Why PES 2013 is called the best

“Best” here is an argument, not a trophy. A WEPES thread asks what makes Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 the best modern PES. The comments did not load. What did load are the systems Konami named and the scores critics printed in 2012.

Compare ways to play PES 2013

The systems people point at

• PES FullControl: how long you hold the button changes the pass, through balls are aimed into space, and shooting can be manual.
• Dynamic First Touch: the first contact depends on angle, pace and the player’s technique.
• Player ID: running style, body shape, turns and the way someone strikes the ball are meant to differ by footballer.
• ProActive AI: teammates make off-ball runs, and the defence is supposed to stay organised.

Those four lines are the product description, repeated by the Wikipedia summary and by gameplay notes. They explain why a 2012 game still gets compared with PES 2014 through PES 2021, which changed the engine and, in the community’s telling, lost this feel. I cannot quote the Reddit replies that would show that telling in their own words. The thread title is the evidence that the question is asked. It is not evidence of a vote count.

Critics, the same autumn: Metacritic 82 on PlayStation 3, 82 on Xbox 360, 80 on PC, 60 on Wii. IGN 8.5. Eurogamer 9. GameSpot 8. Game Informer 8.75. PC Gamer 65 percent. The Wii score is the outlier and belongs to the Wii port, which is a different game in the hands. I do not average 60 into the “best ever” claim.

The case against

Licensing is thin. The Premier League notes name Manchester United as the licensed club. A Winlator page says Manchester United appears as Man Red. PESDB writes MANCHESTER UNITED, and the licence list agrees United is the real one. I treat the “Man Red” sentence as unreliable and I do not repeat it as a fact. Serie A’s league brand is fictional even where the clubs are real. Menus are described as slow. Goalkeeper spills are a complaint on that same Winlator analysis, one source. A game can be the one people replay and still spill crosses.