NHL 26 Be A Pro Mode Feedback
Wanna start off by saying some of the new additions since NHL 25 have been great. I have some negligible gripes with the VA work, but muting works great. However, some things have stuck out to me as either "immersion breaking" or "confusions not necessarily tied to user issue." I'll detail what I can.
Story & Progression Path
Story-wise, having put a few months into it, I can say I do like some of the depth options available early on in the game. However, it seems to be missing an ability to go undrafted if you truly wanted to work from the bottom up in that way, which I found disappointing.
The path from World Juniors → chosen championship → NHL is a nice addition to the overall setup of your player's story, but it felt lacking. The "late addition" of your player could've been influenced or discarded by playing a few games up to the World Juniors break. However, this is still far inferior to previous years being able to play at least a season with your junior team prior to the NHL. That would allow you to personalize your player's growth in the direction you want.
If you opt to simulate between the Chosen Championship and the draft/NHL season, there is no minimum expected growth. This instead incentivizes you to advance day-by-day to gain and spend the energy (which can result in missing out on 10+ trait points and multiple X-factor points). Simming that gap could at least yield 2-3 points each and a little boost to brand likeability.
Learning the Game & Coaching Feedback
There should be some optional way for the player to learn how the team's system/strategy operates. The game having the ability to practice different scenarios (breakout/rush/OZone) could actually help them learn how to play their position aside from reading positive/negative feedback checklists from the bench and looking for positional aids or player coverage indicators.
Coaching feedback/grading does not always line up logically and sometimes it's laughably off-base. For example, if you're playing LD and they blow by your partner on the outside right boards while you're covering your check for a passing lane, you get marked for the odd-man rush and bad line defense if they score as though that's no longer your partners assignment, but the game dings you for missing your assignment. If you block several shots on a play leading to the opposition scoring, you also shouldn't get marked for "bad line defense."
I'll accept and actually praise the game for realistically wiping my energy to 0 for blocking a shot with my face, but them scoring after should not negatively reflect on me for making consistent effort. I should have teammates offering me ice cream after the game if anything.
Challenges, Dialogue & Playstyle
Challenges have generally poor functionality. My agent gave me a 3-assist challenge in 1 game, so I saved prior to and replayed that game 30 times with 3-5 assists and never once did it work, so taking the "brand hit" on that felt discouraging.
Dialogue options often don't line up with intended results. If you want an easy and quick example, start a Be A Pro and compare the responses for role selection of Defensive and 2-Way Defensemen — they're flipped.
Playstyle of player is not very relevant to how a coach grades your performance. You're still expected to put up offensive metrics in order to maintain solid performance. I think at most, it might change requirements for challenges?
Lastly for dialogue, let the player exhibit some character, let them give some pushback, If I get healthy scratched while on a point streak, I should be able to tell the coach it was a dumb move. Or holdout on the team that drafted you if you wanted an random draft but didnt like the team. ELC negotiation/calder win/finalist bonus negotiation. Some "star" type responses from previous games already showed some capacity for being allowed to be a bit of a **bleep**, so this doesnt seem too far of a stretch.
Setup, Rosters & Simulation Realism
The initial "setup settings" for Be A Pro prior to starting the career should have roster options. Current or default roster options would be a nice starting point, but it would be cool if roster updates also added scripted trades for Be A Pro when players move throughout the year. For example, if you were a Wild or Canuck in December, you'd see the switch to/from Quinn Hughes from/to Marco Rossi/Zeev Buium/Liam Ohgren respectively.
If any of the modes should have an ability to tout "Full Hockey Simulator" as its sale point, it should be Be A Pro. But even with the same slider presets across multiple games AI will still randomly pop in 8 goals in the first period or 5 in between your shifts 2 mins apart (maybe add a franchise-like shot/goal frequency simulation setting?).
Let me play some dump n chase without losing XP for the goalie grabbing it behind the net. Instead, it feels like the only playstyle the game tries to reward is "The Next Gretzky" where points/goals/assists are all that matter. It should focus on rewarding smart/well-played hockey. An A+ performance from a Defensive Defenseman or Enforcer looks dramatically different from 1st/2nd line franchise tier forwards, and getting dropped down the lineup for not producing to the same level is absurd.
