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Originally Posted by clou14 |
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Okay guys, I know. I've heard it time and time again, and I can't help but feel the same way. The NHL series needs to be improved. But rather than spamming the same comments "game sucks", "copy+paste", "fix your game" etc... let's be real here. What would it honestly take for the NHL series to become a W for you? I know there is a lot.. and I've always said this game has so much untapped potential, but unfortunately that's where it stands, and always has. I'll start
I saw a post by Between the Pipes on twitter about human goaltending. Some takeaways that I read were "The experience needs to be rewarding and enjoyable" and I can't deny that. Human goaltending is often just a grind and unfortunately when it comes down to it - you can only lose a game for your club, never win one. No matter how well positioned you are, a goal will squeak through your arm. Goaltending with a .650% is the median and that is just not fun. There was discussion about having a stamina effect - maybe the more pressure in the zone/big lunging saves cause the stamina to drop, and as a result those odd goals that leak in will leak in. But if somebody takes the first shot on goal, you should have that 100% of the time that you are in position. There was talk about vastly improving the post play, as it is known that in real hockey goaltenders utilize their posts in a way that sparks a great advantage to their play. In NHL 22, if you use your posts.. well, you get scored on. It is clunky and unresponsive at times, and there is no reward for holding the proper position. Anyways.. there is a lot in this thread, and I think it is worth a good read: https://twitter.com/eashlgoalie/stat...92435930185735
Although there is a LOT more that I could say about this game, and will definitely post more in this thread... what would it take for this game to win you over again?
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What would it take to make this game a dub for me? Make it play like hockey. Such a simple request, yet one that EA hasn't been able to deliver since NHL '98 on PC.
Ever since then it's been about finding "The Glitch" that breaks the gameplay in order to score. Whether it was the floater muffin from the blue line that the AI Tendy couldn't handle, to the "S move" in the slot, the dreaded "Curve Shot", the "P!$$ Shot" wraparound, etc... EA's NHL has always about finding that one way to cheese the score and running with it. The counter argument has always been "Well just defend it", so basically you gotta find more cheese to beat out the cheese. GENIUS!! Why didn't I think of that? Sounds like an absolute blast (/sarcasm)
The other point you touch on is one that's near and dear to my heart: human goaltending has always lagged behind. The closest it's ever been to an even footing with the offense was back in NHL 14 on the PS3/Xbox 360. Not because it was any good, but because it was broken enough to keep up even with good shooters. The main difference was that goalies in NHL 14 actually made saves when you wanted to. Stretching your pads, limbs, using their sticks to deflect pucks into the corners or behind you. Basically if you were in position, you made the save. You moved towards the puck, you made a save attempt. Ever since Rammer took over from Litman (who was himself an actual pro Goalie) the position has been basically relegated to being a poor man's Goldberg from the Mighty Ducks movie. Even tied to his posts, he was better at stopping pucks than you could ever dream to be if you play human goalie in this game. When human goaltending will be able to keep up with the offense, then I'll take notice. Then I'll give this series another chance.
It's not that the game "sucks", it's that the people making it don't want to put out the effort to make it better. It all starts with the one directing the vision. Bad leadership, bad game. You can add all the features and silly Fortnite intros to impress the 10 yr olds into spending mommy and daddy's credit card on HUT pax... Until they scale it back and finally fix the problems this series has had for decades now and really go back to basics by making a good HOCKEY foundation first (then add all the arcade features you want), EA's NHL will never be as good as it can be.