Hogwarts Legacy Review
Initial release date: February 10, 2023
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X and Series S, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows
Genres: Open world, Entertainment, Narrative, MORE
Developer: Avalanche Software
Publisher: Warner Bros. Games
Mode: Single-player video game
Nominations: The Game Award for Most Anticipated Game
The highly anticipated (and highly controversial) release of Hogwarts Legacy has finally arrived, and it's time to cast your spell. Will it live up to the magic of the Elder Wand, or will it disappoint like a handful of troll bogeys? Your invitation to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has finally come, and it's time for the sorting ceremony. For those who have been eagerly following the development of the game, there have been numerous video releases showcasing the storyline, battles, gameplay, and more. Now, it's time to experience the magic of Hogwarts Legacy, an RPG set in the Wizarding World. Get ready to embark on this exciting journey!
While you may not be playing as the famous Harry Potter, you will have the opportunity to uncover a type of magic that only few can claim to know. The idea of receiving your Hogwarts letter was not entirely accurate as you have missed the start of the school year. As a new student in your fifth year, you have a lot to catch up on. But don't worry, you have the distinguished and insightful Professor Fig to guide you every step of the way. Your journey at Hogwarts begins with your arrival at the school on the first day of the new academic year and the sorting ceremony. Accompanied by Professor Fig and George Osric from the Ministry of Magic, you make your grand entrance by flying cart, proving that you're too cool for the train. There have been whispers of a powerful Goblin named Ranrok, who Osric believes poses a threat to the wizarding community, but the Ministry remains skeptical. Osric is determined to uncover the truth.
As the story unfolds, Osric receives a mysterious package from the late wife of Professor Fig. She was interested in the history of lost magic and died while searching for its secrets, convinced that it could bring good to the world. To everyone's surprise, you appear to be the key to unlocking the package. Just as you open it, the flying cart is attacked, and Osric meets his untimely demise. The package contains a portkey that you and Professor Fig grab hold of as you fall, taking you to the Scottish Highlands and the ruins in the middle of the sea. This is where your thrilling adventure truly begins.
The game's story has two main threads: one concerning the threat posed by Ranrok, and the other focusing on his loyal followers who have turned against traditional wand wielders. These followers make up the majority of your enemies in the game and have gained their own power and spells, which you will have to face in combat.
Before the main story begins, you have the chance to customize your character. There are very few limitations to this customization feature. If you don't care about appearance, you can select from preset options. But if you want to create a character that looks like your ideal wizard or witch, you have the ability to adjust facial features, hairstyles, skin complexion, eyes, and even voice pitch. You have the option of choosing from two different voices and adjusting their pitch to your liking. While the pitch adjustments do make the voice sound a bit robotic, you will get used to it. However, it is unfortunate that the voice quality could not have been improved, as the sound can be quite jarring at first. Similarly, there are a few features in the customization suite that don't seem to be optimized, but this issue may be addressed in future patches. Despite these issues, the difference between my character in the character creation screen and in cutscenes is remarkable, and for the better.
The developers of Hogwarts Legacy have touted the game as having over 100 hours of content for players who want to fully experience everything it has to offer. With an average play time of 35 hours, the game offers both depth and breadth. During the initial hours of the game, players will receive a guided experience, though they may be eager to explore on their own. However, this guided approach does a great job of introducing players to their character's abilities and the depth of gameplay available. The story is told through narrative cutscenes, drawing parallels between the player and Harry from the film series, offering a familiar experience.
Since you're a newcomer to Hogwarts, you've been arranged to receive additional tutelage from the professors. This is how you will learn spellcasting, in addition to participating in regular classes. The professors will assign homework tasks, and upon completion, they will reward you by teaching you a spell. These tasks could involve performing specific feats in combat or finding something hidden within the school. It was an unusual choice to introduce your character in the fifth year.
Players are given a "Wizard's Field Guide" by the Deputy Headmaster, which serves as their virtual handbook and stores their inventory, challenges, map, skill points (known as talents), and collectibles, with the list of collectibles being nearly endless. Exploring the grounds of Hogwarts will never be boring as there is always something new to discover and collect, starting with field pages. These pages can be found throughout Hogwarts and beyond, providing experience points and lore when collected. The field guide serves as an encyclopedia of sorts, offering players the opportunity to practice magic and learn more about the Wizarding World.
Experience points increase your Wizard Level, and with that, your power as a Witch or Wizard. This results in tiered rewards, mostly in the form of cosmetic items. To finish the story, it is necessary to keep increasing your wizard level through challenges and missions. Most missions are linked to the story, but others may involve helping other students with their issues, such as dealing with goblins. There are also side missions, such as running errands, playing sports, and finding missing uncles. These side quests offer a variety of tasks and provide a well-rounded experience of both story and environment.
It's important to keep in mind that some side missions may be required to progress in the story. As the story advances, there will be recommended levels for missions, or certain requirements such as learning specific spells. Although it's not as strict as other games like Assassins Creed Odyssey, you may need to complete a few side missions to increase your level in order to succeed in boss battles. However, neglecting these side missions would be a missed opportunity to explore the beautiful landscapes and environments of Hogwarts Legacy.
The combat and spellcasting mechanics in Hogwarts Legacy are among the most thrilling aspects of the game. The flick of your wand feels smooth, and your character changes their stance with each flick, adding to the visual appeal. To learn spells, you'll need to guide your cursor along the spell's shape, hitting symbols like in a quick time event, until you reach the end. The process of learning spells never becomes more challenging, as the smoke never speeds up, making precision more important as you progress. Button mashing will not be enough to succeed, as enemies have the ability to defend themselves with shields that can only be penetrated by spells of matching color. For example, a red shield can only be broken by a damage spell. Players must learn how to block, parry, and react quickly to overcome these challenges, especially as they progress to higher difficulty levels. Basic attacks can be combined with spells and parrying to maximize damage, and players can also use objects in the environment such as crates, explosives, and furniture to their advantage.
In the early stages of the game, your opponents are classmates practicing magic and duelling. Later on, you'll encounter a variety of enemies such as goblins, beast poachers, and creatures from the Forbidden Forest and lakes, as well as occasional boss battles. The feeling of landing a hit and defeating an enemy is rewarding, as players receive raw materials for crafting, coins, or wearable items. Players can also consult their field guide to learn about the weaknesses of their enemies and prepare themselves accordingly. In enemy-filled areas or bandit camps, players can use spells to employ stealthy tactics instead of going in for full-force attacks, giving them the ability to adapt the gameplay to their preferred style.
You'll have the chance to learn all the iconic spells from the beloved Harry Potter franchise, like Wingardium Leviosa, Accio, Lumos, and more. Spells are organized into categories like damage and utility and color-coded for ease of use. Players can create custom spell loadouts, which can be mapped to specific buttons. At first, changing your loadout can be frustrating, but this can be improved with the use of talents, which act as skill points. This allows you to map multiple loadouts, so swapping between them is a matter of just switching, rather than navigating through menus.
Hogwarts Legacy is like a 3D Metroidvania, with areas that are initially off-limits due to the spells you haven't learned or key items you don't possess. There are numerous secret paths, rooms, and areas that can only be accessed through specific actions. The majority of the school's interconnected rooms, corridors, stairs, and gardens are fully explorable from the start. The visuals are incredibly detailed and true to the movies, with iconic locations like the Grand Staircase, living paintings, uniforms, owl mail, and more being recreated to perfection. The development team at Avalanche Software truly understands and loves the Wizarding World.
Performance on PC has been absolutely flawless with next to no issues that I have run into. I ran the game on my Desktop that has an RTX 3070 rocking a i7 10700K with 32GB of DDR4 3200MHz on Ultra settings – 4K 120FPS Ultrawide – DLSS Quality and on my gaming laptop which is an ASUS ROG M16 with a RTX 3060 rocking an i9 11900H 16GB of DDR4 3200MHz on High settings – 1440P 120FPS Ultrawide – DLSS Performance both having Windows 11. Being able to utilize DLSS is a godsend, although if you have a powerful enough rig then you won’t need to utilize DLSS at all. If you’re on an AMD setup, then you have access to utilizing AMD FSR settings as well. You’ll have a plethora of display options to tweak and tons of accessibility options that you can easily configure to get the best experience for your setup. There is no way for me to test this game on all PC configurations, but the game is so well optimized that you can expect it to work pretty well on almost any setup running a GTX 1060 and up.
The game is verified for the Steam Deck and runs for the most part smoothly minus a few hiccups and frame rate drops here and there. I let my settings on default and moved the default FSR 1.0 to FSR 2.0 and moved the FPS from 30 to 60 which got me a mostly above 50FPS. Battery life with default settings is about 2 and a half hours while with my modified settings I can get about an hour and a half.
It's important to note that Hogwarts Legacy is not exactly the Hogwarts student simulator that some may have expected. The experience of attending classes, learning spells, and living life at Hogwarts is rather structured and linear. In reality, players will spend a considerable amount of time outside of the castle and their status as a student serves mainly as a narrative device. While this may be disappointing for some Harry Potter fans, the game remains a high-quality gaming experience. Although players may not feel like they're truly a student at Hogwarts, they will still enjoy exploring the castle and its surroundings. The developers did a remarkable job in bringing the Hogwarts castle to life, accurately capturing the essence of the Harry Potter franchise. With the iconic Harry Potter soundtrack, Avalanche has created a unique atmosphere that will fully immerse fans of the franchise. It's possible to spend hours simply wandering through the school, taking in the sights. The Great Hall is especially breathtaking during the game's fall and winter seasons, so players should make sure to visit it.
Hogwarts Legacy is a must-play for fans of open-world AAA games and is a remarkable tribute to the Harry Potter franchise. The game captures all the beloved characters, locations, and elements of the Wizarding World and continues to grow in scope and complexity, even after many hours of play. The developers have poured their love, care, and attention into making this the most engaging and immersive Harry Potter video game to date, and it's sure to keep players occupied for hours on end. Despite drawing inspiration from other open-world titles, Hogwarts Legacy sets itself apart as a unique and innovative game with a strong focus on world-building, rather than just constant combat. Even those who aren't familiar with the Harry Potter franchise will find the game to be an engaging and captivating experience that's well worth checking out.
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