An important feature in many of the early Harry Potter games was platforming, regardless of how elementary it was in its design. This included simply climbing ledges, bookcases, or stone slabs protruding from a wall in the pattern of a staircase. But other instances of platforming would necessitate particular spells to progress. Being an open-world action RPG, it seems like this feature has been almost wholly omitted from Hogwarts Legacy. Instead, combat is easily one of Hogwarts Legacy’s fundamental features, and exploration seems to revolve largely around flight traversal rather than platforming.
This makes sense, especially considering how immense Hogwarts Legacy’s open world may be. Hogwarts has been toured in a recent gameplay showcase, though a lot of its content was glossed past or explicitly obscured from fans’ view. This suggests that there is a lot more to Hogwarts Legacy than fans may acknowledge, and it is fully possible that platforming and puzzles could be significant. But if platforming is indeed a dedicated feature in Hogwarts Legacy as it was in retro Harry Potter games, all of that content may only be available indoors.
Hogwarts Legacy Lets Players Fly Freely in Its Open World
Outside Hogwarts, players seem to be encouraged to fly around for all their traversal efforts. Hogwarts Legacy’s Floo Flame is positioned frequently throughout the map for player convenience otherwise, suggesting that there will be times when players would rather instantly fast travel than have to fly a broomstick all the way back to the castle.
In open-world areas such as these, platforming would feel incredibly indistinct because of how redundant it would be. If players can simply mount a broomstick and fly anywhere they please, then there is no logical reason why platforming would be integrated with the open world. However, there may be one caveat to Hogwarts Legacy’s flight traversal that could open up an opportunity for platforming.
The only feasible function for platforming would be if an area blocked the player from entering with a broomstick or mount, thus requiring them to enter on foot and use spells to continue onward or upward. Further, if players cannot fly indoors, then that would create more opportunities for dedicated platforming in certain locations.
Hogwarts Legacy’s Castle and Dungeons May House All Its Puzzles
It has yet to be seen if players can fly a broomstick while they are inside Hogwarts, and doing so would likely be impractical anyhow from a gameplay perspective. Moreover, riding a hippogriff through tight corridors would also be nonsensical. If Hogwarts Legacy disallows flight while within interior locations, it could house any puzzles and platforming inside the castle’s walls. If expansive dungeon-crawling is a large portion of the game’s exploration, then puzzles and platforming could be conducted there as well.
Hogwarts Legacy may not have platforming in the traditional sense, but it could still present opportunities for players to close gaps and chasms or otherwise clear obstructions from a desired path. The Levitation Charm Wingardium Leviosa would be excellent for moving an object out of the player’s way, for example, or if a platform needs to be lifted or lowered in order to cross a particular section.
In Hogwarts Legacy’s State of Play gameplay showcase, the Mending Charm Reparo was introduced as Professor Fig reconstructs a narrow stone bridge to reach a structure that is stranded out in the water. Therefore, it is likely that Reparo is used in similar occurrences throughout the game.
Hogwarts Legacy launches on February 10, 2023, for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X, on April 4 for PS4 and Xbox One, and on July 25 for Switch.
