NHL 25

NHL 25 returns to form with impressive hockey. Satisfying changes to gameplay and updates to Franchise Mode including the addition of the Grudge Match breathe much-needed life into the series. ICE-Q works well and the changes to AI and being able to square up offensively against the goalie will create different results rather than just going through the motions in games and exploiting. There are still a few legacy issues here that are more personal annoyances including passing and a dated presentation model, but the move to current generation consoles has only allowed the team to create a sign...

NHL 25 is the most visually stunning release this franchise has ever seen, and on-ice gameplay is an absolute blast. Franchise Mode was given a massive upgrade while HUT and WOC saw some solid improvements, but another year of neglecting Be A Pro leaves career mode players out in the cold.

NHL 25 supplies a more sim-like experience than past entries thanks to heightened puck control and enhanced AI. As a result, this year's iteration feels more authentic and 'next-gen', but does little else to differentiate itself from prior entries. Game modes in particular remain practically untouched, featuring the same suite of features from NHL 24. This is a solid hockey game bolstered by improved AI and small incremental improvements, but its changes don't feel as substantial as other titles in EA's lineup.

While it may be the first exclusively next-gen NHL game this generation, NHL 25 doesn’t really feel like that much of a leap over last year’s game. In fact, the additions last year felt much more substantial with the gameplay to where this year’s feels much more like a roster update than anything else. The gameplay is still a lot of fun and there are some new features sprinkled around the game along with the decent visual and animation upgrades, but much like Madden this year, NHL 25 feels like a lackluster release for what appears to be a stagnant franchise at this point.

NHL 25 is a good game when it focuses on hockey, it’s when microtransactions come into play that things become tacky.

This review has certainly gone off the rails but, in my defense, it’s my eighth one and I’m shocked every year that I find a new way to say the same thing. Yes, everything that EA Vancouver added is cool or nice or awesome but, no, it’s not enough. I know it’s not the developer’s fault, and I genuinely feel bad for them. They seem like hockey nuts, like the rest of us, but it’s not my job to pat anyone on the back for delivering patch-sized video games at full price just because their boss sucks. It’s actually my job to call that out, but hopefully one of these years I get to gush over a fully...

In life, there are three certainties: death, taxes, and underwhelming, incremental upgrades to annual sports titles. Enter NHL 25, EA Vancouver’s latest iteration of the greatest game on ice. While EA’s hockey titles tend to fare better year-to-year than Madden or EA Sports FC, that doesn’t mean the title is always able to escape unharmed.

What I’ve learned as an adult trying to learn new things (I took beginner’s swim class a few years back when a lifeguard suggested I should stay out of the deep end at my local pool, too) is that a bit of struggle is OK. It’s why, I think, I was able to let go of the frustration of NHL 25’s lack of tutorial or introductory mode. Despite its steep learning curve for a newbie, NHL 25 fits naturally into my little world of hockey.