I’m honestly loving NHL23 Positivity Thread

[johnnydrum]

Quote: Originally Posted by phillyfan23

Yes you MUST tinker with sliders, but a gem is hidden in this game via sliders.

Hiya buddy---well done.
Without me tumbling into the abyss that is "slider-itus'"---which particular slide MUST be altered to get the best "in game experiance"
All the best , Johnny, Long Time UK Tea Drinking Off Line Season Mode Slider Tinkering Old Fart.

[MizzouRah]

I purchased NHL 22 and barely played it.. decided to give the NHL 23 trial a go and I've enjoyed it enough to purchase it.

Game play is definitely better, love the crowd atmosphere and stat overlays, and honestly, I used to skip through all the replays, so being able to get through games faster is fine with the way I play.

[Blue&Gold]

Quote: Originally Posted by onlybygrace

Listen, Im a long time expert veteran of this series. I used to write for OS over 10 years ago. I am ALL about presentation, gameplay, and offline franchise. I enjoyed my time with the trial, so I went ahead and got NHL 23 and havent had this much fun in a long time. The gameplay has become polished at almost every possible moment and context within the game. Players are swinging their sticks around players, organically diving for pucks and shots in realistic ways with varied results. I turned the goaltenders up and made them much more difficult, and it has made scoring incredibly dynamic without turning goalies into robots. I find myself stopping to watch replays all the time, even if I have to go into the menu to do it. The presentation, although trimmed down, really isnt half bad although it certainly could still use more replays on great saves and other awesome moments. I feel like the gameplay is so incredible at times that the game does itself a disservice by not highlighting how good it is. Also, love the crowd and pumped up atmosphere. Also, loving all the stat overlays and season specific lines by the announcers. EA is so close to a masterpiece IMO…and Im a harsh critic who has barely played for the last few years out of boredom with the game. Cheers.

After reading nothing but negativity about this game this is great to hear as I have been on the fence for a while. I haven't bought an NHL game in a few years so now that I have a ps5 I was really looking forward to this game. However, I'm strictly an offline franchise player.

With that said, how is offline franchise treating you? Is the whole can't change strategies a huge issue? Any other problems?

Thanks for making this thread!

[Balldude777]

Honestly, the negativity surrounding this game might have actually helped in a weird way because I tried the 10 hour trial with very, very low expectations and came away surprised to actually enjoy it. Now take it with a grain of salt also because I still play NHL 19 and this is a big upgrade for me graphically/gameplay wise. I'm big on presentation too but honestly it's not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I actually think the excitement of the commentary makes the action even more immersive for me and the crowd sounds great.

My favorite thing I have messed around with though is the league customization for franchise mode. I've always wanted to simulate a 12 team fantasy league and I can do that now. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be buying this game.

[Head Coach]

At first I was very angry because I kept getting slashing penalties but I have learned how to have better stick discipline because I discovered that NHL 22 let us spam a lot of the buttons on defense.

The gameplay and crowd reactions are much better this year. The CPU has a much stronger finishing shot so that means NO lead is safe with this game.

I play all my games on season mode so I see all the differences from what was in the game last year.

I just wish they would bring back full presentation.

[jake19ny]

I think the most positive thing we can take away from a lot of posts is that there are a lot of names I'm seeing that have been on this forum for many years who have been extremely and rightfully critical of this franchise, myself included, who are loving it.
For so many of us to say we are enjoying the game speaks volumes. Not because we're experts or anything but we are all offline hard-core hockey fans who have been repeatedly disappointed or frustrated by EA.
It's nice to finally have some fun again. I'm still looking over my shoulder for them to ruin in in favor of the HUT babies though....years of that scars a man lol.

[TNKNGM]

I am loving the game this year.....got my sliders tuned up pretty nicely and I'm getting excellent games with realistic stats while playing 13 minute periods

The crowd / arena atmosphere is SO MUCH BETTER......I love hearing the crowd get progressively angrier when things aren't going well or how you can hear/feel the build up of the crowd when the home team is building momentum or things are going in their favor

This year is a huge step in the right direction if you ask me

[voodoo_magic]

I usually control all skaters but wanted to test out player lock since it can be a fun way to add a change to your game.
Rotating to different positions game to game my team mate ai feels like it's the best it's ever been.

I like how teams will make a better effort to break up entry into the offensive zone this year though can always be better.
Seeing a good variety of goals with the increased ai passing setting up goals other than one timers, and like others mentioned some that I for sure want to check out the replay.
The puck itself seems to have a different, more realistic weight to it when it hits off boards or on shots and it is slightly slower passing later in the period compared to on the fresh ice at the start of the period.
To me the difference of 23 to other years is not easy to explain, it's definitely felt. It might be some different physics like the puck, or checking feeling and looking better but on paper it doesn't look like it should be much different so I understand why some people might think it's the same ole EA game like every year.

One area which I feel is still lacking is when we are on the power play. Even with the new strategies the ai sometimes wanders out of position so 2 or 3 of them are in one small area and not spread out making it easier for the shorthanded team to force turnovers and kill power plays.

I'm playing season mode right now but have done testing on custom franchise and it's really good with some of the options for setting it up especially for the first year of it being in, though hopefully although unlikely next year we have the ability to control all teams. Will be doing something with it later for sure.

Because of other EA games this year I went into the EA play trial cautiously and was not getting too hyped up and like every sports game there are some things that for some reason are not in or half done but for me this is the best nhl game I've played.