The Harry Potter franchise, and particularly its early entries, is known for its fantastical levity with young children learning how to interact with one another while casting spells and flying on broomsticks, even though Hogwarts Legacy seems to tapping into darker themes. Harry Potter’s childlike wonder is substantial and crucial, allowing the children to retrieve a house, wands, and pets that match their individual personalities, as the franchise continued onward. Early Harry Potter entries certainly had their darker moments, but the franchise’s levity was notably moved away from with The Order of the Phoenix.
The franchise never returned to that sense of frivolity again, leaving only tender moments of lamentation in established characters’ developments. Hogwarts Legacy tells an untold narrative in the wizarding world that has fewer expectations tied to it, and the game’s early trailers expressed a lightheartedness that fans could surely reminisce about. Hogwarts Legacy’s open-world exploration seems to invite players warmly into many activities, though it has recently been expressed that a much darker side of exploration also exists for players to cautiously wade into if they wish.
Hogwarts Legacy Seems Surprisingly Centered Around Horror
Based upon the most recent trailers shared for Hogwarts Legacy, it would not be surprising if fans believed it to be a horror game. Many unsightly creatures appear throughout, especially in the thick of Hogwarts Legacy’s Forbidden Forest; green-colored spells are typically evocative of dark magic, typically seen in dimly lit corridors and dungeons; and the specific framing of its latest trailers have been directed as if they were horror teasers.
The trailer depicting an optional side quest introduced the Cruciatus curse, which is procured in an interesting way, with players choosing one fork of a branching dialogue path. Further, Hogwarts Legacy’s special edition bonuses perpetuate the idea that dark magic and horror are essential to the game, as players are treated to exclusive dark arts cosmetics.
In the trailer released during today’s PlayStation State of Play, Hogwarts Legacy revealed its nightmarish PlayStation-exclusive quest, called The Haunted Hogsmeade Shop. This trailer, following the ominous tone of its predecessors, shares a look at a creepy quest set in a magical, bottomless chest trunk that will presumably behave as the titular haunted house motif suggests. Put together, all of Hogwarts Legacy’s trailers seem to suggest the game will have significant horror elements, and that is likely what fans can expect when it releases in February.
Hogwarts Legacy’s Dark Arts May Provide the Most Creepy Narrative Moments
Of course, players may only encounter some of these sequences if they linger on a path of dark magic and controversial dialogue choices. Barring The Haunted Hogsmeade Shop as the exception, players may inadvertently stumble into dark paths based on the choices they make, whether they know they have made a pivotally awful choice or not. It is unclear how binary dialogue options will be throughout the game, but Hogwarts Legacy’s trailers have now made one thing perfectly plain: if players wish to avoid dark magic and a potential “bad” ending, it seems they should steer clear of Slytherin’s Sebastian Sallow.
The idea that players can craft their own narrative in Hogwarts Legacy is as enticing a plot point as is its customization, making it ripe with replayability. Horror is nonetheless an exciting narrative genre that Hogwarts Legacy seems to be excelling at, at least in these trailers, and will help its 1800s wizarding world atmosphere stand apart in a visually appealing way. Either way, Hogwarts Legacy will need to balance its potentially conflicting tones in an intriguing way.
Hogwarts Legacy launches February 10 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. A Switch version will release at a later date.
