Four Keys to Improving Skater AI for NHL 25

'Yello. The CPU yapper is back at it again (me).

We all know that there are technical limitations to just how realistic the AI can get. But I believe there are four major areas of the AI whose improvements would yield a DRASTICALLY better on-ice product.

1.] Utility

The AI needs to have access to EVERYTHING that us humans can do (and yes, this would include the lacrosse move, but let's leave that as low priority for now). I've watched a ton of CPU vs CPU games, usually on All-Star difficulty, and here are a list of controls and X-Factors that I have yet to witness the AI use OR they use it rather sparingly: the Wrist Shot (the ACTUAL wrist shot), regular DSS (major one here), crouch block DSS (major one here), diving DSS (major one here), off-the-boards chip deke, behind-the-net bank deke, the slap pass, proper LT usage, the Shnipe X-Factor, the CHOP (major one here), the Stick 'em Up X-Factor, and the hip check. There are probably more things that I'm forgetting about that aren't the lacrosse move. In order to keep up with human players (whether offline or online), the CPU absolutely needs to have all of the tools the game provides at its disposal. You can't improve the AI's intelligence without giving it tools to work with. The chop, regular DSS, crouch block/DSS, and diving block/DSS are the most important ones here, as these are major defensive tools that they're sorely lacking (and I'm not talking about the automatic shot block animations).

2.] Patience

This is EXTREMELY important, and it appears to be something that has been improved MINORLY inbetween NHL 23 and NHL 24. Let the AI know that hockey isn't just a run-and-gun sport. They never sit behind their own net waiting for their teammates to complete a line change. They consistently burst through the neutral zone to gain the offensive zone, leaving their teammates in the dust and giving themselves no passing options once they enter the zone, almost always leading to a crunch from the defending AI along the boards and an immediate turnover. They don't really know how to cycle - especially the skaters at the point, who may just run in for a shot instead of continuing the cycle when there really isn't a shot lane (this happens in real life of course, but the AI does this way too frequently). CPU power plays have to be the biggest atrocity in terms of the relationship between CPU skaters and real life hockey - barely any cycle game, point position players taking shots with no screen/tip when there are passing lanes available, etc. A few years ago, the AI was impatient in the sense that it would obsessively send rocket passes around the zone, almost never taking shots when it was optimal. Now it's ALMOST the opposite problem - the AI still back passes on breakaways at times, but I'm seeing so many garbage sharp-angle shot attempts from the CPU when it would just be better to wait for a better scoring opportunity. That's all there is to this point.

3.] Creativity

This goes mostly hand-in-hand with the first two points, but definitely has points that are separate from them. Ironically, while EA NHL's gameplay naturally favors offense, the CPU does not know this. This is especially evident when using the Overload strategy, and this is part of what makes the Overload strategy routinely unfavorable in the eyes of online players. When you watch a content creator talk about his preferred strategy settings for online versus or HUT, you'll notice that their forward lines are almost ALWAYS using Behind the Net. Overload gives you very little AI support as they are TERRIBLE at getting open in the zone. Stand still in training mode holding the puck and watch how little the AI does to give you viable options beyond perimeter passing. Most people develop strategies based on the OPPOSING human player making a mistake, yielding a scoring chance that wasn't necessarily created by your teammates, but either by your skilled play OR your opponents lack of awareness. Aside from cheesing the game, this makes trying to develop proper in-zone offense a bit of a pain in the neck in offline modes. When the CPU has the puck, it's main method of developing a scoring chance is to catch the defending CPU skaters flat-footed and blow by them, yielding an odd-man rush. Learning how to get the CPU to be more creative without the puck can be as simple as watching some clips of Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, or Sidney Crosby. On the power play, McDavid has a habit of circling out of the zone and back in to generate speed. On breakouts, MacKinnon makes a very similar play - as the puck carrier begins to move up ice, MacKinnon will circle behind his own net and generate speed, resulting in the puck carrier finding him bowling through the neutral zone for an entry. I was rewatching Red Wings @ Penguins from 4/11/2024 the other day and saw Crosby essentially bee-line it for the net on a zone entry while the puck carrier, Bryan Rust, slowly creeped lower (after the zone entry) waiting for Crosby to be close enough to the net. From an area closer to the right point, Rust fired a pass right to Crosby's stick for a tip-in goal, even though there were players inbetween Rust and Crosby.

4.] Making Plays Without A Teammate On The Receiving End

This is a little niche, but through my time watching actual hockey, there's a type of play that I rarely see the AI utilize - getting the puck to an empty area of the ice when under pressure. The two biggest examples of this that I can think of are: in the offensive zone, a defending skater pressures an attacking skater, and they send the puck over to an area of the ice that their teammate can get to, and in the defensive zone, a defending skater flips the puck out to center ice to relieve pressure from the attacking team and to get a line change. In both cases, the puck carrier makes a play to relieve pressure, and the end result is NOT a tape-to-tape pass to a teammate, but it's still a common play.

I hope this all makes sense. This is coming from the perspective of someone who watches a LOT of NHL hockey each year, as well as someone who plays both online (albeit only World of Chel and Online Versus) and offline EA NHL (where I mainly play Play Now in CPU vs CPU matches).

EDIT: One thing to add among all of this. It would be great to see these improvements made WITHOUT making the CPU invulnerable - people make mistakes in hockey, and CPU skaters shouldn't be exempt from this.

I'm gonna tag @EA_Aljo on this one because I think I made a good post here.

Edit: Moved thread to Game Suggestions forum. -CM