NHL 23

A long-overdue audio-visual upgrade finally lets NHL 23 take full advantage of the PS5 and Xbox Series X so that the revamped franchise mode can look as good as it plays.

Despite the addition of women players in HUT and tweaked mechanics like last-chance puck movements, NHL 23 barely feels it's changed from last year's offering. It's a fun but all too familiar hockey experience.

It's staggering how little has been done with NHL 23 to differentiate it from last year's edition. Bugs that should have long ago been quashed remain, Be A Pro continues to be littered with spelling errors and conversations that make no sense, retirement and championship banners in arenas are as far behind as half a decade, and the list goes on. Despite all that, women being integrated into HUT and desperation plays are welcome improvements, as is the overhaul of rink atmosphere. Ultimately, while NHL 23 isn't a step backward per se, the move forward is so small, so minuscule, that it may as well not have moved at all.

As harsh as this may sound, I’ve lost faith in the NHL franchise. My first game was NHL 93, and although they haven’t all been good, it’s clear that this franchise has settled into an annual loop of delivering the bare minimum. There is zero justification for a full-game price tag when you consider that other games offer free updates larger than what’s on offer as new in the entirety of NHL 23. It’s mind boggling.

EA's NHL series feels like it's slowly distancing itself more and more from the NHL and going more of the FIFA route for a wide variety of hockey around the world.

The NHL 23 review has been on my mind ever since I first started seeing the adverts for the game. I have written the NHL review for the last few iterations of this game, and I always find myself eagerly awaiting the next round of challenges. For this NHL 23 review, I have focused mainly on the HUT gaming option, but more on that shortly. The reason why I chose to focus on the HUT gaming mode is that NHL 23 is a vast game, offering a lot of different game modes. For my NHL 22 review, I focused on Franchise Mode. These games are largely carbon copies, with the focus mainly placed on improving the technical side of things. Therefore, to keep them fresh, I opted for a different focal point for this review.

NHL 23 is a good if not revolutionary entry into an already commendable simulation sports game. It might not bring anything new to the ice, but it builds on the already pretty precise gameplay and its additions to the current modes make it a very solid entry to the series.

Now fans are quick to call a new game a copy of the last game with 5 points added on to the end. NHL 23, is probably one of the first that I can say would deserve that honor. As a longtime player of the franchise, I’m a bit taken back. Gameplay-wise I would recommend the game, I feel they’ve made a bunch of minor improvements to keep it fresh with the biggest being the Last Chance Puck Movements. But with little to no improvement in most game modes. If you already have NHL 22, I would wait until NHL 23 is on sale before I get it.

I don't believe NHL 23 is the must-have annual edition that hockey fans absolutely need. Without diminishing the importance of the addition of women to the game, there's too little other new features. Furthermore, there's a lot of little annoyances that undermine the experience.

Fun to play and beautiful to watch, NHL 23 has pretty much everything to be a little gem. Everything except the contents, which are exactly the same of the previous edition: a truly wasted opportunity.