There is an increased sense of control in attack and defence, too – eFootball no longer feels like it’s simply happening to you. They are also more reactive, no longer ignoring balls outside of their immediate radius, although controlling them neatly can often be a bridge too far. Having had to play a lot of eFootball’s earlier versions, it may just be Stockholm syndrome at this point, but there does seem to be a freer flow to general play as players feel a lot less stiff to manoeuvre. There does seem to be a freer flow to general play. On top of that are menus and UI, which, although more colourful than we’re used to from Konami’s football games, are still awkward and unintuitive to navigate.

The same can’t quite be said for the atmosphere inside the stadiums, which often falls flat, not aided by some lifeless commentary.

It’s a vast improvement over the hilarious and sometimes frankly frightening faces being pulled in the early access version. Overall, the presentation on the pitch looks pretty good – player models are largely accurate and the stadiums, while limited in number, look authentic. The explanation is very simple. Konami has chosen to bet on the free game mode in exchange for offering mechanics that allow users to purchase additional add-ons in the game. Like Warzone and Fortnite, eFootball will have a season pass called Match Pass, which will offer us free coins and accessories as we go through the level, keeping some blocked unless we acquire the Match Pass.Yes, technically football was being played but it was nowhere near the same spectacle without fans, a similar fate eFootball may suffer from sooner rather than later if big changes aren’t made soon.

Still, there will be online leagues and team building mode with the purchase of players, so it remains to be seen what other teams and licenses will be available in the game. Konami has commented that these details will be revealed later in another announcement. The game will be completely free to play, however it seems that we will not have the huge database of players and teams that we used to enjoy in eFootball PES. At first, the teams available to play in local mode will be 9, finding the following:

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