Is NHL 21 on the PlayStation 5 an Upgrade?
NHL 21 Review
NHL 21 for beginners
Mike (my fellow Brother of Discussion) has not played the EA Sports NHL game in nearly two decades. As essentially a first time, Mike has found it extremely difficult to play catch up and assume the role of a player in an NHL Franchise. The game may be too far along in making tiny iterative improvements to its gameplay mechanics that have forced older generations, without a lot of experience, to pass on a game that is too tough to compete in.
NHL 21 for the Hockey Addict
This game for me, Matt, is the book I read before I go to bed. It’s been a regular, calming presence in my life. One that I can use, since around 2000, to help me relax and find ‘home’.
I have never been particularly interested in playing online, but instead, find routine and comfort in the Franchise mode. I play a couple of games, maybe peruse the trading block, and then play with the financials to ensure I’ll be plopped onto a hefty profit margin come season’s end.
This year, however, the issues I have with the game start with the Franchise mode. Since I find so much comfort out of the game mode, I was shocked to see that it despite the mode seemingly being a carry-over from the year before, had so many problems.
The Bad
Franchise Mode
For instance, scouting players is one aspect of the mode that when done right, your team is extremely easy to manage and the biggest problem is usually trying to reach the cap floor. You can discover late-round gems and have them plugging holes in your roster every few years instead of investing large sums of cash in any one player.
As a Red Wings fan, you can imagine that being good and patient with scouting is extremely important, as the team struggles to find wins from the start. Just like Steve Yzerman and his plans to build through the draft, I manage with that same philosophy. So what is the problem?
The default scouting is broken.
As much as I love performing tedious actions in school and at work (not really) and I find the least amount of pleasure when it finds its way into my gaming. I hate grinding in games. I hate playing the same levels over and over. And I really hate redoing a process that ONLY needs to be redone because of a bug.
Scouts in the NHL Franchise Mode scout bad players. Players that should never be looked at. Players that, out of the 200 some reasonable prospects, rank in the 700’s or even 1000’s. Is literally impossible for them to ever crack a roster spot.
So, my comfort food. My warm soft blanket. My good book. Is sullied. Sullied beyond repair and completely broken. No longer can I comfortably simulate and build through the draft with a minimal scouting effort. Now, between every game played, I must reassign my scouting staff to ensure the reasonable, ‘draft-able’ players are being scouted.
This can and probably will be fixed, but for a gaming franchise that has collected money from me for the past 25 years, I’d really like to trust that this mode will work from the outset and on the day of release.
And I should mention that it isn’t just scouting. The trading system is too easy. Players are too eager to leave a struggling franchise. And the arena maintenance is now less stressful to manage, but then why even bother making it an aspect of the Franchise-Mode?
Without much change to the mode in the past 5 years, it’s hard to fathom how something like this could be so broken. But I guess, like so many other games released nowadays, it’s time to sit and wait for a patch.
The Gameplay
I’m going to keep this part short, but I can’t remember the last time I was this frustrated playing an EA Sports game. Surely the microtransactions in Star Wars were a pain, but nothing compares to the highway robbery that is the forechecking defense and poke-checks performed by your AI opponent.
It is almost impossible in some games to enter the zone without deciding you’re going to dump the pump for sixty minutes and cross your fingers. Playing with a team like the Red Wings (who lack talent) it is incredibly difficult to make space and deke through the neutral zone.
Most of the games turn into a ‘hope the deke works with time’. When they don’t, you struggle to gain the zone and of course, decrease your chances of winning.
This is another element that will probably get an upgrade or a patch soon, but waiting too much longer is going to dampen anyone’s spirits. If there is a reason this is the first NHL game I don’t have the patience to win the Stanley Cup with the Wings in Franchise mode, that will be the reason.
The Good in NHL 21
There are still some great aspects of NHL that I am enjoying. Obviously, if I didn’t take a buggy game release so personally, I might be more excited to talk about these things.
But it certainly wouldn’t be fair to ignore them.
Trade Deadline in NHL 21
The best improvement for NHL 21 may surprise you. It’s back in the Franchise Mode. The Trade Deadline has been completely revamped and it is nearly perfect.
Instead of crossing your fingers and simulating the day away (hoping you’ll get a juicy trade), you can now start the day as its own minigame and adjust your trade block, find trades with individual players, shop the best players available, and keep track of strengths, weaknesses, the future draft board, and more!
It is something that was so much fun, to me, that I couldn’t wait to simulate my franchise to the next deadline to see how I could improve or obtain more draft picks.
The problem, right now (assuming a patch), is how lucrative the day can be if you’re patient. Wait till the final hour and you’ll see trade offers for Filip Zadina that’ll net you two first-round draft picks and a prospect.
In my franchise, Zadina is already in his 3rd season and is an 83 overall. He definitely has room to grow, but considering I’ve simulated a good chunk of the season, Zadina (by all accounts) is underperforming.
Maybe my value of Zadina is wrong, but it’s definitely a major haul and after adding another late-round pick, I most certainly accepted the trade.
Be A Pro
This is the section I bet most reviewers will highlight as a major improvement. It is a great mode to play and the improvements are vast, but it’s also being compared to a mode that I would skip in the past.
Even with the improvements, the storytelling in the NBA 2K franchise is far superior, but it is great to see EA put some more thought into this mode.
Despite the ground still needed to make up against NBA 2K, it is still a lot of fun. The skill trees are a fun minigame to focus on, while you improve your player, and deciding to be the cocky superstar is a BLAST (especially when it pays off).
In this mode, besides trying to improve your in-game skill, you are also trying to improve your brand, by cool stuff, and befriend your teammates. They are all fun additions and I highly recommend giving this mode a shot.
The major problem is how long it takes to develop your player and how much it stinks to end up being the first pick and then being selected by the New York Rangers. My only goal now is to hope the Rangers stink, so I can request a trade to Detroit.
Expansion Drafts
As a huge fan of Franchise Mode, it’s always fun to explore, once or twice, into the fantasy draft world and see what team you can build from scratch. What’s even more fun is when you tie the experience to the real world and try to build a franchise like the Vegas Golden Knights through an expansion draft.
We get that opportunity this year with the Seattle Kraken being right around the corner. While mixing in the ‘real world’ aspects of an expansion draft, you can have a blast building from the ground up and selecting whoever your opposing NHL Franchises will allow you to plunder.
I like it when these types of elements are thrown into a game. It’s something you can’t miss if you’ve dropped $60 to play it (meaning it’s not enough for me to tell someone to go out and buy it). Mixing in a new way to gamify the offseason is welcome. Just as the new trade deadline component adds value to the experience, preparing for a full (and pretty accurate) expansion draft experience will put a smile on your face.
NHL 21 on the PlayStation 5
Since I was lucky enough to snag a PS5 on day one (and don’t act like I was THAT lucky. Sony sent emails to all of us on how to get one and I followed their directions. Man-up and admit you were lazy) I wanted to play NHL 21 on it to let ya’ll know if there are any discernible differences between playing on the PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5.
It takes 1:37.5 to go from start-up to Franchise Mode, to in-game on the PS5. It’s definitely faster than the previous generation, but unfortunately, this length of time will feel cumbersome in a month or two.
From my point of view, this is the only real difference I can see when porting the PS4 version of NHL 21 to PS5. The gameplay still suffers, I’m still waiting on game updates for franchise mode intricacies, and the graphics look worse after playing Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. And there’s a huge difference between ‘worse’ and ‘bad’, so don’t get me wrong here. I just feel the dated (by one month) graphics are more apparent after newer gaming experiences.
And all of this is to be expected. I’m just happy I can play NHL 21 (the PS4 version) on my new system. Now I can toss my PS4 into the garbage and not have to worry about switching between HDMI cables like a caveman.
I think the main point to takeaway here is that you absolutely shouldn’t buy a PS5 for any type of NHL 21 upgrade. Even to me, while I am actively searching for differences, I found very little. However, if you do have a PS5, there is no reason to hang onto that PS4. Transfer NHL 21 on over and make your gaming experience more efficient with the faster loading times. Just don’t expect much else.
Overall NHL 21 Thoughts
The scouts in Franchise Mode are enough to turn me sour on the game, but like any good addict, I find it tough to put down.
I am a hardcore fan of this franchise. While my voice is not one the developers care about, I think the hardcore fans are going to play this game with an added jaw exercise of grinding their teeth.
If you’re not a hardcore fan of Electronic Art’s Hockey Franchise and are wondering if this is the year to buy NHL 21, it is not. Treat it like COVID-19 and keep it at a safe distance. The trade deadline fun shouldn’t be enough for you to try it and with the gameplay getting increasingly more stubborn (and admittedly difficult) for the hardcore fan, I can imagine this game being way too frustrating for any newcomers.
Score: Wait till next year
Since I was lucky enough to snag a PS5 on day one (and don’t act like I was THAT lucky. Sony sent emails to all of us on how to get one and I followed their directions. Man-up and admit you were lazy) I wanted to play NHL 21 on it to let ya’ll know if there are any discernible differences between playing on the PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5.
It takes 1:37.5 to go from start-up to Franchise Mode, to in-game on the PS5. It’s definitely faster than the previous generation, but unfortunately, this length of time will feel cumbersome in a month or two.
From my point of view, this is the only real difference I can see when porting the PS4 version of NHL 21 to PS5. The gameplay still suffers, I’m still waiting on game updates for franchise mode intricacies, and the graphics look worse after playing Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. And there’s a huge difference between ‘worse’ and ‘bad’, so don’t get me wrong here. I just feel the dated (by one month) graphics are more apparent after newer gaming experiences.
And all of this is to be expected. I’m just happy I can play NHL 21 (the PS4 version) on my new system. Now I can toss my PS4 into the garbage and not have to worry about switching between HDMI cables like a caveman.
I think the main point to takeaway here is that you absolutely shouldn’t buy a PS5 for any type of NHL 21 upgrade. Even to me, while I am actively searching for differences, I found very little. However, if you do have a PS5, there is no reason to hang onto that PS4. Transfer NHL 21 on over and make your gaming experience more efficient with the faster loading times. Just don’t expect much else.
Overall NHL 21 Thoughts
The scouts in Franchise Mode are enough to turn me sour on the game, but like any good addict, I find it tough to put down.
I am a hardcore fan of this franchise. While my voice is not one the developers care about, I think the hardcore fans are going to play this game with an added jaw exercise of grinding their teeth.
If you’re not a hardcore fan of Electronic Art’s Hockey Franchise and are wondering if this is the year to buy NHL 21, it is not. Treat it like COVID-19 and keep it at a safe distance. The trade deadline fun shouldn’t be enough for you to try it and with the gameplay getting increasingly more stubborn (and admittedly difficult) for the hardcore fan, I can imagine this game being way too frustrating for any newcomers.
Score: Wait till next year
