NHL 23 Trial Available Now For EA Play Subscribers

[stooge 1010]

I didn’t see that you edited it.


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[PernellKarl076]

Here is my take on the game after about 8 hours with it 😀

You've seen posts where the doom and gloom guys give their take on the game, I will try to go more on the positive side of things… What strikes me the most, is that people that complain, are playing with default settings or close to it… Like I said earlier in this thread, I started the trial with AStar difficulty and Simulation sliders and after 1 period I couldn’t take it anymore.. That's their sliders for simulation 🤔 I almost vomited…

After plugging my sliders from 22 in and making tweaks because the game plays differently, that's where the magic kicked in after about 4 games of fiddling with the sliders.

THE PROS:

The atmosphere ! This year the crowd is freaking amazing ! The sounds and cheers they make almost gave me chills… Was playing a game in Calgary and when they scored to tie the game, the crowd erupted and then the Light beams came on the ice… It was almost breathtaking 😂

The commentary ! People that said they didn't change, I really beg to differ ! I've heard many new phrases over the time I've passed with the trial and with the new crowds and atmosphere, I think that Cybulski and Ferraro are more relevant now if that makes any sense… Everything ties well together 😀

The graphics… The ice actually builds up near the boards and in specific areas and it's a nice thing to see when sometimes the puck seems to disappear for awhile… I don't know if they changed the lighting, but if I squint a bit, sometimes it feels like I’m watching a real game !

I was kinda disappointed when I scored a goal in OT when I saw the same old animation… When I scored, my guy was happy but my teammates near me on the ice were in a depression state, like all the NHL's before that, but then I saw the bench erupt and all the players jumped over the boards and celebrated on the ice… All 19 of them ! WOW ! That caught me by surprise and it was a very cool sight 😀

Pretty sure they will also have the full broadcast in the complete version, cause now it’s the standard one… All in all, the presentation is very solid IMO…

The gameplay ! For starters the goalies look and feel like the real thing, they said they added tons of new animations and it shows IMO. Like I said out of the box the game played horrible, even worse than 22, but after major adjustments the game plays very nice from the time I've put in…. For the people that know me, I like my gameplay to be as close as possible to the real thing, I play with no HUD, Action camera and Position lock, I never ask for a pass and I really feel that NHL games were meant to be played by controlling only one player. Maybe not by design, but with the fast pace action and controls it makes total sense IMO.

The DMEN ! On the O side of things seems to be way better than 22 out of the box… They are still way too static to my liking, but I'm confident that with a few tweaks, Something good could be done 😀

All in all, it's gonna be a buy from me just for the atmosphere alone !

The gameplay will be alright with the right adjustments I’m pretty confident…

Oh and I only saw the desperation move once and it was in my last game. It was my LW deep in the O zone near the boards trying to get the puck to my D… It was very well done and nice to see 😀

[Cycloniac]

Quote: Originally Posted by PernellKarl076

Here is my take on the game after about 8 hours with it 😀 You've seen posts where the doom and gloom guys give their take on the game, I will try to go more on the positive side of things… What strikes me the most, is that people that complain, are playing with default settings or close to it… Like I said earlier in this thread, I started the trial with AStar difficulty and Simulation sliders and after 1 period I couldn’t take it anymore.. That's their sliders for simulation 🤔 I almost vomited… After plugging my sliders from 22 in and making tweaks because the game plays differently, that's where the magic kicked in after about 4 games of fiddling with the sliders. THE PROS: The atmosphere ! This year the crowd is freaking amazing ! The sounds and cheers they make almost gave me chills… Was playing a game in Calgary and when they scored to tie the game, the crowd erupted and then the Light beams came on the ice… It was almost breathtaking 😂 The commentary ! People that said they didn't change, I really beg to differ ! I've heard many new phrases over the time I've passed with the trial and with the new crowds and atmosphere, I think that Cybulski and Ferraro are more relevant now if that makes any sense… Everything ties well together 😀 The graphics… The ice actually builds up near the boards and in specific areas and it's a nice thing to see when sometimes the puck seems to disappear for awhile… I don't know if they changed the lighting, but if I squint a bit, sometimes it feels like I’m watching a real game ! I was kinda disappointed when I scored a goal in OT when I saw the same old animation… When I scored, my guy was happy but my teammates near me on the ice were in a depression state, like all the NHL's before that, but then I saw the bench erupt and all the players jumped over the boards and celebrated on the ice… All 19 of them ! WOW ! That caught me by surprise and it was a very cool sight 😀 Pretty sure they will also have the full broadcast in the complete version, cause now it’s the standard one… All in all, the presentation is very solid IMO… The gameplay ! For starters the goalies look and feel like the real thing, they said they added tons of new animations and it shows IMO. Like I said out of the box the game played horrible, even worse than 22, but after major adjustments the game plays very nice from the time I've put in…. For the people that know me, I like my gameplay to be as close as possible to the real thing, I play with no HUD, Action camera and Position lock, I never ask for a pass and I really feel that NHL games were meant to be played by controlling only one player. Maybe not by design, but with the fast pace action and controls it makes total sense IMO. The DMEN ! On the O side of things seems to be way better than 22 out of the box… They are still way too static to my liking, but I'm confident that with a few tweaks, Something good could be done 😀 All in all, it's gonna be a buy from me just for the atmosphere alone ! The gameplay will be alright with the right adjustments I’m pretty confident… Oh and I only saw the desperation move once and it was in my last game. It was my LW deep in the O zone near the boards trying to get the puck to my D… It was very well done and nice to see 😀

I want to be excited about this game, but the more I hear, the more I'm hesitant to pre-order.

Only 6 intros? You would think they could have at least made some generic ones like they used to for the rest of the league.

They advertised the 1-3-1, and yet I'm hearing special teams AI is still poor.

Franchise mode hasn't been updated. It's still a good franchise mode and maybe some people will enjoy the custom league options. But no real updates to the core mode, from what I can tell (and from what EA has said).

Like has been said, lots of work to customize and tune the game so that it plays realistic hockey (or as realistic as the game engine will allow), with a debatable return.

Still on the fence, hoping to hear more good about the game.

[PernellKarl076]

For me CY everything is the gameplay part, I enjoy playing OFFLINE player lock against the AI… I've enjoyed my time in 22 with my tweaks minus the AI shortcomings… Yes the AI is not perfect, but it does so many things right that it outweighs the negatives… At the end of the day, it's a just a game, and believe me, I would want it to be as close to real as possible.

And I’m sooooooo stupid ! How could I forget ? The ''other'' major part why I’m gonna purchase 23 is the goal’s variety…. So much more deflections, in only 6 hours of playing time, I’ve seen sooooooo much more different types of goals, it’s unbelievable ! I feel like the puck is more ''alive'' near the crease… Last night, I crash the net with Kreider and the Flames goalie makes the stop and the rebound goes in front, where the D Hanifen while braking pushes the puck near his own goal while it touches the post and trickled in. Also on one slap shot from the point, I saw 2 deflections while the puck ended on the post… It was sick ! In a good way, lol !

And for the intros, I'm not sure, because I've played a few games in Buffalo where nothing special happened before a game, and last night, they showed guys standing on the blue line while a part of the anthem was being played and you could see the American flag on the ice 😀

[onlybygrace]

So far Ive only played one game but I actually really enjoyed it. Lots of organic moments and subtle gameplay improvements make the game feel more dynamic. Really love the atmosphere and energy of the crowd. I played on All Star Simulation and found it a good legit challenge and not too arcade for my liking. Good balance.

[onlybygrace]

Quote: Originally Posted by onlybygrace

So far Ive only played one game but I actually really enjoyed it. Lots of organic moments and subtle gameplay improvements make the game feel more dynamic. Really love the atmosphere and energy of the crowd. I played on All Star Simulation and found it a good legit challenge and not too arcade for my liking. Good balance.

Forgot to add that I hope this seemingly condensed presentation is just for the trial because more replays are definitely needed.

[SlyBelle]

After playing a handful of games, some additional observations. Overall, I was satisfied enough to purchase the game. It's not perfect, but good enough for my playing style and enjoyment.

- Changed sliders to what I used last year (i.e. superstar w/tweaks) and penalties were spot on for me, no complaints at all. However, the game felt very easy as I was scoring 9-12 goals myself, which never happened last year. When I first played this game, I lost 2-0 and had low shot totals so it's definitely something with my custom sliders, I'll just need to toughen them up a bit.

- As for presentation, the lack of full presentation does not impact me since I also used the short version anyway as my time is limited. However, not sure why they removed the option when so many other people enjoyed it.

- I haven't seen a lot of the new animations, raising stick to come off ice, pointing to open player, and diving. I actually have only seen pointing to an open player once and none of the others yet. Kind of weird since advertised as major new things, don't really see them.

- The defensemen are taking reasonable shot totals, but from what I can tell most of them (besides my own) are coming when they rush the net or join the play low. Haven't seen a ton from the CPU shooting outside.

- This is probably just me, but I have played on 6 minutes last year and this year. For some reason, playing this year seems slower. It's probably just me, but I thought I was able to complete games faster last year so I might need to take this down a bit.

Overall, I enjoy it enough to buy it, but I didn't have any real expectations of it being different from last year. When I played last year, it was the most fun I have had with an NHL game in a long time. My biggest gripe in the past was lack of penalties, but once I figured that out, I am fine.

[NDIrishRangers78]

Quote: Originally Posted by PernellKarl076

Stooge, I said they do, lol ! I've seen it in the game I just played

All you did is edit all defensemen to have the seeing eye X factor? Thanks dude.


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