NHL 15 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions (Xbox One, PS4)

[jyoung]

Re: NHL 15 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions (Xbox One, PS4)

The more I play this demo, the more I just shake my head at the AI's decision making:

<iframe width="540" height="304" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/md-zLebeGvc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The AI just steps up way too often now when you're rushing at them.

Because of that new tendency, I've been getting more breakways and odd man chances in this demo than any NHL game I have ever played.

Maybe Superstar difficulty will be better in the retail game? All-Star Hardcore is just way too easy to score on.

[QuidProQuoBro]

Re: NHL 15 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions (Xbox One, PS4)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1TqHI63tok[/youtube]

Easy goal

[ThreeKing]

Re: NHL 15 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions (Xbox One, PS4)

I hate stuff like that and the people who do it or expose it.

Having said that, I hope the devs see it and fix it.

[jonapaloma]

Re: NHL 15 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions (Xbox One, PS4)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1TqHI63tok[/youtube]

Easy goal

Maybe in 5 years or so we'll see better and improved goalies. They seem to be behind what you can do as a player.

[jyoung]

Re: NHL 15 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions (Xbox One, PS4)

I hate stuff like that and the people who do it or expose it.

Having said that, I hope the devs see it and fix it.

It's good to expose these AI flaws so that the developers can see them and hopefully fix them.

The more video examples that get out there, the better.

[meep316]

Re: NHL 15 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions (Xbox One, PS4)

I finally downloaded the demo yesterday, played like 10 or so games last night and dicked around in practice. Here are my thoughts. Keep in mind, I didn't play NHL 14 so I don't know what aspects of that are being carried over.

The Good:

-New superstar skill stick. The unnatural swiping side to side is pretty much gone. Now, if you want to make those 45 degree cuts, and those REAL pull to the backhand/forehand moves, there is really a trick to it. It even took me a while to get down. It's actually fairly complicated, and it doesn't surprise me to see that most people don't know how to utilize it at all. Hopefully this actually gives the advantage to the more skilled players who can pull those moves off.

-I like the one touch dekes. I can see idiots spamming them, but they're probably only really effective if you can do them in combination with some of the quick pullback moves I mentioned up there^, which is good.

-Some improvement with breakout positioning. Not perfect, but better.

-AI didn't feel like it was cheating, which is actually a HUGE deal. I've always felt that the AI in NHL and Madden were the laziest, cheapest AI in videogames. In the sense that EA would just make them unnaturally fast/can whip pucks around through any defender/make weird spinoffs/check you from behind when you have all momentum going forward and lay you out/etc. I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about. Maybe on Superstar it probably gets like that, but All Star it didn't.

-Teammate AI on cycling is a lot better.

-Shots look better, although is there a new slapshot animation? Something about the wind up looks off, I don't like it.

-Lively puck

-Pre Game EDIT Lines is better, which is a huge deal for me. But it's still not good enough to not have the ability to save your online lines. They better give us the ability to do that or I'll be annoyed. Just no excuse not to have that.


The Bad:

-Goalies are still idiots

-AI still doesn't challenge at the red or blue line, no matter what strategy you use. Literally the most basic, fundamental aspect of defense in hockey is to challenge the lines. And I don't mean to necessarily step up at the line, but keep your gaps in check. Don't just give up the red line, and when they get to the blue line, keep your stick there so they have to make the extra move at the blue line to gain the zone, to maybe draw them offsides, or at the very least, force them to do something they don't want to do. The fact that no matter what, they just GIVE you the blue line, is almost a game killer. It's why I never have, and never will play against the CPU. HORRIBLE.

-The pre game BS with Doc and Eddie, could not care less. Watched it the first time, skipped it every single time after. Huge waste of time/money for them to put that in the game and hype it as some major big deal. That probably cost a lot of money for them to shoot those, money that could've gone to better legends for HUT. If they come out and say that the money isn't there for more/better legends for HUT, that will be bull****. Especially considering the endless piles of money HUT brings in. Don't let people fool you into thinking these games have small budgets or whatever. Because of HUT, these games make more money than they ever have. They probably make more money from HUT than they do game sales themselves, and I'm not saying that as a slight against the game sales. People drop HUNDREDS of dollars on HUT without even blinking.

-The real footage of the pre-game flyover, also does nothing for me. I know I'm playing a videogame, that just takes me out of it. It adds nothing. Doc and Eddie's actual commentary also sucks, but that's par for the course for sports game commentary, so I don't really care. I hate Doc's voice/calls so much though, I mute it whenever the Bruins play on NBC.

-Only being able to play 2 minute periods is so stupid. You can't get anything going. I had like 2 odd man rushes the entire time, and I played like 10 games. So dumb. Just give one 5 minute period, that'd be better than 3 2 minute periods. How nobody thinks of this, is just beyond me.

-Speaking of odd man rushes, they are still awful. AI teammates have no idea what to do positioning wise. I had both a 2 on 1, and a 3 on 2, that I had to just do myself with dekes, because my idiot AI teammates refused to go to obvious open space that any pee wee would know to go to in order to execute a simple odd man rush. Terrible.

-A/X being one of the buttons to change a strategy during a cutscene is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen.

-No chop puck anymore? I tried it, tapped RB, and it didn't work. Did they take that out or is it a different button? I looked at the controls and didn't see it.

-Stupid wrong side one timers like the Jeff Carter goal in one of the gameplays they released.

-Hardcore is a million times better than simulation. The passing on simulation is terrible. It's like it is even more nerfed down than before. I can't pass to space at all, not even with saucer passes. You better be able to change the passing settings for online play to be able to have more free will with passes. Simulation was almost unplayable because of how bad it is.

-The passing in general is something that needs to be overhauled. I said it when they first introduced RT/R2 passing, and I'll say it again: having to hold it down, to "charge up" a pass, is ridiculously stupid. An NHL player can snap a pass at ridiculous velocity, nobody has to rear back and "charge up" a pass in real life. The velocity of your pass should be determined by how far down you push the trigger, and that's it. You can still be in holding for a pass, as the pass would not be made until the trigger is released, but if I just tap the trigger down, I should be able to fire a strong, hard pass, with just the snap of a wrist. The way it is now, makes it very difficult to complete a true tick tack toe type of play. The AI is the main reason why odd man rushes blow, but this is also a factor.

All in all, better than I thought it would be, and I'll probably get it since I didn't get NHL 14 and it feels newer to me than it probably does to some others. But still not near where they should/could be. Still lots of issues, lots of obvious flaws that I have no idea how someone at EA doesn't stick their hand up and go "ummm what are we doing here?"

Those are my thoughts. I'm sure I have more but I can't think of them right now.

[jyoung]

Re: NHL 15 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions (Xbox One, PS4)

No chop puck anymore? I tried it, tapped RB, and it didn't work. Did they take that out or is it a different button? I looked at the controls and didn't see it.

The puck chop is now performed by holding R1/RB and moving the right joystick in the direction that you want to chop.

[bigwill33]

Re: NHL 15 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions (Xbox One, PS4)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1TqHI63tok[/youtube]

Easy goal

That is the one I referred to on post #30 of this very thread. Thank you for posting. This was in the game a few years ago and then removed and now it is back.

The backhand should work better than it has the past two years on this game, but no where near this good.

But this is the stuff I am talking about. You can play online and defend perfectly according to real life and then someone (in this instance usually myself, because I use a lefty and love backhanding) comes in and ruins your day with this crud. But they would never rely on such crud if it wasn't the primary way to score in this series. If realism worked best that would be what people would try and replicate to win online. Until that is the case we will all continue to suffer.

It is my hope to point out these flaws, like QuidPro has, and let EA see what is in their game. In the hope that they can fix it in a realistic manner as soon as possible.

[bigwill33]

Re: NHL 15 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions (Xbox One, PS4)

The puck chop is now performed by holding R1/RB and moving the right joystick in the direction that you want to chop.

I haven't tried it in this demo yet, mostly because I hate the way it is overpowered in the past game. Is it still unrealistic where it goes through like the first 3 things it should come in contact with or has it been improved? After not using it for so long I struggle to remember to use it when I play or I would just try it myself now.

[sweetjones]

Re: NHL 15 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions (Xbox One, PS4)

I honestly believe they just don't know how to get the AI done correctly without "cheating" the user. That may be why it hasn't really changed in almost a decade. I think there are some REAL challenges they're faceing with developing the AI. I want the game as close as possible as the next hardest hardcore fan, but I just realized that we are expecting way too much from the Vancouver dev team. I'm just taking the game as it is. It's frustrating, because we(hardcore players) see the potential. I believe a literal "from the ground up" needs to be done. Every single aspect of this game needs to start from scratch or have some other dev eyes on it. Rethink the way the AI is controlled by the cpu. Redo the goalies from scratch, ect... I give them credit for ALL of the work they've done. How I long to be the dust on their monitor just to see how all of this works. I also give them credit for the frustrations. EA needs to correct their marketing tactics. Stop with the "For the hardcore player, we have..." BS. Just market your game for what it is. It's mainly targeted for the casual fan. Plain and simple.

[jonapaloma]

Re: NHL 15 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions (Xbox One, PS4)

If only attributes affected players. As it is now its only a cosmetical but in the end they dont do nothing

A player with speed at 36 should skate like a person who never stood on skates and a player with 99 should be like the best figure skater in the world, as far as skating skill go.

[sweetjones]

Re: NHL 15 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions (Xbox One, PS4)

If only attributes affected players. As it is now its only a cosmetical but in the end they dont do nothing

A player with speed at 36 should skate like a person who never stood on skates and a player with 99 should be like the best figure skater in the world, as far as skating skill go.

This is why I dont understand the concept of sliders. Why is there a player acceleration slider, puck control slider, ect? Shouldn't the player's respective attribute control him?smh

[meep316]

Re: NHL 15 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions (Xbox One, PS4)

That is the one I referred to on post #30 of this very thread. Thank you for posting. This was in the game a few years ago and then removed and now it is back.

The backhand should work better than it has the past two years on this game, but no where near this good.

But this is the stuff I am talking about. You can play online and defend perfectly according to real life and then someone (in this instance usually myself, because I use a lefty and love backhanding) comes in and ruins your day with this crud. But they would never rely on such crud if it wasn't the primary way to score in this series. If realism worked best that would be what people would try and replicate to win online. Until that is the case we will all continue to suffer.

It is my hope to point out these flaws, like QuidPro has, and let EA see what is in their game. In the hope that they can fix it in a realistic manner as soon as possible.

Yeah the backhand was super useless in 13. I'm glad it works now, but it's definitely way overpowered.

Those 45 degree cuts being tied to the right stick and quick pulls to the backhand/forehand being more complicated might result in a bit of a breakthrough in terms of online head to head. In all of the videos I've watched of people playing, I haven't seen anyone use these moves. They're stuff that everyone does in real life, but they are somewhat complex to pull off in the game. Hopefully people who utilize these tools will be rewarded.

It's hard to tell vs the CPU because they never come at you and challenge you to give you a chance to really try out how effective they are. But I can imagine someone stepping up and faking going inside, outside, and then the quick pull to the backhand to go back inside and around them.

[actionhank]

Re: NHL 15 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions (Xbox One, PS4)

Maybe in 5 years or so we'll see better and improved goalies. They seem to be behind what you can do as a player.

The problem is goalies can only seem to do one thing at a time. He can't push off the post (Ignoring the fact that they don't push off in game, they just move laterally with no effort) and simultaneously drop his pads, block the five hole with his stick, and get a glove up to make himself big, he has to drop. Then start to move. Then react to the shot. There's no fluidity, and it leads to goofy looking desperation saves, and players that never realistically go out of position, but frequently let in bonehead goals.

[headzapp]

Re: NHL 15 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions (Xbox One, PS4)

I don't know if it's ok to post this here, but I did try it in the demo. I was thinking with the mics if they could integrate line changes with speaking. I had the mic plugged in and I was like hmm what if... so I said offence line 1 defense line 2, but duh it didn't work.
I personally think that could be something to add. Instead of changing on the fly and looking at the screen for the lines, or even saying pull goalie.