Highlights
- Hogwarts Legacy's success suggests a sequel is likely, which could either continue the narrative or introduce a new customizable protagonist.
- The iconic setting of Hogwarts is integral to the Harry Potter IP and holds nostalgic value for fans.
- Exploring the protagonist's time in the Muggle world, including their potential home life and interactions with non-magical events, could provide a unique and consequential opening sequence for a sequel.
The title of a game like Hogwarts Legacy was layered in its implications, but one element was always certain: it would revolve in and around the school of witchcraft and wizardry. That much was clear, and fans of Harry Potter and its extrapolated lore had a handful of expectations brought to it. The IP itself will always be marred now with controversy due to the Harry Potter author’s gross remarks, but Hogwarts Legacy excelled as an action-RPG for fans who still played and enjoyed it for one reason or another.
Based on its success, it would be absurd not to presume that a Hogwarts Legacy sequel will follow. It could continue the narrative of HogwartsLegacy’s Ancient Magic-wielding protagonist, for example, or it could allow for an entirely new experience and let fans customize another protagonist in a separate adventure. Regardless, with its title tentatively remaining the same before adding a number or a subtitle, it’ll likely keep players at Hogwarts. Still, that doesn’t mean at least some time shouldn’t be spent elsewhere.
Hogwarts’ Magic Unsurprisingly Comes from the School Year Itself
Not much about Harry Potter is extraordinarily popular besides the ongoing events at Hogwarts and its surrounding environs, which is why Hogwarts Legacy was right to capitalize on the castle, Hogsmeade, and the Scottish Highlands’ woods in its open world. It’s not that events and locations beyond Hogwarts don’t have the capacity to be interesting, but they are far less prolific and fans who grew up alongside new Harry Potter novels or movie installments will have nostalgia for each new school year that Harry and his Gryffindor companions attended together.
So much happens in and around those castle walls, dormitories, and classrooms that it has become an integral part of the IP, and rightfully so. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them made the only choice it could in trying to cleave away from that iconography to try to recreate that magic in an entirely new setting, and while questionable writing and storytelling practices may be to blame for the franchise’s lackluster output, it’s also telling of how seminal Hogwarts is to the success of the IP.
However, while returning to Hogwarts may be inevitable in a possible sequel, it would also do well to explore locales away from the school that could have an equally profound effect on immersing players as magical students. One such locale would be the protagonist student's childhood home, where they could be headed back to each summer anyhow.
Hogwarts Legacy Should Explore a Magical Student’s Time in the Muggle World
The school year is fascinating for everything that can happen to students while attending classes, engaging in extracurricular activities, or enjoying holiday festivities. But there are still a couple of outlets crucial to any Hogwarts student’s life that Hogwarts Legacy has yet to touch upon—going to Diagon Alley to retrieve school supplies and visiting home between each school year or semester.
This was obviously a rather unpleasant period of time for Harry to endure seeing as how tumultuous his relationship with his aunt, uncle, and cousin was. However, it would be incredibly exciting to see what a new Hogwarts student protagonist’s home life was like, especially if they were Muggle-born and their relationship with their parents or guardians was amicable.
This would give players a rare opportunity to explore a Muggle town and perhaps even partake in non-magical events or interact with other Muggles. If so, part of the game could see players take on side quests or a main quest where they would either attempt to not use magic or succumb to using magic and risk facing repercussions when they arrive at Hogwarts again in the following school year, making for a unique and potentially consequential opening sequence in a Hogwarts Legacy sequel.
Hogwarts Legacy is out now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, with a Switch version releasing on November 14.
