Are you missing anything if you avoid Hogwarts Legacy?
On its own merit, it’s a pretty standard open world game with a lot of the familiar trappings that go along with that. The combat is interesting enough, the graphics are pretty, and it’s a great world to explore. I’d say it’s a pretty good game even if you totally ignore or don’t care about the Harry Potter IP, and might even draw in a few new fans.
But what makes this game magical is the fan service and attention to detail for muggles who bought the books at midnight, or memorized every line of the movies. There’s something really cool about turning the corner and realizing you’re standing in the spot where that one character did that thing. Or figuring out this room was actually behind that one all along. It doesn’t just feed off your love of the source material, it somehow manages to enhance it.
This game made me notice for the first time how much I actually wanted a new story in the Harry Potter world. I didn’t even realize it, probably because the Fantastic Beasts movies just haven’t done it for me. But this is new Harry Potter, even though it’s set 100 years before and features an all new cast of characters, and it’s great.
I was hooked into this from the opening scene, and the pacing is excellent as it slowly peels back more and more of the game over the first 10 to 15 hours. I routinely found myself devouring the side quests but completely ignoring the main storyline, which is always a good sign for an open world game.
And hey, I’m a fan of any game that lets you sneak around and clear out enemy camps one by one without anyone being the wiser. But the combat is also fun, my only complaint is that the interface doesn’t have enough room for all the spells you need. You can hot swap of sorts in battle, but it’s clunky and should be reworked in the inevitable sequel.
Part of why this is so good is because fans have been daydreaming about a game like this for years, and another part is because it’s abundantly clear the developers love the source material just as much.
And look, I’m doing my best to review the game in front of me and not talk about the controversy surrounding the game, but the controversy actually plays a big part in shaping the experience of this game. At least it did for me, your mileage may vary.
The developers, or Warner Bros., or both are practically tripping over themselves to distance the Harry Potter license from its creator, which is perfectly reasonable. The school is incredibly inclusive, featuring culturally diverse faculty and students in a way that’s super impressive by today’s standards, even if it feels out of place in Victorian-era Britain. Almost everyone is so nice and welcoming, this school quickly feels like home. If you’ve spent any time seeing the vitriol around the game online, then loading it up and entering this world can feel like a breath of fresh air.
And that’s the irony of it all. Harry Potter stories have always heralded being kind over being powerful, and standing up for marginalized groups. It’s hard to reconcile this world and these lessons with the outright trolling of the trans community in recent years from its creator.
Whether you’re still willing to support the game is a personal decision, but if you’re a fan and if you’re comfortable diving in, the experience is worth every penny.
I give the game itself a thumbs up. It puts a lot of effort into undoing the damage done by the series creator, but Warner Brothers will have to do a lot more to get out from under that shadow. 👍
