NHL 19 Information/Discussion Thread

[Ziggy Stardust]

Watching this and..... the game still looks slow, and the players just look even more akward now.

Noticed the same, some of the turns look slow and sluggish, still see a lot of old animations, in particular with the goalies and their "puck pickups" still look bad. The teammate AI also seemed pretty much the same as before, with them not presenting the user with any good passing options.

And seeing how people are already being given sealed copies of the game, what we're seeing is pretty much a finished product.

The in-game audio, from the commentary to the lack of crowd ambiance is also unchanged.

 

[BogsDiamond]

Watching this and..... the game still looks slow, and the players just look even more akward now.

Might be unfair, but with only video to judge right now, the game looks the exact same as it has over the past 5+ years.
The gameplay looks no different at all. The skating animations look smoother, but I didn't see where it actually altered the gameplay.
And those jersey's still look terrible. What material are they made of? Looks like something Cake Boss would use.

 

[Beauner]

Watching this and..... the game still looks slow, and the players just look even more akward now.

yeah the skating looks all wonky. You can see the elements of what they were featuring with crossovers/dynamic skating and whatnot but it just looks weird. The players themselves also look graphically weird.

 

[Cor]

Watching that video, here's my notes;

- Commentary seems to be a bit more fluid, but still not great.
- Offensive Zone AI still sucks
- Skating, while it looks different, doesn't seem to be that different. Players still look slow.
- They seemed to do a lot of crowd shots, like after whistles and stuff. Felt weird.

GameInformer also decided to use a jersey for the Leafs that haven't been worn since like 2004, and those older jerseys always make the players look worse than the newer jerseys, so that was a poor choice as well.

 

[BogsDiamond]

yeah the skating looks all wonky. You can see the elements of what they were featuring with crossovers/dynamic skating and whatnot but it just looks weird. The players themselves also look graphically weird.

The biggest problem with this series right now is that they started on rocky ground with this generation of consoles.
They built a really poor base and it's still affecting the series years later.
We'll likely have to wait 3-4 more years until the XB2 and PS5 come out.

 

[raymond23]

Watching this and..... the game still looks slow, and the players just look even more akward now.

It looks faster than 18 but that's not saying much...

 

[That Habs Fan]

Thanks! Still the coolest internet/video game thing I've eve done. I'm glad it was so fun for so many of us

I'm a 34 year old man and Bluth is still one of my fave gaming experiences to date. Nothing like it happening today.

<3

 

[Blitzkrug]

So super early impressions thus far;

>Skating for as awkward as it looks, actually feels better. Controls faster than it looks

>Hitting actually works. no more magical "let me just pull the puck into my body and magically deflect any contact" and now guys, while still protecting the puck actually get impeded/stopped while doing so. Also physics based in the fact even little midgets like Marchand can nail guys if they're skating fast enough.

>One game, but it seemed like the whole hit guy and then watch him magically get up and recover possession is gone. Guys that get hit like a truck not only stay down, but they actually take their time getting back to their feet.

>AI feels like it's been nerfed heavily in the offensive zone in the sense they don't glue you to the boards the moment you get close to them. Thank ****ing god. Offensive AI is still kinda dumb, but at least with the board play nerf puck movement is a thing now.

>I always wanted poke check on a cooldown somehow, but making it an automatic penalty if you screw up seems to work just fine. No more poking guys from the side/back and getting possession. It's basically an auto penalty now as i've learned

>World of Chel is stupid, but fun. More options for people who don't want to commit to a serious EASHL team.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Holy shit i haven't bought the game in 3-4 years and watching the gameplay it looks like the SAME EXACT GAME. Same stupid ref with the robotic signals, same terrible tripping animation, same exact arena sounds...so f***ing terrible. Another pass for me.

 

[542365]

Skating is much better.

 

[PB12]

Hey guys so i got a question on the legends. Are we going to be able to use them in be a gm mode. I know we were able in NHL 12. I love the idea of having so many legends. For example puting Alex Ovechkin, Adam Oates, Mike Gartner, Rod Langway, and Scott Stevens take on Crosby, Mario, vintage Jagr, Coffey, and whoever(Gonchar is a Cap!).

 

[TGWL]

Does the Beta have any offline mode or is it online mode? Was thinking of downloading it now.

 

[542365]

Does the Beta have any offline mode or is it online mode? Was thinking of downloading it now.

I think it’s only online. That’s all I saw anyway.


After playing 3 games I feel like the skating, while it looks goofy, is quite a bit better. The turns and edgework are much better. You can stop and start and make sharp turns much easier. The acceleration is quite a bit better too. Skating and pause menus are the only things I’ve seen that are noticeably better. AI still bad and the goalies are awful. The poke checks have been nerfed into the ground and are basically automatic penalties. I guess another thing I like is that it appears that 5-hole is a legitimate scoring option. I’ve seen 3 in 3 games which is a lot more than 17 or 18. Could be a fluke though. The cheese goals still work and short side is painfully easy to score on.

 

[Dylonus]

I know its just a BETA, but this is so much better than 18. I love this entire concept of CHEL. Looks great!

 

[Patrik Barkov]

Atleast they've clearly made big gameplay changes.

+New skating feels and looks pretty great
+Hitting and collisions look and ferl way better
+You can throw mean hip checks
+Five man cellys
+Deking feels a bit better
+Can't spam pokechek anymore

-Shooting, goalies and passing is pretty much the same
-Glitch goals still here
-No new dekes
-Same old commentary

Overall I feel surprisingly satisfied with the four games I've played so far.

 

[Dreakon13]

I decided to sell NHL 18 while it still had some value, take a break for a month or two, and put that money towards NHL 19 (Xbox One). Debating if I want to preorder, or maybe wait a week or two after release and skulk around eBay to save an extra $5-10. Between that and the $20 or so I got for NHL 18... that wouldn't be too bad. Probably end up being my tradition to lessen the cost of the yearly roster update.

Glad to hear people have some positive notes from the beta. Is the beta available to everyone? Could I go download it now if I wanted to?

 

[grentthealien]

Do I need PlayStation plus to download the beta? And is this only for online play or can I play offline in play now as well?

 

[Glennsoe]

Beta has only online play...

 

[grentthealien]

Beta has only online play...

Well that sucks. I’ll probably just use my free PS plus account offer now just to try the game out then. I was hoping to test out the AI with the new RPM system though.

 

[Rhaegar Targaryen]

Holy, penalties galore. I just finished my game and I had eight tripping penalties.

I'm not even much of a poke spammer, but I use it as a form of defense to close gaps and position myself better. Every second poke was a trip lol.

 

[Blitzkrug]

I ****ing love how they have seemingly gotten rid of the AI opposition being able to glue you to the boards and winning almost every battle. Instead of just having your OP as **** computer do it, now YOU have to challenge the other guy on the boards. Love it.

Defense is also a lot better. Now it's a combo of poking/body play to actually shut the opponent down.

Only complaints thus far is the offense AI is still dumb as bricks and every player seemingly looks like they spent way, way too long in a tanning booth. I assume the latter is a glitch.

 

[fredligh]

+
Skating and the game feels a bit faster, nothing revolutionary though
Chel was fun with the free for all and drop in threes, even though with lots of bonus pucks the game could end in under 2 minutes and you have to go through the matchmaking process once again.
Pokecheck galore players wont like this game, finally, had a game that took almost 40 minutes to finish because the other guy couldn't stop tripping my players.

-
I burst out laughing when the game started in online versus, it is the same game with the same presentation

 

[RobRayzor]

Played beta for arpund 2 hours and here are my thoughts.

Same old glitches are back.
Just tried playing EASHL drop-ins and for 7 games straight there were faceoff glitches. (faceoff loops with no time going),made me very angry.
WTH are those boosts on loadouts anyway? Why,why why? Means there's no chance for new players,while there will be tonns of boosted up players.
Playing on versus i couldn't figure out how to change players,it took me 2 periods after which i noticed that pressing right stick changes the player,but not always.
Also,at 90% at time pokecheck gave tripping penalties,tho the stick didn't always go where i aimed it to go. (f.e. i press RB and move RS to left (where's the puck),instead it aims it straight into players legs and he trips. Every time.

So far i'm not impressed at all. I will most likely stick to NHL18 for now.Maybe next year.

 

[Dreakon13]

Only could get through 2 periods of an Online Versus match in the beta this morning before work, ran out of time with all the penalties. I'm diggin' it.

The skating animation is spazzy but I like it. As the players ramp up speed, the animation reflects that now... lots of leg movement and stepping... instead of the same slow skating animation just moving faster. It'd be cool if they could differentiate the animation between players with typically longer and shorter strides... but I'll take this.

Stopping and starting, quick turns, are all really easy and effective now. Noticed it quickly since that's the kinda stuff I do. Wouldn't mind if they dial it back a little bit since it borders on unrealistic at times, but I'd hope they keep it mostly the way it is.

Checking is noticeable. Body checks are a bit more effective even when they don't land flush and big hits are satisfying (but they always were).

TONS of tripping penalties. Either they're trying to forcibly abolish people who spam poke checks, or they'll quickly dial that back. I'll be a little disappointed, but understanding, if it's the former. The game is WAY too protective of people playing as higher rated teams, poke checking is really the only option if you're like me and you play as bad teams like the Sabres religiously (they're my team damnit).

In the past, body checking only works if it lands perfectly (otherwise they bounce right off and walk right past you) and puck battles, AI positioning, skating speed defending rushes, etc are a game of chance that the lower rated team go into with an extreme disadvantage. Hopefully the improved body checking mechanics give me some more options here, but I'm not necessarily looking forward to playing against the "upper echelon" of gamers that abuse this by playing as the best teams and exploiting shit, if I can't poke check, body check or win a damn puck battle once in a while.

 

[raymond23]

Love it so far.

+
Responsiveness -- I can actually trust that my player is going to do what I tell him to do.
Skating -- funky but a step in the right direction. I don't feel like a beer leaguer anymore when trying to stop and start, etc.
Poke checks -- bye bye spammers. Learn to actually play defense. One of the worst aspects of 18.
Deflections -- back to being viable so far. Small change with big consequences.
Endurance -- I wish they'd push this even further. Would really help separate skill levels.
Game speed -- mostly due to the skating mechanics, but noticeably quicker.
Customization -- love it. It's nice to be able to have my own unique player loadout.

-
Jerseys -- it's really hard to gauge who is who in drops. I'm not sure how I feel about it.
Interface -- ugly as hell. Not sure who designed that.
Emotes -- lol.
Graphics -- they feel noticeably worse. Could just be because of the beta.

Overall its a step in the right direction. The biggest change to me is the skating, poke checks, and overall responsiveness of the game. I was up till 2am playing last night... so they must be doing something right.