NHL 21

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

I'd be happy if the gameplay somewhat resembled actual hockey. The amount of times I've seen a full on slapshot not just be blocked, but gently cradled and be picked off like a whiffed pass while the defending player has their back turned to the play with one hand on the stick is astronomical. Same with the wrist shot that gets blocked and rockets down the ice back into the Dzone.

How about when a player gets rocked, lays down on the ice, and maintains puck control for however long it takes them to get back up.

The game feels like it was made by people who haven't ever watched a hockey game, but they saw gameplay of Blades of Steel way back when and said "good enough!"

 

[IceKitties]

More than anything else... I wish they would add more features to the Be A Pro mode. I love the general concept so much, it's my most played mode along with Be A GM.

But it sucks so much when you're the best player in the entire NHL for like 5 years in a row, winning multiple cups, and when it comes time to sign a new contract... I have never ever gotten more than 2 contract offers, with 1 of the offers being my current team. That's so unrealistic that it's a joke. Imagine if free agency was actually properly scaled to how good of a player you are. There are lots of little quality of life changes like that that would make the mode SO much better.

 

[Kariya 9]

I'd be happy if the gameplay somewhat resembled actual hockey. The amount of times I've seen a full on slapshot not just be blocked, but gently cradled and be picked off like a whiffed pass while the defending player has their back turned to the play with one hand on the stick is astronomical. Same with the wrist shot that gets blocked and rockets down the ice back into the Dzone.

How about when a player gets rocked, lays down on the ice, and maintains puck control for however long it takes them to get back up.

The game feels like it was made by people who haven't ever watched a hockey game, but they saw gameplay of Blades of Steel way back when and said "good enough!"

I haven't bought one since 18. But I do love that every loose puck seems to magnetically find the opposing AI's stick. Successful poke check? Slides right to the guy behind him. Pin a guy to the boards? He kicks it through a crowd of my players to his guy on the other side of the net. Lay a hit? Gets up with possession. Block a shot? Either sits nicely in front of them or slides to his teammate like he passed it right to him perfectly. Please stop... lol

 

[sufferer]

This is kinda trivial but I would like them to count blocked shots more accurately. If an opposing shot hits you in any way, or if you're able to deflect it out of play with your stick in the d-zone, then it should count, not just when you're sprawled on the ice or crouched.

 

[gallagt01]

There are obvious gameplay improvements I'd like to see and some larger scale additions/upgrades to elements of Franchise Mode that would be welcome (scouting is on the right path but still imperfect; ditto with player dev and coaching; contract and trade negotiations should feel more realistic; etc.), but here are some more trivial suggestions:

-An "accolades" screen on player profiles. I'd like to know if players have won cups in franchise mode, individual awards, etc. It would make for a more immersive franchise mode. Likewise, why can I only see the past 5 years of award winners?

-A "scheme adaptability" or "coachability" attribute. Hockey players may prefer certain systems, but a lot of them can do it all. A high coachability attribute would offset a poor scheme fit and not tank line chemistry.

-A new Cup celebration. Multiple Cup celebrations so it isn't the same thing year after year. The ability to skate with the Cup. Make winning it feel weighty.

 

[Igor Shestyorkin]

There’s so much on my NHL 21 wishlist for ways to improve the game that I don’t think I could even list it all. The game is in such bad condition, as it stands. Gameplay and AI is purely awful, feels so arcade-ish and unrealistic, whether it’s the LT/L2 turning garbage or whatever. Anyone can say “get good” in regards to the LT/L2 turning but it’s absolute horseshit no matter what is said.

Then, as for Franchise Mode and BAP... the list goes on.

 

[Anthony5967]

There are obvious gameplay improvements I'd like to see and some larger scale additions/upgrades to elements of Franchise Mode that would be welcome (scouting is on the right path but still imperfect; ditto with player dev and coaching; contract and trade negotiations should feel more realistic; etc.), but here are some more trivial suggestions:

-An "accolades" screen on player profiles. I'd like to know if players have won cups in franchise mode, individual awards, etc. It would make for a more immersive franchise mode. Likewise, why can I only see the past 5 years of award winners?

-A "scheme adaptability" or "coachability" attribute. Hockey players may prefer certain systems, but a lot of them can do it all. A high coachability attribute would offset a poor scheme fit and not tank line chemistry.

-A new Cup celebration. Multiple Cup celebrations so it isn't the same thing year after year. The ability to skate with the Cup. Make winning it feel weighty.

They really do a horrible job when you look at it, but then again, so does Madden. Right, we can't even get an accolades screen? NBA 2k has it, and it makes the franchise feel so much more immersive. You can see a guy you drafted turn out to be a 5x All-Star and 2x Cup champ. Tracking it in a notebook is so NHL 06. Again, it's about effort, and it's clear they don't strive for more because there isn't competition coming. Once NBA Live got pressed by 2k, the tent folded. Weak. It's like coasting at your job knowing they need all the employees they can get until they put up the "now hiring" sign.

 

[Edenjung]

Can we have a better goalie ai?
And also can we have the game for pc?

 

[x Tame Impala]

Some quality of life, User-Interface improvements to EASHL would be nice. Simple things like adding a "return to home" button when you're editing your pro or your club. As it stands right now you've gotta back out of each individual sub-menu one at a time. Gets really tedious when you're editing your club's jersey or something and have to back out of 8 menus just to get back to the EASHL home screen.

Also wish that everytime i back out of a lobby I don't have to load up the latest build-tuners for 20 secodn, ready up, press A again to start matchmaking. The whole process takes too long. In general I feel like it takes way too much time to go from one game to the next and I wish they'd fix it.

Also also, if they could add an option to choose whether you want to play drop in games with user goalies or not, that'd be awesome.

 

[Green Snow Storm]

I'd be happy if the gameplay somewhat resembled actual hockey. The amount of times I've seen a full on slapshot not just be blocked, but gently cradled and be picked off like a whiffed pass while the defending player has their back turned to the play with one hand on the stick is astronomical. Same with the wrist shot that gets blocked and rockets down the ice back into the Dzone.

How about when a player gets rocked, lays down on the ice, and maintains puck control for however long it takes them to get back up.

The game feels like it was made by people who haven't ever watched a hockey game, but they saw gameplay of Blades of Steel way back when and said "good enough!"

This is so true, and my God who does the ratings for the game? Laughably bad attributes.

 

[GOilers88]

I really wish hitting actually had a tangible effect on players. I always play body first puck second, and usually end games with 35-50 hits with a good portion of those being absolute trainwrecks.

Very rarely does anyone ever get injured, and by the third period my team is usually more exhausted than the opponents who have been getting steamrolled all night.

Other than taking a guy out of the play for a couple of seconds, there is no benefit whatsoever to physically dominating your opponent.

Edit: Also to the poster above me, it's not even the terrible attribute distribution that kills me, it's that almost all of a players skill is put into like 3 attributes. You can have almost every stat at 99 but if a certain stat isnt, your players rating is still off.

 

[Khelandros]

I really wish hitting actually had a tangible effect on players. I always play body first puck second, and usually end games with 35-50 hits with a good portion of those being absolute trainwrecks.

Very rarely does anyone ever get injured, and by the third period my team is usually more exhausted than the opponents who have been getting steamrolled all night.

Other than taking a guy out of the play for a couple of seconds, there is no benefit whatsoever to physically dominating your opponent.

Edit: Also to the poster above me, it's not even the terrible attribute distribution that kills me, it's that almost all of a players skill is put into like 3 attributes. You can have almost every stat at 99 but if a certain stat isnt, your players rating is still off.

Taking a hit is easier than delivering one. You may get bumps and bruises but you aren't expending energy to take it. Your team being more exhausted would be correct.

 

[GOilers88]

Taking a hit is easier than delivering one. You may get bumps and bruises but you aren't expending energy to take it. Your team being more exhausted would be correct.

I might be inclined to agree with you normally, but I have a hard time believing that the punishment guys like Stevens and Kronwall dished out was harder on their own bodies than the guys they were hitting. Cause this is what I mean. I'm talking Scott Stevens/Paul Kariya type hits. All game long. And nothing comes of it.

Even with something like boxing. It takes more energy to throw a punch than to take a punch, but I doubt the guy receiving haymaker after haymaker is going to keep his energy and wits about him better than the guy punching him.

 

[Khelandros]

I might be inclined to agree with you normally, but I have a hard time believing that the punishment guys like Stevens and Kronwall dished out was harder on their own bodies than the guys they were hitting. Cause this is what I mean. I'm talking Scott Stevens/Paul Kariya type hits. All game long. And nothing comes of it.

Even with something like boxing. It takes more energy to throw a punch than to take a punch, but I doubt the guy receiving haymaker after haymaker is going to keep his energy and wits about him better than the guy punching him.

The damage they cause is greater, but a guy getting hit 2 or 3 times a game vs a guy doing the hitting 10-15 times a game is going to get more fatigued faster. When you take all the skating, chasing, hitting into account, the hitter is expending more energy, damaged caused aside.

 

[belair]

I really wish hitting actually had a tangible effect on players. I always play body first puck second, and usually end games with 35-50 hits with a good portion of those being absolute trainwrecks.

Very rarely does anyone ever get injured, and by the third period my team is usually more exhausted than the opponents who have been getting steamrolled all night.

Other than taking a guy out of the play for a couple of seconds, there is no benefit whatsoever to physically dominating your opponent.

Edit: Also to the poster above me, it's not even the terrible attribute distribution that kills me, it's that almost all of a players skill is put into like 3 attributes. You can have almost every stat at 99 but if a certain stat isnt, your players rating is still off.

In reality a player spending that much energy trying to blow people up would exhaust themselves. They're also constantly caught out of position. In real life avoiding hits is a lot easier than throwing them.

 

[Hattrickkane88]

How about them removing most of the dekes when they jumped to next gen with the disguise of "realism" only to make it a game where top players are forced to skate backwards with LT half the game just to compete? Games a joke not even Gretzky with 99 deking can realistically deke consistently but i can take a 75 overall and Lt through everyone no problem.

 

[GOilers88]

In reality a player spending that much energy trying to blow people up would exhaust themselves. They're also constantly caught out of position. In real life avoiding hits is a lot easier than throwing them.

I agree. But this is a video game, and almost every hit is a bone crusher, so it should have some sort of effect on the players being absolutely destroyed. Coupled with the fact that half the time the guy who was laid out somehow maintains or recovers possession of the puck as my players can't figure out how to skate around him, there's basically no point at all to hitting in the game.

 

[belair]

I agree. But this is a video game, and almost every hit is a bone crusher, so it should have some sort of effect on the players being absolutely destroyed. Coupled with the fact that half the time the guy who was laid out somehow maintains or recovers possession of the puck as my players can't figure out how to skate around him, there's basically no point at all to hitting in the game.

Since I play mainly EASHL, which rewards people who play positionally sound, I'm all for the hit being closer to realistic.

That being said, big hits drop a player's stamina bar pretty considerably. And in the instance you injure them, their stats drop about 10% for about a quarter of the game.

 

[GOilers88]

Since I play mainly EASHL, which rewards people who play positionally sound, I'm all for the hit being closer to realistic.

That being said, big hits drop a player's stamina bar pretty considerably. And in the instance you injure them, their stats drop about 10% for about a quarter of the game.

Ah,yeah I only really play franchise. I don't know why cause it can be really painful lol

 

[belair]

Ah,yeah I only really play franchise. I don't know why cause it can be really painful lol

Vs CPU is the same logic. You overcommit and they attack with numbers. They do a pretty good job of making you pay for being out of position if the sliders are set to a difficult level.

The reason I prefer EASHL is that the game result doesn't rely on the CPU's contributions. Even online H2H is an absolute mess IMO. It ends up feeling like you're watching two CPU teams playing against each other. There's nothing more infuriating than watching your CPU-controlled teammate take a completely unnecessary penalty or skate off into oblivion, leaving his guy wide open.

The CPU is embarrassingly primitive. It sucks the realism out of the game. It's why I sim every game in Franchise.

 

[Cloned]

How about them removing most of the dekes when they jumped to next gen with the disguise of "realism" only to make it a game where top players are forced to skate backwards with LT half the game just to compete? Games a joke not even Gretzky with 99 deking can realistically deke consistently but i can take a 75 overall and Lt through everyone no problem.

The problem is that EASHL builds are horrifically underpowered (all of them), so EA has basically made a game where you either LT your way through to score "pretty" goals or throw everything at the net looking for random garbage goals. Take out LT backskating, bring back fully customizable builds with attribute points (and maybe caps if you want to prevent speed abuse), and you'll have a more realistic game.

 

[Hattrickkane88]

The problem is that EASHL builds are horrifically underpowered (all of them), so EA has basically made a game where you either LT your way through to score "pretty" goals or throw everything at the net looking for random garbage goals. Take out LT backskating, bring back fully customizable builds with attribute points (and maybe caps if you want to prevent speed abuse), and you'll have a more realistic game.

I agree with you but i also think deking and stick handling needs to be improved as well.

Even with Wayne Gretzky and 99 deking he leaves behind way too many pucks when doing loose puck dekes with no one touching him or the puck, the new deking animations are also programmed in a way that if you realistically time your dekes in tight spaces he just shoves the puck into the defenders skates instead of taking advantage of the space between the stick and skates like real life.

If you watch the difference between sticking handling in old gen vs new gen you can notice in Old gen whoever programmed it actually understood that the stick handlers elbow should be extended away from the hip, while as in new gen the stick handler keeps his elbow at his hip like a novice hockey player.

I hate the LT and i hate new gen but i love hockey so i have mastered LT and new gen but man has it ever sucked compared to the fun i use to have in old gen.

I do agree builds need to go back to how they use to be, people think pre set builds make the best player win, when in reality pre set builds don't make the best player win, they make the best player at the best BUILD win. Aka if the best build is the power forward then the best player will be who's best at the power forward playstyle, not who's actually best at the game. ( I'm more talking about if the attributes and stuff actually mattered more for this scenario, In reality because so many attributes don't even work or are unneeded I can play the exact same style of game no matter what build i'm actually using )

 

[Cloned]

I agree with you but i also think deking and stick handling needs to be improved as well.

Even with Wayne Gretzky and 99 deking he leaves behind way too many pucks when doing loose puck dekes with no one touching him or the puck, the new deking animations are also programmed in a way that if you realistically time your dekes in tight spaces he just shoves the puck into the defenders skates instead of taking advantage of the space between the stick and skates like real life.

If you watch the difference between sticking handling in old gen vs new gen you can notice in Old gen whoever programmed it actually understood that the stick handlers elbow should be extended away from the hip, while as in new gen the stick handler keeps his elbow at his hip like a novice hockey player.

I hate the LT and i hate new gen but i love hockey so i have mastered LT and new gen but man has it ever sucked compared to the fun i use to have in old gen.

I do agree builds need to go back to how they use to be, people think pre set builds make the best player win, when in reality pre set builds don't make the best player win, they make the best player at the best BUILD win. Aka if the best build is the power forward then the best player will be who's best at the power forward playstyle, not who's actually best at the game. ( I'm more talking about if the attributes and stuff actually mattered more for this scenario, In reality because so many attributes don't even work or are unneeded I can play the exact same style of game no matter what build i'm actually using )

Yeah, I agree 100%.

Old gen was 1000x better in some aspects. Hitting felt better and more intuitive. Deking (as you mentioned) punished people going for big hits or being out of position. Passing was better (and you could actually make a hard rocket pass).

The only thing new gen does better is shooting and one-timers. One-timers were ridiculously underpowered in old gen to the point where they didn't work 99% of the time.

LT is responsible for the majority of gameplay complaints. But everybody uses it at the higher levels because it's really the only reliable way to score creative goals.

Pre set builds make the best players with the best teammates win. It reduces the potential impact of any one single player in any one game, which IMO is boring and reduces the game to a battle of luck, bounces and scripting. But what happens when two elite teams get matched up and cancel each other's LT out? It gets reduced to a game of dump and chase, and throwing pucks on net from everywhere looking for tip in's and garbage goals. That's the exact opposite of their intention. No one wants to play Darryl Sutter hockey in a video game. I mean, there's a place for it, but not like this.

And that's not to mention that at least three of the builds (ENF, EFD and OFD) are completely useless (or redundant) at higher levels in the game.

Get rid of LT, make regular deking and stickhandling better, and bring back customizable builds. Guarantee you'll have a more enjoyable and realistic experience.

 

[x Tame Impala]

I do really miss the customizable attributes.

 

[Cloned]

I do really miss the customizable attributes.

I think the EA community manager did a poll on Twitter recently asking if people preferred the old system or the new system with preset builds, and like 70% said they preferred the old system.

So EA knows what the people want, it's just a matter of them implementing it properly.

I won't pretend like old gen was perfect either, because the attributes were coded as such that some basically didn't matter at all so people would pour all their XP into things like speed. I remember I made a build once with 65 agility and it didn't feel any different than 85 agility so I used the points/boosts on other things instead.

So they need to implement it properly. Make every customizable attribute actually matter. 65 balance should mean your player will fall down on his own while turning sometimes. 65 strength should mean not only you get knocked off pucks easily, but your shot should have no velocity at all even if you have high WSP.

And none of this "mystery in a box" type of thing like "offensive awareness helps with passing and shooting." Lay it all out precisely.