Pressure system broken again
As of now, the pressure system happens WAY too fast. They reverted it back to how it was on release last year.
Forum Discussion
It definitely feels like something is a bit off with the pressure system early in NHL 25. I can't say if the changes are intentional or not.
First, it seems like every shot gives two ticks to the pressure meter. This feels like a bit much to me, but it may be OK on its own. Secondly, and probably the biggest issue, pressure takes a long time to go away even when you've cleared the zone. I think the combination of these things is a problem what needs to be addressed.
First example: Our opponents had three ticks on the pressure meter and took a penalty against our AI winger. Our AI failed to score on the penalty shot, which resulted in a faceoff in their end. They win the faceoff, go down ice and take a single shot which results in "full" pressure because there was no relief at all from a penalty shot and a faceoff in the other team's end.
Second example: Our opponents had four ticks on the pressure meter. We got the puck out of our zone with 4:11 left in the period, they didn't get it back in until 2:07. Over two minutes of game time and nearly 20s of real-time. The pressure meter only went down a single tick. That feels excessively slow.
One last example because I think it shows the current state of the pressure system perfectly.
We have the puck in the offensive zone with three ticks on the meter when the other team gets the puck. They gain our zone, take a couple of shots and get full pressure triggered. We get the puck back, gain their zone and take a single, weak, broken-up shot and move the meter to one tick away from full pressure.
We went from being under full pressure to being within a hair's breadth of having full pressure ourselves with a single shot ( that wasn't really a shot IMO ). If the idea behind the pressure meter is to simulate a team getting hemmed into the own zone and fatiguing, it doesn't seem reasonable that both teams could be "under pressure" at the same time, or go from being under full pressure to having full pressure with a single shot.
Clip:
And for fun, the "shot" that gave us two ticks and a nearly full meter at the end. There's a separate thread for the goal.
I feel its not as fast as it was starting NHL 24 and agree that it is at a good pace so far. It's there at times but not overwhelming and seems to play well into the gameplay of the game flow.
I would like to add, this is your opinion, and my opinion and my club member’s opinion, is that the pressure system is perfect and we like it. Last year felt too slow after they updated it post release.
I guess it comes down to how you define pressure...if 2-3 shots is all it takes to get "pressure" then I guess the arcade feel to the game just isnt for me. I always feel like they get two back to back shots and then all the sudden I don't get to play the game for the next 10-20 seconds. Last year felt ok because you had to work to it and ACTUALLY pressure someone to get the pressure up...I know crazy concept. Clubs that seem to like it are the ones that just shoot and dont actually want to set up hockey plays, just go for the rebound and celebrate that the puck bounced out unrealistically to the guy crashing the net to score YAY!!!
Nah, Tailsx you’re definitely right. The pressure system was terrible as soon as they implemented it, and seeing the videos so far, it’s nuts how broken it is.
I love watching NHL games IRL and seeing how realistic it is that after 2 shots, the defending team is dead on the ice after a 8 second shift. Very realistic!
- EA_Aljo
Community Manager
Appreciate the feedback on this, everyone. I'll get it reported to the team.
