Hogwarts Legacy has established itself as one of the top-selling games of early 2023, and with good reason. Not only has the game achieved bestselling status on Steam, the PlayStation Store, and the Microsoft Store, but Hogwarts Legacy sales have beat out Elden Ring within the first weeks of release. While the magical RPG has allowed gamers to experience the world of Hogwarts through the lens of their customizable wizard character, the game hasn't been immune from criticism. Outside of Hogwarts Legacy's infamous connection to controversial author J.K. Rowling, the RPG also has some underwhelming gameplay features. One of those elements is the drab but functional fast travel system.
Hogwarts Legacy features an expansive open world, including Hogsmeade, the titular magic school, and the communities outside its borders. While much of the RPG's gameplay relies on exploration, players must rely on the fast travel system until they unlock the ability to attend flying class with Madam Kagawa. To fast travel, Hogwarts Legacy players use floo flames and a seemingly infinite amount of floo powder. Unfortunately, not only can it be a pain to track down all 83 floo flame locations to truly fast-travel in Hogwarts Legacy, but the actual dialogue associated with the mechanic is also lackluster.
Hogwarts Legacy's Fast Travel Mechanics Illuminate An Issue In Many Open-World RPGs
Most often, one of the main selling points of an open-world RPG like Hogwarts Legacy is the ability for exploration and open-ended gameplay. As game worlds get more vast and glorious, it has become a welcome necessity to include fast travel mechanics in RPGs. Unfortunately, Hogwarts Legacy is just one of many open-world games that have attempted to justify the illusion-breaking mechanic in a clunky way. For instance, while floo flames allow for fast travel, they often muddle using the in-game map and Revelio to find hidden treasures at Hogwarts. Each floo flame is accompanied by floo powder inventor Ignatia Wildsmith, who yells out dialogue to the player in passing.
While Ignatia's presence would typically be charming for Hogwarts, she often repeats the same one or two lines of dialogue no matter which floo flame is used. The sheer repetition of dialogue concerning floo flames has caused some Hogwarts Legacy players to mute Ignacia and even call for her removal from the game. Hogwarts Legacy is only one of many games that deal with immersion issues regarding fast travel mechanics. From The Witcher 3 to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, some players have argued that gameplay can be vastly improved when fast travel isn't involved.
Hogwarts Legacy Could Improve Fast Travel With More Dialogue
With games like Red Dead Redemption 2 and Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild introducing maps the size of small countries, fast travel appears to be an enduring necessity of modern RPG gaming. Fortunately, there are ways that Hogwarts Legacy and other open-world games can improve immersion and eliminate repetition when it comes to fast travel. For instance, a future Hogwarts Legacy update could provide Ignatia Wildsmith with more dialogue options customized for the location. It would be incredible to have Ignatia give players unique facts or warnings curated around the place they are fast traveling to.
Not to mention, within Harry Potter lore, floo powder is also used to communicate. In this way, Ignatia has probably heard years of gossip, secrets, and other hidden lore that could be sprinkled in among her dialogue. In fact, given the ever-present presence of Ignatia within the world of Hogwarts Legacy, her character could provide mentorship and advice to player wizards. For example, if a player encounters a floo flame while fighting dark wizards in Hogwarts Valley, speaking to Ignatia could provide helpful combat tips and tricks or create an atlas within the world of Hogwarts Legacy. As things are now, though, Ignatia's dialogue gets old very fast.
Hogwarts Legacy is out now for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X with PS4 and Xbox One versions releasing April 4 and a Switch release dropping July 25.
