Get the best PES 2018 tips and improve your game with this guide on Konami's latest entry in the series.
PES 2018 feels very different to last year's effort, so it's a learning curve for players new and old alike. To get the most out of your PES experience, there's a few handy tips to consider as you start out. Follow this PES 2018 guide to improve your game.
If you’re looking to make things a little more realistic, then check out how to import licensed teams in PES 2018.
Kick off with 5 great PES 2018 tips
Play the Skills Training minigames
There's a selection of mini games in the training menu that focus on different aspects of your game. You can play these to get high scores (and some trophies), but more importantly, to learn more about the nuances of the game. There's free kick training that encourages you to bend the ball around or over a wall, a ‘piggy in the middle' passing game to hone your passing precision, and many more that focus on the basics such as dribbling, tackling, shooting and clearing.
There's four tiers of Skill Training, each ramping up the situations to better reflect what you'll be facing in matches. They are incredibly useful tools for learning the intricacies of the game
Play on Regular difficulty or higher
Unless you're absolutely hopeless at football games, I'd ignore the lower difficulty settings as you learn little about how to properly play PES there, and it's just not any kind of challenge. Professional difficulty upwards offers more bite, more A.I. tactical variation, and more enjoyment overall. Playing on anything lower with a view to playing online is unwise. At the same time, don't force yourself higher if you're still uncomfortable on the lower difficulty levels, so Regular difficulty might be your home for a while.
Keeping the ball is better than going gung-ho
Whether you're playing against the A.I. or PimpBluntz_97, bombing it down the wings and pelting the ball high is not a good, consistent method for getting results. The slower pace of PES 2018 means you have time to be considered and deliver killer balls. So keeping hold of the ball on the ground for long stretches is key to creating chances through patient play.
You can certainly learn to utilize high balls and flying wingers effectively in time. The key is to hold onto possession as much as you can as drawing opponents creates pockets of space. Passing backwards into safer space is far more favourable than risking a pass forward into a congested area and losing possession. Balls over the top can be dangerous too, both in offense and defensive play, so learn to handle such attacks as well as utilising them.
Get direct control with L1 and left stick player on set pieces
While you can no longer approach corners, goal kicks, free kicks and the like with the curved indicator line to launch the ball roughly where you want (it's been nixed for PES 2018), the L1 and left stick method gives you more control over where you want to place the ball, and to which player specifically. It isn't foolproof, and a decent human player will know roughly what you plan to do, but it can help direct set pieces to where you actually want them to go.
Experiment with teams and formations
Look, there'll be enough people playing online that use the likes of Barcelona or PSG as a template. Marvel at them bravely sticking with terrible players like Suarez, Neymar, Cavani, and Lukaku. Don't be one of those poor unimaginative souls. There are plenty of other sides and players that might suit your personal style better. This is especially true in PES 2018, where a slower pace and better defending and goalkeeping adds variety to tactics.
There's nothing more satisfying than shutting out a superior side. Overrunning a defence with slick attacking passing. Or dominating midfield with the right players and formation. It is entirely possible to do, but experimentation is key. Play a few exhibition matches against the A.I., or in online friendlies. With different teams and formations to figure out how you want to
play. It will help immensely in the long run.
Do you have any PES 2018 tips you'd like to share? Let us know in the comments below.