NHL 21 Has Been Released - Share Your Impressions with the Community

[brandon27]

Played 2 games last night. One NHL, one OHL.

Really hard to tell the difference even with the new additions IMO. Feels alot like the same old NHL to me. I'll play a bit more over the weekend but I'm thinking this is a trial only game for me this year. Just felt very underwhelming.

No roster share also means no real updated rosters until the season starts, whenever that might be so I'm pretty sure this is a pass for me until a sale.

Just not enough for me to warrant buying.

[Jatt96]

Quote: Originally Posted by Elite Virtual Hockey

Cons: 1. CPU Offense (CPU and User) When Setup - In-zone offense is still atrocious. CPU opponents ping-pong pass, CPU AI teammates still don't understand cycling nor dynamically creating passing lanes/space. Powerplay is still laughably bad and I literally have zero enjoyment seeing special teams in this game.

PING PONG PASSING still in the game!?!?

No player differentiation, 75 OVR 4th liners (who should really be way lower, use a 40-99 range EA, have some guts), doing bullet behind the back no look passes.

Just absolute atrocity, this isn't hockey. There's a reason I play 2K even with the ****ty graphics, the core gameplay is so solid with the sliders.

[Money99]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jatt96

No player differentiation, 75 OVR 4th liners (who should really be way lower, use a 40-99 range EA, have some guts), doing bullet behind the back no look passes.

Good to know. I can pass on this game for another year.

Unfortunately, the series will never get this right. There will always be little to no player separation with the CPU making Mario Lemieux plays with anyone and everyone on the ice.

[Jay Cee]

With FIFA looking unplayable this year I was thinking of picking up NHL instead. I haven’t played this series in depth for a long while, wondering how good the franchise mode/presentation/overall experience is for a casual hockey fan?

[scitychamps87]

Has there been any improvements to the commentary?? It was INCREDIBLY bare bones in '20. I was not happy about Doc and Eddy being removed last year. It was getting old but it was at least authentic.

Sent from my XT1650 using Operation Sports mobile app

[SocialAssassin]

Does this game do anything in regards to tracking NHL records? In NHL 20 I broke Gretzky's playoff points record and Leach's goal record and I didn't get any recognition for it, which ticks me off.

[bcruise]

Really liking how the AI seems more aware of where the player is, and it makes it easier to coordinate with them. I've seen this scenario many, many times already - with the opposing team on the rush and my controlled player (usually the center) chasing the puck carrier a step or two behind, my team's AI defenseman on that side will step up to challenge the puck carrier, often forcing him into the boards and causing a turnover. Even if he gets by the defenseman, the play is slowed up enough that I've overtaken both of them by that time, allowing me to cover for the defense. The thing is, it won't do this if there's nobody that is or will be in position to cover. So it's not giving up stupid breakaway chances because of this pinch. It almost never did this in 20 - the D-man would nearly always concede the zone even when you were flying in behind the play and could easily disrupt it if he did, well.... anything to slow down the rush. That's why it felt so end-to-end in '20 and previous titles.

I see this behavior to some extent on the forecheck and in the neutral zone too, and the result is a tighter-checking game overall and a more lively puck (due to it getting knocked off of sticks more often).

Note that none of what I said applies to online versus as the CPU is still as passive as ever on defense, and it's entirely by design - the devs want the players to switch and be active on the puck.

I haven't seen anything in the gameplay that's demonstrably worse than '20, although I will say that penalty kills still look like a fire drill, with it not being really clear what the AI is trying to cover, and where the player should be positioned. Also statistically the number of penalties still seems fine, but tripping is still by far the most common, with hooking right behind it. I think I've seen one slash and no body-to-body contact penalties yet.

It doesn't really feel like an entirely new game from strictly a gameplay standpoint, more like an ambitious title update. But gameplay isn't the only thing there is to this, and with the facelift that BaP got, I have a feeling it will be REALLY fun to play with the seemingly improved AI. I have about 5 hours left on my trial to play around in there.

[voodoo_magic]

After some major adjustments to sliders, using something close to last years settings I'm happy with how it plays.
Like mentioned by others the subtle adjustments to the ai behavior has made it more challenging to get into the offensive zone and my ai team mates seem to get into better positions to keep the puck in. Last year I found they would stand and have their back to the play allowing the opp to instantly counter attack.

I've gotten thwarted on my rush up the ice, regrouped back in my zone and made another attempt with my ai decently aware of moving as a unit.
I've seen decent passing by cpu, not ping pong, but I have reduced the max pass speed and other cpu pass sliders so I think that helps. Yes, sometimes it's just too perfect and doesn't get mishandled like it should.
Seen much more board play slowing the pace down a bit.

Tried the trade deadline day and thought it was awesome, one of the best additions to a sports game in a while. Seeing a couple guys I was targeting get traded to someone else made it feel alive.

Any other year this may be good enough to buy. With next gen games, roster problems due to covid , you are only going to play 1 or 2 franchise years,or you feel it's not a big enough improvement to pay full price you could justify not getting it this year or at this time.

I wasn't going to get it. After having a chance to try it though I feel the game play changes and trade deadline are enough of an improvement to make the game fun to play for me.
I tried '20 a couple times while checking out '21 and definitely wouldn't want to play 3 or 4 more seasons of franchise mode in '20 anymore now that I've played '21.