PES 2021: 6 Ups & 3 Downs

5. A Fresh Lick Of Paint

The success of this instalment of PES was always going to depend on how much Konami could improve the overall aesthetic of the game.

The menu graphics have been updated - with players from eFootball PES 2021’s new partner clubs featuring - as well as a changed colour scheme and animations for both the main screen and in-game menus too.

As always, the new kits for licensed teams look as stunning as ever, riding on the coattails of a new football season to get fans excited to play in their club's new threads. In a similar vein, there’s also a whole host of new player face scans, ranging from updated existing face scans, brand new faces for the rising stars of last season - e.g. Arsenal new boy Gabriel Magalhaes - and youth academy players as well.

This is a perfect way to help reinvigorate your Master League season, especially if - like this writer - you need your players to have proper faces, and it should be pointed out too that these are just the first batch of many more to come. Others will undoubtedly be added through PES 2021’s DLC over the next year and while Konami are usually great at this anyway, you get the feeling there’ll be an extra emphasis this year to make up for the lack of changes elsewhere.