PS5 NHL23 EASHL REVIEW
I wanna post my observations on the game itself. I'm about 15 or so games(5 club games) into 23 on PS5. It is a bit long but I think its worth the read.
It's smoother and more responsive for starters. My ping hasn't crossed 25ms yet and 90% of the time it's sub 20. The previous games I would run at 40ms or higher.
You HAVE to find new ways to score. The cross crease and typical chel goals do not work. You have to break the D down before you can land those. Cycling and creating offense from other places is going to be huge this year if you want success.
This goes back to the last point but The physics seem better. Passes and shots aren't going through people. They hit skates and sticks. This is helpful for playing D but hurtful for creating O. Gotta get creative up front and stop forcing things.
Goalies. Building on the last 2 points. They're WAY better than the beta. First club game was a 4OT 1-0 loss where each team had 39+ shots. Every other game we played was similar. 25+ shots and only a handful of goals. Goalies are seemingly much improved so creating that O is going to be important. You can still exploit them, it's just harder.
As for playing D. Positioning is everything. If you're in position you'll generally make the play, not always, but most times. Poke checks are effective but if you miss, you can easily be burned. And once you're burned, that's pretty much all she wrote. Gotta hope the Goalie is on it or you got guys back. The DSS speed boost is completely gone which is good, however the debuff is way to much. Playing D you need to make sure you aren't spamming hit, poke or stick lift or you'll be penalized. Also, back to positioning, that matters for pokes and stick lifts. If I'm to close to a guy and try to stick lift, I'll get his hands and get called but if I'm a bit further away it's all stick and good to go.
Penalties seem better. Meaning they didn't really call any wishy-washy ones. They let ALOT of hits go but the ones they called were actual Penalties. If you are dumb with your stick, just go sit down for 2. Bad pokes and bad stick lifts will get you in the box. And if you spam the button, you'll be in the box. Positioning is key to D this year. I've seen some complaints that pokes and lifts are auto penalties and I disagree. If you're having trouble try upping your discipline stat and work on your positioning.
Hitting seems good. Not to easy, not to hard. No real hit bubbles BUT guys who know how to protect the puck will absorb alot of contact before losing it. Height, weight and attributes seem to matter more than last year. They're not calling a whole lot of hits, even some blatant ones got over looked. I like it being a bit lax but I'm not sure if it's to relaxed right now.
Speaking of attributes. They raised the base attributes on almost all classes. For example last year I had to make my TWD 5'11 190lbs and give speed boosts to get him maxed at 88 speed. This year he's at 87 with no boosts and 6'2 214lbs. Tinker with your player. Have different types of guys too. We have 10 player classes you can create. I'm probably going to do 7 D and 3 F just to have some flexibility.
Net front is going to be huge. Even guys who aren't specifically designed to tip pucks are getting sticks on them. We scored like 2 or 3 tips last night but had probably 6 or 7 chances. Gotta put someone in front.
A shout out to EA also for the minor presentation stuff they added. The crowd builds energy based on the game. Big hit, they get louder. Alot of offensive possession, they get louder. Home player gets hurt, they boo the guy that hurt him. Home guy scores a hatty, well here come the hats. They even added a club stat tracker that adjusts in real time during the game. It's cool stuff. Adds a little bit to the game.
Overall I'm happy with 23 through 15 games. I think everyone who isn't just hating on EA to hate on EA is going to like 23 as long as they dont mess with it in the tuners. It feels better than the 22 release tuner which was excellent. Even when the game is frustrating, it's fun and feels like real hockey. Like the 4OT game. We had great chances and got robbed by a crazy save or good D play. It's frustrating but enjoyable. I can't speak to Franchise or anything like that, just talking online EASHL club 6s.
Let's hope they don't mess with it to appease the streamers and content creators.
TLDR; 23 feels awesome. Some nice additions and stuff.
