Avalanche Software was able to craft a fully realized Harry Potter open-world with Hogwarts Legacy, and it has been a magical treat for many. The world feels alive, and it is the closest that the series has come to actually letting fans be a part of the franchise. Every nook and cranny of Hogwarts has been beautifully crafted, and the world is seeping with mystery and easter eggs for players to uncover. It is very impressive, but what makes Hogwarts Legacy even more impressive is all the random interactions that help make the world feel truly lifelike.
Throughout Hogwarts Legacy, players will encounter all sorts of different random interactions sprinkled around the open-world. Ghosts will mess with students, statues will fight, paintings will argue, and students will be engaged in conversations throughout the school. There are so many moving parts within this world, and it really makes it feel alive. All of these interactions and mysteries help set this open-world above the rest, and it may be one of Hogwarts Legacy's best features.
Hogwarts Legacy's Random Interactions Make the World Feel Alive
A lot of open-worlds tend to simply serve as set dressing for players to mess around in. The Saints Row series gives players cities to explode, Far Cry's open-worlds seem to be solely focused on throwing enemies at the player, and the newest Assassin's Creed games have needlessly large open-worlds with not much inside of them. There are only a few open worlds that take the concept to the next level, and Hogwarts Legacy may be one of those titles.
Avalanche Software crafted a fully realized open-world version of Hogwarts to explore, and it filled it with hundreds of things for the player to discover. There are puzzles around every corner that the player can solve, collectibles strewn about Hogwarts castle that players must find, and secrets in almost every room waiting to be uncovered. There is so much to do within Hogwarts and its surrounding area, and most players will probably get lost exploring every single corner.
All the activities that players can do in Hogwarts Legacy gives the game's world a lot of life, but the random interactions that players can stumble upon make the world feel even better. Players may be wandering down a hallway and see a ghost chasing another ghost while screaming, they may walk past a student getting chastised by a howler, they may see a suit of armor destroy another suit of armor just because it was humming too much, and they may stumble upon some paintings arguing about something. These are all just random things that happen as players explore the castle, and these interactions do not stop once players wander out into the larger world.
Throughout the castle's grounds and surrounding area there are random events to be found. Players may wander into Hogsmeade and see a student dancing with their new shoes, they may stumble upon a musician performing for the masses, they may watch as students get thrown out of a store for stealing, and students may fly over their heads on broomsticks. There are so many different random interactions that fill the open-world, and they all make Hogwarts Legacy's game world feel alive.
There are many games with lifeless open-worlds that serve as set dressing, but Avalanche Software did not fall into that trap. The studio made a realistic version of Hogwarts that feels like it is brimming with life. The NPCs all feel like they are residents of this world going about their daily lives, and the player just so happens to see them dealing with certain scenarios. It has made Hogwarts Legacy's world shine, and future open-world titles may want to take a few notes.
Hogwarts Legacy is available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. PS4, Xbox One, and Switch versions are currently in development.
