with Josep's mistakes Bartomeu. And in the end, he ended up staying at the Catalunya club. It would even have your joke to see Messi leave Barça and after that, to see Konami changing the PES 2021 cover.

    But in any case, another year, another PES. And just like the title says, this PES 2021 eFootball PES Update is just a mere update of the PES 2020 eFootball. Konami saved on this year's edition of PES to prepare for the next-gen, that is, for eFootball PES 2022, which will use a new game engine.

    Graphics? Good but still the same. Controls? Virtually the same. Menus? Equals. Environment? Like eFPES 2020. At least Konami had the audacity to offer 20% discount on this game to those who had the PES 2020 eFootball. two Milan clubs, Internazionale and AC Milan, including their stadiums, and partnered with AS Roma, in which the Stadio Olimpico was included in the lot.

    Liga NOS is still present in the PES series, although Nacional da Madeira (Madeira BP) is the only Portuguese team that is not licensed. Despite having moved down the division, clubs like CD Aves and V. Setúbal are present in this 2021 version. UEFA Euro 2020, which was supposed to have been in the PES 2020 eFootball, ended up in this PES 2021 Season Update eFootball. European teams are fully licensed. Also as a novelty, we have the inclusion of new stadiums such as Wembley Stadium, Gazprom Arena of Zenit and Arena do Grêmio, in addition to the already mentioned Stadio Olimpico of AS Roma.

    About the gameplay itself, yes, it is the same as the eFootball PES 2020 with some corrections and adjustments here and there, as it seems to me in the case of the first touches. And yes, I still enjoy the gameplay of eFootball, despite my frustrations (mostly my fault) that I have had at games. In my opinion, it remains smooth and fast. AI hasn't changed at all compared to the 2020 version. Regarding the Master League, despite being the same mode as always, we have more options in choosing the coach, as is the case with Josep Guardiola, Ryan Giggs and Frank Lampard.

    And of course we have the way in which we have to turn our player (original or not) into an ace. I refer to Become a Legend. It also remains the same as the version 2020. myclub, the mode most used by users today, also suffers from it. It's easy to build a great team without even going to the myClub store and buying coins.

    In the case of connection issues, I have no reason to complain and I had no problems when I played against Portuguese or Spaniards. Just put “Require Stable Connection” in the network connection restrictions. As always, Konami kept the usual Portuguese commentators Pedro Sousa and Luís Freitas Lobo, and it goes without saying that they are extremely repetitive and in the case of Luís Freitas Lobo it is terrible because it is noted that he is reading the paper. The same can be applied to comments in English; they are uninspired and quickly become repetitive.

    And this is it. As you can see, there are no relevant news beyond the licenses compared to last year's edition. Now for the most serious question. Is this PES 2021 Season Update eFootball worth buying? It is a difficult question to answer, especially for those who have already had eFootball PES 2020. I apologize to all readers for having always been using the word “same”, but there is no other way to describe it, although they were honest with the title of the game, and applied a discount to those who had the 2020 version. For those who never had the 2020 version, it is undoubtedly a recommended football game, but for those who have and had enough of playing it if more complicated to recommend.

    Verdict: It remains as good as the 2020 version, but lacks relevant news.    … Expand
  5. Cska_ael
    Sep 17, 2020
    6
    Game play received a bit of an upgrade especially in attack but this is just what title says it is a Season Update and on top of that as of today an incomplete update, you will have to wait somewhere October 22-23rd for them to update SOME teams not all.
    For all this time all they managed to update are Barcelona players, in some instances like for example Seria A and La Liga they didn’t    Game play received a bit of an upgrade especially in attack but this is just what title says it is a Season Update and on top of that as of today an incomplete update, you will have to wait somewhere October 22-23rd for them to update SOME teams not all.
    For all this time all they managed to update are Barcelona players, in some instances like for example Seria A and La Liga they didn’t even swap over the relegated teams which would take you 2 minutes to do by yourself.
    Master league (broken at the moment crashes at start but hopefully will get fix by October) is same with same animations as last year but with addition of few new coaches.
    Edit mode stayed exactly the same so you can use same kit templet as last year to do updated version of the kits and logos.
    MyClub is getting a boost in younger version of important players from their most significant moments kind of like special player cards Fifa’s Ultimate team does but other than this it is same thing.
    So are you going to enjoy this largely expects from your expectations if you expecting new mods or features you will be disappointed but if you take it just like an update for the same game you already have in PES 2020 you will be fine.
    I do appreciate them being transparent in calling it what it is a Season update compare to EA whose game has been season update for past 3 years but they still try to sell it as new game.
    Edit*Master league issue has now been fixed.    … Expand
  6. Equevedo86
    Oct 4, 2020
    6
    Not as good as PES 2020 and the Legends players are missing! MyClub Legend mode is ridiculously hard.
  7. Raimi79
    Oct 11, 2020
    5
    Unsurprisingly suffers from all the same flaws as PES 20. Terrible collisions, bad AI, and even the lack of agency when you're actually controling a player will cause no end of frustion. When it plays well it's great, but far too often you'll find yourself getting frutrated with the same old flaws. If PES decides it doesn't want you to win a match you'll know about it.

    Seriously Konami,    Unsurprisingly suffers from all the same flaws as PES 20. Terrible collisions, bad AI, and even the lack of agency when you're actually controling a player will cause no end of frustion. When it plays well it's great, but far too often you'll find yourself getting frutrated with the same old flaws. If PES decides it doesn't want you to win a match you'll know about it.

    Seriously Konami, sort your **** out.    … Expand
  8. Davidloyola
    Oct 15, 2020
    7
    Si bien el juego es una actualización del anterior no es un copia y pega de este y al jugarlo se nota y para mi parecer tiene un salto a nivel jugable positivo hasta ahora muy bien.
  9. joao_mrodrigues
    Oct 27, 2020
    7
    Um jogo divertido. Tem pontos muito melhores que Fifa, pontos muito piores. Visto da minha opinião (alguém que nao usufrui muito do online) eu acho que o Fifa figura na frente ainda, mas com pouca vantagem. O sistema de substituição do meio do jogo é simplesmente uma ideia INCRIVEL. Os principais pontos negativos, na minha opinião são a IA do árbitro, que é PESSIMA; o sistema de batida deUm jogo divertido. Tem pontos muito melhores que Fifa, pontos muito piores. Visto da minha opinião (alguém que nao usufrui muito do online) eu acho que o Fifa figura na frente ainda, mas com pouca vantagem. O sistema de substituição do meio do jogo é simplesmente uma ideia INCRIVEL. Os principais pontos negativos, na minha opinião são a IA do árbitro, que é PESSIMA; o sistema de batida de faltas do adversário (maquina), simplesmente eu devo ter tomado 9 gols em 10 faltas na frente da área. Enfim, é um jogo divertido e EXTREMAMENTE mais barato do que o Fifa da mesma geração. O custo benefício vale muito mais do que a diferença de qualidade dos games.… Expand
  10. tanonero
    May 19, 2021
    7
    A barely noticeable gameplay improvement that can hardly sustain the interest on the franchise waiting for the next, overhauled, iteration.
  11. ToshLichev
    Apr 8, 2021
    7
    Considering that this is just a season update, 90% of what I said about PES 2020 is applicable here as well. While there is slight improvement in gameplay, making it a bit faster and tighter, once again pushing it far beyond what FIFA has been offering in the past 3-4 years, there really isn't much change.

    The biggest cons are the price, the soundtrack (it has gotten even worse) and the    Considering that this is just a season update, 90% of what I said about PES 2020 is applicable here as well. While there is slight improvement in gameplay, making it a bit faster and tighter, once again pushing it far beyond what FIFA has been offering in the past 3-4 years, there really isn't much change.

    The biggest cons are the price, the soundtrack (it has gotten even worse) and the fact that they've lost more licenses.
    This is not a full game and while I appreciate the fact that they sell it at half cost, this is only a pro if you aren't coming from last year's PES 2020 - for all of us returning players we're essentially getting a kit pack (which is tiny considering that KONAMI have licenses for like 50 clubs), we lose the San Siro and we have to start over our Master League and MyClub. The price is great for newcomers but veteran players should have received this update at a much lower price.

    Overall a decent update, but it really doesn't feel like a solo product. More like a DLC at the price of an indie game.    … Expand
  12. Zinaldo
    Jun 10, 2023
    7
    much better than older versions and having a lot of improvements ,so much better than FIFA 21
  13. tuceriyo
    Dec 31, 2020
    5
    After fifa 18,19,20 and 21 scam, this one reminded me what REAL ACTUAL football game should be. Thanks Konami keep up the good work... You make me remember the good old days I was playing pes in 2000s...

    I am afraid I have to EDIT my previous comment after 2 MONTHS of Pes 21 EXPERIENCE. The game mechanics, physics, animations etc. are still way beyond fifa that is for sure. BUT could you    After fifa 18,19,20 and 21 scam, this one reminded me what REAL ACTUAL football game should be. Thanks Konami keep up the good work... You make me remember the good old days I was playing pes in 2000s...


    I am afraid I have to EDIT my previous comment after 2 MONTHS of Pes 21 EXPERIENCE. The game mechanics, physics, animations etc. are still way beyond fifa that is for sure. BUT could you Konami guys please explain that under influence of what or who you designed this ridiculous online system and why??? for the first time in years you were about to beat fifa in football gaming but somehow you spoiled everything.

    Let me explain for those who want to play this game with his friends:

    1) konami people has a sort of fetish and they are stuck with 3vs3. They love gangs I guess. In a game mod as simple as online co-op, you cannot call a friend (from a different device not on the same console) and play 2vs2. I mean who the hell plays 3vs3 could you explain that? 2) online co-op does not have a proper matching system so the server keeps continuously matching you two with 3 people, which makes the game chaotic and kills the fun.

    3) online co-op’s matching system is so so so so ridiculously bad that, let’s say you have picked a 3 star team, it matches you with 5 star pro team guys who has messi ronaldo gullit carlos etc in their teams. The worst part is taht you can not change that. There is NO OPTION letting you turn off this damn meaningless pro team matching off. I JUST WANNA PLAY WITH MY FRIEND AGAINST 2 NORMAL PEOPLE PLAYING WITH UP TO DATE, NORMAL, REALISTIC SQUADS. IS IT REALY THAT DIFFICULT KONAMI?
    IF I WANNA PLAY MYCLUB I PLAY MY CLUB!!!! RIGHT???

    4) online co op division system is so primitive that unlike fifa, you can’t simply invite a friend and collect points to aggregate to upper divisions. Matching system is so crap that your opponents are usually overpowered. Konami cant even do such a simple thing. The game’s online section is ridiculous and not fun at all.

    5) online settings are so restricted that you can’t have control on anything I mentioned above. Moreover, online system is unnecessary complicated so that it makes you so sick of it and let it go. In the sense of simplicity, it is also way behind fifa, im afraid. If you keep doing this you will lose your potential customers who are so sick of fifa.

    6) there is no referee in the game. If you are on one-on-one situation, and your opponent tackles you from the back, referee does three things: 1) no foul go on 2) foul no card 3) foul yellow card. This makes all matches like an amateur division football match. It is not limited to one on one situations, 70% of the fouls are ignored by the referee. The matches are like boxing. After buying this game, i kept telling my friends that it is amazing. One of them bought the game recently and after this online co op disaster, i told my other friends not to buy this game if they want to play online. I still cant believe how a company like konami makes these mistakes. It is unbelievable. It should not be that hard to build a decent online system. I repeat it is so simple that, as a customer who want to play with his friends against random players in a competitive division (like fifa does for years), against NORMAL teams similar to my team’s level -WITHOUT PRO CLUB CARD NONESENSE-, I am very very very disappointed. SHAME ON YOU KONAMI. This is not to say i am going to go back to play fifa crap but I will continuously tell people not to buy your game if they want to play simple online matches. Gamers are not cows to milk, and we are not as stupid as you might think we are, stop trying to make people buy your crappy cards. I bought your product, the end of the story. If you will not provide me a decent online experience, Without buying your cards, I will delete your game, never buy it again, tell people not to buy it, and keep saying this on every possible social media platform.

    Thanks. You ruined everything about your potentially good game.    … Expand
  14. Aeki123
    Dec 17, 2020
    5
    The graphics are incredible,gameplay is slow and mechanics are bad.Scripting is high and its just not that great.Not enjoyable but better than fifa.
  15. Xemnios
    Mar 28, 2021
    6
    Not a completely bad game, but why when my players trying to run, they're completely stuck and when the opponent try the same thing, his players run at the speed of light? The passes are all broken and the shot too
  16. SoloUnVisitante
    Sep 1, 2021
    6
    El Fox Engine es el mayor problema de este juego y menos mal que PES 2022 no usará Fox Engine...
    Le pongo un 6 porque el Camp Nou está licenciado y la Juventus también

Awards & Rankings

34
#34 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2020

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
73

Mixed or average reviews - based on 27 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 27
  3. Negative: 0 out of 27
  1. LaPS4
    Nov 3, 2020
    77
    eFootball PES 2021 Season Update is a title that impresses us in gameplay and at the same time disappoints us in innovation. We expected much more from the great Konami in this installment.
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  2. PLAY! Zine
    Oct 8, 2020
    70
    The word ''update'' perfectly describes not only this edition of the game but probably the last five titles in a row. Then again, PES remains to be a good, license lacking simulation. The price is fair but the wait is real, as we are already looking forward to the new installment that will shake things up a bit, after a long wait.
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  3. Multiplayer.it
    Oct 1, 2020
    78
    eFootball PES 2021 is still the best football simulation, but its Season Update isn't yet what you were waiting for.
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