As you might remember me asking in this poll, I wanted to know how many people were considering switching over to PES 16 this year after having had enough of frustrating times with FIFA 16. I wrote about how I hated the scripting and the overall clunky gameplay that FIFA had devolved into in recent years, making the experience of a match more frustrating than exhilarating. Having played the FIFA demo and PES (full game), I know which one I prefer this year.

So is PES 16 better than FIFA 16? Short answer ... YES

Well, that is at least as long as we're talking majorly about gameplay here, and the experience of playing a match in either of the games. What I read about PES this year is true. When you start playing, you immediately feel the difference that each player brings. Playing with Chelsea, I felt the ingenuity and pace and control that Hazard posses in tight spaces as I used him to run past two defenders on the left flank, then cut inside the box, and bury the ball into the bottom right corner, past the keeper's outstretched hands. That was a typical Hazard move. I felt it when Willian picked up the ball in the middle of the park and launched a pacey counter attack. I made Oscar dictate the attack with his passing and link up play, and used Costa to bully the defenders before slotting it hard into the goal.

I won the first game 2-0. It felt great. The second match, against Manchester United, was much closer. I took the lead, only to lose them as they made the comeback. I dug in, and produced two more great goals. For the last 15 or so minutes, I passed the ball around and shut up shop. AND IT WORKED. No bullshit 90 minute goal by the opposition to equalize and send the game to penalties or whatever SCRIPTED shit. It felt like a typical Chelsea win. It's your choice, obviously, how you want to play it out.

The remaining features I have yet to play and discover. Since I've only played the FIFA 16 demo yet, it would make sense to only compare the gameplay of a single match and make judgments about that.

FIFA's strength has, at least in recent times, been its presentation, graphics, menus, soundtrack and commentary. And I would say that in those aspects, FIFA still has the upper hand. The soundtrack I heard in the demo sounded great. As always, it'll be worth listening to. Graphics on the other hand, is a tricky question, especially on PC. From what you may have heard, they're not on the level of PS4/ Xone graphics. You can check out the comparisons on Youtube etc... The crowd looks comical, and a couple of other aspects have a last gen feel about it (but it really doesn't matter during the course of a match, as I observed)

As for the commentary, from what I've heard till now, it's not too far behind FIFA. In fact, I have to say that when a goal is scored, the commentary is done VERY well. There's a lot more excitement in Peter Drury's voice, and in that moment it beats FIFA's commentary. The rest of the time, it does the job pretty alright.

You can check out that close match I mentioned above, between Chelsea and Man Utd, in this video below. Also check out the commentary when a goal is scored. (My personal favorite was when Hazard scored. Unfortunately that was another match)

So, what do you guys think? Have you tried out both the games this year? Which do you like better?