Review: NHL 26 (PS5) – A Small Step in the Right Direction for EA’s Hockey Sim

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Sports games often focus on small yearly updates rather than major overhauls. Because these games are visually demanding and complex, it’s challenging to make significant changes every year. Instead, developers usually pick a few features to improve and hope it makes a difference.

Honestly, trying this same strategy again with NHL 25 was a bust, just like last year’s hockey game. NHL 24 totally revamped how you control the players, and NHL 25 just… didn’t really build on that. It felt like a missed opportunity, you know?

Okay, so thankfully, NHL 26 actually listened to us players! They’ve made a couple of really big changes, and a bunch of smaller tweaks to how the game plays, which honestly makes it way better. I’m actually enjoying it now!

The biggest improvements in this version are definitely in Be A Pro mode, which is like the game’s story campaign. It hadn’t been updated in years and was becoming boring and repetitive. Now, it features a lot of visual and storytelling changes, including new cutscenes – thankfully, they’ve removed the awkward pond hockey scene – more conversations, and, surprisingly, characters now have voice acting.

Previously, the game showed important story moments only through text. Adding voice acting really enhances the immersion now. It’s especially cool to hear real players, such as top prospect Macklin Celebrini, virtually congratulate you after you’re drafted.

Although Mack Celebrini’s voice acting isn’t amazing, it shows a welcome level of effort and detail that this game hasn’t seen in quite a while.

Starting your career with the World Juniors tournament is a great opportunity, as it’s one of the most thrilling events for up-and-coming players in the sport.

A nice addition to the game is the new Cup Chase mode within Ultimate Team. While you can still enjoy the mode without spending extra money, Cup Chase provides a more engaging way to play offline.

You’ll play through a short season to try and earn a spot in the playoffs, where you can win even bigger prizes. This doesn’t change how the core game is played, but the clearer structure makes the experience more enjoyable.

The game now feels stingier with rewards compared to before. It’s much harder to get significant improvements without purchasing the more expensive packs.

Honestly, the other modes – online versus, World of CHEL, Franchise, and all the PWHL stuff – are pretty familiar if you’ve played before. But they’ve made a few tweaks to how the game *plays* that actually make everything feel a bit better and more engaging.

After a couple of years of frustration with the hitting mechanics, we’re happy to say that hitting now feels much better. It’s easier to line up players and deliver powerful hits, making the whole process smoother than before.

It’s still difficult to pull off, which is good because it shouldn’t happen all the time. Big plays like this are rare in actual hockey, so it feels especially rewarding when they do happen.

The other major gameplay area that sees some changes lies with goaltending.

As a hockey fan, I’ve noticed something really frustrating this season: goalies are struggling with slapshots! It seems like way too many goals are going in off shots from the point that the goalie should easily see and stop – there’s no screen, no traffic, just a clean look. It’s especially weird because modern goalies are supposed to be so good at positioning and reacting quickly. It’s making the game a little less exciting when these shots are going in that shouldn’t.

It’s a worthwhile trade-off for the improved way goalies handle difficult saves. While they won’t be perfect, they now have a much wider range of effective moves when scrambling to defend the net, and the results are excellent.

If a lucky shot manages to get past the goalie, it doesn’t automatically mean a goal will be scored. The goalie will attempt to block the puck, reacting with the same effort and skill as any top player.

Honestly, these updates are great, but it’s kinda sad – is anyone even playing anymore to enjoy them? I’ve been trying to find online matches, and it’s way harder than usual. I’m not sure if people are just burned out on the game or have lost interest, but it’s definitely a struggle to find a game these days.

Many game modes were hard to find players for, and even popular options like online versus sometimes had only a few hundred people playing at once.

One problem is that the online part of the game doesn’t seem to be running as smoothly as it used to. Many matches had noticeable lag and frame drops, which made it hard to play at times.

On top of the existing, long-standing bugs, the game still has issues with syncing – a problem that freezes the menu while gameplay continues underneath. Plus, some new problems have appeared.

Even though it’s not devastating, this game has an unusually high number of shots hitting the goalposts. As a fan of the Colorado Avalanche, I’m used to seeing Cale Makar hit the post occasionally, but this game features it happening *constantly*. Sometimes you’ll see three or four shots in a row hit the post, and it’s even more noticeable when players try to be precise with their shots. It’s really strange.

We also noticed the menus and navigation are slow again. This issue keeps recurring, and it’s particularly obvious on post-game screens. Instead of just feeling slow, things seem shaky and glitchy there.

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2025-09-24 20:38