VS. 

Me and my friend from Xbox Gamers Belgium had the opportunity to get a hands-on with both Pro Evolution Soccer 19 and Fifa 19, we had a slightly better introduction for PES, being greeted by a developer that explained the new features and basics. While for Fifa we just kinda got dropped into a few games without any introduction. 

Who won?

The million dollar question, who won? Me or my friend.. because my friend isn’t a football player I didn’t really have any trouble beating him. The good thing about having a noob player is to see which game was the most accessible. Previous years everyone would have yelled Fifa but the cards have changed a little bit. Pro Evolution Soccer 19 was far easier to control and my friend even managed to be dangerous, while with Fifa he never really got into my side of the field.

Controls just feel more natural with PES19, players seem to run more realistically and work with you in the attacking field. While the players in Fifa often stand still when you pass a ball or don’t run into the open.  (+1 PES 19) That said, flank play in Fifa is far more effective because the duels are more unpredictable. This is the major difference between the two football giants, Fifa is the clear winner when it comes to a 1vs 1 or even (1vs2) when dueling for a high ball or lost ball in the midfield. (+1 Fifa 19) So depending on your playstyle one game can be much more efficient than the other.  

First touch versus Magic Moments

I have to say congrats to both developers, the two football games have done some very obvious improvements in the first touch of a ball. You have a lot more options and while playing against a real players this makes a huge difference. So how to decide the winner between this? Pretty easy, the animations from Pro Evolution Soccer 19 are far more superior then Fifa 19, the football starts in EA’s game are more stiff and Konami’s game plays faster and more fluid. (+1 PES 19) While PES beats Fifa in animations the battle for the best visuals isn’t really a battle at all. Fifa looks more authentic, feels more authentic and looks better. Stadiums look more alive and detailed, players look better and the grass pitch looks more real. (+1 Fifa 19)

Konami lost the Champions League rights, and you guessed it.. EA picked them up.  Despite the exclusive rights for the Russian league Fifa just blows PES out the water with the insane licensing and content. While gameplay is the most important thing in a game you can’t go around the fact that it is super nice to see all the licenced teams and players. (+1 Fifa 19)

Who is THE football game to buy… I honestly don’t know it yet. We only played around 30 min with each game so it is way too soon to give a clear opinion. But my slight favor is for Pro Evolution Soccer 2019, I also feel and believe that the development team from Konami is catching up and improving the game a lot more than EA’s development team. I didn’t really see or notice much difference between Fifa 18 or 19, while the difference between PES 18 and 19 is very obvious.