That EA thinks in order to people to be entertained playing a hockey game it has to be a complete exaggeration of the sport?The game is full of hip checks and Michigan goals, is all offense and no defense, and has almost no puck battles, dump ins/outs, or loose pucks.If one of the "kids" that are apparently so enthralled with fancy dekes and crazy hip checks (that happen a couple times a year in real hockey)that are EA's target market for this game go to a real NHL game, they will be really disappointed to see a lot of physical puck battles, board play, loose pucks, chips out of/into the zone, etc.With hockey back, just watch the games. See how often players lose possession, how hard it is to break out of the zone and get through the neutral zone cleanly, how little each player possesses the puck before moving it, how many times two players race for a puck just to essentially get a "puck chop" at it to get it out of their zone or into the other team's zone. Then play or watch NHL 24 and see how little of that there is in this game.I understand no one wants to play a game that is a complete simulation of the sport, that would be boring. But my god, there should be way more dump ins than Michigan attempts in typical game of video game hockey, regardless of how "sim" you want it to be, and that is not the case with NHL 24. Unbelievable.

You are 100% completely correct.

Somebody’s gotta do something. The people at EA have run this franchise into the damn ground. It’s a bait and switch every year because they know nobody else can make an NHL game. The offline modes are essentially unplayable every year since 2019. The entire focus of the game has gone into online modes….all in an effort to get people to dump more money into a game that already sucks. EA is about money, not the product.

EA don't have the exclusive license but as they know that no other company is making a sim NHL game anytime soon, they feel that offline players will hand over cash regardless of how "sim" the game actually is or it's more profitable to simply wind down that sideThis year I feel EA has crossed the Rubicon in terms of a declining authentic experience and how much the old guard of players will tolerate before deciding the game just isn't for them any longer. I'll never purchase this title again until full presentation, generated portraits, proper TV style goal celebrations and net physics are restored to a standard commensurate with other major sport titles. The NHL series has fallen years behind Madden, EAFC and is a decade of incremental progress adrift of The Show and 2K.24 has made so many downright bizarre decisions that have forced the game in a blatantly arcade direction under the guise of "change"... when really no one asked for a Tunnel of Doom celebration after every single goal for but one example. I'm interested in the reception this year's instalment is receiving but it is quite sad what's happened in videogame terms.So much potential... imagine if they had some kind of faux Statcast in game. Score a goal, you get the standard celebration which was fine, if in need of some new anims for the NPCs, then in the replay you get a stat box showing the shot speed etc, hardest shot on your team, league wide that season.It's all pretty simple to code, implement and has high immersion value but instead we get Flex Moments? Baffling to me that someone didn't point out how flawed the idea and execution is for anything outside of microtransaction mayhem... so can only assume that's the goal. Same with having the game ping when passing icons pop up or how they flash because icon passing is on the same input as regular pass just to free up face button inputs for erm... showy dekes? Makes no sense and the flaws of both implementations leap out at you within five minutes of the trial.There are so many simple quality of life changes that could have been made, a concise score bug in the top left that permanently displays shot totals has been requested for offline since NHL 20 was launched, but the game still devotes valuable screen space to that overly large bar which still exhibits the same patchwork fix that was made 4 years ago when it was pointed out that a fluctuating graphic was kinda distracting on the powerplay.Yes, things change but the problem is that the things that do aren't the things that need to.

I couldn’t agree more about all the posts in this thread.Yes it is insulting to the people that love this beautiful game. Ive said it before and I will say it again, make two versions of NHL25…. One called NHLHITZ or NHL STREET where you can put all the stuff that are more suitable for a Fortnite genre type of game and make an authentic version for people who truly loves the game of hockey.Everything in this game right now, is done to counter online cheese and ballerinas and that reflects big time on the people that wants a true representation of the sport. I mean, this is supposed to be a hockey game, no ?

@JagavekovAlmost 1XP per/hour so far.Im gonna have to support you too."there should be way more dump ins than Michigan attempts in typical game of video game hockey"Thats a good quote.

Isn't it kind of insulting to the NHL and the sport of hockey

292 Replies

Cote12
New Vanguard
2 years ago
You are 100% completely correct.
darlz0828
2 years ago
Somebody’s gotta do something. The people at EA have run this franchise into the damn ground. It’s a bait and switch every year because they know nobody else can make an NHL game. The offline modes are essentially unplayable every year since 2019. The entire focus of the game has gone into online modes….
all in an effort to get people to dump more money into a game that already sucks. EA is about money, not the product.
Rigu7
Seasoned Hotshot
2 years ago
EA don't have the exclusive license but as they know that no other company is making a sim NHL game anytime soon, they feel that offline players will hand over cash regardless of how "sim" the game actually is or it's more profitable to simply wind down that side
This year I feel EA has crossed the Rubicon in terms of a declining authentic experience and how much the old guard of players will tolerate before deciding the game just isn't for them any longer. I'll never purchase this title again until full presentation, generated portraits, proper TV style goal celebrations and net physics are restored to a standard commensurate with other major sport titles. The NHL series has fallen years behind Madden, EAFC and is a decade of incremental progress adrift of The Show and 2K.
24 has made so many downright bizarre decisions that have forced the game in a blatantly arcade direction under the guise of "change"... when really no one asked for a Tunnel of Doom celebration after every single goal for but one example. I'm interested in the reception this year's instalment is receiving but it is quite sad what's happened in videogame terms.
So much potential... imagine if they had some kind of faux Statcast in game. Score a goal, you get the standard celebration which was fine, if in need of some new anims for the NPCs, then in the replay you get a stat box showing the shot speed etc, hardest shot on your team, league wide that season.
It's all pretty simple to code, implement and has high immersion value but instead we get Flex Moments? Baffling to me that someone didn't point out how flawed the idea and execution is for anything outside of microtransaction mayhem... so can only assume that's the goal. Same with having the game ping when passing icons pop up or how they flash because icon passing is on the same input as regular pass just to free up face button inputs for erm... showy dekes? Makes no sense and the flaws of both implementations leap out at you within five minutes of the trial.
There are so many simple quality of life changes that could have been made, a concise score bug in the top left that permanently displays shot totals has been requested for offline since NHL 20 was launched, but the game still devotes valuable screen space to that overly large bar which still exhibits the same patchwork fix that was made 4 years ago when it was pointed out that a fluctuating graphic was kinda distracting on the powerplay.
Yes, things change but the problem is that the things that do aren't the things that need to.
Penthouse_man
2 years ago
@Jagavekov You aren't factoring in player ability/effort/how much they care... Good players will defend well enough and support defense well enough that it becomes more like the real game. And it's literally impossible to do away with the difference between good and bad players and its effect on the game.
Sega82mega
2 years ago
@Jagavekov

Almost 1XP per/hour so far.

Im gonna have to support you too.

"there should be way more dump ins than Michigan attempts in typical game of video game hockey"

Thats a good quote.
PernellKarl027
2 years ago
I couldn’t agree more about all the posts in this thread.
Yes it is insulting to the people that love this beautiful game.

Ive said it before and I will say it again, make two versions of NHL25…. One called NHLHITZ or NHL STREET where you can put all the stuff that are more suitable for a Fortnite genre type of game and make an authentic version for people who truly loves the game of hockey.

Everything in this game right now, is done to counter online cheese and ballerinas and that reflects big time on the people that wants a true representation of the sport. I mean, this is supposed to be a hockey game, no ?
Beauts90
Seasoned Ace
2 years ago
I have said this in a few other posts as well, so I agree. In my opinion, the EA games have outlasted all others because it was the closest representation to the real game of hockey. The skill stick sealed the deal with that and ironically not having to use it anymore for all the dekes is part of what makes this years game feel more arcade.
They seemed to have picked the newer/younger crowd as their target audience and went hard in that direction which I’m ok with, but like it’s been said over and over again, give us some options.
The rest of the gameplay changes all seemed to be used to combat the online meta, which is fine, but no real world hockey thinking went into it and it was simply “how can we fix this problem, even if it makes no sense in real hockey. ”

Who knows, maybe it’s even the NHL wants them to go in order to market their product a certain way and that’s why plays like the Michigan and hip checks are done with that push of a button.
Jagavekov
2 years ago
@Beauts90 wrote:

They seemed to have picked the newer/younger crowd as their target audience and went hard in that direction which I’m ok with, but like it’s been said over and over again, give us some options.
”

Who knows, maybe it’s even the NHL wants them to go in order to market their product a certain way and that’s why plays like the Michigan and hip checks are done with that push of a button.

But that is what doesn't make sense - why would the NHL want the video game to have an abundance of things that don't happen often in the real game? Doesn't that set them up for failure as far as attracting new fans?
Like I said, if this "newer/younger" person is mainly interested in hockey for the Michigans and the hip checks, they are going to be very disappointed if they watch a game on TV or go to one, as the odds of them seeing a Michigan goal or a Hip Check are VERY small. Do these people really exist? How could you be even mildly interested in a sport if the only things you like about it happen twice a year?
If someone (a "kid" especially, with limited income) has enough of an interest in hockey to spend 60 dollars on a video game version of it, I would think they would want it to resemble the actual sport somewhat. There are THOUSANDS of other video games to buy - why would someone buy a hockey game if they aren't interested in hockey? If you don't like hockey you can buy other sports games, you can buy COD, GTA, Elden Ring, Halo, or a thousand other games that aren't hockey.
I don't like Golf and have never bought a golf video game, and I also wouldn't expect a golf simulation to have one button hole-in-ones or something to entice people that don't like golf. It doesn't make any sense.
couture2fat2fly
Seasoned Vanguard
2 years ago
@PernellKarl027 wrote:
I couldn’t agree more about all the posts in this thread.
...

Everything in this game right now, is done to counter online cheese and ballerinas and that reflects big time on the people that wants a true representation of the sport. I mean, this is supposed to be a hockey game, no ?
There's absolutely nothing done to counter online cheese. The same major cheese plays have been there for at least 2 years and only got worse. Skating in circles in the corner without passing, skating right at people along the boards, sitting in the slot defensively and letting the CPU defend, cross-crease passes being incredibly easy this year... I mean where do you see any attempt at countering cheese plays?
PernellKarl027
2 years ago
@couture2fat2fly wrote:
@PernellKarl027 wrote:
I couldn’t agree more about all the posts in this thread.
...

Everything in this game right now, is done to counter online cheese and ballerinas and that reflects big time on the people that wants a true representation of the sport. I mean, this is supposed to be a hockey game, no ?
There's absolutely nothing done to counter online cheese. The same major cheese plays have been there for at least 2 years and only got worse. Skating in circles in the corner without passing, skating right at people along the boards, sitting in the slot defensively and letting the CPU defend, cross-crease passes being incredibly easy this year... I mean where do you see any attempt at countering cheese plays?
@couture2fat2fly
Well at least that was the focus. I never said they succeeded 😉
The Pressure System was basically done to make people play a bit more like hockey online, by cycling the puck and force Ozone play. When you also see 2 AI DMen camp their post on both sides, to counter that move people did all the time from the back of the net and going in front from the side… They also nerf the LTing so now players can’t turn on a dime like they used to. They nerf the dump so that it gives more advantage to the attacking team and to give the pressure system even more purpose…
Should I go on ? Why were these changes done to the game in your opinion ? Certainly not for the sake of OFFLINE…