With 2022 finally drawing to a close, gamers are now looking towards the early months of 2023, where some of the most anticipated games in recent memory are being released, the biggest of which may just be Hogwarts Legacy. Promising to finally deliver the Hogwarts student experience that Harry Potter fans have wanted for years, Hogwarts Legacy has a lot of hype to live up to. But while the game's combat and environments already seem to be meeting expectations, Hogwarts Legacy's characters such as professors are another matter.
One of the most anticipated features of Hogwarts Legacy is its classroom gameplay. For years, Harry Potter fans have longed for a game that puts them in the school shoes of a student at Hogwarts, who needs to attend magical lessons and keep on top of their daily schedule. It seems as though Hogwarts Legacy may finally be able to deliver that experience, but a lot of it hinges on the game's professors, who need to do quite a bit to live up to those in the Harry Potter movies.
Hogwarts Legacy's Professors Have a Lot to Live Up To
The first Harry Potter book released all the way back in 1997, and the first movie dropped in 2001, which means that fans have had plenty of time to grow attached to the mainline series' professors. While they're rarely the main characters, Harry Potter's professors are integral to the general tone of the series, often supplying moments of levity in between some of the series' darker moments. These more lighthearted, comic relief professors tend to be a little one-note, but they're still iconic, with characters like Professor Sprout, Madam Hooch, and Professor Flitwick all being fan-favorites.
But while some of Harry Potter's professors are only there to provide a source of humor and charm, some have a more prominent role in the story, and are the characters that fans have a deeper connection to. Professor McGonagall, for instance, is one of the most beloved Harry Potter professors, with Maggie Smith's iconic performance cementing the character in the minds of fans for good. Professor Dumbledore is also obviously one of the most iconic Harry Potter characters, and his larger-than-life presence can be felt in every book and movie in the Harry Potter franchise -- even the ones he's not in.
Perhaps the most notorious professor of Hogwarts' academic board is Professor Severus Snape. An electric performance from Alan Rickman meant Snape became one of the best cinematic villains of all time long before the character would be written in any meaningful way. While Snape is a fairly one-note, Harry-hating villain for the first few movies and books, his backstory is gradually fleshed out, and his character becomes a lot more complex, eventually ending with a revelation that broke the hearts of countless fans.
Put simply, Hogwarts Legacy has quite a lot to live up to when it comes to professors. The game not only needs to deliver on professors that are there to provide comic relief, but also those that have a little more complexity to their character. Thankfully, it seems as though Hogwarts Legacy may have gotten the memo early on, as its current line-up of professors looks as though they've been ripped straight out of the Harry Potter universe. While the herbology professor, Mirabel Garlick, and the charms professor, Abraham Ronen, look to be authentically charming and upbeat, the game's central professor character Eleazar Fig looks to take on the more complex role, ticking both boxes.
Hogwarts Legacy releases February 10 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. A Switch version is also in development.
