Game Overview: Hogwarts Legacy
Have you ever wanted to live in a world of Wizards, spells, and chocolate frogs? Well, now is your chance!
Today we will highlight a game that came onto the scene just over a month ago, with many Harry Potter fans being delighted at its final release.
HOGWARTS LEGACY!
An open-world game set in the wonders of the Harry Potter universe, you can finally fulfill all your dreams of exploring, fighting, and casting spells just like the iconic trio of Harry Potter!
There are two versions of the game — the $60 Standard Edition and the $70 Deluxe Edition — available on all major platforms (PC, Xbox, Playstation, and Nintendo)!
The Deluxe Edition with the additional perks includes the following:
-Hogwarts Legacy
-Hogwarts Legacy: Dark Arts Garrison Hat
-Hogwarts Legacy: Dark Arts Pack
GAMEPLAY
Welcome to the Wizarding World of Hogwarts Legacy. You start off as a 5th-year transfer student thrown into a magical learning environment surrounded by mystical spells, interdimensional animals, and endless amounts of fun. Explore the campus as you pick up new weapons and tools to add to your spell-slinging arsenal. Meet professors, fellow students, and an endless number of spiders, goblins, and other mystical beings of the universe. There are tons of routes to take throughout your experience at Hogwarts. Decorate your dorm room, dip your toes in side-questing, or hyperfocus on that random cat wandering around. Enchant and allure anything and everything to further your quest to be a master wizard!
STORY
Hogwarts Legacy being an open-world map reflects the unforgettable nostalgia we all strive for in a game. Your own customized character will start in the classroom, learning the basics and internal structuring of your mystical schedule. Practice spells through different challenges, quests, and random side-quests pushing you to wander around the old, yet immersive campus. Shoot fireballs, levitate items, and confuse opponents in dueling and combat. Trolls, spiders, goblins, and dark wizards will take the majority of your time and effort throughout your play through. Challenge yourself with creating one-of-a-kind combos, while dodging a hailing barrage of brutal counterspells. Enhance your attacks through an upgradable skill tree; shaping it to fit your own playstyle. Don't feel like combat? Capture, groom, and breed mythical beasts; check out a shop; learn “Dark Arts” (spooky), or decorate your dorm room. Swag-ify your character with dozens of cosmetic upgrades from clothing to wands! Walking is for non-magical beings, so mount a griffin and fast travel in an instant with a foo flame, or pull out the trusty broom and whistle away to your next destination. Don't goof off too much though, you are a student with over 100 side quests and a vast world of countless features to explore and achieve throughout the Wizarding World.
COMMUNITY INTERVIEWS
MSWS
The gameplay has minimal references to the books/movies, though it certainly would not hurt to have seen them just for those "aha, I know what that is" moments. I haven't yet interacted with all of the teachers, but I'd have to say my favorite professor was probably the broomstick/flying "class". Being able to fly around and only get slightly scolded was really fun. So far the combat is actually pretty decent. I think the game has a solid amount of content and am looking forward to completing the story. Overall I think it's pretty solid. If you're a harry potter fan definitely worth the $60. If not, I'd recommend waiting till it goes on sale (maybe 10-20% off would be a decent deal).
4-Stars
Garrett
I wouldn't say you have to be a "Potterhead", but having some sort of background with the Wizarding World helps...However even if Hogwarts Legacy is your first experience in the wizarding world, I would say it does a great job of introducing spells, beasts, and the world itself in a school-like setting. I think my favorite subject was the Dark Arts, mostly because you knew going into the class that you were going to be able to add a new spell to your arsenal. Dueling was one of my favorite features, and that was introduced in the Dark Arts classroom. The section of the game that stood out to me the most was the Room of Requirement. While it doesn't have a ton of late-game use, I really like the features it provided to the player. Overall I think the game does a great job bringing various aspects of the Wizarding World to a game interface. The combat system feels rewarding, and you are always trying to get the best spell combo possible, and the interactions with the main story are great.
4.5-Stars
Ped
I just watched all of the movies to play the game, I enjoyed the movies a lot more than the game tho. My favorite part of the game is 110% the combat, the combat is pretty good and unique. However, a small gripe I had with it was changing your spell set was kind of annoying...Overall I think the game is mediocre. To start off with the game was fun, exploring the castle was enjoyable as well as discovering the few animals within the game was cool. As well as the introduction was cool but after that it went downhill. I think this game's main problem is that it forces you to do side quests - so that you can be at the correct level for main missions, this really demotivated me to finish the game because of how bland and boring the sidequests are after you've done about 100 of them. If I could refund the game I would, not because I think the game is completely terrible, there are aspects I enjoy, I just think that there are a lot better games out there.
3-Stars
Sahaquiel
I knew of the main characters, but I knew barely anything about the world they lived in. Hogwarts Legacy gives you a very fun look into the wizarding world as you progress through your different classes at Hogwarts. If you are in it for the story and learning about the world, I highly recommend reading through the field guides you find if you do want a better grasp on this world! Definitely, Professor Garlick, I loved her character design and really enjoyed her energy, her love for plants, and her kindness toward the students who genuinely wanted to learn about them. I think it is definitely worth the time to play through it. I spent a lot more time with the game than most do through a playthrough, but I was taking in everything about the world and appreciating all of the neat odds and ends that the developers had put into the game. If you are a completionist this game is DEFINITELY for you. This game goes hard on the ability to complete different collections throughout, which isn't necessary for game completion. I very much enjoyed the gameplay, the characters, and the combat system. The game feels very story-driven due to the easier combat system in place, but overall I had such a blast that it took me away from all other games for the time I was playing it!
4-Stars
Vikkturr
I wasn't a Harry Potter fan before the game. But I would say that the fans of the world would definitely enjoy the game. (Favorite Professor?) Oh Professor Garlick of course. Not only do I actually like to tend to my garden in real life, but I also like her personality. What stood out for me, unlike other current open-world RPGs of late, is all of the activities and places to explore in the world. It seems very populated with activities to do and enemies to defeat, so those of us with small attention spans will always have something to do. Also - Avada Kadavra! If you are a fan of the old Fable games, you will like this. I felt that it played pretty close to Fable 2, but with pure magic as your weapon of choice (even if it is a forced choice). I would look forward to an official expansion or sequel to the game.
4.5-Stars
Simon
Despite being set in the same world as the Harry Potter series, the game is set in the 1800s, where the world is familiar but vastly different. Knowing the series is an asset, but casual fans or newcomers can still have fun. Classes were the least of my interests in this one! Too much exploring to do and the classes didn't have too much overall effect on my gameplay. I think the combat stood out for me the best. It wasn't over-the-top challenging, but every so often I'd get tossed something I didn't expect or any enemy would bounce over and give me a good whack. Trying to make long combos and different combinations of spells against different enemies at once was super fun. But secondary to that, exploring was fantastic. I was super impressed that pretty much every single door and building in the game could be entered and usually yielded some degree of character, shop, or collectible. As someone who grew up reading the Harry Potter books, waiting early in the morning for new ones on release day, and watching the movies as they came along, to finally get a massive, open-world Hogwarts experience was something I had been waiting for, for most of my life. It does fall short in many areas though. The writing of the story is lacking in many areas and the side characters are a bit all over the place. The morality of decisions is entirely questionable, and dialogue options seemingly have no effect on the next steps in the story. Many features exist but feel like they just didn't get the polish they deserved. There is a lot going on that is right, and this is what fans have been asking for, for years. Developers tried to add everything possible, but not enough polish holds the game back from what it truly could be.
2.5-Stars
Trinity
While the game is set in the Harry Potter Universe, it doesn't require any knowledge of the series to play. I love Deputy Headmistress Weasley. She's strict but caring in a way that reminds me of Professor McGonagall from the original series. McGonagall was definitely my favorite in the original series, so seeing someone who resembles her in the game is really nice. I like the open world aspect. I love just flying around on my broomstick, my preferred method of flight, and just finding different trials and hidden chests. Wonderfully created game in a nostalgic world. As a lover of all things high fantasy (though Harry Potter is a mixture of both low and high fantasy), this game really brought a lot of joy to me. I do think it lacks a bit in replayability, but a single playthrough and you will get your money's worth, especially from a completionism standpoint.
4-Stars
The gameplay has minimal references to the books/movies, though it certainly would not hurt to have seen them just for those "aha, I know what that is" moments. I haven't yet interacted with all of the teachers, but I'd have to say my favorite professor was probably the broomstick/flying "class". Being able to fly around and only get slightly scolded was really fun. So far the combat is actually pretty decent. I think the game has a solid amount of content and am looking forward to completing the story. Overall I think it's pretty solid. If you're a harry potter fan definitely worth the $60. If not, I'd recommend waiting till it goes on sale (maybe 10-20% off would be a decent deal).
4-Stars
Garrett
I wouldn't say you have to be a "Potterhead", but having some sort of background with the Wizarding World helps...However even if Hogwarts Legacy is your first experience in the wizarding world, I would say it does a great job of introducing spells, beasts, and the world itself in a school-like setting. I think my favorite subject was the Dark Arts, mostly because you knew going into the class that you were going to be able to add a new spell to your arsenal. Dueling was one of my favorite features, and that was introduced in the Dark Arts classroom. The section of the game that stood out to me the most was the Room of Requirement. While it doesn't have a ton of late-game use, I really like the features it provided to the player. Overall I think the game does a great job bringing various aspects of the Wizarding World to a game interface. The combat system feels rewarding, and you are always trying to get the best spell combo possible, and the interactions with the main story are great.
4.5-Stars
Ped
I just watched all of the movies to play the game, I enjoyed the movies a lot more than the game tho. My favorite part of the game is 110% the combat, the combat is pretty good and unique. However, a small gripe I had with it was changing your spell set was kind of annoying...Overall I think the game is mediocre. To start off with the game was fun, exploring the castle was enjoyable as well as discovering the few animals within the game was cool. As well as the introduction was cool but after that it went downhill. I think this game's main problem is that it forces you to do side quests - so that you can be at the correct level for main missions, this really demotivated me to finish the game because of how bland and boring the sidequests are after you've done about 100 of them. If I could refund the game I would, not because I think the game is completely terrible, there are aspects I enjoy, I just think that there are a lot better games out there.
3-Stars
Sahaquiel
I knew of the main characters, but I knew barely anything about the world they lived in. Hogwarts Legacy gives you a very fun look into the wizarding world as you progress through your different classes at Hogwarts. If you are in it for the story and learning about the world, I highly recommend reading through the field guides you find if you do want a better grasp on this world! Definitely, Professor Garlick, I loved her character design and really enjoyed her energy, her love for plants, and her kindness toward the students who genuinely wanted to learn about them. I think it is definitely worth the time to play through it. I spent a lot more time with the game than most do through a playthrough, but I was taking in everything about the world and appreciating all of the neat odds and ends that the developers had put into the game. If you are a completionist this game is DEFINITELY for you. This game goes hard on the ability to complete different collections throughout, which isn't necessary for game completion. I very much enjoyed the gameplay, the characters, and the combat system. The game feels very story-driven due to the easier combat system in place, but overall I had such a blast that it took me away from all other games for the time I was playing it!
4-Stars
Vikkturr
I wasn't a Harry Potter fan before the game. But I would say that the fans of the world would definitely enjoy the game. (Favorite Professor?) Oh Professor Garlick of course. Not only do I actually like to tend to my garden in real life, but I also like her personality. What stood out for me, unlike other current open-world RPGs of late, is all of the activities and places to explore in the world. It seems very populated with activities to do and enemies to defeat, so those of us with small attention spans will always have something to do. Also - Avada Kadavra! If you are a fan of the old Fable games, you will like this. I felt that it played pretty close to Fable 2, but with pure magic as your weapon of choice (even if it is a forced choice). I would look forward to an official expansion or sequel to the game.
4.5-Stars
Simon
Despite being set in the same world as the Harry Potter series, the game is set in the 1800s, where the world is familiar but vastly different. Knowing the series is an asset, but casual fans or newcomers can still have fun. Classes were the least of my interests in this one! Too much exploring to do and the classes didn't have too much overall effect on my gameplay. I think the combat stood out for me the best. It wasn't over-the-top challenging, but every so often I'd get tossed something I didn't expect or any enemy would bounce over and give me a good whack. Trying to make long combos and different combinations of spells against different enemies at once was super fun. But secondary to that, exploring was fantastic. I was super impressed that pretty much every single door and building in the game could be entered and usually yielded some degree of character, shop, or collectible. As someone who grew up reading the Harry Potter books, waiting early in the morning for new ones on release day, and watching the movies as they came along, to finally get a massive, open-world Hogwarts experience was something I had been waiting for, for most of my life. It does fall short in many areas though. The writing of the story is lacking in many areas and the side characters are a bit all over the place. The morality of decisions is entirely questionable, and dialogue options seemingly have no effect on the next steps in the story. Many features exist but feel like they just didn't get the polish they deserved. There is a lot going on that is right, and this is what fans have been asking for, for years. Developers tried to add everything possible, but not enough polish holds the game back from what it truly could be.
2.5-Stars
Trinity
While the game is set in the Harry Potter Universe, it doesn't require any knowledge of the series to play. I love Deputy Headmistress Weasley. She's strict but caring in a way that reminds me of Professor McGonagall from the original series. McGonagall was definitely my favorite in the original series, so seeing someone who resembles her in the game is really nice. I like the open world aspect. I love just flying around on my broomstick, my preferred method of flight, and just finding different trials and hidden chests. Wonderfully created game in a nostalgic world. As a lover of all things high fantasy (though Harry Potter is a mixture of both low and high fantasy), this game really brought a lot of joy to me. I do think it lacks a bit in replayability, but a single playthrough and you will get your money's worth, especially from a completionism standpoint.
4-Stars
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
If you choose to purchase on PC, the following requirements are needed to run this game at its fullest potential:
MINIMUM:
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS: 64-bit Windows 10
Processor: Intel Core i5-6600 (3.3Ghz) or AMD Ryzen 5 1400 (3.2Ghz)
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 4GB or AMD Radeon RX 470 4GB
DirectX: Version 12
Storage: 85 GB available space
Additional Notes: SSD (Preferred), HDD (Supported), 720p/30 fps, Low-Quality Settings
RECOMMENDED:
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS: 64-bit Windows 10
Processor: Intel Core i7-8700 (3.2Ghz) or AMD Ryzen 5 3600 (3.6 Ghz)
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 1080 Ti or AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT or INTEL Arc A770
DirectX: Version 12
Storage: 85 GB available space
Additional Notes: SSD, 1080p/60 fps, High Quality Settings
Credits
Writer: @whnheaven @TehRaddish | Editor: @Lucas15 | Interviewer: @Immaculate | Artist: @aln
