The “NHL” franchise since moving over to current-generation consoles has largely been a complete failure. Ever since “NHL 15,” it seems as if the EA sports team has been attempting to recapture the magic of “NHL 14” after stripping “NHL 15” down to bare bones.
It has been an extremely long process, but I think “NHL 25” has finally broken the seal, and can truly be called a good sports game.
Franchise mode has been a hot mess since “NHL 14,” but over the last two games in the series, there have been loads of minor changes that made the game mode slightly better. This year a complete overhaul of the mode has made franchise mode the star of the game.
They completely changed everything about the mode. They finally added no movement, and no trade clauses, they added a contract negotiation option, they made the players feel more realistic, and they even made improvements to free agency. There’s a mountain of new changes that EA added to the mode, and I just can’t touch on them all. The franchise mode in “NHL 25” is amazing, and to me, it rivals other GM modes in other licensed “NHL” games.
The on-ice gameplay of “NHL 25” is also such a huge step up
The way the players move, and the way they can create open space is such a breath of fresh air. You rarely get players running into each other, or glitching with each other: this has been a huge problem in the past. The gameplay is slow, but whenever you play with a player with huge speed you can really feel them using their speed to create that brief moment of separation. You can also tune the game speed to your liking, so it’s not a huge deal.
The base roster EA put out for the game is fine. The overalls in every NHL game are always confusing, but this year it feels like they are a bit of a step up from previous years.
Overall “NHL 25” is a good game and a leap in the right direction. There are a lot of things holding it back from being a staple in the “EA NHL” lineup like Be a Pro not being touched for the fifth straight year, but all in all the progress “NHL 25” has made for the “NHL” franchise can’t be understated.
