With all the controversy around the game, I pretty much ignored anything to do with it at launch. Since the game is on sale right now I wanted to know, is it actually any good? If it is I’d like to play it.
It’s not a bad game but it’s easily the most overhyped game I’ve played this year. I’d describe it as a super generic RPG with a Harry Potter skin. The best thing I can say about it is that the game is very pretty. Hogwarts itself is lively and is pretty fun to walk around in. Everything else, though, is just sooooo generic.
Let’s start with the magic system itself: In combat it literally boils down to using the right color on the right enemy. If an enemy has a red shield, use fire. If an enemy has a yellow shield, use your yellow ability. Other than that, just spam your magic until they die. You can dodge but enemies are usually pretty simple and telegraph their attacks hard. For a series so known for its magic, most of the magic boils down to “stun enemy” and “deal damage”.
Outside of combat, magic is painfully boring. Your main character will also constantly spoil basic puzzles for you. “Hmm, a rock, perhaps I can use MY LEVITATION SPELL”. “Oh, cobwebs are blocking the way, perhaps I can use my FIRE SPELL!” Everything boils down to basic interactions like this.
There’s little to no roleplaying, your choices don’t matter and boil down to being the nicest guy ever or being an arse for no reason. The story is linear. Your house changes your sleeping area and your clothes and some dialogue but that’s about it. The story is very uninspired too, you play as a person with amazing ancient magic powers that nobody else has because you’re the chosen one and stuff. Your professor is helping you unearth the mystery of why you’re so special while stopping the bad guys from doing evil stuff. Nothing exciting imo.
TL;DR: I guess if you really love Harry Potter you’ll enjoy the game for the references they make and magical feel to it, but outside of Hogwarts it’s really a pretty generic RPG. The combat’s repetitive, the open world feels empty and boring, the game overstays its welcome by being so long, etc. Overall I’d only buy it on deep discount, like $10-15 or something.
Edit: Oh, and there’s no Quidditch in this game. Instant 0/10!
Outside of combat, magic is painfully boring. Your main character will also constantly spoil basic puzzles for you. “Hmm, a rock, perhaps I can use MY LEVITATION SPELL”. “Oh, cobwebs are blocking the way, perhaps I can use my FIRE SPELL!” Everything boils down to basic interactions like this.
This is probably my biggest pet peeve with modern games. From straight up spelling out the answer to puzzles to nagging the player for not being “immediately” in the next mission area (I’m literally on the way, shut the fuck up!), there is just no space for the player to explore or figure things out or just chill. Makes me want to mute it entirely sometimes just to avoid the constant pestering.
To be fair to Hogwarts Legacy, I would strongly suspect that a good number of the people actually playing that are actual children that probably need someone to point out things like that to them, since they probably don’t have the same level of experience playing games as you do.
However, if I hear one more thing about how travel was so inconvenient before the invention of floo powder, I’m going to punch something.
I was able to figure out that I needed to light a deku stick on fire and roll over cobwebs to get to the floor below in Ocarina just fine at 7 years old.
And that’s not even touching on the Water Temple.
People, especially game devs, underestimate children.
Some people can use help on puzzles, sure, and I don’t hate when a game gives some hints or guidance there, but it can be a bit egregious (God of War was terrible with this, and I heard Ragnarok was even worse). What really drives me up the wall is the constant hectoring by npcs or even the player character to get to the next mission checkpoint, often in open-world games where a lot of the fun of the game is exploring outside of the narrow mission path. It’s like devs have such little faith in their game that they want the player to just finish it as soon as possible and not investigate it too much.
I’m replaying RDR2 and a huge part of the enjoyment of that game is just going off and hunting or running into random encounters. For the most part, the player can just go off doing their own thing, ignoring the plot entirely. Can you imagine how awful it would be if Arthur was constantly muttering about how he should be on his way to this point or another, just to progress the story?
I have that problem with any linear RPG/adventure game. They paint the path from start of game to completion with VERY obvious yellow paint. I wanted to like games like Darksiders, but the game felt very “on rails”.
I don’t want every game to be open world, but don’t put breadcrumbs down for me either. Let me figure it out.
Choices do matter slightly. I made the wrong choice and missed out on learning Avada Kedavra 😞
You should be able to go back to the Undercroft and have Sebastian teach it to you!
I enjoyed it for quite a while. The story is kinda meh but I overlooked it because exploring Hogwarts and flying the broom was so fun. Combat was initially really fun as well. But I found myself getting sort of bored with it. The enemies are fairly bland and the spell switching was cumbersome so combat became a chore. I’m giving myself a break before going back to finish it.
Well said. I had a similar experience. I was very impressed by the production value great models, textures, amazing digital recreation of Hogwarts.
Unfortunately, the game drags on and it’s filled with Ubisoft-style chores.
Instead of mainlining the story, I decided to get lost in the world, do side quests and explore. It was fun for a while - a long while - but then begun wearing thin. I was ready to wrap up the adventure and finish the game when I realized I’m maybe 60% through only.
Put it away for later and haven’t touched it again in months…
Tldr: Yes. For a relaxing story driven new franchise, it’s everything I wanted it to be.
It’s amazing to me how jaded gamers have become. Over the past few years it has been difficult to get excited for new releases, considering most franchises have turned to regurgitating the same formula year after year, or attempted to cash in on some form of battle royale.
This personally was a breathe of fresh air. I’m not a die hard HP fan; never finished the books but have watched the movies (originals and beasts). For someone who’s affinity to the HP universe was mostly driven by exposure while growing up, this game fills in the gaps in lore that a casual HP fan wouldn’t normally learn about. I spent a huge amount of time wondering the game world in search of the lore bits simply because it was presented in a gorgeous and interesting way.
With that said, the game world does have enough explanation for people with no HP knowledge. And honstely, I envy those that would get to walk into this universe with this game being the basis of the introduction to the wizarding world…
The storyline is pretty independent from the original HP story, but does stay faithful to the Hogwarts world. Considering the appeal of this universe is to a very broad audience, wanting it to be Elden Ring or Witcher 3 is unreasonably ridiculous. It’s need to be approachable by both avid gamers and casuals prevents the games scope from ever being that intense. I would compare it to the original Fable, in which I received a feeling of nostalgia for a few times during my playthrough.
BUT, for what it is: an immersive, story-driven starting point for hopefully a healthy NEW franchise…this game is amazing and entertaining. I sit at 89% completion on my first play through, and plan on a new character after a few months. I paid full price at release, and absolutely felt I received my money’s worth.
OH, and the music is pretty fantastic also.
If you dont care about Harry potter at all the game is decent. Its fun, but there are other better options in terms of open world/rpglite games. If you do/did like HP, then its pretty cool. They did a good job bringing hogwarts to life. If you have the money to spare then go for it, otherwise Id wait for a sale or something.
100% percent the game is a lot better if you like HP. Idk how fun it’d if you weren’t a fan. Also because there seems to be some assumed lore knowledge.
Yeah, I grew up with hp so it was a fun experience for me. But at the same time, knowing the lore kinda made the main story weird for me. Im not like a lore purist or anything, but it seems like they added a huge component to the world thats never mentioned again. idk
also its sucks because I knew there were some locations we didnt see like the chamber of secrets or more of azkaban.
I really enjoyed it. Combat was pretty satisfying. You could easily stick with the same combos or mix it up.
I will say that I was disappointed with the item bloat. It felt similar to Borderlands with how often I had to be managing my inventory. It wouldn’t have been too big a deal if it wasn’t for the fact that selling items is by far the best way to get money. Luckily there are plenty of chances to sell in between quests.
That’s my only real gripe about the gameplay. Poopsocked the game all weekend when it came out and it was the most fun I’ve had playing videogames in a long time.
