Would like to hear everyone's first impressions so far.I've only been on for like 5 minutes but have noticed some stuff worth mentioning.Main menu - It doesn't necessarily hurt the game but I feel having a second "enter mode" box underneath everything is an aesthetically odd choice. Removing that in a future patch would look slightly better. Loading - Cmooooooon like jeez, you ditched last gen, we should be able to load into stuff a lot faster than this :(Edit Player (Chel) - I have a new LG C3 (has the fancy stuff like VRR and G-Sync or whatever) with the right cables and connections and am on game mode but there is still so much stutter/blur when the player is whipping his head around when selecting faces. It's been like this for years now and while technically not a game breaker, it does show a lack of polish (or rather, it brings certain problems further into the spotlight). Holy cow just stand still!I'd like the ability to compare at least a few faces to each other instead of long-swapping between em.ALLOW ME TO IMPORT PREVIOUS YEAR'S CHARACTER DATA ALREADY!!!! (Same goes for custom teams).Holy lol, did the whole budget go into new gen hair? I got a pretty sick Shrek Prince Charming thing going here...Another zero effort trophy list; still retains the greatness trophy for breaking Gretzky's record which is beyond painful/boring for anyone who doesn't live for offline BaP.Remove the "Reset Player Class" popup - Yeah duh all my stats will reset when changing classes and stuff - Please give us the option to at least toggle never having to see it after the first time.Same bone-headed AI as before; honestly don't see any difference, especially on faceoffs

This is intended. We had a lot of feedback that the game was too fast. Now, there are no speed boosts with superstar and zone abilities. This should help with more authentic hockey play rather than run and gun strategies based on speed.

It's a good change. Less track meet, more hockey.

EA_AljoCan I ask why region matchmaking settings were removed? Because I'm in Texas having to play on 120+ ping with constant lag spikes because I'm getting matched with Euro players.

I honestly hope this stays. This speed currently feels authentic. I hated previous years of the game having a 4th line grinder just speed by a fully energized defenseman and do a quick forehand backhand goal. Of everything I’ve watched I’m SO looking forward to playing it

I played a lot of Franchise Mode and I love almost all changes made in that mode. The biggest complain for me is in the menu Conversations where we see all players to assign them season goals, off-season training, ect. If we could click R3 on the player from there directly and see there attributes/stats, that would be such a huge upgrade. Because as of now, if I want to assign off-season training goals for a player, I need to go to the contract or stats menu, find the player then click R3, go back to the Conversations menu which is not intuitive at all and takes a lot of time. I really like that new feature but after one night I was tired of going back and forth 😅 One other I have noticed is the "A" and "C" on the Philadelphia Flyers home and away jerseys being wrong. They updated the font of the letters last year with their new jerseys but that change did not follow in the game.

Early Access Feedback Thread | EA Forums

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NYR224
Seasoned Adventurer
5 months ago
players are slow in chel. not good
EA_Aljo
Community Manager
5 months ago
This is intended. We had a lot of feedback that the game was too fast. Now, there are no speed boosts with superstar and zone abilities. This should help with more authentic hockey play rather than run and gun strategies based on speed.
Steven5470
Rising Scout
5 months ago
No presentation again this year. Game starts, you get a very quick "Welcome to " whatever city and then bam, ice drop. No player views, nothing. Offense can still walk right into your zone without being touched. Had high hopes for this year with all the critique I thought EA listened to last year, but so far, very disappointing.
bobemil_sw13
Rising Hotshot
5 months ago
I only play offline and this is what I noticed:
Menus are a bit slow like always but it looks nicer this year.
Saturation in-game is way too high, some players have red faces. NHL 19's color scheme was excellent.
Players lack highlights. The textures look very flat and not interesting.
CPU is too easy. I win 5 out of 5 games on superstar with difficulty adjustment slider set to max value.
New replays are very nice. Good job.
Game intros are still worse than older NHL games. NHL 19's intros were excellent in my opinion.
The player models skating animation looks very stiff and many players look like they have very long necks.
Nice to have an option to turn off the pressure meter. Thank you for that.
Skating sound fx sounds like duck quacks.
Presentation features like intros, highlights of blocks, etc leave a lot to wish for. cough NHL 19 cough.
EA_Aljo
Community Manager
5 months ago
Can you get some video of the offense walking into your zone without being touched?
COYG316
New Veteran
5 months ago
Lack of full presentation is a huge joke and shows they don't care about their customers.

Gameplay this year is appalling. Penalties are still all over the place. I just had a game with 10 penalties to 0 for CPU despite blatant miss calls on CPU. Goalies are an absolute joke, CPU making crazy saves and my goalie letting in ridiculously soft goals.
Another year of disappointment from EA. They just don't understand hockey. Never will.
EA_Aljo
Community Manager
5 months ago
If you can get video of those inaccurate calls, we'll get it reviewed for any issues.
SummerOfDekes
New Ace
5 months ago
Hitting is horrendous. Guys slide off bodychecks like it's nothing. Shoves don't do anything.
Defensemen ate capped at around 92 or 93 speed while forwards can get to 95 speed without any boosts. Bs. Stop handicapping defense. If forwards can be fast and offensive, why can't defense be fast and defensive? EDIT: First part I was incorrect on. Defense aren't capped at lower speeds, per se.
Every half decent chance is a goal. The goalies are straight up horrendous.
Vision control on defense is useless. Doesn't do anything at all.
What a miss.
SummerOfDekes
New Ace
5 months ago
It's a good change. Less track meet, more hockey.
jwaits
New Traveler
5 months ago
I second the hitting part. Shoves do absolutely nothing, super frustrating.