NHL 23 is the latest hockey simulation game from EA Vancouver, and it's likely the most complete one in modern gaming. The core of the franchise's past few iterations remains largely in tact and more has been added on top, with some subtle improvements to areas like Franchise Mode as well as a robust number of control schemes, play styles, and graphical upgrades. Anyone who enjoys hockey will likely find something to like about NHL 23, while hockey diehards will thoroughly enjoy the title, but there's something about NHL 23 that bears mentioning: it just doesn't simulate hockey the same way other great sports titles do.
When put up against Madden, NBA 2K, or FIFA, NHL 23 lacks the fundamental quality that makes those titles so fun - the close approximation of the simulation to the sport. There's nothing wrong with NHL 23, and the game is still fun, but character models feel like they're on rails in a way that runs counter to the organic chaos of ice hockey. Shots are stiff, checking doesn't feel impactful, penalties feel like they're drawn out of a hat at random and the fans, bless them, remain starry-eyed with wonder even if it's a 9-1 game for the away team in the middle of the playoffs.
These aren't issues unique to NHL 23, but they're exacerbated here in ways that aren't common in other sports sims. The flow of the game still feels too rocky, interrupted by spinning in circles in unnatural movements as a player or completing dump-ins that no savvy playmaker would ever attempt, crashing headlong into the boards to complete a pass. That's besides the minute technical issues or lack of polish - in playtesting, the game's screen went dark and was impossible to select menu items on mid-game after changing difficulty level, and the announcers would frequently reference multiple periods having passed while still mid-way through the first.
That NHL 23 feels little like ice hockey is a big problem, but fascinatingly, it's one of the few. Franchise mode is deep and exciting, with spreadsheet upon spreadsheet of minute details for would-be General Managers to obsess over. Difficulty settings have a reasonable spread, with the easiest mode offering little resistance and the hardest feeling appropriately like sledding up a mountain. Graphics in-game have improved, and look fairly nice, all things considered, with slightly more accurate depictions of famous players and a modicum of effort towards randomly generated players from future generations.
Playmaking in NHL 23 is also exciting, though it feels a little arcade-y at times in a way that feels slightly incongruent with the tough-as-nails simulation of the game's grit in checking, goaltending, and line changes. Dekes and star quality skills add an element of shounen-style super moves. The stick system that maps the majority of gameplay onto both the left and right sticks of the controller is easy to pick up but difficult to master, while simpler button layouts are made immediately available upon setting up the game (and can be selected at any point afterwards).
All of this is good, but NHL 23 is simply that - good. It's a fine effort in a fine series that has continuously failed to successfully capture the feeling of ice hockey in a way that is as satisfying as soccer simulators, but it's not going to move the needle for anyone who wasn't already interested. It feels like NHL 23 is about as far as EA can go with the current system of gameplay modes and mechanics - it might be good for the sport's video games if some from-the-ground-up rebuilds were attempted, much in the same vein as teams that tanked for Shane Wright last year.
NHL 23 is available on October 14, 2022 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Screen Rant was provided with a digital PS5 code for the purpose of this review.