Hogwarts Legacy is Fun ...But is it Worth It?
Welp, one month and 50 hours of gameplay later, I am finally able to come to a conclusion about Hogwarts Legacy... And that is, the game is great! but still leaves something to be desired...
(All images are gameplay from my Nintendo Switch)
So first, a list of the positives...
◼️ The world environment is amazing! -- I cannot say enough wonderful things about it. I love that the developers remained true to the areas of Hogwarts that fans are familiar with, while still creating new and unique areas of the castle as well. There are tons of things to interact with: ghosts, moving paintings, quests from students and professors, collecting Field Guide pages.
And if Hogwarts isn't enough -- there is the world outside of the castle! 😱 You can explore Hogsmeade and enjoy a glass of butterbeer at The Three Broomsticks. Or travel to one of the many surrounding hamlets to help the locals with missions!
The game is extremely atmospheric. I could easily spend a day simply walking around the world and exploring my surroundings...
(Watching ghosts practice their fencing 😄)
(The game would display holiday decorations as the story progressed; this was the Great Hall during Christmas time)
◼️ I loved getting to know the beasts of the wizarding world! 🥰 It almost felt nostalgic to be able to fly on a Hippogriff.
Getting to tend to the animals is so much fun as well -- I am absolutely enthralled with the Mooncalf! 😂 Being able to interact with beasts is a great addition.
(The famous Mooncalf -- look at his little smirk! 🥺)
(Featuring a bunch of beasts: Fwoopers, Diricrawls, and Kneazles)
◼️ The gameplay itself is very enjoyable, I like the fighting sequences. However, once you get the hang of it, it really isn't very challenging...
(Fighting alongside the centaurs)
The boss fight only took me two tries to beat, and the first time was because our toddler had grabbed ahold of the controller! 😂
(During the boss fight with Ranrok)
◼️ The video game was a game -- not a movie!! 😱 My biggest pet peeve with video games is when they make the cinematic scenes waaaay too long, much too frequent. Hogwarts Legacy had a very healthy mix of skippable dialogue and cutscenes; not too overbearing!
◼️ The context of the main quests were intriguing, and the side quests were plentiful and entertaining. I really liked exploring the idea of using magic in order to cure people of emotional pain, not just physical. Exploring the relationship between goblins and wizards was interesting as well.
(One of the main quests, where you help a dragon reunite with her egg)
The negatives? Well...
◼️ The main quests, which I realize that I was just praising! 😅 But -- spoilers! their endings were extremely disappointing...
One of the quests was about a sister who had been cursed, and her brother/your friend Sebastian, attempting to use Dark Magic in order to cure her. However, things go too far, and he ends up using the Killing Curse on their uncle. The quest ends with another friend informing you that he tells the Headmaster about the ordeal, Sebastian gets expelled, and he will eventually face trial at the Ministry of Magic. You never see him again; the end!
◼️ The big boss fight was very anticlimactic; again, it only took me two tries to beat...
◼️ The final ending of the game was straight up depressing lol... "Attend the House Cup feast," where your character is given a little acknowledgement, your house wins, and like, 5 students stand around you and cheer. That's it! 😩
◼️ I had already mentioned when I first began to play Hogwarts Legacy that I was disappointed with the developers' decision to go against J.K Rowling's very vocal beliefs. Now I'm just irritated 😩 It wasn't enough to include one character, and by all technicalities meet population demographics, they went ahead and included two! Yes, the herbologist professor! 😄 It's not something I need announced in my video games.
◼️ I have heard of video games becomes "more accessible to everyone," and I think I experienced it a bit for myself while playing this. Again, many things were very simple, and I wouldn't reserve this criticism if it weren't for the fact that there are puzzle elements throughout. And as a T for Teen game, at that!
One of the puzzles throughout the castle is being able to add and count to 23 -- that's it!
(Meeting the Lord of the Shore)
◼️ Might have tried too hard with one of the endings? I feel like the player is meant to develop some kind of bond with Professor Fig, but it doesn't really happen. So by the time they tried playing up his death, the blow didn't hit as hard.
La verdad es que l juego es increíble, hasta ahora no le eh probado pero le tengo bastantes ganas
Gracias por tu comentario. Espero que puedas jugarlo pronto. ¡Sin duda hay muchísimas cosas que hacer! 😀
That end of the game you mention, reminded me of this:
This is exactly what it was like, and thank you for sharing this .gif and reminding me of it! 😂😭
They did much better than I expected. I remember one of their games, so terrible that it should have never come out. I can't seem to remember its name right now. Anyway, the open world looks amazing... even though I am not a fan of the franchise, I would still love to try it one day.
Oh yes, there have definitely been some bad Harry Potter games 😬 The fact that this team was able to create a game based on something entirely new, without screwing it up, is a miracle in itself 😂
Thank you for your comment! 🙏