Im genuinely curious if there are people who enjoy nhl 26? I am not, not at all. Franchaisemode was disappointing (same as last year) unrealistic, laggy, 0 effort in, im also an big player likeness/face scans guy, been part of forums about it for years, also an big disappointment, but that will never be fixed or cared for. Be a pro, which they hyped up, was also the same thing + Celebrinis horrible and unnecessary voice acting. And Hut…… the pay to win mode that really makes me wanna throw my controller through the tv. I have an solid team, win 3-5 games in a row, then suddenly my 89 golie lets in shots from the blueline, gets dangled and sniped by 80’s, goes on a losing streak and loses games where i outshot the opponent 40-15, my 90-91 first D-pair cant catch up to 80-82’s, heard many other players experiencing the same things….Lagging and disconnecting (Not my network i promise, checked that out) Just the ea-servers having problems. I will not waste anymore money on this. And this forum, ive looked through it multiple times,EA_Aljo cant give information or answer questions, says he is forwarding it, but nothing happends, thats Ea for you, atleast the Nhl team, so whats the point of this forum? I think the game is too big for having the flaws it have, especially when hut is such an pay to win mode.Anyway, would love to hear others opinions, Lmk

Yes I think people genuinely do enjoy it. I’m one of them.That doesn’t mean the game is flawless, or that the criticisms you’re raising are invalid. Franchise mode has been largely iterative for years. Presentation and likeness consistency can absolutely be better. Server issues are real when they happen, and HUT’s monetization model is fair to criticize. None of that is controversial.Where I disagree is the conclusion that these issues mean the entire game isn’t enjoyable or that outcomes are somehow arbitrary or scripted against the player. I enjoy NHL26 because, moment to moment, the on-ice gameplay rewards adaptation, restraint, and decision-making more than it used to. Slumps happen in real hockey. Goalies get hot. Teams give up goals they “shouldn’t.” Outshooting an opponent 40–15 doesn’t entitle anyone to a win, in real life or in a game that’s trying to model hockey rather than arcade certainty.When people describe runs where everything suddenly stops working, defenders feel slow, poke checks feel useless, goalies leak—it’s often a combination of confidence, timing, and playstyle not adjusting to what the opponent or engine is doing in that stretch. That doesn’t feel good, but it doesn’t automatically mean the system is broken or malicious.

My response is predictable, no I don't enjoy it at all. I play franchise mode only. It's a hit fest and the cpu opposition takes no stick penalties just checking penalties. It bears no resemblance to a real hockey match. But I disagree with your view on nhl25 as I have it playing nicely using my sliders set and compared to 26 it plays well. 26 is one of the worst versions I can ever remember back to early 2000

KidShowtime1867 I may have sounded to harsh, i still play, and i enjoy some parts, but i dont enjoy the game nhl26, i enjoy the franchaise and the game of hockey.I have full understanding about it being realistic which makes games unpredictable, going on hot streaks, losing streaks etc. But it is too much, your 89 goalie and overpowered defence shouldn’t go from 100-0 like it does, 80-82 players shouldn’t be able to outskate 90-92’s thats so unrealistic. Same with from having your 89-91 goalie dominating and shutting down 3-4 games, start letting in 5-6 goals a game and misspasses from the blueline for 3-6 games in a row? Thats a problem, thats not how it is, epecially in an gamemode which is about building your ultimate team and climbing the ranks to get rewards, if you build your ultimate team you should get rewarded and not getting your goalie/defence (which you couldve paid 50$-300$ for) go ghost on you, and your 90-94 wingers with tape to tape attribute not hitting one single pass. It’s too exaggerated. I could accept it if it were 1–2 matches, or if it were actually about a goalie performing worse after being at the top for 5–6 matches. But if it’s supposed to be a “realistic add-on” to the game, it would need to allow you to build the team and switch goalkeepers between matches, like a real team in a real season. And then it should be clearly stated in the description that this is how the game works. Just my opinion, i dont see that as an realistic aspect added to the game, more like broken and frustrating.

1cjijid288of wrote:80-82 players shouldn’t be able to outskate 90-92’s thats so unrealistic.Context is important. When stating it like you have, of course the faster players should be faster. That makes perfect sense.But in the context of the 90-92's being at the end of a shift while the 80-82's are fresh off the bench, the context changes and that statement no longer holds true.1cjijid288of wrote:Same with from having your 89-91 goalie dominating and shutting down 3-4 games, start letting in 5-6 goals a game and misspasses from the blueline for 3-6 games in a row?When your goalie is standing on their head for a stretch, it usually lines up with you limiting odd-man rushes, controlling rebounds, and keeping shots predictable. When that changes even slightly, the cracks show fast. Same with missed breakout passes. When pressure ramps up, lanes close quicker, timing gets rushed, and suddenly those blue-line passes that worked for three games are getting picked or deflected.Hockey is streaky by nature. In real life and in this game. The mistake is assuming good runs are “normal” and bad runs must be interference. Most of the time it’s just the game exposing small adjustments that haven’t been made yet.1cjijid288of wrote:epecially in an gamemode which is about building your ultimate team and climbing the ranks to get rewards, if you build your ultimate team you should get rewarded and not getting your goalie/defence (which you couldve paid 50$-300$ for) go ghost on you, and your 90-94 wingers with tape to tape attribute not hitting one single pass.I get the frustration, but that expectation is the disconnect. Building a high-rated team isn’t supposed to remove variance or guarantee execution. Ratings raise ceilings, they don’t eliminate risk.If attributes like passing or goalie ratings overrode context, positioning, pressure, and decision-making, the mode would collapse into pure pay-to-win. A 94 winger should make difficult plays more possible, not automatic. Tape-to-tape still depends on lane control, forecheck pressure, skating direction, and timing. Under heavy pressure, even elite players miss passes. That’s true in real hockey and it’s intentional here.Same with goalies. A high-OVR goalie isn’t meant to erase defensive breakdowns. If odd-man rushes, screens, lateral plays, and rebound chaos increase, the goalie will look “ghosted” regardless of rating. That isn’t the game punishing spending; it’s the system refusing to turn ratings into invincibility.HUT is about giving you tools, not guarantees. When expectations shift from “this should work more often” to “this should never fail,” frustration is inevitable, especially in a competitive mode built around variance and adaptation.1cjijid288of wrote:I could accept it if it were 1–2 matches, or if it were actually about a goalie performing worse after being at the top for 5–6 matches. But if it’s supposed to be a “realistic add-on” to the game, it would need to allow you to build the team and switch goalkeepers between matches, like a real team in a real season. And then it should be clearly stated in the description that this is how the game works. Just my opinion, i dont see that as an realistic aspect added to the game, more like broken and frustrating.That’s a fair opinion, but I think this is where expectations and implementation get crossed.HUT isn’t trying to simulate roster management over a season the way Franchise does. It’s a competitive, match-to-match mode. Letting players hard-swap goalies every game to chase hot streaks would actually reduce realism at the gameplay level, because it would turn performance into a toggle rather than something influenced by play in front of them.What is being modeled is variance, momentum, and pressure, not “goalie fatigue” in a literal sense. A goalie looking unbeatable for a stretch and then leaking goals usually lines up with defensive patterns changing, opponents adapting, or shot quality increasing. The system doesn’t surface that cleanly, which is where the frustration comes from, but that doesn’t mean it’s random or broken.I do agree with you on one point though: the game does a poor job of explaining this. If EA were clearer that ratings and streaks influence probability rather than guarantees, a lot of this anger would evaporate. Instead, players fill in the gaps themselves and assume hidden punishments or manipulation.So I get why it feels broken. I just don’t think it’s intended as a fake “realism add-on.” It’s variance layered into a competitive mode, and when expectations don’t match that reality, it feels unfair fast.

1cjijid288of wrote:These things are happening when everyone has the same amount of stamina.Can you share a video clip of this?Where I still push back is separating system exaggeration from actual bugs. Things like line changes breaking, players skating away from loose pucks, or all lines staying exhausted are not design philosophy. Those are legit issues, and when they happen, they undermine everything else the game is trying to do. I agree with you there. That’s not realism, and it’s not something you should have to “play around.”Where I’m aligned with you is this: the game asks players to accept variance, but it doesn’t do enough to bound it. Losing a game you outplay once or twice makes sense. Losing multiple games in a row with extreme shot, chance, and rating disparity crosses from “variance” into frustration, because the feedback loop stops making sense.So yeah, I agree there’s work to be done. I just don’t think it’s proof of hidden punishment or scripting. It’s more like systems overlapping poorly, bugs amplifying frustration, and expectations not being clearly set by the game itself. That combination is what makes it feel broken, even when the core idea isn’t.

Do people actually enjoy this game?

15 Replies

KlariskraysNHL
Hero+
1 month ago
I enjoy the game for the most part. I'm also a 6s player where it is all humans deciding the outcomes. I have a great group of friends that I game with and we just have a good time whether winning or losing.
Kaner1138
Rising Adventurer
1 month ago
NHL 26

I play BAP exclusively so that’s my only experience with NHL 26.
As unpopular as my opinion might be, I play every day and I do enjoy it for the most part.

The pros: EA improved the game by what they didn’t put in, mainly the in-game coach’s challenges which broke the pace and flow of the game and were pretty pointless. Yeah coach. I realize we’re down by a goal and we need the next one. Yes, of course I’m “up for it.”
I mean, no, right?
It’s also been pretty stable as far as freezing and crashing go, at least for me. That was an issue in ‘21 and’23 (although they seemed to remove certain cut scenes which made ‘23 better).

Cons: My single biggest issue is the horrible ai. It’s been bad for years, but when a defenseman puts it into our own goal twice in the same game and my +/- (and form score) suffers from it I get a little annoyed. And the “d” leaving the low slot unprotected and just standing off to the side: inexcusable. And it’s not much better at the offensive end. Linemates don’t try to get open in the slot, and will accept my pass in the neutral zone with plenty of open ice in front of them only to skate directly into the defense. 😡

Neautral: The patches to the energy and form score aspects have helped since the troubled release. The energy portion is more than manageable for me, but the form score is still off. I am on the first line as I’ve used some of the workarounds and only play at the “Pro” level. I’ve always had a strong defensive focus in my game regardless of position so reaching the necessary form score would be impossible for me at the higher levels. I’ll play a beautiful defensive game and even get an assist and my form score is less than flattering. It seems to require multiple apples or a goal in the mix to get the score up to where it should be. Like I said, it’s manageable but still misses the mark.

Edit: Removed profanity. Please do not circumvent the profanity filter. -CM
TTZ_Dipsy
Legend
1 month ago
You learn to let things go in EASHL when you constantly win and/or you're playing with a full group of friends you can crack inside jokes with while slamming a few beers (or at the very least you're playing with a good drop-in who knows their role and isn't deliberately trying to sabotage you), but if you have to play with bots and not fully min/max your builds you start seeing the cracks super quick.

While I love to talk hockey and stuff, I've never recommended the video game to anyone.
EA_Aljo
Community Manager
1 month ago

Lagging and disconnecting (Not my network i promise, checked that out)

What did you check exactly? Are you wired or wireless? There are a ton of different variables that make for a perfect connection. Almost all of those we have no control over. We also would be getting a far higher number of reports of bad connections if the issue were on our end. There have been times in the past where that happened and we let the community know. They were investigated and resolved. We want you all to have the best possible connection and do all we can on our end to make that happen. We can't control the equipment you use, the traffic on your network, your ISP's routing or equipment, etc. I know it's very easy to blame the servers and that's what most people do. Some of us went the extra steps to ensure we have the best connection we can. For me personally it meant buying my own separate modem and router as the equipment ISPs provide aren't always up to par when it comes to competitive gaming.

I have an solid team, win 3-5 games in a row, then suddenly my 89 golie lets in shots from the blueline, gets dangled and sniped by 80’s, goes on a losing streak and loses games where i outshot the opponent 40-15, my 90-91 first D-pair cant catch up to 80-82’s, heard many other players experiencing the same things

Let's see some video of this.

cant give information or answer questions, says he is forwarding it, but nothing happends, thats Ea for you, atleast the Nhl team, so whats the point of this forum?

There have been a huge amount of updates and fixes based on community feedback. You can see this in pretty much every patch we release. I'll be the first to admit we haven't acted on everything relayed to us. To say we nothing happens though is a 100% incorrect.

especially when hut is such an pay to win mode.

It's incredibly common these days to see people running with a no money spent team. There also has been numerous feedback that it's easier this year to have a competitive team without spending anything extra. At the end of the day, it's more about personal skill than the makeup of your team. There are plenty of times someone with a lower rated team wins due to a higher level of skill. And if you don't like playing a mode with monetization, there's always one of the numerous modes that don't have the option to spend anything extra.
1cjijid288of
Rising Novice
1 month ago
EA_Aljo Would have been so much better if you actually took the criticism and negative feedback, and opened up for discussion and help for what i am experiencing.
I’m using a wired Ethernet connection directly into my Xbox. I checked all the stats and network data, and everything shows that the connection is perfect — low latency, stable speed, and no packet loss. All the numbers and performance indicators confirm that there are no issues at all. This is the best possible setup for gaming, and my connection is working exactly as it should, yet the ea servers kicks me out in the middle of the game? And then i check the forums for Hut in Finland and many people have the same issue? Yeah gotta be on me i guess, you guys cant do anything wrong..
Let's see some video of this.
I will at some point, im not playing right now beacuse i dont see the point when the last time i played my 91 Rinne got sniped from the blueline 6x a game. Also i get kicked out beacuse ”failed to connect to ea-servers” and i get the loss and fall down the ranks. Its not often you meet teams with all around 80-84 players in diamond, but if this keeps happening im sure ill be back in silver in no time :) .

It's incredibly common these days to see people running with a no money spent team. There also has been numerous feedback that it's easier this year to have a competitive team without spending anything extra. At the end of the day, it's more about personal skill than the makeup of your team. There are plenty of times someone with a lower rated team wins due to a higher level of skill. And if you don't like playing a mode with monetization, there's always one of the numerous modes that don't have the option to spend anything extra.
I never once stated i have an problem playing an mode with monetization, i just pointed out that beacuse Hut is an pay to win mode, which it is in the end, you cant deny that, that Ea should have that drive and engagement to actually create an full rounded game, and listen to feedback that people have begged for to come, FOR YEARS, and its the small things. 100€/$ is 6000points, and you can only pray you can get anything worth it in the packs. I too enjoy and appreciate the new reward systems, it makes it easier, but not easy. And as i stated, it shall be all on skill, the most skilled shall win, even though i have spent money on the game and have an good team, the better player should win, and i have the chance to win against opponents with better team than me. THE PROBLEM IS this exaggerated extent, out of nowhere, passes dont go anywhere, players are slow, goalie disappears, players skate away from the puck, THE LINE CHANGING that keeps on sending in random players that dont play in the same line and drain all stamina from them, players refusing to go and change, EVERYTHING, all at once for 3-4 games, i do not lose every game like that, but i shouldnt be in 3OT 5-5 with 50-12 shots to me, and hitting the bar 15-20 times? If thats the touch of realism that we discussed earlier, it should be clearly stated and informed, and also not at this exaggerated extent.
And if you don't like playing a mode with monetization, there's always one of the numerous modes that don't have the option to spend anything extra.
Big Franchaise mode guy, but you guys didnt bother to change anything. You have not made the effort to add the realism that your consumers have been requesting for years. Please don’t try to claim that it was upgraded this year — it is the same as last year, and the weaknesses from 25 are clearly showing again this year. You maybe should check some other forums sometime, catch up with what people actually feel and says about their experiences. Many on facebook, reddit and OPS share the exact feelings & opinions as me, especially on the exaggerated ”losing streaks” :) . Keep up the bad job bro🫡.

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Do people actually enjoy this game?

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