Okay, this is the first time in 10 years I haven't gotten the game upon release, since I don't have time to play it at the moment.
Is there anything else besides the skating that is a clear improvement over 12? I only play offline Be a GM so couldn't care less about improvements in other areas besides this mode, the presentation and the actual gameplay.
1. Be a GM: Practically the same, waivers needs to be turned off to have a realistic experience and contracts seem even more ridiculous than in 12...
2. Even less ability to edit players, making you have to create instead of edit players who just have the wrong handedness. In 12 they removed the ability to change player types and now they removed even more things. There should be MORE ways to edit the game each year, not less! This is unacceptable.
3. Presentation has the new broadcast cam, anything else? Even shorter breaks between whistles, again something that is reversed from what it should be if you want a more immersive game.
4. Even less penalties than 12? See above.
5. Superhuman goalies who save high percentage chances 9 times out of 10 but let in softies, how is this better than before?
6. Unrealistic hitting physics.
7. Nerfed vision control that is replaced with ability to skate backwards in an unrealistic manner (who does this in real life?).
8. New player potential system that look promising at first but seems to be flawed or possibly bugged. Some players randomly become superstars while others don't develop at all. Like every time EA introduces something new, they either over or under do it.
Anything else that's different that I've missed?
Give me a reason to buy this game.
Dont worry about the waivers. I believe it's only if your playing on rookie, easy or whatever it's called. I'm in 2028 and I've had no great players go through waivers.
I seem to get a lot of penalties for whatever reason, so it probably actually has something to do with how you play the game. I've seen people complain but it's ok.
Some of the hits are good. I use the R3 on playstation and it seems to work fine.
The player potential system seems to be completely random. I have guys who all of a sudden go up 10 pts a year and they've played little, etc. Im still screwing with it. Players do seem to take longer to develop. There's randoms that do progress quick though.
Editing is worse. If you make a trade and it effects your AHL team, it takes you to the roster/linup screen but wont let you in the AHL. You have to go with best lines, which completely screws everything up and then go re-edit.
INJURIES is my big issue. They've made it ridiculous. I literally had 5 players out for 2 months. Would finally get them back for a game or two and here come 5 more injuries. That was with medical fully purchased. I finally turned injuries off and am enjoying it more.
AI is also still a problem and it always will be. It is better in some areas but worse in others.
If you simply sim and never play, it's really no different except for the random growth system. If you play some of the games and enjoy that part, it's worth it.
