Hogwarts Legacy

Does it deliver the Hogwarts dream that most fans have or is it full of negative stereotypes and racism?

The Harry Potter universe is something that a whole generation grew up with. Kids wishing that they could get their letter in the mail to go to the magical world of Hogwarts. This wasn’t my generation. I didn’t know anything about this franchise until the movies came out which was after I was out of high school. I thought the movies and world were interesting and the first few movies had this whimsical feel about them that was perfect for kids. I found the universe entertaining but I was never a hardcore fan for this series. I have never really followed anything in the Harry Potter universe like the games, Lego toys or anything really like that. But it did make sense to me that it was popular enough to get its own land at Universal, just like Star Wars has its own land at Disney. With multiple books, 8 movies and tons of toys it has become something bigger than just a children’s book.

The controversy of this game has blinded most media out there into not reviewing it or to give embarrassing reviews that completely discredits their publications. I’m looking at you WIRED, with your review giving this game a 1 out 10. WIRED thinks this game is worst than Cyberpunk 2077, which was broken to hell at release. Below is my honest review on Hogwarts based on what the game offers. The drama around this game, the bad takes that J.K Rowling has made on Trans rights, has no bearing on how this game plays or the story within my review is based on the game itself.

Gameplay:

The gameplay that Hogwarts Legacy offers is very fun after a few tweaks done to the controls. Removing camera targeting and removing camera acceleration makes the combat feel a lot better. It wasn’t broken before changing these settings it just required you to learn its system. It just feels more natural after changing those options. This isn’t a game breaking thing this is like flipping the switch to inverted controls. I played half the game with the default controls an then the other half with the changes and preferred the latter. The animations and the combat are really fun the transitions to flying are done great and the flight controls are fun as well. They really recreated the elements in the world that was shown in the movies. The combat also shows us what we always wanted to see which was how violent the wizarding world combat can be. Some special movies will turn people into harmless animals. I turned many wizards in to chickens and a few wolves into sheep. Some special movies slam enemies into the ground violently, or will make them explode or be struck by a powerful lighting bolt. There are some “Wow! That looks like that hurt” moments in the game.

My one huge criticism is the lock picking spells. Its not the collection quest that requires you to get each level of the spell its the mini game associated to it. When you have a lock picking mini game it needs to easy to learn but have some type of difficulty to it depending on the level of the lock. Unfortunately the lock picking mini game is the same for all 3 levels and doesn’t change up the process at all. There are a ton of locks to unlock in this game so you will find yourself playing this repetitive mini game over and over, to the point at which I just wish there wasn’t a mini game and locks would just unlock.

The other side of the gameplay is the exploration which they made fun. Just about every door you see you can open and the Hogwarts castle and the small hamlets around it are very dense with content. I spent hours doing collection quest not because I needed to complete them to move forward but because I just wanted to explore every nook and cranny of the castle and the towns. Exploration rewarded me with side quest, outfits, and items make it all worth doing.

The other huge issue I have with the game is the Map. Its garbage. It looks like the world map of Fable but it would be a better move to get a more detailed look at locations in the fashion of the marauders map. The world map is really large but it also feels under utilized especially the furthest southern areas where there are only 3-4 main quest there and no real quest to deal with the giant mine you have to travel through to get there.

Story:

The main story is that a wizard in the past used Goblin silver or craftmanship to contain a very powerful magic that they didn’t fully understand or have time to investigate in their work. The goblins have found one of these containers and have taken the power for themselves to use against wizarding kind because many wizards are cruel and shitty and have treated goblins poorly. But our antagonist isn’t a revolutionary he has no problem killing his own kind that don’t side with him. He is written more as a warmonger that just wants to conquer the wizards due to one bad experience with one. He believes if goblins built it then they own it. Meaning that since they built the containers of this rare magic it belongs to them. It’s like if the construction workers that built your house came over one day and started moving in and kicking you out because they built it.

Goblins are not slaves in this world and if they were I doubt the wizards would let them control all their money. The world in the movies as well as in this game shows that a lot of groups including goblins and centaurs do not like the wizards and that the complicated idea of hiding this world from non magic folk would defiantly cause some issues with the many different groups. But the game experience is not about wizard politics so no point in theorizing why this group hates that groups.

The main experience outside the main story of the game is the journey and experience of going to Hogwarts which the game delivers on perfectly. Starts with you getting that letter and ends with you finishing your first year at school after the main story is completed. You get sorted into your house, and you get to live life as a student in Hogwarts. This is what fans have been waiting for and they recreated alot of those first time moments from the books and movies for the player to experience. Their first broom flight class, working with beast and herbology are all well crafted and will make people feel like they are really there. For all those fans that were wishing they got their letter this game delivers on that experience. You will feel like a student at Hogwarts, that has this side adventure and gets to experience everything from the forbidden forest to secrets of Hogwarts to the room or requirement. This is the ultimate Hogwarts experience.

Graphics:

WIRED Magazine said that the graphics in this game look a few generations old. That is not true. Its not created with full motion capture like Naughty dog games or like Guardians of the Galaxy or Death Stranding, so it doesn’t have that fedelity but neither does Assassin’s Creed Vahalla. On PC your milage will vary depending your build but on the Xbox Series X/S the graphics are on parr with other open world titles. Loading times are faster on the series X than S, and the series X has the options for raytracing fidelity with lower frame rate. Both platforms will offer a 60 frames performance mode. The details in the art design of the game are great. The density of the world is wonderful. I was always surprised to find more secrets in area when I have learned the right spells to reveal them.

OVERALL SCORE:

8/10-

Fun gameplay with a huge map that ultimately feels underutilized in the second half. The lock picking game should have been skipped, but the overall experience that is offer is delivered on. You get your letter and you become a wizard or witch. You have your own adventure in this world that isn’t connected to any of the established lore or stories. There are great and fun call backs to the movies with special quest and the transition from exploration to combat is done well. If you were a huge Harry Potter fan this game delivers on all your wishes and shouldn’t be skipped.

Let us know what you think in the comments below.