Hogwarts Legacy

In the beginning of the game, you have to take the sorting test – surprise, surprise – to which house you belong to: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Slytherin. This feature is absolutely inevitable, and every Potter-Fan would cast Avada Kedavra when this part would’ve been left out. Fortunately, when you’re not satisfied with the result of the Sorting Hat you can choose anew (but never underestimate the Hat’s choice, folk!)

You can create your avatar as you like. You have many options in style and outfits and when you are a girly girl like me, you can spend hours on choosing the perfect look for your student – honestly, who doesn’t want to leave a lasting impression on his first day of Hogwarts?! And if you need a little more diversity while the story proceeds, you can change the appearance whenever you like (of course you need some quid to pay the barber, or you have to find new outfits when you are on a quest).

Hogwarts Legacy is an open world game – my first open world game. And I can tell even for a newbie like me it is not too overwhelming (even though there are lots of little villages and underground areas) and the different areas were unlocked step by step, so it is easy to follow. And you’ll love the surroundings of the castle, so it feels like you are in a magical version of Scotland, even unicorns are a part of. By day the forests and mountains are looking very inviting, and you’d like to take a hike and discover hidden places. But at night the atmosphere changes and you really want to turn on the light in your room and cry out for your mommy, because it could be very spooky. It is lovely that Hogwarts and its surroundings were changing throughout the year (especially winter is sooooo charming and you just want to jump into this game and be a part of it).

To me the most striking part of this game is the music. It really provides the typical Hogwarts atmosphere you need. It makes you feel very nostalgic, and you can just take a stroll in the castle and listen to the music.

While playing you get in touch with a variety of characters. When you’ve read the books, some are very familiar (Phineas Nigellus Black or Peeves – finally he gets the attention he deserves) and every time you come across of a familiar name your heart makes a little squeak of joy. With different characters comes different kind of enemies too. And there are a lot. Gobblins, Trolls, wolfs and spiders are just a few of them. Sometimes it can be pretty hard to defeat one but when you’re just a glimpse away from throwing your gamepad into the monitor, you finally win saved from getting a new computer. There are also lots of enjoyable characters like hippogriffs, dragons, unicorns, and the sweet little mooncalfs whose eyes are bigger than any Japanese comic artist can draw.

What I really like about the game is, that you need different abilities (and I mean you as a gamer, not your virtual avatar). Sometimes you need motor skills e.g. in fights or in a broom race (riding a broom is by far the most fun activity in this game). Then you need knowledge (there is this girl who challenge your Potterfan-knowledge, I loved this little quiz so much) and from time to time you need logic (merlin trials – which are a nice little feature) and spatial thinking (there are side quests where you have to move blocks - believe me, it sucks).

Although you have many possibilities to use your time in this game, one big thing is missing – and all Chudley Cannons fans know exactly what I mean – Quidditch. I mean, what was Warner Bros. even thinking?? It is the coolest sport in the (magical) world and by far more entertaining than football (c’mon don’t bitch around, you know I am right). It has also a very important part in the books, so why in Merlin’s Beard do they skip the chance to have the best feature a game can have? Shame on you, Warner Bros.

Even though you have a very complex story, sometimes it is a bit too hard to follow up. This is because some main and side quests are way too long and you have to deal with annoying things like take care of the magical creatures (to some it might be fun, to me it was just unnecessarily time consuming). Another point is, that the quests are getting repetitive. For example, the Merlin Trials. The first were entertaining and sometimes hard to solve, but once you get the pattern it isn’t that challenging anymore.

Sometimes you get the feeling the game developer tried too hard to appear very tolerant and inclusive. Don’t get me wrong - it is really great that there are so many different characters everyone can identify with or relate to (POC, handicapped people etc.). But you get the impression that Warner Bros. is pushing this because of J.K. Rowling’s diversity scandal.

Nevertheless, Hogwarts Legacy is an absolute dedication to every Harry Potter fan. It is very detailed and lovely made (landscapes, castles, appearances of the characters) and you can feel that the developers put a lot of effort into this. You don’t have to be a Harry Potter hardcore-fan to like this game- you don’t even have to be a Harry Potter fan at all. But when you not only have watched the movies and read the books multiple times in different languages, but are so deep into the lore, that you are awaiting your Hogwarts letter every year anew (c’mon guys, we’ve all been there) – then you get the dedication with all the hints and references to the Harry Potter universe, which are sometimes hidden and another time obviously placed in the game. I am dearly awaiting a sequel, perhaps where you follow the story of Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix fighting against Voldemort’s reign of terror. Until then I will play Hogwarts’s Legacy over and over again (with different houses and see how the story will change).