Paying attention to the lead-up to eFootball PES 2020’s release has sometimes felt a bit like following football’s real-life transfer market. Having lost the official license of current Champions League holders Liverpool, Konami responded by replacing the Liverpudlian club with their archrivals, Manchester United. PES 2020 even got a leg up on the powerhouse of FIFA by nabbing the exclusive license to Italian giants Juventus, forcing FIFA 20 to settle for a facsimile called Piemonte Calcio. And while the inelegant esports-flavoured name change might be bad, the scrappy underdog has been wheeling and dealing in an attempt to make PES 2020 a more attractive proposition for those beholden to the church of FIFA. It’s commendable and clearly important, but PES should attract people because of its on-pitch excellence.

PES 2020 feels surprisingly different to last year’s game once you emerge from the tunnel. The pace has been slowed down once again, delivering a realistic brand of football that’s more methodical and less about ping-ponging the ball up the pitch in a matter of seconds. A palpable sense of weight to each and every player–not to mention the ball–can make the whole thing feel a tad sluggish at first, but it doesn’t take long to adapt to this more considered style of play, and your input is as responsive as ever. Part of this is down to how smoothly the action flows. PES 2020 stitches each animation together with much more clarity than in previous years, effectively capturing natural movements that shift the simulation closer to reality. The new default camera angle helps with this, too, presenting the action at a slight curve that mimics what you see on TV every match day while giving you a broader view of the pitch.

This increased visibility is important because there’s a greater emphasis on space and positioning in PES 2020. The pace of play might be slower than in previous entries, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t moments in almost every match where an explosive injection of speed is introduced. The blistering acceleration of the fastest players in the game is immediately discernible without it ever feeling like an overpowered and one-dimensional crux. This is due to the fact that these players need space in order to utilize their game-changing speed. Most matches in PES 2020 tend to be fairly tight affairs depending on the tactics deployed by both teams, but a goal can significantly alter the outlook of a match in a hurry. Suddenly, acres of space open up for one team to exploit as the other pushes forward looking for an equalizer. And it’s on the counter-attack where fleet-footed players really shine, able to burst forward into open grass and cause havoc for defenders.

On the flip side, when there’s limited space to work with player positioning comes to the forefront. The AI is intelligent enough to seek out pockets of space off the ball, and they’ll helpfully offer an outlet pass if you ever find yourself wandering into a cul-de-sac. You’ll also frequently see wide players such as Messi and Mbappe come deep to pick up possession of the ball, looking for a way to impact the match away from the isolation and tight coverage of the defense. Players will make smart runs in behind, too, though it’s much harder to thread that inch-perfect pass behind the defense in PES 2020. You can still pull it off occasionally, especially if you have an adept playmaker on the ball and space to work with, but playing through ball after ball doesn’t work with as much frequency as it has done in the past. This encourages a greater variety of goals, both by real players and the AI. You might see tidy one-touch passes splitting open a defense for a striker to wrap it up with an easy finish; a bullet header that’s smashed in from a mouth-watering cross; or a 30-yard hit-and-hope that takes a wicked deflection off the back of a defender, rendering the goalkeeper helpless. Speaking of which, there’s a lot more zip to long shots this year, making them a viable source of goals even if you might only score one in 15 attempts.

The long-overdue addition of context-sensitive kick accuracy factors into all of the above as well. Now, a player’s posture, position on the pitch, and the amount of defensive pressure they’re under will impact the accuracy of both passes and shots. If a defender can’t get a clean foot on the ball when a player is barrelling through the box, their presence might still be enough to put off the opposing attacker and send his shot wayward. Once again, this margin for error amplifies the importance of spacing and your ability to gain a yard of separation for a clear-cut opportunity. Sometimes a player’s first touch is enough to escape the clutches of an aggressive defender, with PES 2020’s litany of new animations and techniques allowing players to exhibit more intelligence when interacting with an approaching ball.

This is another element that adds to the realism and inherent satisfaction of PES’ football, providing you with an added degree of control that encompasses numerous variables such as the incoming ball’s speed, the receiving player’s body position, their skill level, and their playstyle. This aspect of PES 2020 grants certain players a sense of personality and individualism, with some utilizing recognizable skills and techniques to trap the ball. Along those same lines, AI teammates will even spread out to give skilled dribblers more room to work with, or make aggressive runs when a proficient passer has the ball at his feet. You’ll only really notice some of this behavior with superstars like Ronaldo and Neymar, but there are other, smaller details that lend each player a tangible slice of humanity, too. For instance, the whole team has a tendency to remonstrate with the referee after the award of a free kick on the edge of their box, while a striker might wag his finger at the linesmen after a tight offside call. You may even notice the goalkeeper urging his defense to push up out of the corner of your eye, or see a defender crumple to the floor in pain after taking a shot to the midriff. Again, these are minute details, but they contribute to a sense of authenticity that elevates how enjoyable PES 2020 is to play.