What happened to EA??? They used to be so... average.... at making hockey hockey games. This one is a complete mess. The goalies are non existent. Even with the sliders all the way to 100, the goalies are chain link fences and the puck is a BB. The computer ALWAYS scores. There is hardly a shot that they make that doesn't go in. I am watching them score after score after score and defense is a joke. However, their defense is always on point. My defense and offense seems to have taken an extended lunch break. The computer, just barely touches you and you lose the puck quickly. You touch the computer and they continue skating with the puck. You drop them and they get up and get the puck back. This is NOT hockey. There is no way that the computer is this good on semi-pro. Easy is too easy and they are idiots on the ice, but on semi-pro they seem to be a bunch of Ovechkin's, Gretzkey's and Roy's out there. I noticed that the tuner is barely at 1.00. Are you telling me EA gave up on this game already and is not updating the tuner? I just bought this game and now I know why it's always on sale on PS4 and is getting bad reviews and rants on reddit. I think that if EA doesn't fix this mess of a game I'll just go back to NHL 19. At least the goalies "somewhat" saved goals better in that game. I really wish EA would actually watch a game and talk to real NHL players because this game is horrible.

Thank you for your reply. As it stands I can’t really play this game any longer. It’s so unlike hockey that it can’t be designed by people who know the sport. It’s gone downhill over the years and I should have heeded the reviews, I’ve tried everything. Moved the sliders, changed the difficulty, used a highly defensive team. Nothing seems to work. The AI is just atrocious. You can’t touch the computer but the computer touches you and your flat on the ice while they are scoring against a great goalie with the highest slider rating in every category. It’s as if the goalie isn’t even there.I’ll just let the game sit dormant and hope for an update to strengthen the goalies and defense and stop catering to the computer, because as it stands, the game is completely unplayable unless you put it on super easy and tie the hands to the computer so much that they look like bumbling fools out there. I don’t know what EA was shooting for but this game is still an arcade game and nothing like a sim, even though I have it near full sim. It’s almost like HtThe Ice. Remember that game? This is that game.

I appreciate the response but the goalies are absolutely horrible. Like I said, even at the highest rating in sliders the goalies are chain link fences and the puck is a BB. I can share the shots on goal for the computer and show video of how easily they score 90% of the time they shoot. This is by far the worst NHL to date and I just bought it yesterday and am about to uninstall it for NHL 19. That's how bad the defense and goalies are. It's a complete mess. Every year EA boasts of all the changes and better goalies and whatnot but do far EA hasn't lived up to their word. I'm getting tired of seeing the computer skate to the net, make a move and score every single time, regardless of my defense. I've been playing NHL games since the days when you made them for Genesis. From the beginning. I've bought each year except for last year and was contemplating this year and went ahead anyways. I regret that decision. I should have heeded the reviews saying how bad the goalies were this time around. Please, fix this mess. This is not hockey, this is not even a sim, it's arcade hockey where the goalies belong in peewee hockey. These goalies are horrible. They stop nothing. I switched it to rookie and still the computer scores goal after ridiculous goal after pathetic goal while my goalie just sits th3re looking like he's taking a dump. It's horrendous.

I'm seeing the computer dance on in and do a couple moves and they beat the goalie every single time. It's like my goalie isn't there. I appreciate that it may not be happening to you, that's usually the case with developers for some reason, but for us, the players, it happens frequently. I've bought games where I experience bugs but the developers say they didn't and never fixed it for we the ones who have experienced the issue. I see it a pot in games these days. Games get the green light but they are put out half finished. Cyberpunk ring any bells? Money was their desire, not a finished game. Same goes with other developers. Sims 4, another EA title, has the same bug that EA refuses to fix. I really wish an EA rep would contact me on that game too. This is the hockey game we are dealing with however. I've loved the NHL series since it began but I just can't play this one. The goals against are not realistic. Not at all. I don't know why the goals against are so easy for the computer but all I know is that the game needs some proper AI adjustment patches immediately. As it stands it's like having a pulled goalie. He's useless in net.

I've been playing the franchise for years and it has nothing to do with me needing more practice. The goalie AI has gotten worse over the years and it doesn't matter how great you are at defense the computer mostly scores on the goalie almost every single time they shoot. Not only that but the computer AI is always faster than your skater, all the time. When it's my AI Player chasing after the computer with the puck they overtake them easily. The moment I switch over to the player manually is when the speed drains and they leave me in the dust, even if I'm holding or tapping the speed button. Makes no difference. There is something in the mechanics that needs fixing. It's been like this for years and hasn't changed.

I had it on semi pro but the computer was scoring cheap goals, you know, like crashing into the goalie and the puck trickles in. One of the bugs that has never been fixed in years. Even one where the goalie gets pulled out of the way when he's crashed into and another computer player gets the puck and puts it in the net easily. I switched it to the easiest setting but there is no challenge as even my goals go in easily on this level. The whole difficulty scaling is so unrealistic and has been for years. Easy is too easy, semi pro is harder, much harder, and pro is forget about ever scoring at all and getting scored on easily.And the same issue where the computer is way faster than any of my players, even when I'm controlling the guy close to him. It's almost as if the AI knows I'm going to switch to that character. As soon as I switch they get rid of the puck. And so forth. It's not very realistic. I skate with the puck and they just barely touch me and I lose the puck. I skate faster and it's hard to keep up with the computer players. They are way too fast to be realistic. I even had to turn off penalties because in the last few years you poke check and they trip up so easily and a penalty is drawn. The computer does it to you and they draw no penalty. So I made it fair by turning off penalties completely. Only fighting gives me a penalty. Goalies are at 100 but the sliders are useless.I want to like this game, coming from NHL 19, which I most likely will go back to since I doubt there will be an update for 21, but I just can't get behind it. I end up turning it off when the computer starts getting goal after goal in a matter of seconds. Seconds apart from each other. My AI teammates are a joke. They are never in place to receive passes, they don't cover me, they are always behind the play, they are hardly ever open. Like I said, I've played previous installments and never had this many issues. I don't know what else to do. I even lower the difficulty in the AI, AI learning, etc, but the computer disregards it completely.

NHL 21 complete mess! | EA Forums

31 Replies

TTZ_Dipsy
Hero+
5 years ago
There is no input and reaction lag on the AI's part so it can definitely seem like something's up - I'd still recommend adjusting your strats to be purely defensive and for you to stay in the middle since your ai puts highest priority on covering what they deem to be positional mistakes.
NHL only ever gets 1 or 2 patches so that's why the tuner number is so low. Plenty of real players have played thr game so I know they have a lot of real feedback in that regard
DyreLogan
5 years ago
Thank you for your reply. As it stands I can’t really play this game any longer. It’s so unlike hockey that it can’t be designed by people who know the sport. It’s gone downhill over the years and I should have heeded the reviews, I’ve tried everything. Moved the sliders, changed the difficulty, used a highly defensive team. Nothing seems to work. The AI is just atrocious. You can’t touch the computer but the computer touches you and your flat on the ice while they are scoring against a great goalie with the highest slider rating in every category. It’s as if the goalie isn’t even there.
I’ll just let the game sit dormant and hope for an update to strengthen the goalies and defense and stop catering to the computer, because as it stands, the game is completely unplayable unless you put it on super easy and tie the hands to the computer so much that they look like bumbling fools out there. I don’t know what EA was shooting for but this game is still an arcade game and nothing like a sim, even though I have it near full sim. It’s almost like HtThe Ice. Remember that game? This is that game.
TTZ_Dipsy
Hero+
5 years ago
I hear ya - you notice it a lot when circling with the puck and going for pokes; the ai just seems to always be able to counter. In these types of situations though I tend to launch up and immediately change players to pincer to cause a big juicy hit.
I remember seeing a fairly decent ice hockey game from an indie developer on the store last week but that'd probably be more akin to 3on3 arcade. In any case, a break will always do some good -- PS+ has been killing it lately and Game Pass is top notch
DyreLogan
5 years ago
THat was another thing I have a problem with. You mentioned circling the puck and the AI always counters. I've noticed, not just in this game, other NHL titles by EA as well, that the computer is always faster than you, no matter who you use. Even if you increase every players speed the computer will always have a huge edge on you. Which makes it much harder to poke check or get in front of the computer to get the puck or stop the play.
I know these sports games are nothing more than copy/paste code from previous years and they add a couple new features and call it a brand new experience but this time around they seemed to forget to add defence and turned up the computers difficulty while spending no time on player ability. I do hope they come out with another patch and tuner soon.
EA_Aljo
Community Manager
5 years ago
@TTZ_Dipsy

Every time there was a new tuner, people complained it ruined the game. We also get accused of adding stealth changes that aren't in the patch notes. This is also a reaction to the complaints every year that the beta is better. So, the dev team only makes a tuner update when it seems to be absolutely necessary.
EA_Aljo
Community Manager
5 years ago
@DyreLogan

The game is not copied and pasted. There's a lot that goes into the game with each new release. Of course, it's built on top of the previous generation of games, but we don't take last year's game and change the year on it.

The computer players aren't faster, but they are excellent at conserving their energy. Humans tend to hustle when they don't need to. They also rarely let their goalie cover the puck. When you pass it out, your players just get that much more fatigued which lowers their attributes. You'll probably see a difference by covering the puck and manually choosing which lines you want to use. I play on Superstar and have had no problem keeping up with the AI players, but I'm also very careful about managing my player's fatigue.
DyreLogan
5 years ago
I appreciate the response but the goalies are absolutely horrible. Like I said, even at the highest rating in sliders the goalies are chain link fences and the puck is a BB. I can share the shots on goal for the computer and show video of how easily they score 90% of the time they shoot. This is by far the worst NHL to date and I just bought it yesterday and am about to uninstall it for NHL 19. That's how bad the defense and goalies are. It's a complete mess. Every year EA boasts of all the changes and better goalies and whatnot but do far EA hasn't lived up to their word. I'm getting tired of seeing the computer skate to the net, make a move and score every single time, regardless of my defense. I've been playing NHL games since the days when you made them for Genesis. From the beginning. I've bought each year except for last year and was contemplating this year and went ahead anyways. I regret that decision. I should have heeded the reviews saying how bad the goalies were this time around. Please, fix this mess. This is not hockey, this is not even a sim, it's arcade hockey where the goalies belong in peewee hockey. These goalies are horrible. They stop nothing. I switched it to rookie and still the computer scores goal after ridiculous goal after pathetic goal while my goalie just sits th3re looking like he's taking a dump. It's horrendous.
EA_Aljo
Community Manager
5 years ago
@DyreLogan

Are you seeing 90% of shots for and against you count as goals? I haven't been experiencing this personally and we're not getting other reports of it. I'd like to find out why this is happening to you.
DyreLogan
5 years ago
I'm seeing the computer dance on in and do a couple moves and they beat the goalie every single time. It's like my goalie isn't there. I appreciate that it may not be happening to you, that's usually the case with developers for some reason, but for us, the players, it happens frequently. I've bought games where I experience bugs but the developers say they didn't and never fixed it for we the ones who have experienced the issue. I see it a pot in games these days. Games get the green light but they are put out half finished. Cyberpunk ring any bells? Money was their desire, not a finished game. Same goes with other developers. Sims 4, another EA title, has the same bug that EA refuses to fix. I really wish an EA rep would contact me on that game too. This is the hockey game we are dealing with however. I've loved the NHL series since it began but I just can't play this one. The goals against are not realistic. Not at all. I don't know why the goals against are so easy for the computer but all I know is that the game needs some proper AI adjustment patches immediately. As it stands it's like having a pulled goalie. He's useless in net.
EA_Aljo
Community Manager
5 years ago
@DyreLogan

We're not getting many reports about this. If you're letting AI players skate around until they get good scoring chances, they're probably going to score on you. If you can get some video showing the problem, that will help. Are you playing manual defense or do you control one player and sit in the middle while letting your AI teammates defend for you? What difficulty level are you playing on?