{"id":67983,"date":"2024-09-27T18:55:53","date_gmt":"2024-09-27T18:55:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ginx.tv\/review-35"},"modified":"2024-09-27T21:08:26","modified_gmt":"2024-09-27T21:08:26","slug":"review-35","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ginx.tv\/en\/review-35","title":{"rendered":"NHL 25 Review: Stunning Visuals and Franchise Revamp Anchor Another Win"},"content":{"rendered":"
The puck has officially dropped on NHL 25, and this latest installment in the long-running hockey sim offers much more than just a roster update. Franchise Mode players are in for a treat, and as the first Xbox Series X|S and PS5 exclusive release, it delivers the breathtaking visuals you’d expect. Major presentation upgrades and refined core gameplay mechanics enhance the on-ice immersion, but one game mode remains virtually untouched for the third consecutive year. <\/p>\n
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While gameplay has been solid in recent years, it was NHL 24 that introduced a major enhancement with the pressure system<\/a>, where offensive presence fatigues the opposing goalie. That feature returns in NHL 25, now fine-tuned after a year of feedback. In NHL 24, it was enjoyable but often too easy to gain full pressure on a goalie. In NHL 25, it’s still possible, but you’ll need to be more strategic with your time in the offensive zone – and contend with one major improvement in NHL 25 – the AI.<\/p>\n For years, balancing AI has been crucial for keeping single-player modes enjoyable. The problem isn’t just with how your opponents are playing; flawed AI can make team sports frustrating if your teammates struggle to execute plays. NHL 25 works to remedy that with the new ICE-Q system, featuring an upgraded skating system, a complete AI overhaul, new reactive action animations, and new Skill-Based One-Timers. All of these changes and enhancements work together to make an already excellent gameplay experience even more fluid and engaging. <\/p>\n Once you’re on the ice, the visual upgrades in NHL 25<\/em> are immediately noticeable —especially if you use Instant Replay to zoom in. Since this is the first game exclusive to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, the player models have seen a major upgrade. Faces are more detailed, sweat starts to show as a game progresses, clothing moves more naturally, and the new strand hair technology is truly stunning. Combine this with lighting and ice improvements from recent years, and NHL 25 is easily the most visually gorgeous installment this franchise has ever seen.<\/p>\n NHL 25<\/em> also introduces a new Infinite Camera System, capturing significantly more angles of key moments during a game to create more exciting replays. Coaches have also received an upgrade, in that they’ll now complain about referee calls, celebrate close wins, and chastise their own players for causing untimely penalties. The new Grudge Match system will track long-term rivalries across all modes, to allow for contextual cinematics and unique commentary. Lastly, there’s a new Hypestage, used as essentially a 3D platform designed to highlight players before or during games and showcase storytelling moments in different game modes. <\/p>\n After years of community requests, Franchise Mode<\/a> has finally received the much needed attention it required. In NHL 25, players now have a newly revamped hub that offers more responsive and cleaner screens for everything you’ll handle off the ice in Franchise Mode. A new ‘Quick Links’ tab at the top provides easy access to relevant actions during a franchise run, whilst a ticker tape at the bottom of the main hub mirrors the real-time information you’d see while watching NHL games.<\/p>\n Contract negotiations received a significant upgrade. Beyond numbers, you’ll now need to factor in no-movement, no-trade, and modified no-trade clauses to persuade players to sign. If you want to take the roleplaying aspect of it up a notch, there’s now a full conversation system. It means you’ll discuss each element of a contract directly with the player to see what they’re focused on, and which details you might be able to convince them to prioritize during a negotiation.<\/p>\n That same conversation system also extends to interactions with both players and coaches. For players, these discussions set short-term or long-term goals which can upgrade your abilities or get that player closer to an X-Factor. You can also persuade players to adjust their playstyle or position to something that better fits your current roster. This creates a whole new risk\/reward factor throughout franchise mode, where players might become upset and reject your persuasion attempts, and setting unrealistic goals could ultimately irritate players, coaches, and ownership.<\/p>\n Additionally, NHL 25 features upgraded stat and awards tracking, the ability to move draft picks when making custom rosters, improved game logs, and easy access to league-wide box scores; which overall makes this arguably the best Franchise Mode experience in years<\/p>\n The only minor frustration is that NHL 25 still needs the ability to upload custom logos and a community hub for downloading custom created teams<\/a>. While the in-game selection is decent, it’s a shame that the same grouping of logos and options haven’t changed for quite some time. On top of that, if you use the creation zone to make a custom team they can only be added into Franchise Mode when you first create a new save. If you relocate a team during an ongoing save, you’ll have to set all the uniform and logo details from scratch as created teams can’t be imported for relocation.<\/p>\n Despite the many great things NHL 25<\/a> brings to the table, some issues persist. As sports games increasingly lean into microtransaction-heavy online modes to milk as much revenue out of players as possible, these modes also tend to be the primary focus every single year. Hockey Ultimate Team remains the same card-collecting grind of buying packs for progressively stronger cards throughout the year, and World of CHEL heavily prioritizes online play over the single player experience.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Dedicated Franchise Players Rejoice <\/h2>\n
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Career Mode Neglected in Favor of Online Game Modes<\/h2>\n
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