My League aims to keep you occupied in the meantime
- by Sammy Barker
Eons ago, Konami promised that free-to-play soccer sim eFootball would add in PES’ enormously popular single player Master League mode – but while there is more solo content coming in this months v3.20 update, you’ll have to wait a little longer for the hotly anticipated addition. My League aims to ease the wait, allowing you to play full seasons in single player, with changing weather conditions and exclusive rewards.
It works like this: you’ll replace a real team from your chosen league, whether it’s in England or Italy. You’ll use the players you’ve unlocked from the game’s gacha system, and will face off against the AI in an attempt to top the table. There’ll be custom cut-scenes and other flourishes to plot your progress, and you’ll be able to play through the mode as many times as you like. It all sounds like a way to make the current dream team gameplay appeal to those who prefer to play offline.
If you do play online, then improvements are also coming to that aspect of the experience as well. A new tiers system will ensure you’re matched against players who are of an equivalent skill level to you, while co-op will soon allow you to join strangers, so you don’t necessarily need to coordinate with your friends. You’ll be able to use emojis to communicate the highs and lows of your matches, or just strategise on the fly with your new-found allies.
There’ll also be a new login feature which incorporates a penalty taking minigame, where you’ll need to score a goal in order to advance your way up a ladder in order to unlock in-game rewards, like virtual currency, et al. And that’s pretty much it for the time being.
So, the critically maligned game continues to improve, but perhaps not at the rate former PES fans may have hoped. The gameplay is pretty good now, and there are more things to do – but without that meaty single player mode, it’s always going to feel second-rate to old-school fans of the franchise. Hopefully we don’t have to wait too much longer for Konami to finally resurrect one of the best solo sports games modes ever made.
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About Sammy Barker
As the Editor of Push Square, Sammy has over 15 years of experience analysing the world of PlayStation, from PS3 through PS5 and everything in between. He’s an expert on PS Studios and industry matters, as well as sports games and simulators. He also enjoys RPGs when he has the time to dedicate to them, and is a bit of a gacha whale.
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Comments 16
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- riceNpea
Ffs Konami! Master League was the bread and butter of Pro Evo. If you want eFootball to gain support and a bigger player base GIVE US MASTER LEAGUE!!
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- Broad-Spectrum
I’m guessing they’re too proud to admit defeat on this one…? Could never get my head around why they didn’t continue with their annual release and then just do the online ‘FUT’ equivalent for free as their main cash cow. Odd decisions over at Konami.
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- BeerIsAwesome
@solocapers The irony is that soccer is a British word, just like rugger. https://www.britannica.com/story/why-do-some-people-call-football-soccer
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- tomassi
Given up on this ages ago. I don't even care about master league to be honest. All I want is to be able to play as ANY of the teams in the game, with whatever match settings I want, and a decent edit mode so I can license each team. Then I can happily play the odd casual kick off game whenever I'm bored with other games, and it means I won't have to spend £60-70 on FIFA every year for the same privilege!
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- thebizniznizbiz
No bigger Pes/Pro evolution fan than me back in the day, always preferred it over FIFA. Played EFootball this weekend and it saddens me to say, it's still nowhere near the level of this year's EA 24.
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- nessisonett
It’s hard. I like the core gameplay but FC24 is just so much better with way more content that it’s worth the price compared to a barebones free game.
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- Fight_Teza_Fight
As someone that plays efootball religiously this is a welcome addition.
I bet this will be a test bed for Master League. Konami said ML was part of the roadmap for 2023, but now that seems unlikely.
Reckon they’re still trying to figure out how to monetise it- beyond it already being a paid add-on/dlc, as it will likely cut into the online player base.
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- riceNpea
@thebizniznizbiz I hope you don't mean gameplay because as poor as the content is, efootball's gameplay is far superior to anything FIFA has ever produced, even now.
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- EMQZ
If they announce a $10 price tag for ML I would pay it, although right now FC24 is looking pretty enticing tbh
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- Wigclyne
E-football put a dagger in my heart and konami keep twisting it. From the great days of ISS to the even better pro evo and now this tripe!
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- daveofduncan
@riceNpea it hasn't been close for a few years now, behave!
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- riceNpea
@daveofduncan no chance. Fifa's gameplay is still far behind eFootball in every department, especially ball physics and animations.
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- Bay_Boi_Daz
@solocapers Check your history and you'll find that us 🇬🇧 made up the word Soccer before using the word Football 🤦🏽♂️
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- Bay_Boi_Daz
@BeerIsAwesome @solocapers Exactly bro 👊🏽
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- Fritz167
I have played PES since 2016 but this year I bought EA Sports 24, this game gets worse every year.
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