I've played little over two seasons now and I thought I'd share some of my thoughts here.
I play as a LW (I was supposed to be a RW but chose LW by accident) playmaker, started with All Star difficulty and 20 minute period settings. I started with playing third period of every third game and changed it to every game, third period about halfway through.
I chose to play with Edmonton because I wanted to continue "where I left off" in the previous game. I played the pre-season games, did fairly well but ended up sent down to Bakersfield which I didn't mind at all to be honest.
However, for some reason the gameplay feels very different to me compared to '16. I feel like it is maybe a little more clumsy somehow. The AI doesn't feel as good as it was in the previous game and some of the decisions the CPU makes is absurd.
After the season ended (catasthropically might I add) in the Condors, my contract was up and I had to choose between Oilers, Red Wings, Flames and Blue Jackets. I ended up choosing the Red Wings because they had the least amount of LW's.
I started the pre season in the third line and that went on until the start of the regular season. I bounced off between the first three lines throughout the season. Around 15 games in, Brent Seabrook leveled me on the open ice and broke my leg. It took me off the ice for 65 days so my season was ruined at this point. About halfway in the season, the managment decided to trade away Henrik Zetterberg and Niklas Kronwall to Minnesota in exchange for a 1st pick and two really ****** prospects. They didn't stop there as they traded Mike Green away. After I returned from the injury I played 10 or so when I got injured again. This time with a fractured ankle and for 35 days. We finished the season with an awful record, I think we were last on the board.
(Just a bonus info here. At the start of the third season Jack Eichel is 95 rated, Connor McDavid is 94, Laine is growing much slower but Auston Matthews is highest rated on the Leafs. Also for some reason the game has taken the "C" away from the likes of Crosby, Ovechkin and Stamkos.)
At the start of the third season my pro is 79 rated. I am now playing third period of every game. I started well in the pre season, again in the third line. I worked my way up to the second line where I am playing with Dylan Larkin and Teemu Pulkkinen. Things are going well for us and my pro is #1 on the scoring in the league. Our record is looking a lot better and things are clicking well. The Red Wings prospects are not developing the way I'd imagine though, excluding Larkin. Also it feels like that Mrazek might not be enough for a cup run.
My goal for this season is to try and stay healthy while making it to the playoffs. I don't value ending up high in the scoring that much at this point at least.
Now I thought I'd also make a few random points and situations about the game. I'll admit some of these points might be irrelevant to most of you as I am not that good in the game.
- As I said the AI is very random and frustrating. On your opponents side, I've faced maaaaaaany ridiculous deflection goals which just would not be possible in real life. Also getting the puck to the net seems very hard at times as the oppositions defense gets you or your passes no matter what.
- Badly aimed shot penalty........WHAT?!
- Aiming the puck seems a lot harder compared to '16. I don't know if this due to the low shooting accuracy or a change in the game but even though I try to be very gentle with the aiming seems like the puck is trying to hit a homerun.
- Fighting. Whenever the opposition hits my teammate hard and the fighting thing pops up, I answer the call and then all of the sudden he won't drop the gloves and we both go to the box for two mins. What's up with that?
- Invisible poke checks. Now I don't know if I'm the only one with this issue but it is so freakishly annoying and stupid. I've watched tons of replays and seen it many times. The defender doesn't even use poke check and might be very far away from me but still the puck leaves my stick.
- Bugs. One time about half of the players on both sides turned black skinned, one time the players faces disappeared and the game has crashed a couple of times.
- And finally the thing we have all been talking about. Why don't they revamp and develope Be A Pro. They had a good thing going with LTL and compared to FIFA or NBA, the NHL version is lacking a lot and has a lot of room to improve. I don't need cutscenes or anything like that from the FIFA Journey but Internationals for one would be a great addition!
All in all I am getting used to being disappointed every year on multiple aspects of the NHL games. There is so much that can be done better but EA is either holding everything back for the upcoming releases or they are lacking the motivation and talent to research fans opinions in order of making a game worthwhile of playing.
Wow that was a long text! I think that's it and grats if you've read it all