Open-world games have become increasingly popular in the last decade, with modern RPGs featuring massive explorable areas that offer hundreds of hours of gameplay. However, many of these games share a common problem in that the introductions to their large maps tend to be overwhelming. The new open-world action-RPG Hogwarts Legacy represents the first open-world game set in the Harry Potter universe, and it also manages to expertly introduce its setting.
Most open-world RPGs have a short intro sequence where players create a character, are taught the basics of gameplay, and begin their story. Then, they are quickly cast out into a massive world with a thousand different directions they could go. While the iconic world reveals in Fallout 4 and Skyrim often impress players through their freedom of choice, Hogwarts Legacy takes a different approach. It takes a note out of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s playbook and gives players a fairly large space to explore at the start before opening up the full map.
Hogwarts Castle Offers a Deep Introduction to the Game's Systems
It can be difficult for RPGs to strike a balance between freedom and hand-holding direction, so they often choose one or the other. The Fallout franchise is a prime example of this, as it has experimented with opening sequences that fall on either end of the spectrum. Fallout 3 had a long beginning section that allowed players to explore a vault, complete quests, and form relationships with its residents. Alternatively, Fallout: New Vegas wasted no time by setting players free in an open world immediately after creating their character.
In Hogwarts Legacy, rather than giving players free rein over the entire map from the beginning, players are kept within the walls of Hogwarts Castle. Hogwarts serves the same function as the Great Plateau in Breath of the Wild, allowing players to experience a fair bit of exploration and discovery without bombarding them with too many choices. The castle is highly detailed and offers a ton of collectibles and hidden areas to discover, with fans of the movies and books sure to appreciate the accuracy of its halls and the scale of its architecture.
Although most of the opening hours of Hogwarts Legacy take place within Hogwarts Castle, the space is large and complex enough that players won't get bored. During this time there are dozens of main and side quests to complete, collectibles to find, puzzles to solve, spells to learn, and relationships to begin. As is the case with most RPGs, players could steamroll through main quests to unlock features faster, but the quests are designed to introduce the school as much as gameplay systems.
Hogwarts Castle may be brimming with content, but it still acts as a tutorial area for new players. When completing quests, players will learn spells like Accio, Levioso, and Disillusionment, which they can use around the castle to discover more collectibles. As players quickly learn, much of Hogwarts Legacy’s depth lies in exploration and collectibles, which are tied to various challenges that provide cosmetic rewards. Whether a diehard Harry Potter fan or franchise newcomer, these rewards offer enough incentive to encourage exploration.
When players are finally introduced to the area surrounding Hogwarts, they follow one of their classmates on the road to Hogsmeade. Along the way, they catch glimpses of the Quidditch pitch, the Forbidden Forest, Hippogriffs, and some nearby ruins. This serves as merely a taste of what's to come, introducing key points of interest while instilling a sense of curiosity in the player. Similar to how players felt when gliding off the Great Plateau for the first time, the feeling of flying around Hogwarts Legacy’s open world on a broomstick will likely stay with them.
Hogwarts Legacy is available now for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. Ports for PS4 and Xbox One will release on April 4, and Nintendo Switch on July 25.
