There has certainly not been a lack of bad Harry Potter games over the years, the fact is that the only ones I can think of that have been good are the roughly 20-year-old Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and some Lego Harry Potter. Otherwise, it has been pure dung of the kind that previously characterized so-called film license games, namely sloppy gameplay that does not at all resemble the basic material that was then only given a Harry Potter theme.
But…. Let’s talk about something much more fun, namely Hogwarts Legacy. Already from the announcement almost three years ago, it has been clear that the levels of ambition were at a completely different level. The fact that it has been delayed several times has not bothered me much since it was a pandemic after all, and it shows good judgment on the part of Warner that they were willing to give Avalanche Software much more time to be able to realize their high-flying plans – that is, to offer it first full-scale simulation of JK Rowling’s wonderful universe.
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The adventure takes place a hundred years before the first Harry Potter book and consequently almost none of the people we know from the books are in the game, with few exceptions such as the ghosts Nearly Headless Nick and Peeves. However, there are of course people whose surnames gossip that they belong to a family that will one fine day end up in the hot air. You get to create your own protagonist yourself with a fairly detailed tool, after which you are ready to go on an adventure, where you will join Hogwarts School of Magic in the fifth year of school, which of course means that you are significantly behind your classmates.
There are reasons for this, of course, and without spoiling anything, it seems that your newly created protagonist possesses some rather unique abilities, and that there are several parties who, for various reasons, find this interesting. Avalanche Software has tried to create a completely new story that is completely disconnected from everything called Voldemort, and succeeded really well. There are plenty of twists and turns in the story that you can also make your own through the choices during the adventure, with the bummer that I didn’t have time to play several different houses and test how different choices actually have big consequences.
Having said that, I chose to join my favorite house, Slytherin. If you have the Harry Potter Fan Club app, you can link your account and get extra goodies and end up directly in your chosen house. When the adventure begins, my hero is about as skilled in magic as the muggle author of this review, but it’s not long before he receives his first spells, after the trip to Hogwarts is marred by a mysterious and dragon-related mishap. Once at school we are met with the typical welcome for the term that we are used to from the books and movies, and after being sorted into a house, I am given a quick briefing before being released.
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That release is something I quickly appreciate about Hogwarts Legacy. Although initially I can’t do much more than follow the story and help companions with simple errands (side quests), Hogwarts is full of secrets. I initially spent an inordinate amount of time just running around looking for hidden items which in turn unlock new items and at the same time got to experience Hogwarts in a way I never had before. Everything from classrooms, gardens, towers, hidden rooms and even toilets are fascinating to explore and secrets are seemingly everywhere. The spell Revelio is therefore cast diligently to reveal everything, but it was also clear that I cannot get into everything secret I find. So lessons are needed.
Just like in the books and movies, you have to take part in teacher-led teaching, in order to learn more about everything. Through simpler mini-games, you get new spells, learn to plant plants which in turn can be used for, among other things, potions and so on. Since the lessons are considered part of the story, there is no risk of reaching points in the story where you don’t have the magical tools needed to progress.
You are also always free to do other missions if you want. After a few hours of playing, you get a huge list of missions to choose from, where most are side missions and a few are part of the campaign itself. I’ve done countless side quests and can report that they are, pleasantly enough, very well done. Sure, there are some rotten eggs that can be described as so-called “fetch” missions, but even these usually have some kind of twist that makes them entertaining to play through. In addition, some of them can affect the story itself later in different ways.
Getting around in the giant world is initially done on foot, later you will of course also be able to fly with a broom and other things, and then you also have a fixed travel system. Given that the school is so large inside and that there are places like Hogsmeade as well as smaller farms to discover, fast travel is incredibly useful, and works as it usually does, meaning you have to find places before you can travel to them. However, I still recommend you to actually walk a lot precisely because there are so many secrets. Wherever you go, you will find, for example, painters who have had their works stolen, secrets lost in water and strange puzzles that must be solved. The world is so rich in secrets that anyone who has played The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will be able to draw a parallel to how it feels to walk around.
So far so good, but early on in Hogwarts Legacy I’m bothered by the menus, and unfortunately it’s a frustration that doesn’t diminish with time. On the contrary. They’re actually the single weakest part of the adventure and something I have to mess with continuously. The menus have several weaknesses, one of which is that Avalanche Software chose to use the mouse pointer system, which is certainly superior if you actually have a mouse. But with an analog stick, it becomes tough to navigate instead. And it is made even tougher by the fact that it is not exactly fast to scroll between things like achievements in the adventure, missions, map, equipment and so on with a small delay between each step (as well as when the menus are brought up). Also, it bothers me that the sorting of items is very arbitrary so finding which gear suits me best involves going through everything I have to compare. Finally, I also don’t think the map is very smoothly laid out when I have to choose where I want to drive fast travel next.
Something that works well, however, are the magics. Already during the first hours, you will have more magics available than you can have ready at one and the same time, namely four. This leads to you constantly having to replace them, where I basically had three fixed ones that were used extensively and rotated one. But the amount of magic soon made even this unmanageable, which means that a little later in the adventure you get the opportunity to have a lot of them available at a time with a little button exercise which I actually think works well.
And it’s lucky, because the battles in Hogart’s Legacy are among the game’s highlights. I will unsolicitedly think of games like Ninja Gaiden and Batman: Arkham Asylum in how my protagonist can constantly attack multiple enemies at once, ball them in the air using magic, and build long combos by playing smart and skillfully. Long combos, in turn, give you the opportunity to fire special attacks of a much more powerful kind.
Of course, the enemies respond differently to your attacks, where some do not want to be sent into the air at all and must be set on fire instead, while still others are most appropriately punished by using plants, potions or other things. In addition, you must be prepared for different types of defense when you yourself are attacked. It’s elegantly designed and it really feels like I’m in full control during the battles. However, it will never be quite as neat as the two aforementioned titles. Sometimes the layout of the environments limits the combat, and if you have a little height to stand on, you can often take down very powerful enemies by shelling them before they reach you.
Graphically, Hogwarts Legacy is a mixed bag The fact that development started and lasted for a long time for Playstation 4 and Xbox One (the game would have been released in 2021) is often noticeable when the lighting effects feel a bit flat, the effects are primitive and the animations are a bit stiff. Things like trying to jump over tall objects, standing on uneven surfaces, and the way students and teachers move around in the game world gossip that it was done a long time ago, as well as the uneven lip syncing. Having said that, the design is absolutely first class through and through and the faces and especially the monsters are phenomenal. It makes the cutscenes a joy and as long as I’m not scrutinizing, it’s quite delicious in parts.
Another thing I still want to gripe about is the game’s computer-controlled characters. Most of them are people I can’t interact with at all. They just walk around or lean against things, and when I wake up in the morning in my room, I have no roommates at all. While Hogwarts, the game world, and the story do a good job of drawing me into JK Rowling’s magical universe, the NPCs do the opposite and remind me that it’s actually a game. The difference to, for example, Red Dead Redemption 2 in this area is miles wide.
But… overall, I’m still incredibly happy with my adventure so far in Hogwarts Legacy. It’s the game all of us Harry Potter fans have dreamed of and deserved for so long. It’s really possible to delve into so many aspects of the adventure and also play it your way. Maybe you prefer stealth to action? Then you can develop your character to be better at just that, and if you prefer to play a magical Rambo, the tools for that are included.
Complement this with the fact that Avalanche Software is constantly adding gameplay innovations and you get a very varied adventure that never feels repetitive or rigid. I’ve run into a couple of bugs during my time with Hogwarts Legacy and been forced to restart after getting stuck in a doorway, but in an adventure of this magnitude at launch (it will be patched of course) it actually has to be considered both good and impressive. In the end, I can easily recommend this to any Harry Potter fan, and even to those of you who are only marginally interested in his world. Being able to have a Butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks with a wizard friend, make your own brews from the plants you’ve grown yourself, find the most difficult secrets and fly a broom around Hogwarts exteriors is – excuse the word – magic.
Due to simply not having enough time, we didn’t manage to completely finish the adventure in time for the review (something we want to be transparent about), which means that something may be added to the text later this week.
