We will have Hogwarts Legacy Review in this article. Since I was in the third grade, I, along with many others, had been anticipating a truly outstanding Harry Potter game. In that time, we’ve seen some admirable LEGO Potter games, a meh Quidditch game from EA Sports, and even the fevered nightmare that is Harry Potter Kinect. But none of these have come near to realising the dream of obtaining an admissions letter to Hogwarts that unlocks the gateway to a magical realm.
Hogwarts Legacy Review
I’m glad to say that Hogwarts Legacy is the first Harry Potter video game to successfully convey part of that charm. The characters that inhabit it are endearing and unforgettable, the open world geography perfectly captures the feel of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and it is practically bursting with endless diversions to occupy dozens of hours of your time.
Hogwarts Legacy may not be the most technically advanced game and it is undoubtedly plagued by a lack of variety in the enemies, but neither of these drawbacks can throw a Descendo enchantment on this successful trip to the Wizarding World.
Hogwarts Legacy Plot
The plot of Legacy has more holes than a fishnet stocking, and it sort of just wants you to accept that its magical universe makes no sense, in keeping with most Harry Potter stories that came before it. This enigmatic third-person action-adventure RPG starts with you transferring to Hogwarts as a fifth-year witch or wizard (for unknown reasons), where you must attend classes, battle enormous spiders with a magical stick, and fly about on a hippogriff.
With the exception of a somewhat small voice selection, the amazing character generator offers a tonne of options for you to design your dream witch or wizard, and as soon as you do, they’ll become embroiled in a battle between the Wizarding World and a malicious goblin.
On top of that, you soon learn that you have some strange super-charged magical talents that enable you to do extra awesome stuff that is also not really explained because evidently being a member of a secret society of wizards is not thrilling enough.
If you’re anything like me, you’ll roll your eyes whenever you see figures who have been dead for 100 years or more lecturing you from paintings about the significance of events that happened a long time ago and how you need to save the world or anything similar.
But once it’s finished, Legacy mostly makes up for it with a great cast of unobtrusive characters that help simplify things into a good guys against bad guys battle that turns out to be an entertaining story, even though it’s not especially meaningful or creative.
You’ll spend the most of your time with your classmates, who will become your friends on college, join you on some tasks, and aid you in honing your magic-using skills. Like Natsai, the witty and unflappable Gryffindor, or Sebastian, the arrogant and morally gullible Slytherin, most are memorable and instantly endearing, and spending time with them and strengthening your social connections through their relationship questlines made my time at Hogwarts all the more enjoyable.
Unexpectedly, I even discovered that I looked forward to seeing my professors, whether it was my main man Professor Fig, who acts as both a mentor and a sidekick, or the wisecracking charms instructor Professor Ronen, who largely won my love by making fun of me. You can find each of these individuals doing their own thing in the hallways and choose to spend time with your favourites. They all feel like essential parts of the school. It’s a sizable and crucial component of the Hogwarts fantasy that Legacy just nails.
The setting itself, though, which is just jam-packed with almost everything I wanted in a Potter game and more, is even better. You’ll find yourself exploring the stone-cobbled corridors and hidden passageways of Hogwarts, riding a broomstick through the Forbidden Forest, and venturing into pitch-black caverns illuminated only by the glow of your Lumos spell. No matter what pointless task they had me working on, I was amazed to be there since the designers at Avalanche have so expertly nailed the look and feel of the Wizarding World.
Erratic Performance Of Legacy In Hogwarts Legacy
The erratic performance of Legacy, though, which IGN’s performance review crew cried over while I was playing on the PlayStation 5, can occasionally ruin that immersion. The bizarre problems with the lighting switching from too dark to too bright, aggressive pop-in while moving swiftly around the map, and more are among those greatest hits. Even more bizarrely, each door at Hogwarts includes a little loading screen.
The PS5’s claims of the death of loading screens haven’t exactly been lived up to here as it’s obvious that it’s straining to keep up with the spellcraft and whimsy of the Wizarding World, which is understandable given how much is packed into this beast of an adventure.
Beyond the performance problems, Legacy is generally a bug-filled adventure. The person you’re speaking to may suddenly get up and leave you in the middle of a conversation, leaving you to speak with the empty spot they were standing in for around two minutes.
You may also witness a figure or object become caught in the surroundings. I didn’t come across anything that was game-breaking or so often that you’d probably want to hate its name, but it does happen frequently enough to be annoying.
The Verdict
Hogwarts Legacy is the Harry Potter role-playing game I’ve always wanted to play in almost every manner. With its endearing new characters, difficult and complex gameplay, and a superbly realised Hogwarts student fantasy that held me glued to my controller for countless hours, this open-world adventure captures all the excitement and enchantment of the Wizarding World. Technical problems, a mediocre main plot, and a subpar adversary diversity undoubtedly weigh it down, but not even they could break its hold over me.
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