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I'm also wanting to express my super disappointment with the NHL 23 presentation or game day atmosphere (lack of) 'upgrades' as well.
Like many others on this thread, I'm not one to complain about EA, as most years I'm very appreciative of the game they put out. I'm a 36 year old 'old guy' that has been playing this game as a kid since NHL 94, and now play it with my hockey obsessed kids. This years game pushed an overhaul on the pre game intro's which I was so excited about, as I felt it was long overdue, especially with today's technology & graphics potential. I found it funny they pushed the anthems, as this had been in the game already years before, and they took it out - why would they do that? Every hockey game plays the anthem before puck drop! The more recent games of late have lacked the pre game hype that every single NHL team has - there is nothing like the atmosphere of a live hockey game, and the anticipation before puck drop of a big game. Many of my friends that play this game all say the same thing, it's amazing how well NBA 2k is doing creating a realistic basketball arena experience, whereas NHL is having a tough time building on past positive improvements.
I just finished playing with my 10 year old son, and after watching what felt like the same canned clips from last years game, I dug back into the archives to show him how the game used to be. I showed my son a video from NHL 13, and that had all I was looking for, and 10 years later you haven't been able to build on that, but actually have taken away from it. Just take the pre game intros from nhl 13, add in the on-ice projections you added in this year, add in the anthems before puck drop, and you're set! This full sequence should be played out before EVERY game - not just one out of 10.
How they felt it was a good idea to remove the full presentation options in a simulation hockey game is mind boggling, especially after promoting this as an improvement or key marketing feature. I'm hoping EA will make this right for this year's game with an update soon, or I also will be saving the $100 in the years to come.
Here's a clip from NHL 13 (from 10 years ago.....again, how can you not improve upon the product that you put out 10 years ago??)