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

[sweetjones]

Quote: Originally Posted by BL8001

Something I am not liking at all and the same thing runs rampant in the fifa series when you play the cpu on different difficulties. I played hut on rookie, the starting offline season. My players did what the cpu players do on pro and above, skate to the net and park and wait for the tap in while the cpu defenders cannot knock them off their spot. You get to enjoy that on rookie level. So what they do on pro and above is clog the slot, your players never "post" up and they stay moving, suspiciously moving away from the puck. This is EA's stupid way of making the game more difficult for the user. I hate with a passion that ea feels a need to nerf your defense but also dumb down your players too as you raise difficulty. Just make the cpu smarter, leave my team alone.

Wow. I thought I was the only one to notice this in this franchise. It is so obvious that's how this game is programmed in the different difficulty levels. It's like we have to lower our standards/meaning of the phrase "competitive cpu". Too much BS has to happen for the cpu to be "competitive". Instead of a smart cpu, they make our players play stupid or wierd things happen such as a missed aimed passed right to the cpu. When the control sticks on the replay screen shows where you really aimed the pass. It just pisses me off, because that's the only way they can think to make the "cpu competitive".

[Splitter77]

sonething minor.
but they didnt fix how the officials dont have their arm in the air to show a delayed penalty.

[1908_Cubs]

Overall, the game is fun. I'm really enjoying my time with the game. And I think in the end, that's the most important thing.

Is it perfect? No. Not perfect. Legacy issues have yet to be fixed. Some AI issues. Yes the game is following what you'd expect from a 2nd iteration on a "next gen" (adding back stripped modes after visual-heavy 1st iteration). But in the end, the game is enjoyable. I've got a slider set up that makes for fun-enough gameplay, and games that are difficult to win. Are the stat-outcomes perfect? No. I end up heavily outshooting the AI, where as the AI gets a couple of...iffy...goals, but the games aren't gimmies, I lose a fair amount, and I've had a good time.

I skipped 15. Glad I got 16. There's a really solid base for EA to get to work on the legacy issues and get this game from "fun/enjoyable" to really awesome. They seem to be listening to a decent degree to the outspoken few. If they continue to do that, I think they'll get close to making a really excellent hockey game in the future. Or maybe that's just silly optimism...

[THESHAMISASHAME]

Quote: Originally Posted by sweetjones

Wow. I thought I was the only one to notice this in this franchise. It is so obvious that's how this game is programmed in the different difficulty levels. It's like we have to lower our standards/meaning of the phrase "competitive cpu". Too much BS has to happen for the cpu to be "competitive". Instead of a smart cpu, they make our players play stupid or wierd things happen such as a missed aimed passed right to the cpu. When the control sticks on the replay screen shows where you really aimed the pass. It just pisses me off, because that's the only way they can think to make the "cpu competitive".

Its the one thing Ill rip the series on as far as boosting and gimping the game as needed and its gets worse if you max cpu strategy but the good thing is you can adjust most of the garbage out with sliders .

I found making pro level harder eliminated the cheap stuff but sadly on that level penalties are very hard to get and I wish all modes played like play now does because it plays clean hockey but for some reason all modes are programmed differently ?

Well another small thing that impressed me was Price and Subban doing a victory celebration where they tapped gloves up and down and then did a jumping hip bump

[phillyfan23]

This is why i played nhl 15 and previous games exclusively on play now. No BS ai issues....nhl 15 was a fair game even on superstar level. Blew worse teams out without a fight a few times. 6-1 or 4-0 scorelines

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk

[headzapp]

Quote: Originally Posted by Splitter77

nice. is there an option to play with the crowd netting on during gameplay?? or is it only shown in replays

If you play going north and south, The netting on the south is invisible and the netting on the north is there. If you play true broadcast the netting is on both sides.

[phillyfan23]

played 4 games after purchasing xbox one and nhl 16.

First impressions: gameplay has imprioved in some areas and regressed BIG TIME in others.

+ more bumps and little checks
+ atmosphere took a bump up
+ better overall polish and of course edit players

THe BIG BIG regressions imo are 2 basic AI things that were great in nhl 15 ps4 that I played well into the summer.

- CPU passing is back to constant tape to tape and very very very rarely are there errant passes where the cpu just flat out misses everyone. This was one of the greatest things of nhl 15. It created a more realistic and organic experience. Game's difficulty is still pretty much the same, but the CPU ai passing has reverted back to nhl 12-14. The only way they will miss the large large majority of the time is an interception or bad pass reception. This is a HUUUUGEEE regression and singlehandedly overrides all the little improvements for me. If you played madden 16 ( cpu qb ai is the biggest improvement, errant throws) and compare to madden 15 ( cpu qb only misses by interceptions and pass breakups)...well this is how it is but switched.

NHL 15= madden 16
NHL 16= madden 15

AI CPU offensive logic has also gotten worse....and again this was not the case in nhl 15 last year with proper sliders. One issue last year on default was that the cpu was overreliant on one timers. I turned down cpu one timer accuracy and it was much much better. I have one timer accuracy on 0 for 16 , pass accuracy on 0 and the cpu are one timer fiends and their main strategy is to pass around and look for the lot one timer. The lack of variety is evident right off the bat.

I heard impressions for the past week that nhl 16 gameplay was identical to 15 and I was pretty happy, but as it turns out, in my view, they have improved some areas, but the CORE gameplay AI has taken an unfortunate and surprising step back. The cpu passing accuracy is the main cause for this.

I haven't downloaded the recent patch for xone, maybe they tuned it back to 15 levels, but if not, I will be going back to NHL 15 and manually editing rosters.

[Armor and Sword]

Quote: Originally Posted by phillyfan23

played 4 games after purchasing xbox one and nhl 16. First impressions: gameplay has imprioved in some areas and regressed BIG TIME in others. + more bumps and little checks + atmosphere took a bump up + better overall polish and of course edit players THe BIG BIG regressions imo are 2 basic AI things that were great in nhl 15 ps4 that I played well into the summer. - CPU passing is back to constant tape to tape and very very very rarely are there errant passes where the cpu just flat out misses everyone. This was one of the greatest things of nhl 15. It created a more realistic and organic experience. Game's difficulty is still pretty much the same, but the CPU ai passing has reverted back to nhl 12-14. The only way they will miss the large large majority of the time is an interception or bad pass reception. This is a HUUUUGEEE regression and singlehandedly overrides all the little improvements for me. If you played madden 16 ( cpu qb ai is the biggest improvement, errant throws) and compare to madden 15 ( cpu qb only misses by interceptions and pass breakups)...well this is how it is but switched. NHL 15= madden 16 NHL 16= madden 15 AI CPU offensive logic has also gotten worse....and again this was not the case in nhl 15 last year with proper sliders. One issue last year on default was that the cpu was overreliant on one timers. I turned down cpu one timer accuracy and it was much much better. I have one timer accuracy on 0 for 16 , pass accuracy on 0 and the cpu are one timer fiends and their main strategy is to pass around and look for the lot one timer. The lack of variety is evident right off the bat. I heard impressions for the past week that nhl 16 gameplay was identical to 15 and I was pretty happy, but as it turns out, in my view, they have improved some areas, but the CORE gameplay AI has taken an unfortunate and surprising step back. The cpu passing accuracy is the main cause for this. I haven't downloaded the recent patch for xone, maybe they tuned it back to 15 levels, but if not, I will be going back to NHL 15 and manually editing rosters.

Max out puck control, zero out passing accuracy/reception ease. I had missed passes by the CPU last night on several occasions. I never played 15 so I can't compare.

I think the game is pretty amazing and the best NHL gameplay I have ever experienced. I also think tuners will solve a lot of minor gameplay issues that can arise.

It's not perfect. And I am a casual hockey gamer so the hardcore guys will eat my lunch and find things wrong in the game far more than I.

But for casual hockey gamers this is a AAA title.