NHL 16 Available Today For Xbox One & PlayStation 4, Post Your Impressions

[CarryTheWeight]

Quote: Originally Posted by BL8001

Carry, I would say 100% drop down to rookie. It helped me tremendously for faceoffs. I now can usually win more than the cpu. But it does help with all aspects of the game. You get a little more time on the puck without being checked or poked or harassed and you can see how the play develops in the O end. On D you can see what the CPU is doing without it being as lethal. You can straight up play a play now on rookie or mix it up and go over to NHL Moments and try some on rookie. Either way you can lab the game pretty nicely this way.

Thanks for the awesome reply, helpful stuff like this is one of the reasons I continue to come to this site after 14 years (!!!).

I'm probably going to lower the difficulty seeing as though I'm not getting many positive results. I only wish the AI behaved more organically/imperfectly on the default sliders. I'm going to play around with the right mix or download a set from OS.

If my post seemed like a massive rant, it's only because I really want to have fun with this game. Perhaps swallowing my pride and lowering the difficulty is the way to do it.

[sweetjones]

I thought we were suppose to be able to save team strategies. Why am I still having to change them before every game in Play Now mode? smh

[gopher_guy]

I really wish they could get official uniforms for the National Teams.

I really like playing with USA/Canada/Finland/Czech Republic/Russia/etc, but the generic sweaters they have are all so ugly

[actionhank]

Quote: Originally Posted by gopher_guy

I really wish they could get official uniforms for the National Teams. I really like playing with USA/Canada/Finland/Czech Republic/Russia/etc, but the generic sweaters they have are all so ugly

I'm hoping someday we can import our own custom jerseys. Takes the pressure off of EA. They make a jersey editor and template that can be used on PC, or they could even make something similar to Forza's car editor.

Then, they give us the means to apply it in-game. It would be awesome HUT teams, EASHL, and even offline players, as they could release "Jersey Packs" to keep up with the latest changes. I have to agree, the default jersey are awful looking for international teams. I believe they've been the same since NHL 07.

Just imagine being able to create/edit teams and jerseys, and finally giving someone like Slovenia their authentic goalies, and replacing teams like Japan, or Great Britain, who didn't even compete on the same stage in the Winter Olympics.

[Steven547]

Game has only been out a few days and I already have to step away and take a break from it. The AI is horrible in this game. The CPU "cheese" is uncanny. I'm playing on PRO (Position Lock as well). The CPU, even with aggression on 5, can skate right into my zone and score without being touched.

The opposing team's winger skated down while my defense was on him. As he got closer to the net, my defense LET HIM GO! The defensse skated to the middle of net, leaving an open net shot for a goal. I have tried turning sliders down....I have CPU diff at 0....AI learning at 3 and no luck. I see "slow" rated players outsktating everyone.

The shot accuracy of the CPU is amazing with pinpoint accuracy. My guys can't hit a one timer worth spit. My goalie, not matter who I'm using, plays like a pee wee goalie. Their goalie? Superb.

Anyone else experience the same thing again? Any suggestions for sliders? To me, the only difference between this game and last year, are the visuals and the mascots.

I wish EA would've spent as much time on the AI gameplay then the did with the ridiculous mascots. Break time.

[bad_philanthropy]

Maybe I've yet to figure out the mechanic, but the cpu seems really adept in one on one situations or on the rush generally. Almost feels like good gap control and closing the gap at the right time and angling them to the outside has no value because the cpu possesses incredible fidelity with their shots and passes in tight spaces.

Anyone figured a better way to corral the cpu bearing down on you?

[TheBuddyHobbs]

Quote: Originally Posted by bad_philanthropy

Since we can't alter game speed without the frame rate glitching out, I lowered acceleration progressively in one on one practice. I timed laps with the puck with Morgan Rielly (since the camera won't track you without the puck), and with accel at 0 the lap times were about 20-18 seconds. Conisdering this is with the puck I think it's probably pretty accurate. I jumped into a game with the acceleration set to 0 for human and cpu and I really liked what I saw. The pace seemed more to my tastes, and the cpu AI seemed less frantic. Everything felt less twitchy and slide-y. Maybe I'm crazy, but I'd like to get some other guys' feedback on playing with acceleration tuned all the way down. Seems like I'm down on the game, but I'm not. I think it's prudent to highlight this AI stuff because I think it's the game's biggest shortcoming. Here's a praiseworthy clip from a game with acceleration tuned down (which I think may allow some of the dev's animation work shine brighter). Look at the quality of the seamless puck pickup animation by Boychuk here. Really nice stuff by EA.

Thank you so much! This made the game feel a lot better!

[TheBuddyHobbs]

I'm seeing a very realisitc amount of penalties. I don't know if anyone else is having trouble? If so, I can toss in some of my adjusted sliders that may be helping or not. Both human and CPU.