Hockey Legacy Manager 25 is a new iteration of the simulation game franchise that is released every year on mobile phones and PC and has other relatives in the world of football, soccer, and baseball. The game promises fast simulation, real-time engine, and many customization options. The game is currently available on Android, iOS, Steam & Epic. Let’s see how it behaves in this comprehensive review.
Presentation and Gaming Modes
HLM 25 is a game where the user is meant to be the general manager (GM) and head coach of their favorite team in the world of hockey. If you like the latest New York Rangers trade or if you want to see if you can re-sign your starting goaltender to a favorable contract before the puck drops on the new season, then this game is for you. This is not a “theater” game where the user has to shake the players with their joy sticks, instead, you will have to patiently watch your chances grow, consider your line managers, and try not to mess up everything that goes into the “cap. to hell” in season three – the more you win, the more money your players will want, right?
Related: EA Sports NHL 25 Review: What Works and Doesn’t Work
All of this is clearly visible in the game, but we’ll come back to this later. The game includes several modes that you can enjoy. The first, and the simplest, is that Jobs Modewhen you take your favorite team, or whatever you like, and lead them to glory (probably without wasting too much.) Next is History modewhere you can select a specific year from the past and start playing. I’m not really interested in this kind of mod, so I didn’t test it much, but I have no doubt that the developer (yes, a one-man show, impressive) did a great job. work here too. Finally, there is Challenge Mode. And this will be a real challenge: you have 32 challenges where you have to win the cup in the 2026-27 season with each NHL team, starting with the Tampa Bay Lightning. To unlock other challenges, you must complete the previous ones.
However, at this point, one last thing should be considered. The game does not have official NHL licenses, so it will have some strange names. The community is coming to the rescue, in several groups above. Click on the Program tab, and in the Community List section, you will find many options to choose from. You can take the most updated list and enjoy the original names, logos, latest transfers, and more. You can also create your own rosters or edit public rosters as well.
Game play
Starting out very clearly, HLM promises fast gameplay, and it shows. With the calendar screen, you can simulate entire seasons in a few minutes. Although doing this is usually not a good idea, since the AI will take over and will set lines, renew contracts, sign players, etc., you may want to simulate ahead. two or three seasons and start playing from there for any other reason. This speed, however, can also be felt in everyday simulations, which are very fast.
You can start your career as a manager of any of the 32 NHL teams. In theory, you can play in other leagues as well. I tried running in the Kontinental Hockey League, but the game gave me weird stuff, like NHL stars playing in random Russian clubs, so for now I’ll stick to NHL. If you accept the terms with your favorite team, you will be presented with a welcome message, and a bunch of things to do. Yes, being a GM is not easy.
To help manage everything, the game has several screens and a nice user interface. If it’s your first time, the best thing to do is to click on “Tutorial” in the lower part of the left pane which will bring you to the game manual. Then, perhaps the best idea is to read your plan. I would suggest at this point to thoroughly read the “Opportunities and Motivations” section of the manual to understand the main concepts of player development in the game. Each player is unique and has his own path—this is clearly visible in the game, but you need to think carefully about the different colors that show the opportunities a player has to reach—and exceed—his potential.
Here, admittedly, the learning curve can be steep. This is why starting a game with your favorite team is a good idea, as you already know the players and you can try to imitate real life line combinations to try to replicate what is happening. There are several programs available that will tell you which types of players work well together – yes, putting two grinders and one sniper is not a good idea, and the game does a good job of rewarding the right combinations over others.
A great new feature of version 25 is the inbox system. You will receive several emails informing you about what is happening around your team and the league, and occasionally you will receive the most desirable message in this type of game: a trade offer. More on this later. You can simulate day by day, or even a few weeks at a time, but I would advise against the latter if you want more control over your team. Then, you can set your lineups, promote and demote players, check your cap situation and you can start the preseason.
The real one
As you continue to play, you’ll be offered a trade or need to start one, whether it’s for cap reasons or to shuffle your schedule after a losing streak. On the trade screen, the bar below the players involved will give you a quick overview of how the game is learning the trade, measuring the “advantage” the team has on the other side, and a lot of the analysis makes sense. Everyone’s situation is taken into account: rebuilding teams won’t be interested in trading their first-round picks, and so on. The result is a realistic trading engine that generates realistic offers.
You won’t accept every trade that is offered, but in general, the offers are not lost. The same can be said for AI trading. The game will never replicate human behavior, which can be absurd at times, but it does an adequate job, even considering the fact that this is a GM type game, where being realistic is very important.
Contracts are also handled well, although the only feedback you have is the level of interest the terms generate for the player. The end result is not bad, as players often end up where they would be in real life. However, I would like a system where the virtual GM has more control over the discussions—perhaps trying to convince the players that next year the team won’t be in rebuilding mode (although this may result), and similar situations.
Finally, let’s talk about the facts in the results. The game offers realistic results, and winning the games is not easy. The actual game representation is not easy, and there are many potentials that could be explored in future iterations of the game. At this point, aside from the most important conflict, simulating games is probably the best choice for multiplayer. Play by play creates events like goals, hits, shots, and penalties, but it doesn’t seem like you can do anything. In addition, it would be nice if the goals were more highlighted—there is no rest, bright text, or any other indicator, and you need to be very careful to notice when a goal is scored.
Hockey Legacy Manager 25: The Verdict
Hockey Legacy Manager 25 is a great dive into the world of GM games. It delivers what it promises: fast gameplay, realistic effects, and lots of customization options. The price is great for the thousands of hours you can spend on it, and you can play on both PC and mobile with the same engine, although I’m not sure how comfortable it would be on a smartphone. In addition, the developer is really responsive to its users: bugs are removed quickly and updates are constant. However, there are a few downsides: the games are dull, the tactics are limited to line combinations, and lastly, the learning curve can be steep, as the game feels overwhelming at first.
However, it’s worth it, you’ll soon begin to see the team much better through the GM’s eyes and you’ll finally understand how hard it is to build a winning team, manage contracts and prospects, and keep the fans happy. But the reward can be great: the trophy is yours—even if it’s a real one.
| Powerplay | In the penalty box |
| + Very realistic simulation | – The games are simple |
| + Fast game | – Users do not have much control over contracts |
| + The game is well supported by the dev and community | – Easy learning ability |
Final rating: 7.9/10
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