Hogwarts Legacy has finally given Harry Potter fans the experience they have been dreaming about for years. They are finally able to live and breathe within the halls of Hogwarts, and they get to go on a brand-new magical journey through the wizarding world. The simple premise of letting players live out their own story within their favorite franchise has been a real treat, and more fantasy franchises like Lord of the Rings may want to follow Hogwarts Legacy's lead.
Lord of the Rings has had an impressive history in the video game industry, and the Embracer Group seems to have plans for even more fantastical adventures in Middle-Earth. While the Lord of the Rings video games have gone a long way in immersing fans into Tolkien's world, none of them have really let players live out their Middle-Earth dreams. Some fans just want to tell their own story inside this franchise, and it is time for Lord of the Rings games to deliver on that fantasy.
It is Time for a New Lord of the Rings RPG
There is no shortage of Lord of the Rings video games, but none of them have really let fans tell their own story. Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor followed the adventures of a Gondorian Ranger named Talion, LEGO: The Lord of the Rings just recapped the movies in LEGO form, The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth put an RTS spin on the trilogy, and each live-action movie also got its own tie-in game. The games that have tried to tell new stories have still played it pretty safe by connecting it to the main trilogy, and none of them really let players control their own unique character.
The closest that The Lord of the Rings has come to giving players a Hogwarts Legacy-type experience is with The Lord of the Rings Online. The game is an MMORPG set during the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and it lets players create their own unique Middle-Earth character. There is around 16 years' worth of content for players to explore, and some fans may never want to leave. While this is a great experience for fans of the IP, it pales in comparison to what Hogwarts Legacy was able to do for Harry Potter fans.
The Lord of the Rings Online is an MMORPG with all the hallmarks of the genre, and it is very connected to the Lord of the Rings story. This limits the game's potential as Daybreak Game Company has to mostly adhere to the plot of the main story, and it cannot branch too far from that. Players are also limited in what they can be because they are sharing the world with countless other players, and they must engage in all the classic free-to-play MMORPG mechanics. However, Hogwarts Legacy does not seem to have the same problems.
Hogwarts Legacy is a single-player RPG set a century before the events of Harry Potter take place. This means that all the characters are new, the story is exploring uncharted territory, and the game is expanding the franchise in brand-new ways. The single-player aspect also gives players and developers far more freedom in what goes on within the world. While players still have to follow the game's main campaign, it feels like they have far more control over who they want to be within this world.
The Lord of the Rings deserves a single-player RPG like Hogwarts Legacy. Players should be allowed to create whatever type of character they want, and then they should be let loose within Middle-Earth. It should explore uncharted territory so that it does not have to be tied down by the events of the main trilogy, and it should give players immense freedom in how they go about Tolkien's world. It would not only take inspiration from Hogwarts Legacy, but also take some notes from critically acclaimed RPGs like The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim to deliver a Middle-Earth experience unlike any other.
Hogwarts Legacy is now available for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, with PS4 and Xbox One versions coming on April 4 and the Switch version launching on July 25.
