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Originally Posted by RicoLaguna |
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Folks, I want to keep this constructive and positive for EA to really absorb the feedback from a long time NHL customer.
I have purchased all the EA NHL games since back in the days of the 1st PC versions and Sega Genesis versions. So I speak with a little bit of history of the many versions.
The last version I purchased was NHL 16 as I started to lose interest in the gameplay and the Franchise mode felt very lifeless and ignored.
So this week I got the itch again to try NHL 19 due to the very positive feedback and the fact that it was on sale in the Sony PlayStation Store for 24 bucks. After my first game I was pleasantly surprised at how the gameplay seemed to make better strides in the direction of realism and authenticity to what we actually see in the real NHL today. Altho its still a few versions away from really hitting what we see on TV, its headed in the right direction.
Players still leave the zones too quickly rather than staying in the offensive zones and fighting for the pucks. Goalies still have a few of those wonky canned helicopter save animations that have them flopping 360 with while gloving the puck behind their backs way too often and too scripted. I feel there needs to be a more natural chain of goalie animations that react to situations rather than a lot of the canned stuff that it feels like now. But we are getting there
While we are on animations, I still feel like we need to see even more variety of animations, hitting, shooting, stretching, lunging, board checking, jostling, ect on the ice to give the game an even more organic feel so the games don't start to all look and feel the same.
In addition, I'd still like to see even more separation in the way players attributes and skills actually can play out on the ice so you can actually appreciate the different skill sets a player brings to a team. (The NHL 2K series did a great job at this)
But by and large what drove me to writing this post and how disappointed I am with the overall game as a whole is its FRANCHISE experience. It feels like it either has not improved or actually has taken a step back in its immersion factor. Let me explain....
While I want to give credit to the team because they implemented a great scouting system and ownership mode so you can manage your budget and finances, the rest of the core mode feels so underdeveloped that its downright embarrassing. There is almost zero immersion factor to know whats going on around the rest of the league outside your team. The interface has taken a step backwards and is so simplistic in what it offers the player to view.
I mean, you cant even click on the calendar of a game played to see the details of the boxscore of the game you just played. And there is no way to drill down to see other teams stats and boxscores. Theres no sense of feeling like your part of a living breathing league of other teams. NBA 2K allows you to see trends, team vs team analysis, last 10 games each team played. all kinds of cool things!....
NHL is so far behind in the Franchise mode....I really hope they address this immersion factor cause its the only mode I really play, and I know its a mode that a lot of others really love too
thoughts or am I alone in thinking this?
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I agree all to 100% .... another for me important thing in offline Franchise is the customization. 25% or more players have no pic in their profile. EA come on, this is minimum what we can await. Maybe only 5% real player likenesses. I would prefer a pic and facescan upload for players. Since years the same boring goalie masks.
The statistics are worse. We need a complete player history with trades, up and down streaks , Cup rings and all stats must be named by Team name not NHL or AHL and counted all together if a player played for more than one Team during a season. In past issues they had like this.