NHL 25 Review

When you've been involved with something for a long time, things will eventually begin to repeat. Time is a flat circle, and all that. Politics, video game remakes, fashion, it all seems to be cyclical, and eventually old trends become new again. In the case of yearly video game franchises, as they move across console generations and gameplay engines, features that were once new get dropped in favour of something else, and then brought back under minor fanfare, as some will remember when those features already existed, while others will be too young to care. This year's NHL 25 feels like a particularly good example of this trend – the annual hockey sim brings with it the expected annual tweaks, as well as new features, though some of them are reincarnations of what had existed before.

Last year's NHL 24 introduced arguably some of the most noteworthy mechanics in a while. The Sustained Pressure System brought in a somewhat arcade-style concept of keeping the puck in the attacking zone long enough to tire out the defenders and goalie, allowing for some easy goals. It was an interesting idea that needed more refinement, but the system returns largely unchanged this year. There were likely some tweaks, but it feels quite the same. The new Total Controls scheme also returns, letting you pull off tricks with a simple press of a face button instead of having to perform manoeuvres with the right stick. The Hybrid control scheme is thankfully included at launch this time, after last year's initial omission and subsequent fan complaints. NHL 94 controls, however, seem to be gone for good according to the developers. It's a poor decision that reduces accessibility – in a game that has been becoming more complex over the years. The equally questionable removal of the tutorial mode for the past few years won't help newcomers either.

Most of the on-ice gameplay changes boil down to tweaks and minor new elements. The changes are wrapped together under the ICE-Q moniker, similar to EA FC 25 FC IQ. Right off the bat, the game feels slower than NHL 24, which is probably a positive change that brings a more realistic feel, at least in theory. In practice, the post-launch patch has already made tweaks to speed up the gameplay, and online play is back to simply having the fastest players on the ice to blow by defenders. There are some AI changes that were promised as well, though in practice the differences are minimal. Sure, they will on occasion make better choices and try to follow the team tactics you've setup, but they will also continue to bunch up at center ice, block each other's skating paths, and generally struggle to cycle the puck.

Other changes include minor things like a new one-timer mechanic. Players now have a visual indicator when they are open to receive a pass and shoot, and doing so like a quick-time event creates a powerful slapper towards the net. You can hit players into the bench, as well as break glass from shots and hits. While technically new this year, seasoned players will remember all of this existing a decade ago and it being removed over time and with console gen transitions. The DualSense controller still vibrates vehemently with every glide across the ice surface, as well as the base of the booming arena music during breaks in play – which may appeal to fans that really want to feel Sandstorm by Darude.

After a few years of improvements to balance and giving defenders more options, it seems that the gameplay might be swinging back to being attack-centric. While poke checks and stick lifts aren't penalty buttons, which is always nice to see, the defenders feel helplessly outclassed this year. They already don't have the speed to catch any forwards, but even getting them off the puck seems rather challenging. Hitting has been tweaked again, making regular hits feel soft and not very useful, while constant hipchecks are effective but not exactly representative of real hockey. Loose pucks are always a gamble, and net battles don't feel very effective.

The attack-minded gameplay balance becomes easy to spot when playing online. In World of Chel and EASHL, players still create their custom avatar and compete as an individual in a variety of ranked and unranked solo, 3v3, and 6v6 modes. There are some balance tweaks from last year and removal of a few X-Factors that were deemed too powerful, but speed still trumps all. Forwards are all specced to be the fastest possible, removing any need for passing or accurate shooting, as every other attempt on goal comes from a breakaway even against deep-sitting defenders, and abusing some skill move on the AI goalie that guarantees a goal every time. It's not quite as egregious as the ballerina skating of yesteryear, but it comes close at times. Matchups usually produce 3 goals in under 10 shots, which again speaks to the way the game is being played. Despite the overall slowed down pace, the actual product on the ice in Chel remains far removed from real hockey.

Alongside the X-Factor tweaks, there is also a change that will allow players to get more skill points as the year progresses. This means that forward progression is back from a few years ago, before the current EASHL redesign. Instead of everyone being on equal footing to matter when they start playing, the long-term players will be rewarded with a competitive advantage. It's an interesting dilemma, one that hopes to keep players feeling that they are improving over the course of the year, but creating the barrier for entry to any latecomers. Just like the attack-minded design, this seems like a return to the earlier days of the game from the previous decade.

Playing earns experience and coins to spend at the online visual customization shop, which is better organized this year, though still banks on the fear-of-missing-out trend by putting a timer on many items. It at least remains cosmetic only, thankfully. There's also a battle pass with a bunch of unlocks to work through, along with a "premium tier" for those willing to pay to look as silly as possible and pretend they're playing Fortnite on ice. Meanwhile, in Hockey Ultimate Team, there is not one but two battle pass progressions. One is for the main mode, as you draft your team of cards and compete through the usual assortment of modes such as Squad Battles, Moments, and online competitive Rivals. The other is for the new HUT Wildcard mode.

It's not entirely clear why HUT Wildcard needed its own progression reward track. Taking some inspiration from EA FC's FUT Draft, players get to select from a bunch of randomly offered players to complete their roster, and then play either competitive online or solo in a variety of custom-rules matches. The slight complexity in Wildcard mode comes from needing to fit within a salary cap, so the team can't be stacked with superstars. Players can also use cards from their existing roster, but only a few. It's a decent distraction, but Wildcard doesn't exactly reinvigorate the HUT mode.

The issues of balance continue to shift in HUT, with the store offering packs of player cards that cost as much as 345k coins (or over $50), while the base pack offers a miniscule five items at 11k coins. Over the weeks since launch new packs have began to appear, such as a mini-pack with even fewer items for around 6k coins. It takes a decent effort to earn coins, especially after you've cleared the easy starting challenges. But on the other hand, free packs are handed out daily, and more can be earned via Moments and other challenges. So it all feels a bit expensive and yet offset by random freebies that keep dropping, so the question of value is tough to answer. The franchise is obviously chasing the fleshed-out and addictive UT design from its sibling EA FC, but they haven't gotten the formula nailed down still.

In offline modes, Be a Pro has remained entirely untouched. After its big redesign a few years ago, the mode has been left to entirely stagnate, without even a single mention of a new feature for it. They are still playing some pricey pond hockey out there, with unskippable cutscenes.

But at least the Franchise mode got the decent revamp treatment. It now has a new menu layout that's fairly similar to Be a Pro's, and presents the many complexities of managing an NHL team in a better format. Many other menus and surface-level changes include extended logs and stats screens for players, and box scores from all matches, as well as the awards history for every player. The mode remains highly flexible in your ability to turn off certain aspects such as arena management and player morale, which is appreciated, and other franchises like EA FC are only now starting to catch up.

There's a new Grudge Match system that dynamically tracks and creates rivalries, even in online modes, which translates into special pre-match screens that touch on key players and previous meetings, as well as some extra commentary. Players can get Impact status with special X-Factors relative to their performance last time out. It's a neat minor addition, though again one that seasoned series players will recall existing before.

More noteworthy changes that directly impact the experience include new player interactions. For one, you can finally negotiate contracts mid-season, which is a simple change that should have been added years ago. No trade and no movement clauses have been added, expanding the realism of team management. But the most impactful of all is the new Conversation system, as you can now talk to every player on the team via a basic chat interface that's lifted from Be a Pro. The conversation system itself is simplistic and with some stilted written dialogue, and takes place on a dull blank screen, unlike the rendered 3D rooms in Be a Pro chats.

However, these dialogues are the gateway to new key opportunities - such as trying to convince free agents to sign for your team, renew existing contracts, ask draft prospects what they think about your organization, and ask players to change their role on the ice and their career goals. It's a window into some seriously vast potential for roleplaying – but it's too bad that it's presented through such a drab method. It will take some serious dedication to actually sit and scroll through a chat with every skater on your roster, and you'll definitely feel very bogged down at the start of the season. Hopefully this system gets more refined and streamlined in the future, because the way it's presented is just not conducive to enjoyable squad management.

Thus continues the unfortunate trend for the NHL series, as it comes up with new ideas that have great potential, but the execution always stumbles, whether it's on or off the ice. Perhaps the most emblematic of this are the game's menus, which in many cases continue to be extremely slow and at times downright unusable. Navigating in single player modes remains a slog, and it only gets worse when going online. Menus in HUT and EASHL feel like they are on the verge of crashing, with constant flickering and elements disappearing. It's shocking that this remains a problem for a modern full priced, yearly game.

Some other visual issues have also seemingly snuck in, such as players missing from the ice during post-game celebrations, or missing in the penalty box. In HUT and a few other areas, some of the icons (such as synergies) remain miniscule and impossible to see comfortably. In terms of performance, online play can be questionable, with the faceoff glitch happening a few times, the occasional input delay, as well as Ones/Threes tournament being reset while in progress and denying a final round appearance.

Despite NHL 25 being the game that drops the last-gen Xbox One and PS4 versions from its roster, performance remains a bit shaky. On the ice the production is thankfully smooth and without issue, but anytime cutscenes start playing, the framerate has a tendency to dip, as the crowd animates at a clearly reduced framerate. There are some new camera angles this year, which help make replays feel a bit fresher, but the same cutscenes still play before and after every game, as well as specific breaks in play. Last year's online-centric spotlight goal celebrations return, without any refinement, as you watch your teammates skate awkwardly behind you waiting for the whatever Fortnite-style animation to finish. The scoreboard has been changed to a more traditional style, and commentary remains the same, though still surprisingly not feeling as repetitive as in EA FC. The ice surface continues to look fantastic, and player models got a refresher with improved facial detail thanks to the next-gen only push. There are some new animations for skating and dynamic hits, which do look a bit more realistic.

It's been about a decade since LA Kings won their pair of cups, and since the last time the NHL series from EA was great. Since then, both have been stuck in mediocrity. Sure, a rebuild has been attempted, but without much to show for it, as the aging core is not producing as much as it once did (hats off to Kopi for the season opener hat trick, though). NHL 25 brings about a few changes, but some are more about future potential than immediate payoff (Franchise mode), while others are just more of the same thing in a different package (HUT Wildcard). The on-ice product remains decently enjoyable, though with the advantage swinging back to attackers and selfish individual plays. Unless you're a sim-focused Franchise player, NHL 25 probably doesn't offer enough of an improvement to recommend to owners of last year's game.