I've seen a few post here and on Reddit that I couldn't agree more with. Since the last update about a week ago something definitely changed in the gameplay.I've seen your awnser on a thread that no tuning has been made yet but something feels way off. -The game seems faster than at launch. We're back to skating a straight line to burn off defender and score. Previously it wasn't required or even that possible. Passing and teamplay was a priority. -Passing feels off. It's like the power of the passes had been tuned down or something like that. They don't connect as well anymore. -There's way more puck interceptions (even when players/cpu are NOT facing the puck, like they intercept the puck from behind) -There's also way more pokecheck from behind. You're on a half breakaway and someone pokecheck you from behind making you loose the puck. That wasn't like that at launch. -There's also way more bumps and hitting. From behind as well. How can someone have enough speed skating in the same direction as you to hit you from behind and make you fall on the ice?? It's ok for bumps and hitting to be in the game, the problem now is that everytime you get touched a little bit, it's like you have only 3 in balance and your character falls on the ice and glide for 10 meters.. Hitting players doesn't seems to be slower than small and fragile players like at launch. -The aggressiveness, hitting and pokechecking of CPU really needs to be tuned down. In squad battle and moments, there extremely too aggressive, they intercept ALL passes, they're on you before you have the chance to do litteraly anything, they will win every puck battle, will always be first on loose puck, will pokecheck you 12 times a second and will block every shot you do.. All that combined with the things I've mentionned earlier. That wasn't like that at launch and I can assure you that it's not a skill issue. -Also, the menus seems to be slower for some reasons. So yeah, I don't know what changed, but it feels off, and playing the game right now feels very frustrating. I loved the game at launch, it actually was the best gameplay you've done in years. Not so much nowadays.

Here's a other video. So CPU can just casually throw Chara on the ice and take him out of the game for 5 seconds? Nice. https://youtu.be/O8cTsWBqcSoFix your CPU difficulty (pro, all stars and superstars). It's not even fun. You can make it hard other ways than having them throw 55 hits a game and make them intercept EVERY SINGLE PASS from behind. That is NOT FUN. Not because it's hard, because it doesn't make SENSE! When you hit CPU they get up WAY faster than when they hit us.. And sometimes we can't even take the freaking puck from them even if they're laying on the ice. They can throw us on the ice and make us lose the puck with a single BUMP. WE CANNOT do that..They intercept pass from behind. WE CANNOT do that. Our OWN CPU can't be first on the puck at ALL. They CAN'T pickup loose pucks... They loose EVERY SINGLE 1v1 battle EVER. They're NOT on the same level as other CPU (and it's not overall related) CPU are NOT affected by full pressure and that is NOT fair. Take Full pressure away from match against CPU or make it so they ARE affected by it. It doesn't make sense. They're SO AGGRESSIVE even with full pressure activates, they don't loose energy at ALL. Like come on guys. The problem is not that it's hard, it's that it's not freaking fair! We're playing a hockey game, not a NFL game, stop the overpowered CPU that wants your head out and will throw you on the ice by SIMPLY bumping you making you loose the puck and fall for 10 meters just by breathing near you when YOU CANNOT DO THAT TO THEM. Come on. That gameplay is disgusting.

GAMESPEED need to be tuned downPASSING is weird. Lots of missed passed (tuning doesnt help). I totally agree with you that passes not connecting anymore.BUMP / Hitting is because the power of the truculence. We played lots of 6v6 matches CHEL where opponent did hit everything and every situation. 60 hits game. 2 penalties. In real life every single player from the opponent team would be in penalty box at least 5 times in this match.. Lots of hitting behind etc. Truculence power is way too high. More hitting penalties please.That stupid big tipper need to be removedLots of matches where is only speed skating and wrist shots from the blue line because of big tipper.

There is a real possibility that we have all played enough games to this point and have gotten used to / adjusted to how it plays. Now it just feels natural like every NHL does a few weeks in.

What is going on with the gameplay, seriously? I play EASHL competitively and it’s like a completely different game as of last week. Can you roll back on the tuner or something? We’re back to skating in straight lines to burn the D, the skill gap is gone again. It’s all about straight line speed again just like last year. Please fix? You’ve completely taken the fun out of the game with the latest changes, good team play does not get rewarded. Stop catering to 12 year olds who only know how to skate in straight lines.

It’s not the nature of social media though… it’s my entire club, and all the other people I play with that are experiencing this. We played the night before the latest tuner and the night after. Something major happened overnight, and it involves either the speed of gameplay, skating speed, or the player overalls are too high and making the game feel arcadey. We all felt it, the game was borderline unplayable. In fact, a lot of us have lost interest in playing competitively because the game doesn’t feel competitive anymore nor does it reward team based play and individual skill. It rewards speed, tiny builds, and people that abuse the game mechanics such as speed boost while hitting.The people that come on here to voice issues like these are typically the biggest fans/investors in the EA NHL franchise. They tend to play that game a lot, for some on a daily basis. To see such a dramatic change happen overnight, especially right after a tuner update, is suspicious to say the least.Let’s say you’re right and the dev team hasn’t changed anything on their end. Should you consider the issues we’re having, amongst the plethora of unaddressed issues from years past that plague this game, or are you here to deny and antagonize anyone who thinks differently? Would your team ever consider updating the game to reflect the changes that your hardcore fan base wants to see such as slower game speed, better matchmaking, best game location, etc? Why remove features that have actually worked well in the past?Such a strange business model. EA would actually make more money if they applied the feedback from the community, but they continue to deny any wrongdoing, remove functional features, release “tuners” that “enhance” the gameplay experience, and re-release said functional features as new features years later. There were some really nice additions to NHL 25 and we’re grateful for that, but to go backwards a couple weeks in via tuners or whatever have you, while not addressing things that are clearly not popular (fix the matchmaking!!) puts a sour taste in a lot of people’s mouths.Mind boggling.

Something changed in the gameplay...

Misterkevv7
New Traveler
17 days ago
Another example of a long loading.
https://youtu.be/bH_22OK2a_g
- EA_Aljo
  Community Manager
  17 days ago
  Yeah, that's pretty long. I'd like you to power cycle your equipment with the following steps: unplug your modem/router and console. After 2 minutes plug in the modem/router. Let them come back online completely. Then plug in your console and start it up. Let me know if that helps or not. Thanks!
  - Misterkevv7
    New Traveler
    15 days ago
    Already done. No changes.
Theleisku
Seasoned Novice
15 days ago
Yes, CPU very hard win now, they block every my shot, tackling every time and very aggressive get puck back they. And i win superstar every time before yesterday patch. now I can play very seriously if I want to beat them and still I don't win they. And CPU goalies beast, he save my every shot and my goalie don't save anything because CPU learned how to score bug goals and goals, which no goalkeeper can saved.
Misterkevv7
New Traveler
13 days ago
The full pressure against CPU doesn't work. We are spending more energy for being in THEIR zone with full pressure on than it cost them being pressured.
How despise all that they're still in the green energy wise and they're able to move that fast?

It's not the first time it happens, full pressure just doesn't punish CPU enough.

https://youtu.be/wy3gpNzZb1k
- Misterkevv7
  New Traveler
  12 days ago
  Rumor has it that to this day, Mittelstadt is still falling on the ice from that one handed bump by a full pressured CPU that had to turn back and proceed to not loose any momentum to bump that hard...
  https://youtu.be/m0Y1BKQNu4g
- Misterkevv7
  New Traveler
  12 days ago
  Full pressured CPU proceed to easily resist a sticklift, while full pressured, and win a battle on the board, while full pressured, then make a pass to his teammate that skates 2 zones at full speed, while full pressured, and losing only 1% of his stamina, while full pressured.
  Do you start to see how it makes no sense? It's not fun. And not because that's hard. Because that's not fair..
  Also CPU can snipe your goalie big time and we can't. All those videos were on all stars..
  https://youtu.be/p8HgBnsY-3w
- Misterkevv7
  New Traveler
  12 days ago
  Martin Necas
  Height 6.03 -- Weight 195
  
  Ragdolling Zdeno Chara
  Height 6.09 -- Weight 250
  
  Like he's a piece of paper.
  
  https://youtu.be/1A58whUQmPg
EA_Aljo
Community Manager
24 days ago
As mentioned previously, nothing has changed with gameplay speed. We are specifically avoiding doing that. I'm not guaranteeing it will never change, but it hasn't so far. As with every year, the community adjusts and adapts to the new gameplay. The speed has not been modified from launch.
- Manster54White
  New Vanguard
  23 days ago
  Could you please ask them to do something about the length of time it takes a player to get up after a "big hit." Either the time it takes to get up should be reduced or the referee should blow the whistle the instant the injured player's team gets the puck.
  No NHL referee would let someone lay on the ice that long without stopping play.
  It would be REALLY nice if we could see what strategy our player is supposed to be using in BE A PRO
- Misterkevv7
  New Traveler
  23 days ago
  What about the other things? How is there way more interceptions from behind without even looking at the puck? You can't even make a breakout pass if there's other guys in a 3 meter area of the guy you try to reach, even if they're NOT facing the puck and couldn't technically intercept it.. Because they would.
  
  Why small bumps makes you loose the puck and fall on the ice for 5 meters as if we had 3 in balance?
  
  What's up with passing in the o-zone? Something feels off.
  
  The AI difficulty in Squad Battle and moments is exaggerated (too aggressive, too much hitting, it's like they're playing NFL, I don't know) and there's definitely something off with the PRO difficulty, it seems even harder that the other difficulties..
  
  And the slow menus, specifically in HUT, is there a patch that can be done?..
  - EA_Aljo
    Community Manager
    23 days ago
    All that's changed is what has been listed in the patch notes. Nothing else.
    
    Can you get a video of the slow menus? I'm not aware of other reports of that.
    
    I'm also not aware of any issues with the Pro difficulty. I've been playing on Superstar personally. Haven't tried Pro yet.
    
    I'm also not aware of issues with passing in the O zone. That's something I'd need video of. I do a lot of passing in my O zone and they seem to be working fine. What's your online pass assist set to? If you're playing offline, what do you have your passing slider at?
FIRELORD_Chem
New Novice
21 days ago
I actually see it the same way, but at least the bug is gone that the gameplay settings before and in the match were constantly reset to default! (Learning AI and AI strength put down by half)
But also on half of the standard AI settings unfortunately I currently do not have the feeling drn guest you sank exactly as you wanted it and in it is jahuuu .. , but no the best shooters meet either ernen. Player, or the goalkeeper fishes him away, goals fall you mean by chance or distraction so my star players have almost no goals on their account but the players of rows 3 and 4, with whom the goalkeepers do not seem to be serious and absent with regular own goals incl. !
In short, the AI plays unfairly again, felt 80-90% of all passes / shots are intercepted / blocked. Even unsustainable and additional shot are parried, then the AI runs on my goal to a 2-3 body illusion in it eat the thing and everyone can do that in league 2 ... I try this even with top players I either lose the punk or hang on an opponent / fellow player and does not come from the spot ..
I want to be challenged by the AI yes preferably even to be defeated, what I do not want is to be cheated or to be favoured by the AI with goals that are impossible in the last game and now fall by themselves
I play EA NHL actually are their first part on the SNES and are NHL14 now again every single series offshoot
NHL 20 and NHL 22 (until both games were patched) were so much fun!
Please orient yourself to it.. sometimes less complicated is better... what good is the mega racket tricks if 90% play hybrid, and this year you can do even less than before! That starts with the passing and stops at the blatant goal Dekes .. and in between lies a mege!
Ps: NHL 21 is not even mentioned because of the then missing XBOXOneX (NHL20 had it) support and the so blatant regression to the previous year and should not be forgotten, and not to mention it anywhere to offer it as a full price game! Shame on you )
Ps: small question why do the jerseys look just at the presentation and jersey choice even on a Series X as if they were made of a large shoe box ... or a tank! Back then in NHL 20 (XoneX optimised) it looked much more realistic and better! If only with the current jerseys of each team (+ one Adidas jersey per team)
Sounds strange but is unfortunately sad truth (I mean optically only the jersey not the rest !!)
Manster54White
New Vanguard
20 days ago
This is MY impression of "Superstar" on this game.
The only way they could think of to make it "harder" is for the computer opponent to score on its first shift 40% of the time and on the first SHOT 25% of the time. I pride myself on defense and it is IMPOSSIBLE to play defense in this game. I play on player lock and I watch my teammates skate around as though they are blind. My goalies average about 85% saves, meaning I have to score 5-6 goals a game to have any chance of winning. It doesn't matter what kind of settings I try to use it is like MY dmen are revolving doors and the computers dmen intercept passes their backs are turned to, and flatten anyone that tries to get near the goal.
This is all a "cheap" way to "level the game up" Why not just make reaction speed less at each level and not muck around with the preordained results?
Maybe some people think it is desirable to have to score 6-7 goals in order to get a win, but I do not.
AOshier
Rising Newcomer
20 days ago
Passing is as broke and this game sucks.
- EA_Aljo
  Community Manager
  17 days ago
  Can you get me a video of this? Just publish it through your console or put it up on YouTube and provide a link in a response. Thank you.
Misterkevv7
New Traveler
19 days ago
Bumps SHOULDN'T be that strong...
On Chara.. Again.. Just to give you an idea at how overpowered they are..
https://youtu.be/-hSIAkqYDPs