NHL 26 Gameplay Feedback — Core Systems Are Broken

Passing has got worse

Can you get some video showing how passing has gotten worse?

Stick checking vastly worse

This is one we're aware of. Poke checks could use a boost, but they still work very well when not spammed and from a good angle.

L2 has gotten worse. Was part of the marketing. 

The change to LT/L2 didn't have the results we wanted. Most likely, a true fix will need to wait for a future game.

Backskating is barely usable 

Can you provide some more details on this? I personally use backskate a ton. The same goes for everyone I play with and go up against. So, I'm not sure how it's barely usable. If you're talking about speed, of course you're not going to go faster skating backwards than you do skating forwards. I play D exclusively and will skate forward to build a gap before pivoting to backskating.

Faceoffs, icing, offside, broken glass, crazy bounces, five hole, tummy saves, goalies sliding, thether auto going back,  matchup quality, numerous errors in matchmaking. Matchmaking glitches, erasure of club jerseys and colors, pressure system, stamina, AI was marketed as improved- way worse than ever. Animals and creatures in club games, hits after you beat someone has got worse. Stick Checks, shooting and hitting on same stick causes interference pen - new in 24 (worse). Doc and Olcyck and Ferraro pre game in between period breakdown. Looked real now worse . Commentary, Less logos. In game server boots,waiting for other team to quit so you dont lose xp in a stalled intro,  penalties in general, backhand beauty, hipster, x factors in general, overall momentum change, less jerseys, worse goalaie animations, etc.....

Some of this I agree with. I'm not a fan of the fantasy characters. AI was improved, but it's of course not going to be perfect. Thankfully, you can let drop-in players play on your club. I've had a lot of good luck with that. You say it's way worse than ever though so if you can get some video comparing when they were better and how they're behaving now, that would help.

hits after you beat someone has got worse

What do you mean exactly? Are you talking about late hits?

Stick Checks, shooting and hitting on same stick causes interference pen

Going to need video examples of this.

In game server boots

Can you explain this better? Are you disconnecting frequently?

waiting for other team to quit so you dont lose xp in a stalled intro

I've seen this many times myself, but it normally only lasts several seconds without anyone dropping out. If someone quits/disconnects while loading into a match, that can cause the game to hang, but it normally recovers.

penalties in general, backhand beauty, hipster, x factors in general

Can you give me some more details? What about these makes you think they're broken? I don't know that I've seen anyone even use hipster in 26. Hip checks were out of control in 25, but I hardly see them used now.

overall momentum change

I assume you mean ice tilt. It's not real. Moving on...

worse goalaie animations, etc.....

Again, need some details/video.