NHL 20 Discussion Thread

[CBJx614]

Had to pause my current game for some thoughts.

They say skating is improved or whatever but dont see it. IDK about anyone else, I play PS4 and I still have the same issues when it comes to checking.

1. Ill try and skate up and when I go for a check I completely miss
2. Holding L2 I will try and glide to check someone carrying the park ill either just glide by them or totally miss the check

Skating mechanics are still awful.

I just got a game misconduct for some check and the announcer said something about suspensions. I know no game has suspensions in them but NHL could be the first to actually have em and it would be cool.

As I said a few posts before AI is still stupid. I have players all out of position and skating into each other.

As I said before franchise mode they just added a few bells and whistles and it still seems incomplete. Have mentioned many times before if EA wants a good franchise mode(NHL and Madden) they need to look at NBA 2K. NBA 2K sort of ruined their franchise mode with all the coin bullshit but everything else EA should totally duplicate. More in depth player bios and interactions. More fake social media presence. Need better cut scenes too. Maybe before a game show players in the hall ways or locker rooms or taking photos with a fan whos holding a sign

It's not even the current NBA 2k that's better.

Go back and watch videos of NHL 2k10 or ESPN 2k5 or APF 2K8, the depth, the gameplay, the AI, the physics, it's ALL better.

With current gen(or next gen) those games blow the current EA lineup outta the water. If they had current games it would be completely obvious what a money hungry shit show EA is.

 

[CBJx614]

lol 2K was awful. 2K not acrady? Online I could easily score 16 goals many times over. I was good, but good grief not that good. 2K 10 was the worst.

And EA was good? EA has been garbage for over a decade. And now all they do is focus on HUT/MUT/FUT.

EA is an absolute joke.

 

[Rick C137]

I’m SOOOOO glad I ended up shelving NHL really early this year. Bored in the quarantine so me and a buddy decided to dust off NHL20. Played a 2v2 eashl game last night (1cpu player on each side) and absolutely dominated the other team only to have their cpu score 2 goals (no 1-ts set up by humans either. Straight shots from cpu) in the last minute to come from behind and win. Last one was going wide of the net too and our goalie knocked it down with the blocker and into the net with less than 5 seconds left. I’m not sure we gave up one high end scoring chance the whole game and had a bundle on the other side.

This game just isn’t enjoyable to play at all. Next year is the first since I believe 08 that I’m gonna skip nhl entirely.

 

[x Tame Impala]

I’m SOOOOO glad I ended up shelving NHL really early this year. Bored in the quarantine so me and a buddy decided to dust off NHL20. Played a 2v2 eashl game last night (1cpu player on each side) and absolutely dominated the other team only to have their cpu score 2 goals (no 1-ts set up by humans either. Straight shots from cpu) in the last minute to come from behind and win. Last one was going wide of the net too and our goalie knocked it down with the blocker and into the net with less than 5 seconds left. I’m not sure we gave up one high end scoring chance the whole game and had a bundle on the other side.

This game just isn’t enjoyable to play at all. Next year is the first since I believe 08 that I’m gonna skip nhl entirely.

It happens in franchise mode too. The goalie's ability to make a save in the final minutes of the game takes such a huge dive. It's atrocious. There has to be some code written into the game that weakens a goalie's SV% to allow for more "exciting" game-tying/winning-goals.

It's sometimes not even about winning or losing games. Regardless of the game mode you're playing, if you're trying to keep your team's GAA down (if you care about that sort of thing) it makes it that much harder. There's been plenty of games where i've been up 3-1, 4-1 only to give up a weak goal or two in the final minutes. Then because the AI is so bad with pulling goalies, instead of winning that game 4-1 i'll win it 6-3 or 7-4. There's been a lot of games i've played where there's been 4 or 5 goals scored in the last 3 minutes of the game. It's not exciting. It's definitely not fun.

 

[GAMO1992]

I did not purchase NHL 20. there were times when I was itching to play some NHL, so I would boot up my NHL 19, realize how no depth there is to the game and my itch would be satisfied.
I might even skip 21...these games are just becoming less and less fun for me.
the only 'fun' I find in this game anymore is customizing an entirely new league for franchise mode. aka creating an entire new 31 teams and substituting them over the regular teams, with custom jerseys etc. did that in 19, was quite fun. also did a fantasy draft with it, so it was like a 'brand new' league.

 

[Bondurant]

Bought a PS4 and NHL 20 and both arrived yesterday. NHL 94 and Mutant League Hockey were staples of my childhood. The games have changes so much. Graphics are outstanding, aside from a few in-game glitches, but the game is overly difficult. CPU does all of these wild things that I cannot replicate. Can't do a body check or worthwhile shot. I'm not cut out for the modern games. Menu navigation is also tedious. When I gain new HUT players the only way I can get them added is when I use the autofill option that assigns your line-ups based on player rating. My Collection will not contain the player cards that I've secured. Still fun to play albeit kinda frustrating.

 

[TheMistyStranger]

I’m SOOOOO glad I ended up shelving NHL really early this year. Bored in the quarantine so me and a buddy decided to dust off NHL20. Played a 2v2 eashl game last night (1cpu player on each side) and absolutely dominated the other team only to have their cpu score 2 goals (no 1-ts set up by humans either. Straight shots from cpu) in the last minute to come from behind and win. Last one was going wide of the net too and our goalie knocked it down with the blocker and into the net with less than 5 seconds left. I’m not sure we gave up one high end scoring chance the whole game and had a bundle on the other side.

This game just isn’t enjoyable to play at all. Next year is the first since I believe 08 that I’m gonna skip nhl entirely.

I came to this thread after playing 2 games of NHL 18, where my goalie let in 5 on 18 shots and 6 on 20. He’s not a great goalie (79 overall Korpisalo) but really, consistently letting in straightforward wristers from the faceoff dot is pretty sad. 3 goals on the first 5 shots last game. I don’t expect to win every game, and I don’t want to, but I do expect that if I outshoot a team 35-17, more often I’m going to win. Instead, I’m losing games 5-1.

So I came to this thread to see if goalies were better now than in NHL 18....and it sounds like nope.

 

[belair]

CR system is completely broken in this game right now. Half a dozen wins this week show a broken lobby at the end and no CR doled out. Just won a game 3-1, dragging a couple amateur forwards and the game awards me with -15 CR.

It's comical how disappointing this game is year in, year out.

 

[GAMO1992]

and you know what's even funnier? the fact that with the current world crisis and people wanting some kind of hockey fix, you'd think THIS sub-forum would be blowing TF up....considering all the free time a lot of people seem to have now, but NOPE lmao

 

[Matt UK]

Bought a PS4 and NHL 20 and both arrived yesterday. NHL 94 and Mutant League Hockey were staples of my childhood. The games have changes so much. Graphics are outstanding, aside from a few in-game glitches, but the game is overly difficult. CPU does all of these wild things that I cannot replicate. Can't do a body check or worthwhile shot. I'm not cut out for the modern games. Menu navigation is also tedious. When I gain new HUT players the only way I can get them added is when I use the autofill option that assigns your line-ups based on player rating. My Collection will not contain the player cards that I've secured. Still fun to play albeit kinda frustrating.

Sounds like a similar experience to me, Pro difficulty is too easy but All-Star is way to hard, the super fast precision passing and shooting from CPU is impossible to match.

 

[Serac]

and you know what's even funnier? the fact that with the current world crisis and people wanting some kind of hockey fix, you'd think THIS sub-forum would be blowing TF up....considering all the free time a lot of people seem to have now, but NOPE lmao

I would probably say that that's a combination of previous games being absolute bare bones with content, this game showing a sliver of promise but not yet drawing people in, and most importantly, HF being an absolute garbage fire in it's own right.

 

[unknownbrother]

and you know what's even funnier? the fact that with the current world crisis and people wanting some kind of hockey fix, you'd think THIS sub-forum would be blowing TF up....considering all the free time a lot of people seem to have now, but NOPE lmao

Lots of people are playing the game now. More than there's been all year. Go into a drop in game on EASHL and you'll likely get a full 6 v 6 or at least a 5 v 4 game on your first attempt at matchmaking. It's been great to actually play with a lot of people and banter instead of playing with 1-2 silent puck hogging tryhards.

This sub has been pretty dead for a long while now. Plus, a sub on a forum isn't indicative of how many people are playing a game.

 

[canucks1916]

Is anyone interested in joining an NHL 20 tournament? It is for both the Xbox and PS4 called the NHL 20 Daily Hive Cup. We are trying to build up rankings, so you play against the computer by following the rules on Gamerzarena and after the game you are given a score. We create a leaderboard and then the rankings from that are made into a bracket for single elimination. First prize for each console is $800. If you are interested let me know!

 

[canucks1916]

Sent Duplicate

 

[canucks1916]

Sent Duplicate

 

[saska sault]

I did not purchase NHL 20. there were times when I was itching to play some NHL, so I would boot up my NHL 19, realize how no depth there is to the game and my itch would be satisfied.
I might even skip 21...these games are just becoming less and less fun for me.
the only 'fun' I find in this game anymore is customizing an entirely new league for franchise mode. aka creating an entire new 31 teams and substituting them over the regular teams, with custom jerseys etc. did that in 19, was quite fun. also did a fantasy draft with it, so it was like a 'brand new' league.

I use to do the same but I would replace every NHL team with the Russian, Swedish and Finnish league teams... Sorry not remembering the proper name of each league at the time.. This must have been back in NHL 14 or 15? That was the only fun I had in the game. Players I didn't know, teams I didn't know, it didn't seem as wrong when some random 89 overall 22 year old was let go as a RFA and was in free agency as it does when you see its a kid like Barzal. If they bring back the other leagues and the feature to replace all the teams I'll play. Or if they make an actual decent NHL game again where I can play completely offline and enjoy making a franchise to 15 to 20 years in the simulation.

 

[ek93]

I play mostly EASHL with a little Franchise mode sprinkled in.

I think the absolute worst part of EASHL (and theres a ton of problems) is the inconsistency of the game. The game just decides when it feels like f***ing you. Some games you’ll have a godlike CPU or goalie, and some games you’ll want to put your fist through your tv because you can’t even comprehend what they’re doing. Sometimes the puck will go right through your player even though you’re directly in the passing lane. Sometimes your “sniper” with all the shooting add-ons will miss the net by 6 feet. It’s just all bullshit.

Literally the only reason I still buy/play this huge waste of time garbage game is because me and my buddies have been playing EASHL together since NHL 11. It’s just kinda what we do to de-stress late at night (or pass time during quarantine). It’s fun to play with them, even when the game itself isn’t fun 90% of the time.

Just about every aspect of this game is broken. EA doesn’t care about us, either. Be a Pro and Franchise mode will always be trash, and the CPUs will always be clueless. But don’t worry, next year we’ll get 15 new Snoop Dogg jerseys, 6 new pairs of flannel skates, and 4 new zebra print sticks. The game caters to 13 year olds who spend their allowance money in HUT, not people who actually want a decent hockey game.

 

[Edmonton East]

A developer should just come in and put out a solid 3v3 and 6v6 hockey game. That's it. Doesn't need to include any NHL trademark crap.

A game like that would kill.

 

[Fabi52]

It happens in franchise mode too. The goalie's ability to make a save in the final minutes of the game takes such a huge dive. It's atrocious. There has to be some code written into the game that weakens a goalie's SV% to allow for more "exciting" game-tying/winning-goals.

It's sometimes not even about winning or losing games. Regardless of the game mode you're playing, if you're trying to keep your team's GAA down (if you care about that sort of thing) it makes it that much harder. There's been plenty of games where i've been up 3-1, 4-1 only to give up a weak goal or two in the final minutes. Then because the AI is so bad with pulling goalies, instead of winning that game 4-1 i'll win it 6-3 or 7-4. There's been a lot of games i've played where there's been 4 or 5 goals scored in the last 3 minutes of the game. It's not exciting. It's definitely not fun.

Same here!! I try to play a hard-nosed defensive game with a lot of cycling and puck posession just to try to keep the GAA down, winning or losing doesnt matter, just playing good hockey.. I have buildt a really "good" defense too with Top 2 and top 4 guys to help me get my goal.
Played against CBJ, everything went right, good puck posession, a lot of shot, much less shots against, and defending and shot supression worked really good. In the last 10 minutes of the third Period, after leading 3-1, CBJ turned from nothing into god mode, i was unable to get any puck back, passes worked for them, that will never work in real hockey and they scored 2 goals for 3-3 after 6 minutes.
And with many other examples in different games all along. it really makes me sometimes so mad, because you realize, how the game itself it seems to me decides, of you are able to play good, or the play you against the wall like an junior team, and you are unable to do something against it....

 

[IcemanTBI]

Interesting:

NHL announces #HockeyAtHome gaming event - TSN.ca

I hope they at least use Altitos sliders for some form of realism, as lacking as it is.

 

[Tryblot]

Is anyone interested in joining an NHL 20 tournament? It is for both the Xbox and PS4 called the NHL 20 Daily Hive Cup. We are trying to build up rankings, so you play against the computer by following the rules on Gamerzarena and after the game you are given a score. We create a leaderboard and then the rankings from that are made into a bracket for single elimination. First prize for each console is $800. If you are interested let me know!View attachment 341844

Is this the new form of messaging telling people to sign up for gamersaloon?

 

[teravaineSAROS]

Offline player here:
I cant tell if it's a Tuner Update, my controller or my console... but the skating in the game isn't as smooth anymore and it feels choppy and "muddy" like in the older games.

Doesn't matter if the player has 99 in agility he still won't move as smoothly as I remember them moving a few months ago.

 

[x Tame Impala]

Offline player here:
I cant tell if it's a Tuner Update, my controller or my console... but the skating in the game isn't as smooth anymore and it feels choppy and "muddy" like in the older games.

Doesn't matter if the player has 99 in agility he still won't move as smoothly as I remember them moving a few months ago.

It’s most likely “Skater Acceleration” and “Skater Agility” sliders that would cause that. With and without the puck.

 

[x Tame Impala]

I’ve had almost unlimited free time since the quarantine started and I’ve had zero desire to pick NHL 20 back up. IMO...

-Offline modes can’t be tuned correctly
-AI isn’t sophisticated enough to offer a dynamically challenging and interesting gameplay
-the way the game handles the final 5-10 minutes of the third period makes the previous 50 minutes almost meaningless. So many goals are scored for no other reason than to make artificially close games and “exciting” goals.

 

[Conor Edwards]

Replaying NHL14, it really hits you how different the AI and tuning was. Sure, the skating was way more linear, and the skill stick was non-existent, but the AI, even on Pro, was challenging enough to be fun and satisfying when you came back on them in the 3rd period.