NHL 26 early wishlist (let’s make NHL great again)
First off I will say nhl 25 is actual a huge step up im liking it so far , but it’s missing some details to feel complete.. full presentation needs to return and add more to what we had in the past games In edit player menu have the ability to change the color of sticks and gloves (nhl 2k had this) and now players have been customizing their own as well. Customizable tape job (adjust length on shaft and blade and not have it preset) And add the ability to edit goalie masks. hitting and collisions need to be tweaked to more realism. Franchise: be able to control more than one team able to scout and sign players from other leagues(I.E europe) Real coaches or at least customizable coaches A customizable GM character, have conversations be shown like it is in fifa where your Gm Meets the player. office similarly to dynasty mode in nhl 2004 On the hub where we get details of what went on in other games we can see highlights (either by clip or a screen shot) with description such as ‘stamkos nets a hat trick in last nights win’ and a small clip or screen shot showing stamkos scoring his 3rd goal. Be a pro: change up the whole be a pro game mode make it more like life the life. ability to use NhL players to continue their career or an nhl legend Street clothes for off days and make it interactive. If I buy a condo or a house i want to actualy see my self living in it. Same with the car we get, be able to drive around (a small map) and not just be a attribute boost. Pond hockey pick up games you can walk to or drive to when you leave your ‘house’ Call it a ‘hall of fame room’ similar to skybox 2k had in nhl2k5 where you had the Stanley cup and other interactive stuff and unlockables. Be able to decide to start from being drafted at 18 or create a 30 year old forward who just signed with an nhl team etc.. more interactive with teammates and coaches and GM list of teams you want to be traded to etc.. extras add winter classic and all star game (skills + game) both as a play now mode and also in franchise and be a pro. player retiring playing their last game get a ovation from crowd. Announce the player will retire 1 game before their last skate with the cup (playoff mode, season mode , franchise and be a pro) Tweak the fighting engine and allow more than one fight happening at once. this is a lot of an ask, but if we can get half of these implemented we are definitely heading Into greatness with NhL games.
Disappointing defaults Same Old Same Old
I enjoy the franchise building and playing part of the game and one of the things I do is try to set the game so it generates results as close as possible to real NHL results. SOME of this can be accomplished using the sliders, but one thing you can't fix with them is the TOTALLY OUT OF CONTROL hitting. See attached. In ONE game there was a TOTAL of 148 hits (7 minute periods) There were two guys in a heap on the ice MOST OF THE GAME. What is worse is that I had the AGGRESSION set to 1 out of 100 because of how ridiculous the hitting has been in previous years. Seriously? THIS YEAR IS EVEN WORSE. If I hadn't also turned off injuries there would have been about 10 in that game. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?
My Week 1 Issues
My issues after the first days of play on PS5. Visual Issues Snow effect is cool, but unrealistic and way over the top, no player gets that much snow on their pants. Contrast/saturation issue. Darks are too dark, weird lighting on crowds. Replays are broken, specifically after the opposing team gets a penalty a replay of a past goal will be shown. Final couple frames of goal celebration animation result in aggresive and choppy character deformation. No NHL/AHL preset colours are in the creation zone. This has always been a feature and the idea to remove this is a backwards move in terms of improving the game. Cannot rotate player in the player customization screen, nor in the club creation zone (restarting the game fixes this, but I shouldnt have to). Not an issue but would like to see team logos added to the scoreboard. The team did a great job with it, its just a tad bare at the moment. Gameplay Issues Grudge match is triggered despite having never played against any of the opposing players. Goalies let in far too many weak goals (bouncing of goalie and dropping in/own goals). Goalies do not react at all while in butterfly if the shooting player is in close, same issue for using RS to slide. Matchmaking settings need to be present, this has been a setting for as long as I can remember and serves no purpose to remove from the game. Overlapping menus/input while in the eashl locker room and WOC store. While pressing L1/L2 in the storefront, the menu for player loadout was popping up. See attached clip. Despite addressing the issue last year, we are back to square one when it comes to the full pressure bar. The community was displeased last year and wanted the bar to fill slower. With that in mind the pressure bar increases too fast (entering the zone and taking 1 shot almost fully filled the meter). Vibration randomly turns on and off throughout games. After a whistle, a syncing loading screen pops up, and then disappears after the puck has been dropped and the faceoff either won/lost. Performance Issues Menus are laggy, this is unacceptable for a next gen only game, and needs optimization. Lag is particularily bad while in the WOC store. Syncing is occuring frequently, my guess is that this is due to the matchmaking features that were removed, so we are no longer able to find a local(ish) game. Audio Audio balance is poor. Skate cuts are way too loud, same thing with pass noises it sounds unrealistic and unpleasant.
Same Old Game
Part of this is on me. I get my hopes that at some point EA will wake up and realize there is a passionate fanbase for the NHL series and they will actually take time and consideration in making a good game. But alas, here we are again with the same old junk year after year. Take this as you will, maybe you love the current state of the game. I'll start with the positives, few as they may be. New Scoreboard - I personally appreciate this. Last years was way to flashy, distracting and didn't offer much to the gameplay. Having it simplified at the top like a classic sports broadcast is a nice touch Skating - I think the skating sees alot of improvements in this years game. The positioning of players is more noticeable and the flashy edge work and dodging of skates/sticks/etc is very fresh. Doesn't change the gameplay a whole heck of alot but its really nice. Menus - While still not the best of any game out there, im very thankful the menus appear drastically faster and less bloated, especially online play. Less navigating, more playing is always better. Franchise rework -Although most of it is visual, the new hub is extremely nice. Very similar to the menu point, less bloat, more play is always preferred. HUT - While its not my personal favorite game mode, seems like they made some nice tweaks and people are enjoying it for the most part. Don't want to speak ill of it having not tried it There are a few more positives from 24 but lets talk about some very obvious glaring issues: Pressure System -Get this the F* out of the game. I have not seen one positive review about this since you implemented it, and 25 is the worst version of it yet. While not a fan at all, the end of 24 was at least bareable, albeit still annoying. But now, A simple big hit or fluffy shot will give them full pressure. Have you watched a hockey game in your life? Has a week shot from the point that gets deflected into the corner a REALLY HIGH PRESSURE scenario? Commmmmme on EA. pretend you know the sport for 5 mins. Be A Pro - FIVE, FIVE YEARS of the same garbage crap. I refuse to believe there is too few players playing this game mode to justify not updating it AT ALL for 5 years. This is just lazy and pathetic. Its not even new voicelines, its just the same "OUR SCOUT UP WATCHING POND HOCKEY FOUND A NEW RISING STAR". Enough. Please do something different with it my god World of Chel -Just redo the whole thing. The menus suck. The hockey bags suck, the store is slow and rarely works properly. The Loadouts are by far broken and the worst thing you've added to any game. I love playing against a 5 foot nothing guy who has 99 speed, can dangle and shoot, and can throw those lovely hip checks that you are so in love with. Really makes unique and fun gameplay when everyone does it.... While we are at it, thanks for removing group size matching and regional matchmaking. 120ping against people across the country is fun. Announcers -Nothing against the people themselves, but my god they could be the worst choices for a hockey game. cebulski reading cheap, poorly written jokes year after year is endlessly annoying. I'd love not to mute them for one version. Whoever wrote "THEY ARE OUT HERE PLAYING D&D. DUCK & DIVE HAHAH" needs to look at themselves in a mirror. Goaltending -As someone who has played goaltending from the moment it was added, the last 3 years have been awful. I ended up refusing to play last year because of how dogwater it felt to get scored on by the same 3 shots because your animations make zero sense. Now 25 has somehow outdone that with the AI goaltending. Please watch or at least PLAY your game for 10 minutes and tell me how the AI for goaltending made it into the game. The goals are week, boring and the same burst of speed past a defensemen to beat and utterly out for lunch goalie is ruining almost EVERY game, offline or online. Ice-Q -ummmm. we did create something new here right? Because you sure hyped it up. Somehow the AI, specifically online got even worse. EVERY, and I mean EVERY play is a breakaway because your defensemen get stuck on the blue line trying to navigate the new skating you gave them. NOBODY gets into position for any sort of play. I'm lost at what is different from last year? Sure, I might be able to blow past D-men as McDavid, but Cody Ceci? I can literally take any slow dman, skate with speed burst and get past everyone for a breakaway almost every single time I try, and this is on Superstar BTW. Feels like there are no difficulties when every single play is the same. Price -This is useless to bring up but whatever. Every single triple A asking for 89.99 for a base game, or X amount more for early access is getting exhausting. If I didn't have a discount I wouldn't have gotten this game, but granted I make content for it, I felt inclined. But NHL 25 is beyond a joke. Should you buy it, that's up to you, but please watch some reviews/videos for it. It is VERY much a "DLC" vibe from NHL 24. Not alot changed, its a bit flashier, but its the same exhausting issues that the last few versions had. I'm in Canada, and the Deluxe version is 139.99 Before tax. What you get is 7 days early, a handful of garbage customization for Casual Online Skater, and some HUT stuff (which as mentioned before, I, Nor alot of people don't even play). EA should be ashamed of this price. It is far from worth, and far from an improvement of 24. Having said all of this, I hope your experience is better than mine, and near release, they make some much needed changes. At this point, I cannot recommend this game to anyone, let alone feel inclined to play it much myself. I have once again fallen for the hype they overpromised, and very very strongly under delivered. There's always next year right? (A hopeless leafs fan)
We lack the computing power for Mouthguards... this is getting frustrating.
You know not everyone wears there mouthguards incorrectly, right?Why is the only option to wear it wrong. Make it so helmets can be sitting on top of your head, not strapped too. Sometimes people do that, so it should be the only option. Untied skate laces as well. And you are telling me you just lack the ability to put a visor on a Jofa helmet? You can't because you don't have the power, the the know how, or the technology doesn't exist. If you listen to anything I've said. MOUTHGAURDS GO IN YOUR MOUTH.
