Stepping off the gas
Posted by: not-Greg in European Cup (ECC), master league, pes2008, tags: European Cup (ECC), master league, pes2008In season 2021 of my Master League career on PES2008 (the truly groovy PSP/PS2 version; not the stinky, so-called ‘next-gen’ version), I was top of the league, top of my European Cup group, sailing through the Division 1 Cup… I was about four games short of the mid-season negotiations period, when I am planning to go all-in for the young Ronaldinho and Ronaldo, and any other extravagantly great Regenned players who take my fancy.
Things were going great, in other words. Yes, a banana skin or two were in order, and they duly came along.
I started drawing and losing games in the league, and I let a few results slip in Europe too. Maybe it’s because I’m playing on the PSP. The handheld console’s relatively cramped conditions and its lack of a second row of shoulder buttons means that the gameplay experience is slightly different from that on the bigger console. I think that the ‘word on the street’ is true. The game is harder on the PSP.
There’s also another factor to consider—I’m simply playing less PES2008. It’s true. I tend to slacken off at around this time of year as the next instalment approaches. And this year I have plenty of other great games to distract me into the bargain. I’ve particularly been playing a lot of FIFA08 over the past week.
So, all in all, the conditions are right for the CPU to strike back after several seasons of total dominance by me. I lost two games out of the four immediately prior to mid-season. And I could only draw the other two.
All four games were frustrating in different ways. I was careless, complacent, sloppy at the back. Or I was focused and disciplined, but the eternally cursed God Mode got to me. Or it was a mixture of the two. Overall, though, I have to say that I would never have had this kind of poor run last season or the season before, whether I was playing on the PSP or not. It really is a case of shifting priorities for me at the moment. I’ve taken my eye off the PES2008 ball, and the CPU is capitalising in full. Fair play to it. At least it will make my last few months of playing this ML career more interesting. Can I consistently win PES2008 trophies—and Trebles—playing less often, and solely on the PSP? We’ll see.
The poor run of results allowed Valencia to overtake me at the top of the table. For the first time in about five seasons I’m going into the mid-season negotiations not in 1st place. I’m 2nd, two points behind Valencia. I will still win this title, I think. (I hope.) But it’s a salutary reminder that there is no divine right for the human player in PES2008, no matter how well he (thinks he) knows the game.
Oh, and I also lost a game in Europe, putting my leadership of the group table to the test. I’m still top of it, but by goal difference. Fiorentina are in my group this year. I’d never met them before, and they were great in our first fixture, beating me 2-1.
I have to say that I love Fiorentina’s kit. To my untutored eye it’s a nice shade of purple. (The kind of purple that my mother would call mauve.) I’m looking forward to playing them in the return fixture, when some traditional PES revenge will be called for.
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