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

[BMDinTDOT]

Just got the game yesterday and played a few games...

Pros:

- The game graphically is sexy as F___
- Like the bells and whistles (mascots, goal songs, crowd chants etc)

Cons:

- Goalie AI is terrible! It wasn't good last year but its been terrible
so far. My teams goalie let's in the absolute worst goals from low
percentage shots that 85% of the time won't go in real life. Just
kills the enjoyment out of the game.

- Last year I loved the Hardcore settings with the new physics felt
like real sim hockey. This year on those settings I find it very arcadey.
Feels way to fast and a little to cluttery and I'm not noticing the physics
that much. Just looks and feels like a very high end arcade game.

- Computer very rarely takes penalties still a total buzz kill

- They need to get some real authentic sports pump up songs to play
in game like you would hear at a real sporting event during breaks in
action. They also need a new PA announcer thats louder and try to
capture the reals sounds of pucks, sticks, crashing into boards etc
you'd hear at a real hockey game.

- Passing seems to be worse although to early to tell

- The price! I paid $93 with tax and the 3 dollar protection. I almost
had a heart attack and told the guy at EB Games WTF!

[phillyfan23]

I edited the first line of a QMJHL team and first defensive pairing to pass accuracy to 36/100 across the board. I used the same team set a vs game with both the cpu and I using the edited QMJHL team and line changes off so that the edited players would be on the ice at all times. I was hoping that the CPU would make a significant number of errant passes ( passes that miss the intended target, not an accurate pass intercepted by human player). lowest possible pass attributes combined with the lowest level of hockey and what do I see?

super accurate passes and in the first period ( 12 minutes periods), I did not see ONE errant pass, not ONE. it felt the exact same as when I played an NHL game against the penguins stars. In NHL 15, from the first shift alone you could spot an errant pass.

This and the ratings test ran by another OS member decreasing discipline ratings to 36/100 and made NO DIFFERENCE whatsoever with penalties, it reinforces that some ratings don't alter the on ice experience, it might effect the sim stats, but not on the ice. At one point discipline ratings did make a difference, because I edited the whole NHL one year ( NHL 12 if I'm not mistaken) to increase penalties. Not anymore, and It looks like the cpu overaccurate passing is hard coded and maybe could only be fixed by patch, but it can't be changed via edits.

A shame really....cpu ai passing was great in nhl 15.

[Splitter77]

played a bunch more the past couple days.
its definitely a bit better than last year.

Im getting great stats except for goals. Its usually a 6-5 game for me in 6 min periods on allstar.

35-25 shots per team on average.

I can deal with the lack of neutral zone pressure, because the game is still fun and im getting realistic shot totals.

But these goalies are the main problem. they are horrible. They need to completely redo them next year. And have like at least 6 different types of sliders just for goalies. Like how hitz pro had.

Im not sure what to do now. even with goalies maxed they still suck. I think im gonna have to lower all shot speeds to an unrealistic speed to get nhl scores.

[Splitter77]

Quote: Originally Posted by phillyfan23

I edited the first line of a QMJHL team and first defensive pairing to pass accuracy to 36/100 across the board. I used the same team set a vs game with both the cpu and I using the edited QMJHL team and line changes off so that the edited players would be on the ice at all times. I was hoping that the CPU would make a significant number of errant passes ( passes that miss the intended target, not an accurate pass intercepted by human player). lowest possible pass attributes combined with the lowest level of hockey and what do I see? super accurate passes and in the first period ( 12 minutes periods), I did not see ONE errant pass, not ONE. it felt the exact same as when I played an NHL game against the penguins stars. In NHL 15, from the first shift alone you could spot an errant pass. This and the ratings test ran by another OS member decreasing discipline ratings to 36/100 and made NO DIFFERENCE whatsoever with penalties, it reinforces that some ratings don't alter the on ice experience, it might effect the sim stats, but not on the ice. At one point discipline ratings did make a difference, because I edited the whole NHL one year ( NHL 12 if I'm not mistaken) to increase penalties. Not anymore, and It looks like the cpu overaccurate passing is hard coded and maybe could only be fixed by patch, but it can't be changed via edits. A shame really....cpu ai passing was great in nhl 15.

what is your fatigue effect at?
if you max it, you will see a lot of bad passes. especially if you pressure the cpu and keep them out a while.

[Splitter77]

Quote: Originally Posted by BMDinTDOT

Just got the game yesterday and played a few games... Pros: - The game graphically is sexy as F___ - Like the bells and whistles (mascots, goal songs, crowd chants etc) Cons: - Goalie AI is terrible! It wasn't good last year but its been terrible so far. My teams goalie let's in the absolute worst goals from low percentage shots that 85% of the time won't go in real life. Just kills the enjoyment out of the game. - Last year I loved the Hardcore settings with the new physics felt like real sim hockey. This year on those settings I find it very arcadey. Feels way to fast and a little to cluttery and I'm not noticing the physics that much. Just looks and feels like a very high end arcade game. - Computer very rarely takes penalties still a total buzz kill - They need to get some real authentic sports pump up songs to play in game like you would hear at a real sporting event during breaks in action. They also need a new PA announcer thats louder and try to capture the reals sounds of pucks, sticks, crashing into boards etc you'd hear at a real hockey game. - Passing seems to be worse although to early to tell - The price! I paid $93 with tax and the 3 dollar protection. I almost had a heart attack and told the guy at EB Games WTF!

$93!
I traded in nhl15 mlb the show15 and battlefield and got it for $29.

[jake19ny]

Quote: Originally Posted by Splitter77

played a bunch more the past couple days. its definitely a bit better than last year. Im getting great stats except for goals. Its usually a 6-5 game for me in 6 min periods on allstar. 35-25 shots per team on average. I can deal with the lack of neutral zone pressure, because the game is still fun and im getting realistic shot totals. But these goalies are the main problem. they are horrible. They need to completely redo them next year. And have like at least 6 different types of sliders just for goalies. Like how hitz pro had. Im not sure what to do now. even with goalies maxed they still suck. I think im gonna have to lower all shot speeds to an unrealistic speed to get nhl scores.

This is one of the biggest issues facing this series to date. Gameplay sliders and player attributes sliders do little to nothing at all. Minimum to maximum show very little difference in most areas. For all the complaining we do about EA not fixing this or bad AI that....if these sliders worked we could do it ourselves. I have always maintained that everyobe plays different so sliders are super important to get the game where you want. If EA did nothing else for NHL17 other than make gameplay sliders and player attribute sliders actually work on legit scale of 1-100 we would be able to have our player separation and be able to perfect our gameplay to fit our individual liking.
When I say legit scale of 1-100 I mean a guy with a 1 on discipline should take a penalty every time he steps on the ice. A guy with 25 on passing should make horrible passes 75% of the time. In gameplay if you have shot accuracy maxed you should see 100 shots a game if you have it at minimum you should miss the net from a foot away...same with penalty sliders.i dont know why I'm explaining it you guys know what I mean....

[actionhank]

Quote: Originally Posted by jake19ny

This is one of the biggest issues facing this series to date. Gameplay sliders and player attributes sliders do little to nothing at all. Minimum to maximum show very little difference in most areas. For all the complaining we do about EA not fixing this or bad AI that....if these sliders worked we could do it ourselves. I have always maintained that everyobe plays different so sliders are super important to get the game where you want. If EA did nothing else for NHL17 other than make gameplay sliders and player attribute sliders actually work on legit scale of 1-100 we would be able to have our player separation and be able to perfect our gameplay to fit our individual liking. When I say legit scale of 1-100 I mean a guy with a 1 on discipline should take a penalty every time he steps on the ice. A guy with 25 on passing should make horrible passes 75% of the time. In gameplay if you have shot accuracy maxed you should see 100 shots a game if you have it at minimum you should miss the net from a foot away...same with penalty sliders.i dont know why I'm explaining it you guys know what I mean....

If NHL17 focuses on AI, and effective sliders, I'll pre-order it as soon as I read the news. I've always wanted to try stuff like PhillyFan did and have a team where every player is rated as low as possible, and then sim them in a few games against teams rated 99 in every spot. Then try playing it yourself and see what happens.

I just don't think attributes and sliders do nearly enough to have a real tangible feel in the actual gameplay.

Quote: Originally Posted by DJ

Picked the game up today for the PS4. I haven't touched any sliders. All-Star/Hardcore, 9-min. periods. Overall, I like the game. A definite improvement from last year. Game feels sloppier, which is good. Legacy issues remain (lack of penalties, CPU making unrealistic passes while pinned to boards, too easy to gain blue line) but I'm going into this game just looking to enjoy myself and stop stressing about realism. I don't fault those that want realism, but I've learned to accept the way EA makes sports games. I'm enjoying Madden 16 and now NHL 16 because I've given up looking for flaws and just play for fun. If I didn't adopt that mentality, there'd be no point in me buying the game.

I wish I could be that mentally laid back. It would be so refreshing. I think it's just mainly the legacy issues that drive me nuts. I hate when I'm playing a solid game, and doing all of the right things...but then I lose in OT because my two defenders are trying to check one forwards while the other team's best wingers just hangs out in the slot. Games like those are going to cost me a controller soon.

[THESHAMISASHAME]

Quote: Originally Posted by jake19ny

This is one of the biggest issues facing this series to date. Gameplay sliders and player attributes sliders do little to nothing at all. Minimum to maximum show very little difference in most areas. For all the complaining we do about EA not fixing this or bad AI that....if these sliders worked we could do it ourselves. I have always maintained that everyobe plays different so sliders are super important to get the game where you want. If EA did nothing else for NHL17 other than make gameplay sliders and player attribute sliders actually work on legit scale of 1-100 we would be able to have our player separation and be able to perfect our gameplay to fit our individual liking. When I say legit scale of 1-100 I mean a guy with a 1 on discipline should take a penalty every time he steps on the ice. A guy with 25 on passing should make horrible passes 75% of the time. In gameplay if you have shot accuracy maxed you should see 100 shots a game if you have it at minimum you should miss the net from a foot away...same with penalty sliders.i dont know why I'm explaining it you guys know what I mean....

One problem the game isnt a real click slider sports game ( I dont even think they exist anymore ? last one might have been NHL2k ) as its programmed kinda like a MLB the Show is slider wise .
Meaning if I zero out hit power ect I shouldnt see any homeruns and the same with editing players meaning a player with little power shouldnt be able to hit a HR , but they can as theres variables a so called secret sauce thats unseen but needed to keep a random feeling in the game .