Spiders, Dementors, Thestrals, and Inferi all spell a ghastly adventure in Hogwarts Legacy. From the Forbidden Forest to enigmatic dungeons, Hogwarts Legacy presents several locations where there will be exciting and haunting encounters. It is now clear that the Dark Arts are a huge part of Hogwarts Legacy’s narrative, at least in terms of whether players indulge in them or not. This may be what many fans had wanted out of Hogwarts Legacy, but the game should not abandon the Wizarding World’s lighthearted charm either.
Enjoying bountiful feasts, hanging out with other students, and being swept up in the magical fantasy of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry are massive allures to the franchise. Creating friendships, overcoming challenging adversaries, and attending diverse classes are all part of a student’s life at Hogwarts, and it seems like Hogwarts Legacy will deliver on all those features. These moments may be reserved until Hogwarts Legacy launches in February, but should be expressed more if the game wishes not to be seen purely as a dark, horror-inspired experience.
Hogwarts Legacy Has Shown Enough of Its Darker Side
Tonally, Hogwarts Legacy may be all over the place. Hogwarts Legacy is looking more like a horror game with each passing trailer, and that is fantastic for fans who enjoy the Wizarding World’s more mature, ominous content. But if there truly are more sequences and stories in Hogwarts Legacy resembling a lighter experience for its characters, that deserves to be shared as much as its insidious experiences. Anything more that Hogwarts Legacy shares from its darker narratives may be revealing too much before the game launches.
With the promotional material that has been released, it appears that much of Hogwarts Legacy is centered around its darker tones, while its lighter tones have been pushed to the background. The areas in which players will likely experience its most lighthearted moments are in classes full of other students. Classes were previously boasted as a primary feature in Hogwarts Legacy, and they hopefully still are, even if many activities and adventures take players beyond the castle’s walls.
It is in these moments of classroom studies and enjoying time in the player’s house dormitory that Hogwarts Legacy may introduce a lighter tone to the game. This may not be necessary for the game to be immersive or successful, but it is a defining feature of early Wizarding World entries and would be fantastic as part of Hogwarts Legacy’s experience.
Hogwarts Legacy Needs as Much Levity and Wonder as Horror
It will be interesting to see what tones and themes are expressed in Hogwarts Legacy’s main narrative, as well as in companion quests for Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff houses. It is possible that Hogwarts Legacy has multiple endings determined by which companion quests players chose to complete, with some luring them down a path to sinister magic and some having them choose a brighter path.
Otherwise, there may be smaller choices within each companion quest that determine the player’s outcome, allowing players to interact with companions as they wish. Players being able to choose whether they learn Crucio themselves or let Sebastian Sallow cast it on them, for example, seems like a choice within the quest line that could have lingering effects on the game’s main narrative, and not Sebastian’s companion quest alone.
Perhaps the Hufflepuff companion quest will have a much more lighthearted or compassionate decision for players to make, such as nursing a wounded creature back to health or enjoying an all-expenses-paid trip to Hogsmeade. Something to create a balance with whimsy or levity amidst Hogwarts Legacy’s Dark Arts.
Hogwarts Legacy releases February 10 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. A Switch version is also in development.
