Hogwarts Legacy is a prequel to the Harry Potter series although it has very little to do with the struggles the titular character had to deal with. The story instead focuses on your player-created character who is sent to Hogwarts as a Fifth Year student. They are taken under the wing of Professor Fig.
On the way to school, the party is attacked by a dragon, wherein players eventually land in a dungeon connected to Gringotts. This is where players learn they have ancient magic sleeping inside their bodies. What does this mean and why do a bunch of goblins want this power? That’s the story setup, but let’s get to the overall pros and cons of Hogwarts Legacy.
7 Best: Looks Impressive
One of the most stunning things about this game is the visuals. The character models, monsters, and landscapes look impressive. The best part about the game’s design is Hogwarts and the surrounding areas. Fans have never been able to explore one of their favorite worlds quite like this before.
The Harry Potter movies brought the world to life for the first time and this is like the second coming because older games in this franchise just weren’t up to snuff. It’s a world filled with Easter Eggs, meticulously crafted for the diehard fans out there.
6 Worst: A Slow Start
The start of the game flings players into a daring adventure filled with dungeons, dragons, puzzles, and epic fights. It’s a good intro to any big-budget RPG but then things slow down significantly once players reach Hogwarts.
The game then turns into a bunch of fetch quests that feel reminiscent of the early PS1 games. The tasks are menial and it takes a while to get the story back on track. Even learning spells can feel monotonous since they require tiny quests followed by a weird tracing mini-game. Overall, the pacing is a bit all over the place.
5 Best: Easy To Cast Spells
It takes a while to get back into a more battle-heavy section of the game, but thankfully the combat is worth waiting for. It’s easy to swap between spells on the fly to create combos. Even casting a protecting shield feels good in the game. It’s flashy, easy to pick up, and the spells are nicely varied.
Even though Forspoken had its problems, the spell combat was good in that game as well. It’s not often that a year will start with two back-to-back spell-focused RPGs. Hogwarts Legacy is the better of the two examples, but Forspoken does at least deserve some credit.
4 Worst: Minor Annoyances
There is a list of small gripes that don’t make the game terrible by any means. They are worth shouting out for those like-minded individuals who also had the same thoughts. One, the Sorting Hat ceremony only had two questions before it sorted players into a House. Most RPGs with branching paths like this often ask a lot more questions to determine rankings. It took the magic out of an otherwise cool celebration.
Two, it’s great that the main character gets a voice but it’s odd they don’t have a name other characters refer to them as. Mass Effect solved this problem a long time ago by making the last name, Shepard, canon. Three, level restrictions on equipment are never fun to have in an RPG.
3 Best: Getting Around
Open-world games like Hogwarts Legacy sometimes take a while to unlock fast travel. Once players reach Hogwarts, fast travel is immediately unlocked via the Floo Network. Players can hop around the castle or off-campus in an instant.
All they have to do is reach the node associated with the Floo Network and it will be unlocked. Mounts also deserve praise in this game for traversal purposes which don’t come into play until much later in the game. Like the combat, the mounts are well worth waiting for though.
2 Worst: The Story
Both the male and female actors for the created character have low energy in the game. Most of the characters seem to be asleep at the wheel. That doesn’t mean there aren’t cool characters to adore in Hogwarts Legacy, but someone could have given the cast a Five Hour Energy Drink equivalent in potion form.
The story, overall, is not that thrilling, to begin with. It starts exciting, but as it was established earlier, the pacing suffers once players get to Hogwarts. There are some redeeming arcs later on, but it doesn’t come close to reaching the heights of the books or movies based on Harry Potter.
1 Best: Supports Transmog
Any RPG that supports transmogrification should get a medal. For those unaware of this term, or transmog, it simply allows players to customize their outfit regardless of the armor equipped. For example, let’s say players pick up a green and a red scarf. The red scarf has higher stats but the green scarf looks cooler.
Players can equip the red scarf, gain its benefits, but then change it to green. Players can even remove clothing but still keep the stat boosts. This helps characters not look as wild in cutscenes, which does help create a more immersive experience.
Hogwarts Legacy was released on February 10, 2023, and is available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X.