Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 Hands on Review

PES 17 Demo was released some couple of days back, the buzz around the release was as huge as ever, joint with the new licences, I could not wait to get my hands on it. Here's what I found new in the demo.

Gameplay

The first thing I noticed was the complete change in gameplay, it feels so much like a new soccer, 

Handling:

Several fixes have been made to the ease of running / ghosting past several players; unlike in PES 2016, it is much harder than before in PES 2017. Overall ball handling is much more difficult and no matter how good were are in 16, you must learn it all again.

Goal Keepers: 

Goalkeeper saves are fantastic and super realistic although we have not seen De Gea yet but so far, Oblak and Ter Stegen light up your screen with super saves. It is also a lot harder to score from several yards out; very satisfying too when you manage to pull it off. Goal Keepers are a lot smarter and more dependable.

Defender's AI:

One of the most noticeable improvement is the AI of the defenders, they are so smart that playing on "Superstar difficulty" makes it almost impossible to retain possession in the area. They cover spaces and perfectly anticipate your passes, Pique and Mascherano are beasts in this one. It feels really real and fulfilling when you hold onto possession in the area.

Graphics

The overall look of the game has been much more improved, the grass, pitch, impact of rain all look really good, rendition of the stadiums are really true to life. Player faces look very similar to their real world versions as well.
Although sometimes when camera draws near, especially in cutscenes and replay, you may feel a slight drop in frame rate and notice very drabby frame skipping (but "hey guys" it's a demo, this can't possibly be same in the final version).

Overall good graphics, just tiny fixes to the frame rate (or perhaps lod mixing) when camera draws really near in cutscenes and replays.

Presentation

This is one of the most improved aspects of PES 17, the overall presentation feels good, right from the scoreboard to the menu screen and game-plan screen. It looks very good; Also the highlights feel so much more cinematic. Altho I await the day, commentary will be part of highlight to make it more realistic but, PES 2017's presentation of match highlight is very cool and showcases the game's graphics even more.