Can't deny it anymore.

[GOilers88]

Been a looooongtime fan of the series. I get the new one each year. I'm not sure why but 17 has really been an eye opener to me as to the laziness of EA. I don't play online, so my input comes only from offline modes, and mostly GM/Franchise. There's just so many goddamn glaring issues that I can't be supportive anymore. Everything from penalty calls to the always talked about "ice-tilt", to terrible AI, to the impossible task of switching to the desired player. I've never been a believer in ice tilt. I was always on the side of momentum shifts, as happens in real life. But the sheer frequency at which I will completely and utterly dominate teams in every facet of the game and still lose astounds me. I just had a run of 7 of 10 games on my franchise where I would outshoot my opponent somewhere in the range of 35-40/10-15 and some how would still wind up being scored on three or four times on complete trash sequences and shots and lose the game. It never matters whether my goalie is a 90 or a 70. When you can see the tides turning and you know a goal is coming, it suddenly becomes near impossible to properly select the player I want, my AI constantly skate away from the puck, and it becomes insanely hard to receive a pass. You can absolutely destroy a guy with a hit check, then all of a sudden have three of my players skate for the puck and be unable to maneuver around the motionless pile of crap I just laid out, and he somehow retains possession, dekes around everything and scores on a completely soft shot that was seen all the way.

The hits. I no longer believe physically dominating the opponent has any benefit to your team. I can be up 40 hits on a team, like complete trainwrecks for hip checks, and come the third period, all four of my lines are gassed and my opponent is all fresh. What the hell.

I imagine I'm not the only one to be mind numbingly frustrated by this stuff, and maybe it is just the way I play, but to consistently do everything better than the computer and just as consistently come up short for the same reasons is boggling to the mind.

I also set up a new franchise with the Oilers and simulated the whole season with injuries off. The first run through I went 21-50-11. I started over with the exact same team, strategies, lines, and no injuries and proceeded to go 62-11-9. It seems like everything is just completely random Everytime and the stats and ratings mean absolutely nothing at all from one play through to another.

Get your ****ing **** together EA. It's pathetically inexcusable.

Click to read more...

 

[Edmonton East]

EA only cares about 1 game mode. The money maker: EASHL.

The gameplay for H2H or offline GM is unbearable. Until Sean Ramjagsingh is finally shown the door, the series is dead to me.

Goalies get stuck in save animations. Can't find the puck constantly when it's right next to them. Allow zone entry blue line floaters.

Passing is very inconsistent. No, I don't mean inaccurate. I'll be aiming up ice to my forward breaking out of my zone and at least a couple times a game the guy throws it to the adjacent defender or just randomly into the boards.

The best way to sum up the H2H or GM gameplay is this: Ever coach or watch 4 year olds hockey or soccer game? You know, where everyone just blindly chases the puck/ball and it's just fluky bounce after fluky bounce? That's NHL 16 and 17.

It is blatantly obvious this game was not even tested before being finalized. Stopped playing it for a while. Popped it in yesterday and 3 minutes into the game, the AI opponent defender passes the puck right into his own net, through the goalie's legs with no pressure on him. The next period, my goalie allows a floater wrist shot on a zone entry to go right in the net.

 

[Soedy]

EA only cares about 1 game mode. The money maker: EASHL.

You mean HUT, right?

 

[Edmonton East]

You mean HUT, right?

Yea, whoops.

 

[Diddy]

Yeah. Alongside the ice tilt bologna and terrible goal tending some things I find very annoying are:

How frequently I get pinned up against the boards. It's ridiculous. Johnny Gaudreau can pin Ristolainen against the boards and you'll never escape. Plus you can be going full speed and instantly get pinned.

Whenever you clear the puck and the other team gets it, your defence will skate up to the blueline letting the other team enter the zone and blow right past them.

There needs to be a situational awareness with these guys. It's so annoying. Also passing sucks and changing players is annoyingly difficult. Above all though, the games just not fun. No game mode is fun. Eashl is if you have enough friends to get a 4,5,6 man team and even then it was better in 14 (as was the whole game) when you could customize your guy and team.

 

[Soedy]

Whenever you clear the puck and the other team gets it, your defence will skate up to the blueline letting the other team enter the zone and blow right past them.

Oh yeah, I hate this so much. Happens atleast once per game for me. This is always the moment when I just want to go back to NHL 2004 or ESPN NHL 2k5.

Also, momentum or whatever you want to call it, driving me nuts. I had so many HUT games where I notice after one minute, who is going to win. Sometimes I get all 50-50 battles, sometimes the opponent gets them. And it is this way through the whole game.

It wasn't that much in the beginning. I always have the feeling (also with FIFA), that to the end of the lifecycle, the players get worse so you get annoyed by the game. You then play the demo for the new iteration and it plays so much better, you have to get the game.

 

[Oscar Acosta]

Game has been absolute garbage for years this year a new record of one week before I shelved it for good.

They need to look at NBA and MLB the Show and rehaul everything. I'm certain MLB kills it in their cash cow of Diamond Dynasty but they make it fun and incentivize it with rewards and goals to attain to get more rewards and not just garbage stuff. You put in the time you get rewarded, offline or online.

NHL I can't remember their exact details this year because I stopped playing so early everything was like redeem all this junk for more junk but to get that you have to spend money. Not something that will come naturally. I noped out of that real quick.

 

[n00bxQb]

Haven't played since October (mostly due to school/work schedule but also because better games have occupied what little gaming time I have).

Figured I'd start a franchise mode game with the Canucks given I have a couple of weeks where I won't have like 4-6 hours of homework every day. No Boeser ... Hoping for a playoff roster update, but who knows.

Anyways, EA's efforts on PS4/XB1 have been atrocious.

 

[Frosty415]

1000% agreed.

last time i somewhat played over 100 hundred hours was NHL 15 on the old sytems, since the new gen I been playing less and less.. 15 for next gen was bad, 16 was a reskin of 15 with the same glaring issues, 17 which i paid 90 CAD was an absolute waste of money, since getting EA access I'm never paying directly for a new NHL game, I'll wait for it to hit the vault.

EA needs a whole revamp... new everything.

I wish for the day 2k announces a new NHL 2k game.

 

[GOilers88]

I was playing a game against my friend the other day. He slashed, and broke the stick of a guy who didn't have the puck, no call. He went for it, I circled and hip check destroyed him (cause I have no stick), and I get called for crosschecking.

For real. Without a stick.

 

[PlamsUnlimited]

EA makes garbage cause there's no other good NHL game out there in this age. There's no drive to get better when people get sucked in by microtransactions in one game mode

 

[Pikesburgh]

I actually have to disagree. I'm loving NHL 17. With all the sliders they added, I've recently started playoff mode and have had a blast. I've only been playing Be A Pro all year, but decided to finally play regular games. so far all my games are 2-1, 3-2, 4-2, 3-1, 4-3, all realistic, close scoring games. AI learning/CPU difficulty are the "AI cheat" sliders. Turn them down a bit (maybe you already have) and that should eliminate the ice tilt. I haven't experienced much ice tilt to be honest.

 

[Kcoyote3]

I remember back in the day the NHL games actually used to win best sports game of the year every year.

Now it's a trainwreck.


There are exactly four ways to score:

Wrong-handed D-D one timers
2 on 1s
The exact same unstoppable breakaway deke
Far off snipes to the top corner

That's it.

Also, low shots are useless almost always. Crashing the net and garbage goals are so very rare. The skill stick feels like a fancy way to make your player move his stick left or right. There's no "holy **** that deke!" feeling like you would get when they first introduced the skill stick ages ago.

I feel like what's the point in having an aiming system if all I ever do is jam the stick to the top corner left or right each and every shot because I know that's the only place the goalie doesn't immediately save.

 

[NDiesel]

I'd love to boycott NHL until they improve it dramatically, however NHL games have always been my favourite, so until there is another viable option I will keep buying EA's NHL - and they know this. What's the point in significantly improving it when there is no competition!

Also the poster above me is spot on with the goals. There are 4 main ways of scoring and there isn't much of a point in shooting low at all...

 

[kanucks25]

I'd love to boycott NHL until they improve it dramatically, however NHL games have always been my favourite, so until there is another viable option I will keep buying EA's NHL - and they know this. What's the point in significantly improving it when there is no competition!

Yup. They have no reason to improve because the same idiots (like me and you) buy it every year no matter how bad the product is.

The series was at its best when they had to battle it out with 2K Sports. Now they have absolutely no reason to invest resources into it.

HUT is obviously a major problem, too. They are probably okay with losing some game sales here and there 'cause HUT revenue more than makes up for it.

 

[hockey17jp]

I took a long break from NHL in favor of NBA 2K during this school year, and after coming back in this last week it's clear that the game just sucks.

Terrible UI, everything is super clunky and terrible. Look at 2K. Everything is seemless and the loading times are super fast.

Passing sucks, aiming your passes sucks, shooting sucks, hitting is almost pointless. Half the time the guy you hit keeps possession of the puck anyways. I also can't stand when you line a guy up for a hit and your player randomly sidesteps the target. Pokechecking and stick lifting is completely useless as you just get penalties any time you press the button.

Ice tilt is totally real. In GM mode I can outshoot the opponent 40-15 and only win the game 4-3, even with 93 overall Bobrovsky in net.

Interference is called soooooo tightly in EASHL it's almost gamebreaking for me. If you finish a check less than a second after the guy passes the puck you get called.

GM Mode. Morale sucks and actually serves no purpose in the game. Scouting sucks. The simulation time sucks. The menus in the game suck.

The only way my friends and I enjoy this game is by turning the hitting sliders up and making it like a modern day NHL Hitz.'

NHL is a terrible terrible game but it will continue to do well simply because it is the only option. These losers at EA Sports can literally bring no useful features into the game and it will still sell. I just wish they had the integrity to make a game they could be proud of. It's crazy how there are entire forums full of fans saying exactly what needs to be improved and it still doesn't get better.

 

[IHaveNoCreativity]

I still play NHL 2004..

 

[Bluesguru]

I think the game is great. If you play it the right way and follow the flow of play realistically like the game was designed to play, you will find this game is very enjoyable. It's pretty awesome IMO.

 

[McDrailers]

I think the game is great. If you play it the right way and follow the flow of play realistically like the game was designed to play, you will find this game is very enjoyable. It's pretty awesome IMO.

I see you used the world realistically there.

to describe the game where NHL defencemen on two on ones skate to the corner, where players can't pick up pucks in their feet (**** off seamless pickup ********), where goaltenders flop around like fish, where a player like Dion Phaneuf can outskate Micheal Grabner.

There is almost ZERO realism outside the team/player names.

 

[Emery]

I've reached my boiling point; this game is pure ****

Franchise mode can be fun, but as soon as you play a game it ruins everything

Every single game goes like this: you'll score first, probably on a breakaway. Then you'll take a couple penalties, and your opponent will score a PPG to tie it. 2nd period you'll get another goal probably a tip off a point shot. 3rd period it'll look like you will win outshooting your opponent 30-10 then they'll always without fail get the equalizer with 3-5 mins left. Then it goes to overtime. And I swear to God. Every time they'll get the winner on the same ****** wrister from the slot cause 2 of your AI do a half assed defensive effort leaving him open to wire home the winner.

Good ****ing riddance thank God I have FIFA GTA and NBA 2k.

 

[hockey17jp]

Lol this game is not realistic.

In real life a player doesn't keep hold of the puck after you hit him.

In real life you don't get called for interference every single time you finish a check.

In real life defensemen don't magically poke the puck off your stick every time you enter the zone.

In real life you don't have a 1 week window to negotiate contracts with all of your players.

I could go on.

 

[Bluesguru]

Quote of Newfy OilPenguin -

"I see you used the world realistically there.

to describe the game where NHL defencemen on two on ones skate to the corner, where players can't pick up pucks in their feet (**** off seamless pickup ********), where goaltenders flop around like fish, where a player like Dion Phaneuf can outskate Micheal Grabner.

There is almost ZERO realism outside the team/player names."

When I said "follow the flow realistically" I meant when forechecking you try to maintain the fluidity of the teams/players rotation on the forecheck. Instead of taking players out of their rotation, which is what most players do, follow the intended flow of the player on the forecheck when switching players. When you do that, the game plays out pretty awesome.

 

[GrkFlyersFan]

NHL17 is the best one since 13. Better than 14, or incomplete 15, or last year's unplayable abortion, but it's still a far cry from basically 10-13. It's cleaner than last year, but still a chore to play at times. The online gameplay is still cumbersome, but they did fix the faceoffs and clean up a lot of the glitches.

 

[AOSC]

I miss PS3/XBOX 360 NHL 14.

 

[member 262271]

Honestly, I've bought the game every year, except the first jump to next gen. Not any of those years did I find it worth the price tag, the improvements made/new features are a lot of times (quick example being beards/long hair for players), things they've had before and taken out for no reason, gee how enticing!

Being able to edit current players is also a must, only because of the utter lack of attention to detail from EA, I get no one is going to look like the player aside from big names, but if a guy is blonde make him blonde.

For me, when they took out 2 player for Franchise/GM Mode, and this was back in 2008ish I believe is when my interest really took a nosedive. I understand it's hard to make be a GM two player what with all your GM duties, but to me that was the most fun you could have in the game with 2 players.

Regardless, I've been buying it year after year, looking forward to September. Now however, it will be November or October i'll be looking forward to, when it's on sale. The amount of features changed and roster update is DLC territory, not worth the full game price tag, hopefully EA can evolve a bit with the times.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, Ice Tilting is definitely a thing. A game where I outshoot the computer 35-15 say, I score 3 goals and they score 3 goals, it's utterly ridiculous. The only solid strategy in this case is uhhhhh... don't ever allow a shot on net? If you're looking for good goalie stats in Be A GM mode, good luck. Youd 'd be lucky to get .900% goaltending in any given game.