Just got NHL 18. Some good, some bad.
May 9, 2018 5:09AM
edited May 2018
Well just got 18 because I don't pay full price for these games. For obvious reasons. It's not as bad as a lot of people made it seem. Definitely plays better than 17 by a long shot.
The good:
Active sticks. Cool to see the AI actually getting sticks on pucks and slowing down shots. Too bad my team mate ai doesn't do this?
Goalies seem a lot better. Haven't had any serious stinker games just because I'm dominating like 2017 used to do all the time.
Ui menu is way better.
Controls feel better and more responsive. Dekes still take way too much effort for the handful of the players that can actually do them.
Shooting seems more realisitic. Still miss the net sometimes at 80+ overall. 2017 I could put it in the top corner everytime.
Haven't really had time to see player development. But having teams actually buy your ufas at the deadline is an awesome change.
Players don't get in the way as much anymore! I can actually skate around with the puck without getting cornered by my own team. Like the defense pinching on the offense too.
Like the amount of stick contact too. Easier to knock pucks loose in close up battles.
The bad:
Your ai is still stupid and you still try to make up for it with cheap tactics. The ai will let me. Skate around the net and put it in side post everytime. No resistance to that at all. The defense doesn't switch and try to cut you off. The ai doesn't make any plays at all. Just straight bang on passes and instant puck recovery to even up the field.
Fix the friendly AI defensive ai. They don't get into shot lanes. They don't get sticks on pucks. They don't track down their guy and stick to him.
Make these guys play different. Every team plays the same. Every player plays the same. Put some game book plays in there to make teams different. At the very least for the NHL teams.
My ai still doesn't recover the puck. It can be floating right by my players stick and they won't grab it "uhhh where did it go?" the AI will instantly recover the puck after being like checked or body checked. Same cheater moves you used in 2017.
For as much stick battling as you added, players do nothing in front of the net anymore. Have them poking at rebounds, or at least get out of the way of a slap shot. Literally hit sooo many players. They were way more active in 2017. This was a note able step back.
Skating is still sluggish. Cant even grab the puck and spin away from the boards to avoid getting stunned. Such a weak turning radius for professional skaters. Stop and starts are super sluggish too.
Goalies still break to easy too. Work for 3-4 goals. But once you get those the team just breaks down. They become an ohl team at best.
Add force to poke checks. The weakest touch of the stick on a player is instantly tripping. Players skate through that all the time. Anything hitting the knee at the peak of your swing should only have a chance of tripping someone up.
And cleanup the poke check from behind. Very few players just swing for the fence. Players with great puck control pick pucks off sticks from behind. Shouldn't always just be a baseball bat swing at the puck.
Defense stick is useless. What was the plan there? You need to hit the puck with your stick to do anything. Too bad the stick is the slowest moving thing in the game. Useless.
It's a small step up from 2017. So good work on the improvements. But you guys really need to get the AI together its killing you.
Oh. And fix the AHL trade for a player and the say he's new every game, bug already. That's been around since 2017.
Edited to clean up swear filter effect
The good:
Active sticks. Cool to see the AI actually getting sticks on pucks and slowing down shots. Too bad my team mate ai doesn't do this?
Goalies seem a lot better. Haven't had any serious stinker games just because I'm dominating like 2017 used to do all the time.
Ui menu is way better.
Controls feel better and more responsive. Dekes still take way too much effort for the handful of the players that can actually do them.
Shooting seems more realisitic. Still miss the net sometimes at 80+ overall. 2017 I could put it in the top corner everytime.
Haven't really had time to see player development. But having teams actually buy your ufas at the deadline is an awesome change.
Players don't get in the way as much anymore! I can actually skate around with the puck without getting cornered by my own team. Like the defense pinching on the offense too.
Like the amount of stick contact too. Easier to knock pucks loose in close up battles.
The bad:
Your ai is still stupid and you still try to make up for it with cheap tactics. The ai will let me. Skate around the net and put it in side post everytime. No resistance to that at all. The defense doesn't switch and try to cut you off. The ai doesn't make any plays at all. Just straight bang on passes and instant puck recovery to even up the field.
Fix the friendly AI defensive ai. They don't get into shot lanes. They don't get sticks on pucks. They don't track down their guy and stick to him.
Make these guys play different. Every team plays the same. Every player plays the same. Put some game book plays in there to make teams different. At the very least for the NHL teams.
My ai still doesn't recover the puck. It can be floating right by my players stick and they won't grab it "uhhh where did it go?" the AI will instantly recover the puck after being like checked or body checked. Same cheater moves you used in 2017.
For as much stick battling as you added, players do nothing in front of the net anymore. Have them poking at rebounds, or at least get out of the way of a slap shot. Literally hit sooo many players. They were way more active in 2017. This was a note able step back.
Skating is still sluggish. Cant even grab the puck and spin away from the boards to avoid getting stunned. Such a weak turning radius for professional skaters. Stop and starts are super sluggish too.
Goalies still break to easy too. Work for 3-4 goals. But once you get those the team just breaks down. They become an ohl team at best.
Add force to poke checks. The weakest touch of the stick on a player is instantly tripping. Players skate through that all the time. Anything hitting the knee at the peak of your swing should only have a chance of tripping someone up.
And cleanup the poke check from behind. Very few players just swing for the fence. Players with great puck control pick pucks off sticks from behind. Shouldn't always just be a baseball bat swing at the puck.
Defense stick is useless. What was the plan there? You need to hit the puck with your stick to do anything. Too bad the stick is the slowest moving thing in the game. Useless.
It's a small step up from 2017. So good work on the improvements. But you guys really need to get the AI together its killing you.
Oh. And fix the AHL trade for a player and the say he's new every game, bug already. That's been around since 2017.
Edited to clean up swear filter effect
Post edited by Socair on
1
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Replies
I'd have to disagree simply for the fact it moves sooooo slow. The AI will deke around your stick in seconds. Much better to just hit r1 when they're at the perfect range and hope it works. Most of the time you'll knock the puck loose just for them to insta spin around and grab it again so I guess either point is moot. Against other players though, I can definitely see the appeal.
Another negative point I noticed, some players just won't receive a pass. It seems tied to a stat because some will stretch and reach for it, and some will watch it go by a foot from there. Maybe it's the same stat that governs puck recovery. But it seems to be set far too low. Professional NHL players shouldn't have passes go by them regularly. Once in a while I can see them goof. But this is pretty consistent.
Also need to allow us to skate while puck protecting. Not just glide. Lots of players skate while puck protecting. It's literally a choice of having some of the best puck movers in the world instantly lose the puck to the AI poke check or protect it and loose all speed. The games designed to be purely passing plays. Dekes don't do a whole lot, puck protection doesn't do a whole lot. Things you should look into that'll make the game more interesting.
Supposed AAA developer in 2017 (at the time) on these pretty powerful machines and they release this atrocious menu system. It's truly pathetic to me. Ever played MLB? It's lightning fast. They don't bother with "phone transitions" like slide-ins, zoom in page changes, ect. Sometimes I wonder what they're doing over there.
But if you just got it, it gets a lot worse. The AI is simply terrible, D literally skating away from puck carriers and whatnot. The title needs a ton of work.
Just played BAP and there's really no major changes there. It's a little easier to get experience. Don't need to score a hat trick every game to get a passing grade anymore. But it's close.
The God awful fighting system drives me nuts though. And its gotten worse. What the hell is all the pushing and tugging? It's not a wrestling match. We aren't in the mma going down the ground game. Go back to punching each other in the face. And stop forcing my BAP to fight just because I had an awesome CLEAN hit. I'm the star player on the team. Not dropping my gloves.
Edited swear filter effect