NHL26: Philosophically Bankrupt
As a long-time (20 year) player of the NHL series, I’ve grown used to the ups and downs that come with each year’s release. I love CHEL, but feel it has gone downhill literally every year. The focus is on finesse scoring, but in practice, it feels like shopping carts with 90 mph wrist shots. It's obscene. NHL 26 feels like a breaking point. It’s not just a matter of constant bugs or tuning issues — the gameplay itself feels fundamentally flawed. Many of the features EA promised to fix, such as reverse hitting and skating animations, have somehow gotten worse. The result is a game that looks less realistic, feels less responsive, and plays like a downgrade from previous years. I spent $150 between Xbox and NHL to skate this year, and it was not worth it. I will not for the first time in my life be purchasing next year's NHL game.
The first major issue is reverse hitting. EA highlighted this as one of the improvements for this year’s version, but in practice, it’s completely broken. Players either miss hits entirely or glitch through awkward, unrealistic animations that destroy immersion. Reverse skating is equally frustrating. When players move backward, they lose all control and momentum, making it feel more like steering a shopping cart than controlling a professional hockey player. These are basic gameplay mechanics that should feel smooth by now, but instead, they make every match feel clunky and disconnected. This is not their first attempt to fix this, and I'm tired of giving chances.
Another major problem is the scoring balance — or lack thereof. Scoring in NHL 26 is unbelievably easy, to the point where it doesn’t feel earned anymore. There are several cheap, predictable goals that players can pull off from any side of the net, and they work almost every time. It’s not about skill or creativity anymore; it’s about memorizing the same three broken moves that the goalie AI simply can’t stop. That brings me to the next problem: the goalies.
Goalie AI has somehow regressed again this year. They’re slower, weaker, and more predictable than ever. It feels like the goalies have only one or two programmed reactions, and once you recognize their pattern, scoring becomes automatic. This completely kills the competitive integrity of the game. Instead of adapting or reading plays, the AI just repeats the same lifeless movements over and over.
Finally, one-timers have completely taken over scoring. The power and accuracy behind them are unrealistically high, and they’re far too easy to execute. Nearly every online match devolves into a one-timer fest because it’s the most reliable — and broken — scoring method in the game. When every player is forced to play the same way to win, the variety and strategy that make hockey exciting just disappear.
In short, NHL 26 feels unfinished and unbalanced. It rewards people who dont know anything about hockey and cheap tactics for cheap goals versus dumb goalies. The core mechanics that define the series — skating, hitting, and goaltending — are all in worse shape than they’ve been in years. Instead of improving realism and depth, this year’s game feels like a shallow, arcade-style experience built around exploits. EA needs to stop relying on cosmetic updates and start listening to the community’s feedback about gameplay fundamentals. Until then, NHL 26 will stand as one of the weakest entries in the series.
