NHL25 Controls
Hi, I have played NHL since 2006. The skill stick was the best part of the game, and last year in NHL24 they completely ruined it by making puck protect holding left/right on the right stick. And on ...
Forum Discussion
EA_Aljo
Community Manager
Community ManagerThe previous method of protecting the puck was heavily exploited to create unrealistic skating. The community complained about this for a few years. We are not reverting that change in NHL 25. Puck protect is the same as NHL 24.
I can understand moving puck protect away from holding the X (PS5) button… what I don’t understand is the logic behind holding my stick on the left or right side of my body then engaging in a puck protect. If you have ever played hockey, then you will understand that I can hold my stick on the left or right side of my body and continue to skate at full speed. There is no logical sense behind “if the stick is on my left/right side, then your puck protecting”.
I want you to understand clearly that changing the skill stick from what it was in the previous 10 games, is the reason me and every player I know did not buy NHL24. So, if you're fine with that, and won’t allow for players to change the controls on which they play the game, then I guess you’ve lost a 15+ year customer for good. I can’t think of any other sports game in history that changes the controls and doesn’t allow you to use the controls you want. It is really self-defeating from a business perspective.
Cheers mate
- EA_Aljo
That's not the way it works in the game though. You hold down hustle and move left or right. You're not going forehand/backhand to hold your stick out and protect it. Your player will shield their body better when protecting the puck while skating. Instead of being able to exploit this mechanic to backskate unrealistically.
Many people made the switch to Total Control. Many others stuck with skill stick. Personally, I kept using skill stick and remapped the fake shot to a paddle on the underside of an Elite controller because I was constantly accidentally hitting this when stick handling. So far, you're the first I've heard that specifically didn't get the game only because puck protect changed. We've had more positive feedback on this since it removed the exploit that a very large part of the community did not like.
So, just to be clear, if I’m skating forward, an I hold my R3 stick to the left or right, then I won’t automatically engage in a puck protect? Because this is what ruined the game for me, you can no longer go left and right on the R3 stick to mimic actual stick handling in hockey.
- EA_Aljo
Skating forward alone doesn't engage it. You have to be in hustle and then move left or right. This is very different from holding your stick out. That only happens when stickhandling to your forehand/backhand. You can still do that when hustle isn't activated. Which, is a lot more realistic as you shouldn't be able to stickhandle when hustling.
I have to agree with Flow here. I don't know who you guys got feedback from. But my friends and I are all elite 1s every season and our biggest complaint is the stick handling / puck protection. There was no reason to remove puck protect from the A button. Really disappointed to here that you will not be reverting back to the old controls. As someone who has been playing this game for 20 years now I can honestly say, to completely re map certain controls was one of the worst decisions EA has made. In my opinion this was the new Devs coming in last year and trying to make their impact felt my changing the controls. That is fine if it has a positive impact on the game, very few people that play at a competive level agree with that change. But just like every other video game has done in recent years, everything gets catered to the average player to reduce the skill gap.
A simple fix would have been to have puck protect override the LT or vice versa. Simply cancel one out when someone is trying to use both. No different then how trying to go backhand or forehand used to cancel your hustle.
