NHL 19 is what… Good? Bad? Many players in the community call the current status of the game terrible. Some call it good, some others call it decent, but needs improvement. Needing improvement is a fact but the game is not as terrible as it could be. It is in need of some fixes and some of which will be addressed in this article. These issues will mainly consist of EASHL and in-game mechanics that also effect HUT and Versus. We will not be discussing dressing room errors and while it is frustrating, I do not have a simple answer for that. (Disclaimer: I am not going to be picking apart the HUT issues with the cards and packs. I am no HUT expert and the time it would take would be a waste, seeing that I do not play HUT). This article will address EASHL and the classes, attributes, and the in-game mechanics that affect those other game modes.
First thing up is the conflicted game mode, EASHL. EASHL is the mode I play the most. I play LG and I take 6s very competitively; 3s not so much. I play more matches a night than some biggies may but that’s not the point.I play wing, so my main job is to cover the defenseman, score goals, and create plays. Sadly, how this game is setup, you must strictly be what your class is. Even with all the options and cool traits you can pick,good luck trying to score without some negative. You want to be a strong playmaker with good shot and balance? You can’t do that. The game takes away too many negatives. Core Balance shouldn’t take shooting away. The playmakers shot is weak as is, it should not make it worse. The game doesn’t just do that with playmaker. For example, my teammate is a pure sniper and goal scorer. He uses quick wrister for his main attribute ON a sniper class. Yes it works but he also likes to deke. If he wants to be a deking sniper, he can’t. First, the deking below 87 is terrible and the fact is that it hurts your shot as well. A snipers deking can only go to a 84. Even that is not a guarantee for a successful deke. Basically, the classes need to either have higher attributes to start with, make no negative cost to other attributes, or make smaller costs to those affected. The game was big on showcasing top end, speed, and agility however, if you use either trait, it cancels out the other one. A playmaker can go from 88 speed to 84 just for better agility. At that point it is basically useless. The speed feels slow. I have been a small dangler and when this game came out I used to blow bigger defenseman out of the water. Now it feels like everyone is closer in speed so maybe a gap would help. These are all slight issues, but it is the first year of this new system. There is room for improvement for sure.
Next up is more of the mechanical game issues. I will use game knowledge and in-game scenarios I have encountered for these. I will use facts I have heard and learned.
First up, we will be discussing the poor puck pickups, dekes, and failed animations in the game. Too often I see a puck in the corner and I skate close to it. My guy ignores it like the puck is simply not there. This annoys many people and this is not the only time this happens. I will receive a pass, the puck will be slightly tipped or deflected in some sort of way, and the puck will still come to my direction. For some reason, my guy will be completely lost and is unable to get the puck. This is also a mix of the failed animations. Failed animations are like failed passes, failed shots, or pickups. Basically when your guy acts like he has no effort and is dead. Your player needs to be more aware. Deking feels way to low for all classes. As I explained earlier, I have tested the dangler. Yes he can deke pretty well however, I still feel like I lose the puck often.For a class with good hands and high offensive awareness, it seems like he cannot deke clearly. Every class needs a boost in my opinion.
Next is something that mixes in 2 different categories. I will address something that I feel is a big part of hockey and the community does not understand. This is the meanings of Offensive and Defensive awareness and how EA seemingly does not understand lane coverage.
When you are on defense as a winger, your job is to cover the opposing teams defender at the blue line. Now, your job obviously is not that strict. Get to the wall, create an outlet for your defense to break the puck out, and cover the back doors sometimes. Of course these are all situational events and as the game progresses things happen and situations change. The one issue I find is as you sit in the high slot, covering the point, you also try to cover the center of the ice. In case of a quick backdoor play, you can read it. What happens sometimes (I am guilty of doing this a few times) players will throw a cross ice pass from the corner to the diagonal defenseman. For some reason, even with a puck moving defender, you cannot grab the puck. Either the game just is not registering the interception or your guy is seemingly unaware. I have been in scenarios where I am staring at the passer and my guy still cannot get the puck. This may be a broken animation and it happens way too often.
Next is the offense and defense awareness meanings. These have somewhat been defined but still nobody really knows what they are or what they do. These need to be fixed and actually show growth or tell us what each does. Here is what I propose, offensive awareness should be defined in what it does. I think a higher awareness should mean getting the puck back faster after a deke that may fail, or if a puck deflects quickly, your guy should be able to get the puck quicker. Such as if the puck is batted out of the air, or stopped with your stick or feet. Also, higher OA should make you able to recover pucks from all around you, behind you, on the side. Defensive awareness slightly ties into lane coverage. The higher your defensive awareness is the better you should be able to intercept pucks, grab loose pucks near the net and make your poke check more effective in poking at a loose puck. Your player should maybe be better at blocking shots or getting a stick in shooting and passing lanes.
Next we will be bundling up stick lifts, poke checks and other miscellaneous things. In the current state, I feel like the stick lifts are an absolute sword fight. I have been trying to get a puck in the corner and I will get stick lifted, then they grab the puck. Then, I grab it and we are instantly in a stick lift war. Stick lifts need to have a slow down time in between using them or make more penalties. The pokes feel like spam. I think the original game status had pokes perfected (obviously take out the glitches that occurred). Unless you are in a perfect spot to poke, it will make a tripping call.
The next thing I want to address is the goalie animations. I have spoken with many goalies in EASHL/LG; they all agree the games animations are poor and I agree. I have seen goals go in by goalies not doing animations, or even some animations that put the pucks in the net without a way to stop them. Some goalie animations should be optional. Auto pokes on the post is often complained about, along with a way from going from an animation to animation. Another complaint is standing up after each move you make.I have experienced this, dumping the puck as a goalie is horrible. Sometimes it does not go where you want and sometimes you have to spam the stick to shoot.
In conclusion of this, I am sure I will miss some issues. This is not a bash against EA. They do their best. I feel bad for Flopfish and the amount of GameChangers who take abuse for things they can’t do. They help express the game, show gameplay, and help US improve. They create content, NOT develop the game internally. Some do, but a lot are content creators. This game was a step in the right direction, now all we can do as fans and players is express our opinions and issues.
Wrote by @Holland98_
Edited by @ForeverDev18
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