Defense don't even try to engage you as you go up ice

[Snoopy01]

Just got NHL 24 and one glaring thing I noticed that makes NHL 23 much better (with all it's pitfalls) is when carrying the puck up ice, all you need to do is go along the boards. The AI either forwards or defensemen, just skate, and you can easily go around them as you hit the opponents blue line. Once you hit the off zone face off area, it is almost a break away.

You can do this with your forwards or defensemen.

Is it me or am I that good in AllStar and Superstar modes with
AI Learning at 6/6
CPU Difficulty Adjustment: 5 and above
CPU Strategy Adjustment: 4 and above

At least in NHL 23, the opposing AI would try and hit you along the boards or choke up the middle of the ice.

[Fiddy]

Man, in 23 and past editions I could get the game to play somewhat even with me in terms of time on attack, CPU all over me at times..

Something happened this year after that very first patch, but I completely dominate the puck, no matter what I do slider wise.. I even have the CPU with skating (speed/acceleration) advantages to help with that and overall it actually don't help very much, while it does a tad but not to my overall liking. That includes maxed AI Learning and CPU Difficulty, along with maxed CPU Strats.

To combat the above I actually have to use my go to method in franchise mode and just sim 2 periods and play the 3rd period to get any enjoyment out of this years game.

I would go back to 23, but the lack of replays for presentation just kills it for me.

Most frustrated I've been with this game ever.

[The EVHL]

And this is why I stick with NHL 20. There hasn’t been a post 20 game that has had the AI even remotely close to as tenacious on the puck as that year. With the frostbite change came the “let’s make the AI stand still and do nothing to appease the HUT crowd” era of AI play.

I got into a rut in NHL 22 and couldn’t figure out why the game so amazingly easy and boring on superstar. It clicked instantly once I went back to 20. The players simply apply pressure on the puck and to a fault I should add. 20’s downfall is the overaggression which was swiftly swung to the current status of the AI simply having zero interest in removing you from the puck.

[JBlaze78]

I will just say it, Frostbite is a garbage engine for sports gaming...

[The EVHL]

Quote: Originally Posted by JBlaze78

I will just say it, Frostbite is a garbage engine for sports gaming...

It certainly hasn’t done this series any favors. I’m not a developer, don’t claim to know the first thing about it, but I am enough of an NHL vet to notice subtle changes in gameplay year to year. Believe me when I say that the AI difference from 20 to anything after is astronomical. It’s actually mind blowing.

If you’re a slider guy and have seemingly been in a rut for years now, I really suggest you try NHL 20 out again. The tenaciousness of the AI make balancing the game via sliders so much easier. Of course, the Ben Ross/Sean Rammer special under the hood secret sauce EA dev sliders (known as a bezerk mode around here) still exist in this game and like to tell you how you should play the game despite giving you a slider suite, but a few sliders cycles and power cycles usually does the trick.

Anyway, if anyone is as crazy as me and is willing to put in the effort to create a “sandbox league” and your own world, NHL 20 (or 19) is the game for you. The transition and in-zone play actually flows like hockey due to the pressure the AI put on you. The one area they lack is in the NZ. I think NHL 21 or 22 addressed the NZ gaps, but at the expense of removing the offensive AI’s intelligence to center drive the net on a break-in.

Actually, I’ve noticed in games since 20 that the defensive AI didn’t get better, the offensive AI just got impressively worse. Off-puck movement is non-existent, can’t center drive off a NZ break-in, it’s like shockingly bad once you go back and play NHL 20.

As someone who coaches hockey and has a passion for the game and the “X’s and O’s” that come with coaching, there isn’t a comparison between the pre-frostbite titles and the frostbite titles from a hockey standpoint. With the right sliders and rosters, NHL 20 is almost a passable hockey sim while NHL 21-24 are “stand around” simulators with dumbed down AI on both sides of the puck which in a weird way makes the game feel “better” defensively when really the devs just stifled the offensive puck support and made goalie limb reactions robotic compared to their pre-frostbite counterparts who actually have a ton of dynamic reactions and results to their game.

[stlgamer09]

Quote: Originally Posted by Fiddy

Man, in 23 and past editions I could get the game to play somewhat even with me in terms of time on attack, CPU all over me at times.. Something happened this year after that very first patch, but I completely dominate the puck, no matter what I do slider wise.. I even have the CPU with skating (speed/acceleration) advantages to help with that and overall it actually don't help very much, while it does a tad but not to my overall liking. That includes maxed AI Learning and CPU Difficulty, along with maxed CPU Strats. To combat the above I actually have to use my go to method in franchise mode and just sim 2 periods and play the 3rd period to get any enjoyment out of this years game. I would go back to 23, but the lack of replays for presentation just kills it for me. Most frustrated I've been with this game ever.

Which is crazy cause I use your sliders and I get hit all the time. I bumped up the CPU Aggression

[desouza7]

What difficulty do you guys play on? I play on Superstar with CPU Difficulty up to 6 and this was the most challenging game I’ve played in a few years (last patch or two toned it down a bit unfortunately). I found 22 and 23 way too easy to dominate.

[The EVHL]

Quote: Originally Posted by desouza7

What difficulty do you guys play on? I play on Superstar with CPU Difficulty up to 6 and this was the most challenging game I’ve played in a few years (last patch or two toned it down a bit unfortunately). I found 22 and 23 way too easy to dominate.

I find 24 to be “challenging” because your offensive AI prefer to stand still and do nothing. Worst offensive AI I’ve ever seen, makes the game a chore.