

Instead, they affect three different “likability” ratings. The outcomes of these challenges don’t impact your player’s hockey skills. I could also respond with a guarantee that I’ll personally score a goal to put the game out of reach (star). For instance, my coach might ask me to maintain a lead (team), an objective I’d fail only if our opponents tied the game. The team path is safer, with missions that are more easily achievable. It tends to be more risky, with tougher objectives that offer greater rewards. The star path is really viable only for challenges on the ice. Image: EA Vancouver/Electronic Arts via Polygon I’d love to see somebody move past it.Ĭhrist, what an asshole.
#Nhl 22 sucks series#
A binary system where one of the options is “actively be an asshole” makes for a poor role-playing setup it’s also been done to death in sports series like MLB The Show, NBA 2K, and Madden NFL. But many of the star responses are worded in such a ridiculously selfish way - like, literally saying, “What is in it for me?” - that it’s hard to imagine an actual NHL athlete mouthing off like that. The team responses might be to say that yes, you’d be happy to go, or that no, you need to rest up for the next game. And because they’re divorced from the NHL series’ existing in-game challenges, I quickly detected how tired the dialogue choices began to feel.Ī common situation is a cutscene in which a teammate invites you to a group outing.

The challenges now also present a more conservative option that still feels like you’re contributing to the team.īut using the same system for off-ice conversations falls flat because the choices don’t end up mattering all that much.
#Nhl 22 sucks pro#
I’d wager that most Be a Pro fans, like me, tend to play aggressively in an effort to rack up gaudy stats. And in Be a Pro games, that dichotomy fits with the ethos of the mode, where you define what kind of player you are through your performance and play style on the ice.
#Nhl 22 sucks how to#
The team/star framework makes sense in the context of hockey, which is so dominated by a team-first mentality that endless column inches have been dedicated to the idea that the sport would be more popular if the NHL could figure out how to market its stars better. The choices work far better for the in-game challenges than the other conversations. It’s a smart way to liven up a long-running element of the Be a Pro experience and make it feel more immersive. Instead of just getting a pop-up saying that your coach wants you to defend a lead, you’ll see an in-game cutscene of the coach calling you over to the bench and actually giving you that instruction. EA Vancouver has integrated this conversation structure into Be a Pro’s existing “Coach Challenge” system. Your dialogue choices open up chances to boost your character’s skills and attributes.

You can go the “team” route, choosing dialogue that follows your coach’s instructions to play within the system, or you can opt for the “star” path, putting your interests ahead of the team’s. Dialogue options (albeit without voice acting) will pop up in your player’s conversations with their coach or teammates, or interviews with the press, and all of them tend to be split into the two main paths that EA Vancouver has set up. These new role-playing choices are designed to let you shape the kind of player you want to be and live the life of an NHL athlete off the ice, although the range of outcomes is limited.
#Nhl 22 sucks skin#
The mode may look more like a traditional role-playing game in NHL 21, with its new dialogue choices, but it’s sorely missing a more robust character creator with basic options like the ability to tweak skin tones and facial features.

The NHL series’ player creation suite remains essentially unchanged this year, which means that it’s still impossible for me to create a player who truly looks like my Indian self. Image: EA Vancouver/Electronic Arts via Polygonīe a Pro’s introductory cutscene leads right into a familiar disappointment. Also, having multiple conversations with little-known players like Kravtsov and Filip Chytil makes the poor accuracy of their NHL 21 face models stick out like a sore thumb. 91 here is Vitali Kravtsov, and he has no more experience than my created player - rather than respected veterans. It’s baffling that teammate challenges (score goals, notch assists, block shots, etc.) come almost exclusively from fellow youngsters - No.
