Franchise mode game play is so bad.
EVERY MATCH HAS TO END LIKE A MIGHTY DUCKS MOVIE!!!! you have 3-0 and 25-9 in shot then they score two nonsense goals, and I can 120% promise that they will score a third goal when there are less th...
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I am older gamer as well (41). I also play on superstar level - mind you I have catered a few sliders throughout the last few years (21 to now).
I don't player lock so I would agree that is probably some things there that will shows the issues with the AI (I feel its better then NHL 23 and 24, but still has its issues). I find that there is more options or ways to score goals this year rather than the 2 or 3 ways you had to score in NHL 23 or 24.
I think the biggest issue I have had (played 87 games in my franchise mode) is there are defensive lapses of players that I am not controlling but to a point that is kind of realistic too (as these issues can happen in live NHL games too), along with the AI team also making those same lapses in judgement - so in ways it evens out.
Goalie wise - using 2 average goalies who have had less then ideal stats over their career my GAA was 2.54 and 2.42 for the season which isn't bad at all. I learned to play a defensive game and had a percentage of 2.45 GAPG which I felt was pretty good.
Average shots from my games where close to what you would see in a real hockey game and there were only a handful games at most where a blowout happened (maybe one game where it was 25-12 shots and I lost the game).
I am not sure if its just that I found what sliders and difficulty work for me or maybe its how I play the game - here is a few examples of my stats after games I played recently.
Like said i play only on pro…. and i play in my opinion a pretty good defense but the computer still score in 1-2 shot over and ocer again even when i had Shesterkin in goal.
BTW i had Fleury in my team and he was 44 year old and played over 50 games with over 92% save…. isn't that just annoying… super human.
I really do feel like the lower difficulty does have a larger affect on how the games are played. I know I used to play on pro or allstar and I was having games where it was 6-5 and I have 25 shots and the AI had 12 (it has been a few years since I had any really like that though). That was very annoying so I can easily relate.
I have had games where my goalie or the AI goalie lets in the first few shots, those games tend to turn out this way and they settle down, even out on shots. When it happens now I try not to think about it cause I know the AI has the same issue at times and I have seen goalies in the NHL let in the 1st shot in games on many occasions. I actually just played game 2 of my 2nd round playoff series and was being outshot (11-2) by the #1 team in the NHL for my franchise that year and ended the first period with a 1-1 tie, so that sort of play goes both ways I find.
I also have games (a few out of 82 games) where my goalie (86 overall (where I feel it should be more around 84 overall) let in 4 goals on 9 shots and I end up pulling them for my backup (1B). Granted that can happen in real hockey so I just put it up to a bad goalie game - I have seen this happen for my user team and also the AI teams. I know know one of my games in my year 1 franchise mode I actually chased Shesterkin from the net (it was 4 goals on like 12 shots or something).
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