Following the reveal trailer, NHL 23 has given us a good idea of some of the gameplay changes we’re looking forward to. In a surprisingly meaty video, we get a glimpse of some of the upcoming improvements to expect with the latest iteration of the only NHL game on the market. Let’s dive in!
The first part of the trailer is devoted to a series of new animations related to games of despair. By sports title standards, the amount of work EA Vancouver has put into this is nothing short of robust. Touted as a collection of over 500 new animations, desperation plays look poised to allow players to maintain control of the puck for an extra move after being hit. You can make shots while falling or throw no-look passes behind you, a fairly common occurrence in a real hockey game. You can also activate it manually by double tapping shoot or pass near a loose puck.
The next change relates to the implementation of the strategy. The strategies have been largely untouched for years, so improving this NHL 23 is unexpected and surprisingly big. A new power play lineup (1-3-1) and a new penalty kill lineup (1-1-2) join the previous lineups. In addition, you can now change player position during a face-off, something that was fully automated and often frustrating. Nothing was worse than winning a draw on the power play, only to see the puck skitter out of the zone because no one was there to receive it. But perhaps the most interesting change in strategies is that you can now assign power play roles to individual players, allowing you to select a distributor, finisher, and puck carrier. High-flying d-men like Cale Makar are often referred to as “powerplay quarterbacks” and these role assignments should allow such things to actually be reflected on your digital rink. Further evolution in strategies is an “assist” mode, where coaches recommend changes and you can choose to accept the new strategy on the fly or stick with what you had.
X-Factors is also seeing changes, with Trevor Zegras getting a special X-Factor for his incredible flip pass. Sarah Nurse also gets a new X-Factor that greatly improves passing and crafting while using desperation games. Beyond that, the rest of the pre-existing X-Factors receive vague “improvements”.
AI is also getting a slew of changes, starting with goalkeepers receiving 300 new animations. Described as “previously only available to human goalkeepers,” these new animations should hopefully improve AI puck tracking and positioning, as AI goalkeepers tend to be, well, stupid from year to year. Oddly enough, the series of animations was previously only available to player-controlled goalkeepers, so technically they aren’t new. A few new quality of life improvements were also shown. Skaters will now gesture with sticks to wide-open players, just like they do in real hockey, and raise their sticks when near the bench to signal line changes. Doesn’t affect the gameplay much, sure, but they certainly add to the authenticity.
While it’s a minor change, one of the most exciting changes is an improvement in pass assist. Pass assist in NHL 22 was terrible, going in the complete opposite direction of what you probably intended on a particular piece. The trailer says extra attention was drawn to power and out-of-vision passes, which were definitely the biggest culprits last year. To balance that out, the defensive play is also getting some changes, with defensive positioning being more rewarding. Poke-checking was way too easy last year when you were in a bad position, so your speed will now be severely hampered as you try to steal the puck.
All in all, the lineup of changes is welcome. Since it’s an annual sports title, don’t expect NHL 23 to be a very different experience from last year’s title. Or the year before that. But the changes outlined here do paint the picture of a game that – hopefully – should be a small improvement. At least EA’s NHL titles are in better shape than Madden, but that’s not a very high bar.
What do you think of the changes NHL 23 has made? Are you interested? Are you going to wait for a sale? Throw a drop pass in the comments section below.
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