Highlights

  • Hogwarts Legacy faced criticism for allowing players to use the Unforgivable Curses without punishment, dividing the game's Harry Potter enthusiasts.
  • Changing the handling of Unforgivable Curses in Hogwarts Legacy 2 could be seen as pandering or hypocritical and would require significant updates to the first game.
  • To avoid controversy, Hogwarts Legacy 2 could remove the Unforgivable Curses or allow players to choose a morality path for their character, restricting or permitting the use of the spells.

2023 was undoubtedly an incredible year for gaming, but one of its most memorable titles was by far Avalanche Software's Hogwarts Legacy. The open-world adventure took players on a deep dive into the world of Harry Potter and allowed them to create their own adventure in a universe they had previously only witnessed secondhand. However, despite the high praise it received, Hogwarts Legacy wasn't a perfect game by any means. Much of its criticism was aimed at its repetitive and all-too-familiar open world, but there is one other feature that proved to be arguably more divisive than anything else: its handling of the Unforgivable Curses.

At some point in one of Hogwarts Legacy's side stories, players unlock the ability to learn and use the Unforgivable Curses - Crucio, Imperio, and Avada Kedavra. According to Harry Potter lore, these curses are deemed "unforgivable" due to their morbid and immoral nature, and casting one would result in immediate life imprisonment in Azkaban. In Hogwarts Legacy, however, players can use Unforgivable Curses without punishment, which ultimately divided the game's dedicated Harry Potter enthusiasts. Now, with the almost guaranteed prospect of a sequel on the horizon, Avalanche can't turn back on its decision regarding the Unforgivable Curses, despite the criticism it received.

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Hogwarts Legacy 2 Shouldn't Punish Players for Using Unforgivable Curses

It's Too Late for Hogwarts Legacy to Change Its Mind About the Unforgivable Curses

Due to the massive amount of criticism garnered by Hogwarts Legacy's treatment of the Unforgivable Curses, developer Avalanche might be tempted to walk back its decision in a sequel. While that could indeed improve the game's reception by loyal Harry Potter fans, it could very well accomplish the opposite. The choice to treat these powerful spells differently in Hogwarts Legacy 2 could be seen as pandering or hypocritical, but it would also simply be difficult to implement, now that the world of Hogwarts Legacy has been established.

If Avalanche were to punish players for using Unforgivable Curses in Hogwarts Legacy 2, the first game would need to be updated accordingly. Unfortunately, that would not be an easy task to accomplish, as it would require a significant amount of dialogue and animation updates, along with possibly rewriting the entire story. If Hogwarts Legacy 2 does punish players for using the Unforgivable Curses and the first game is not updated to maintain consistency between the two titles, however, there are still other ways a sequel could address the controversy.

Hogwarts Legacy 2's Unforgivable Curses Could Respond to Criticism in Other Ways

The best way for Avalanche to avoid this controversy in a sequel would be to remove the Unforgivable Curses from Hogwarts Legacy 2 entirely. While this decision might seem inconsistent at first, Hogwarts Legacy 2 could take place in a completely different time period, effectively separating it from its predecessor and allowing such changes to take place without much objection. The world of Hogwarts Legacy would be better off without the Unforgivable Curses, after all, and it would prevent a sequel from requiring a narrative-altering morality system.

The best way for Avalanche to avoid this controversy in a sequel would be to remove the Unforgivable Curses from Hogwarts Legacy 2 entirely.

Another way Hogwarts Legacy 2 could respond to criticism of its predecessor's treatment of the Unforgivable Curses would be to allow players to predetermine a morality path for their Hogwarts Legacy 2 character before beginning their game. This would forbid "good" characters from using the spells and simultaneously allow "evil" characters to use them with the foreknowledge that they would be punished for it.

Whether Avalanche chooses to continue allowing players to use the Unforgivable Curses without punishment in Hogwarts Legacy 2 remains to be seen. However, it would make more sense for the developer to lie in the bed it has already made concerning the spells rather than reverting due to criticism. At the very least, players can expect another grand adventure in the Wizarding World once Hogwarts Legacy 2 is released.