Greetings,
First off, this is for the EASHL mode, as I'm not a fan of 3s and really only played it to do my part in testing.
I think the default game play is set to be too arcade-like. Too fast, and thus too many hits. Too little reaction time to properly make a defensive play and thus, too many penalties. It can certainly be enjoyable if everyone playing is out there to play hockey, don't get me wrong... but 2 or 3 bad apples can turn hockey in to roller derby. Perhaps include multiple settings for next year's testing. A slower, simulation-based experience (for those who enjoy hockey), and other modes for those who prefer ... for lack of a better term, not hockey.
Now some glitches.
When a penalty is called during a power-play which would result in a 5 on 3, the overlay displays a 5 on 3 for 2:00. This does correct itself eventually... but hey, a bug is a bug.
The shots on the scoreboard are reversed (home shots for showing up under the visitors, and vice versa). This occurred in previous versions as well for at least in the WHL rinks during Be A Pro.
Accepting fights seems to be rather... not-quite-working? If a player takes a run at my goalie, be it an enforcer, sniper or puck moving d-man for all I care... someone has be held accountable. It just seems rather difficult to "take care of business", so to speak (actually, I've never successfully done this). On the other side of the coin, while playing in goalie mode and this happens, an option to accept a fight against the opposing player appears... but again, nothing happens.
I know, I know... I had my roller-hockey, barrage-of-hits rant and now you're wondering why in the world a player would feel the need to goon it up. If it's in the game, it's in the game. Right?
Aside from that, I enjoyed it tremendously. Looking forward to playing with the multitude of 'new' sliders (I should note that the last version I had is NHL16, which didn't have nearly the number as this year's version). Nicely done folks!
Jeff.
