NHL 26 Feedback and Rating

This game is complete garbage.  Another year of nerfing goalies/defense and letting forwards do whatever they want.

This post is such a problem. “Hats off to the team”…. Brother. They completely and totally falsely advertised the product. Purposefully did not answer multiple community concerns in the pre-order window (obviously to rake in as many pre-orders as possible, because if they answered those questions they clearly lose pre-orders) they’ve left time-wasting and sometimes game-breaking bugs in WOC for what is now around 10 consecutive releases, they mass advertised the be a pro overhaul, saying things like the experience was now “more immersive than ever” just to release a be a pro experience that has the player base begging for pricey pond hockey to come back. 

As for the gameplay, boy have they got you played like a fiddle. EANHL objectively changes their game to be different, not to improve them. This is clearly supported by them giving players on their forehand in passing lanes a much higher chance to pick up pucks compared to last chel, but completely and totally nuking the stick lift. Stick lifts in 25 were perfect. However, if they leave that the same, they’re not changing the product enough because EVERYTHING ELSE HAS SUCH MINIMAL CHANGES. Even the things that experienced big changes (be a pro) were objectively changes for the worse. The new animations & cut scenes are nice (the dressing room cup celebration is actually so sad, it’s basically a messy 5 second stop-motion clip 🤣) at the price of completely and totally nuking any logic an NHL coach would have, keeping point per game rookies in the bottom 6 all season long despite them leading their team in both goals and points. 

Wake up, do yourself a favour and learn some pattern recognition. It’s time to stop buying this product. 

alexxxer456 wrote:

Hats off to the EA NHL Team on a good game they built this year. There’s definitely some changes with the gameplay and different modes they diligently worked on this past year. Some of the impressions of the game was the speed, this years game is faster and there is better skating. Second, there is better defending. I have noticed it is really easy playing defence this year than last year as there is more enhanced backwards skating.

I am not sure if you are being sarcastic or not? In my humble opinion this year's game is worst game in ages, I'd honestly play NHL25 rather than this travesty. Of course, I am talking mainly only about EASHL, I've tried single player modes like BaP, but quickly quit.

How is the defence better? Can you post some videos? I am just despairing how useless defence is this year, opponents just waltz through you or around you, and if you manage to poke the puck, it just flops back to opponent. You need to be seriously good d-man to achieve anything, whereas offensive players just LT around you like it was the premiere of the Swan Lake. 

It's precisely the improved speed and agility that's ruining the game. That and the LT and Truculence. 

There's been many posts about the poor defensive tools, OP xfactors, lack of penalties, stupid pressure system, or the arcade troll fest that is the threes mode. In summary, I think this game is a hot mess, beyond repair. Unless the devs pull out a miracle out of their orifice... 

Wait what... what game are u playing.. you must either work for EA.. or ur getting paid for this review 

Sgt_Kelso wrote:

opponents just waltz through you or around you

That's a you problem, my dude.

Sgt_Kelso wrote:

if you manage to poke the puck, it just flops back to opponent.

Again, a fundamental misunderstanding of how poke check has changed this year. It's not a possession changer. It's a disrupter. As such, if you execute the mechanic in poor position, you will not get the same result you would have in NHL 25. 

Sgt_Kelso wrote:

offensive players just LT around you like it was the premiere of the Swan Lake. 

If players can LT you at will, then you are defensively deficient. Take note of your gap control and how quickly it diminishes, especially up against WHEELS and adjust. People aren't doing this and getting burned. Rather than actually take the time to see what's changed and how to adapt, people resort to blaming the game and taking zero responsibility.

Sgt_Kelso wrote:

It's precisely the improved speed and agility that's ruining the game. That and the LT and Truculence. 

Truculence is 100% OP and needs to be taken out. Clubs who abuse this have zero skill. They think they're insanely gifted because Truculence typically means, in 3s, that it's always a 3-on-1. They pump their little one timers, yuck it up in the chat and think they're amazing. The reality is they're knowingly abusing the mechanic. The good thing is when these teams face actually good opponents rather than fishing for low-skilled teams, they get absolutely smoked because a lot of us have figured out how to adapt in the face of wheels and truculence. 

Sgt_Kelso wrote:

There's been many posts about the poor defensive tools

Yes and most of those complaints come down to a lack of accepting responsibility. People want mechanics that bail them out rather than mechanics that keep them honest. 

For me playing defense is too easy. Even with everything maxed to the CPU advantage with sliders, I win about 8 out of 10 games. The CPU does not manage to get any pressure going in my zone. NHL 26 is too easy. Also, the animations for the physical aspect are very bad. Goalies have better animations though.

One of the worst sports game on the market hands down. EA just keeps releasing a weak product with minimal changes. Really wish 2k had control over the hockey rights. They could hire monkeys to develop their version and it would blow this game out of the water. This game is absolutely pathetic and will just be the same reskin/release next year. EA do yourself a favor and sell this game over to 2k. They actually have a clue about how to make a sports game. Y'all can go ahead and throw this game in the garbage, its awful.  

Maybe listen to the community, revert some changes made that were idiotic, add content that's actually valuable (be a pro is sad, even though completely revamped), and make changes to things the community has been raging about for years now.  EA has too many games under their belt, and the one embacile you have working on this one is trashcan dan. Please sell the rights to this game to someone who will actually do it justice. We love hockey and u guys keep producing a crappy game every year. 

Lmao what game are these guys playing?

This game is a train wreck in almost every sense.

dfhiijklmm wrote:

Really wish 2k had control over the hockey rights.

"Hockey rights" aren't a thing. Anyone can make a hockey game.

dfhiijklmm wrote:

They could hire monkeys to develop their version and it would blow this game out of the water.

Time to step up, champ. In today's age of vibe-coding, you could develop the hockey game of your dreams.

dfhiijklmm wrote:

They actually have a clue about how to make a sports game.

2K does a lot of the little things right, but from a pure gameplay standpoint, they were always abysmal when put up against EA's NHL gameplay. There were a lot of animation sequences that you were forced to watch play out. It left you feeling less control over your players than the EA game did. 2K also did a really good job with puck physics. They really made you feel like the puck was a different asset from the player's body model. EA does that to an extent now, but there are still moments you feel like the puck is glued to the player animations. 

I also really loved how 2K integrated online versus play into their offline season modes. Meaning; if you were getting tired of playing against the CPU in your offline franchise, you could just select an option to search online for an opponent in your next game. 

dfhiijklmm wrote:

Maybe listen to the community, revert some changes made that were idiotic, add content that's actually valuable (be a pro is sad, even though completely revamped), and make changes to things the community has been raging about for years now.

As we see evidenced here from time to time, what people perceive as a 'problem' with the game usually turns out to be a skill issue. There are surely bugs and nagging issues that should be addressed, so don't try to make a claim about how I'm saying the game is perfect. I'm not.  But a lot of the 'rage' you see comes from people who think they should win games that they aren't. 

dfhiijklmm wrote:

Please sell the rights to this game to someone who will actually do it justice.

EA doesn't hold exclusive rights to the sport of hockey or the NHL. Anyone, including yourself, can make a pitch to old Gary Bettman to acquire an NHL licensing deal.