I'm genuinely curious as to why so many people are asking for Total Control to be removed outright from the game. Like, sure, hipchecks were made easier but it's just like last year's crosschecks so nothing has fundamentally changed to general play and they're getting balanced in the next patch. Yeah people can do the Michigan easier but it's pretty slow and easy to defend. Toe drags and one touch dekes are already so simple to do that the change is negligible. I really hope this is the first step into giving us the freedom of old manual dekes. Shouldn't TC be the perfect middle ground for players losing the 30 year old 94 controls?

@TTZ_Dipsy You shouldn’t get to just click a button for dekes especially when someone dekes the game is awful at pick pickups. It’s basically a get out of jail card for offense when they skate into a bad position they can just hit a button to get out of their mistake.Back in the day you had to master each deke and it took practice and precision to do it right.It makes playing the game less rewarding when the game just does everything for you.

Personally, my issue isn't really with the total control scheme per se. My issue is that EA didn't seem to consider the consequences of making things like the lacrosse shot or hip checks a single button press. And they certainly didn't adjust the effectiveness of those actions to reflect how easy they are to pull off now.Consider the lacrosse shot. Up until NHL 24 I could count on one hand the number of attempted lacrosse shots I would see in any given year, and I don't think I ever had one scored on me because most attempts weren't even able to successfully get the shot off. Now with a single button press anybody can pull it off and it's exposed how weak the goalies are to the shot and how poor the defensive tools are when trying to stop it. Even with the nerf in the last patch it's success rate is way too high IMO. Assuming it won't be removed from TC, I think it needs a few more adjustments. First, the shot should be flubbed at a very high rate across the board. Second, you should need to set up behind the net to do it. The biggest issue this year is the ability to skate full-speed behind the net and quickly trigger the lacrosse shot. It essentially forces defence to commit a player behind the net which is just silly. And lastly the goalies need to be better at stopping the shot. As for the hip check, it's not really a hip-check button. It's a "I'm going to squat and turn myself into a human land-mine" button. We're back to NHL 18(? somewhere around there ) hip checks which acted in the same fashion. If an NHL 24 hip-check behaved like a real-life hip-check putting it on a single button wouldn't be an issue. Instead we have a single button hit where the effectiveness isn't tied to any player attributes and doesn't take into consideration speed, angle or what body parts are hitting what. On top of that they made regular body checking much riskier if you miss which just makes the hip-check even more attractive to spam. We'll see what the patch does to address this, but I'm skeptical.

@TTZ_DipsySee? you use total control for the one button hipchecks...thats exactly what is wrong with that control. Pretty sure the one button hipcheck animation is faster on total control and way easier to do it at full speed.And again, hipcheck is kinda rare in real hockey so it should require a minimum of skill to use, now it's used left and right at will.Hold R3 then L1, a bit clunky but seem a lot more fair than what it is now.Leg kick is still easy, hold L1 then tap R3 😉 ....When fake shot require more skills than hip check lol..

@TTZ_Dipsy Considering hip checks barely exist in hockey, maybe a stupid button combo makes more sense?

@TTZ_DipsyFor one handed tuck you had to hold left or right on your right stick then tap and hold L1 then tap R1 I beleive....still easy but isnt the minimun that should be requiered to do it anyway!?The problem is it create a gap between skill stick and total control...then ask yourself, whats the point of skill stick if total control do it all but more? And way more easilyI would be fine if it was an handful of easy dekes like the one handed tuck and toe-drag but I still beleive it's wrong to have the michigan and hip check on one button...particularly because the face button hip check seems a lot more effective than the manual one from skill stick.Total control has a clear advantage over the other controls and that doesnt sound right to me.

What's wrong with Total Control, exactly?

21 Replies

ChiTownSwagger91
Seasoned Veteran
2 years ago
@TTZ_Dipsy You shouldn’t get to just click a button for dekes especially when someone dekes the game is awful at pick pickups. It’s basically a get out of jail card for offense when they skate into a bad position they can just hit a button to get out of their mistake.

Back in the day you had to master each deke and it took practice and precision to do it right.

It makes playing the game less rewarding when the game just does everything for you.
TTZ_Dipsy
Hero+
2 years ago
@TasteofChicago91

Back in my day you had to wiggle the dpad back and forth and just pretend you were deking like the pros but yes, the golden days of manual dekes were definitely the best (one arm extend into a windmill was my favourite).

I was never a fan of the one touch deke system because it felt like there was no fluidity to it - Total Control isn't exactly pushing any boundaries but I feel like just removing it wouldn't serve any purpose either.

Feels like people are just lashing out after losing their literal 30 year old '94 controls
rabid55wolverine
New Vanguard
2 years ago
For me, I don't think it should be removed but what bothers me is that things that are actually difficult to do in real life like the one handed tuck and the Michigan are tied to 1 button and are easy to pull off. If you can't do these things, then im sorry but you shouldn't be spoon fed an easier way to do them. The Michigan is complex in real life and is rarely attempted and should be that way. Someone scored it now and it's just another goal.
This is also coming from someone who can't do it in rhe game. If I really wanted it in my offensive game, I would learn how to do it and practice it, just like real life.
TTZ_Dipsy
Hero+
2 years ago
@rabid55wolverine

For one hand tuck all they really removed was L1. I agree things are getting too dumbed down/simple but *shrug*, not like it's all that effective anyway

I attempted a Michigan, like, once and found it to be totally stupid - I reckon a lot of people felt the same way and EA was embarrassed they wasted so much time adding it.
Tigidooh
Rising Ace
2 years ago
@TTZ_Dipsy

For one handed tuck you had to hold left or right on your right stick then tap and hold L1 then tap R1 I beleive....still easy but isnt the minimun that should be requiered to do it anyway!?

The problem is it create a gap between skill stick and total control...then ask yourself, whats the point of skill stick if total control do it all but more? And way more easily

I would be fine if it was an handful of easy dekes like the one handed tuck and toe-drag but I still beleive it's wrong to have the michigan and hip check on one button...particularly because the face button hip check seems a lot more effective than the manual one from skill stick.

Total control has a clear advantage over the other controls and that doesnt sound right to me.
TTZ_Dipsy
Hero+
2 years ago
@Tigidooh

I only use Total Control for the 1 button hipchecks - I truly do miss the little leg kicks/fake shots that Skillstick offers.

Hipchecks work just as effectively as before - The problem with skill stick was that the button combo is just plain awful and almost always leads to tripping penalties (it's not a skill issue, their animations and timing just don't jive with how fast paced the game is)
Tigidooh
Rising Ace
2 years ago
@TTZ_Dipsy

See? you use total control for the one button hipchecks...thats exactly what is wrong with that control. Pretty sure the one button hipcheck animation is faster on total control and way easier to do it at full speed.
And again, hipcheck is kinda rare in real hockey so it should require a minimum of skill to use, now it's used left and right at will.
Hold R3 then L1, a bit clunky but seem a lot more fair than what it is now.

Leg kick is still easy, hold L1 then tap R3 😉 ....When fake shot require more skills than hip check lol..
SoupyNuttz
Seasoned Traveler
2 years ago
@TTZ_Dipsy Considering hip checks barely exist in hockey, maybe a stupid button combo makes more sense?
TTZ_Dipsy
Hero+
2 years ago
A lot of people seem to forget hipchecks used to soley be tied to R3 and it was never an issue.

L1+R3 was exactly why old hipchecks were so awkward and caused so many penalties - it was such a stupid design choice and now that's how you do a simple fakeshot? So dumb.

I don't disagree its not a proper way of doing things but it is still a video game at the end of the day and needs to be intuitive for a sport as fast paced as this. Having to step 1 step 2, ok now step 3 to initiate a move just bogs the game right down.

It's just really weird to me seeing so many people freak out about losing hybrid and 94 controls, yet they are adamant Total Control doesn't belong
Treatmentworke66
Seasoned Ace
2 years ago
@TTZ_DipsyI have no problem using the old hip check, and I'm 57, but then again that's the world of today, everyone wants things easy and handed to them ,where is the pride in accomplishment even in a video