Highlights
- Hogwarts Legacy exceeded expectations with its immersive open-world experience, engaging story, and fan-service, but its companion system fell short in terms of depth and screen time for characters.
- The four companions in Hogwarts Legacy had interesting backstories and distinct personalities, but they were often forgotten and lacked memorable appearances outside their dedicated quests. Amit was also overshadowed by the other three major companions.
- A sequel to Hogwarts Legacy should prioritize improving the companion system by giving characters more screen time, interactions, and unique missions, drawing inspiration from games like Mass Effect 2.
Avalanche Software had a lot on its plate with Hogwarts Legacy. A studio that had only ever really worked on Disney and Pixar movie tie-in games and the discontinued Disney Infinity series, Avalanche Software didn't have the best track record going into Hogwarts Legacy, and fans were rightfully a bit skeptical that it could pull off such an ambitious project. But by all accounts, Avalanche Software achieved the near-impossible, and Hogwarts Legacy's critical reception has far exceeded all expectations.
A truly immersive open-world experience, Hogwarts Legacy somehow managed to be the game that fans desperately wanted it to be, with tons of iconic locations, plenty of fan-service, an engaging story, and a slew of intriguing side quests and activities. But while Hogwarts Legacy was a great first attempt, it definitely wasn't perfect, and with a sequel on the cards now, it's the perfect time to reflect on where a Hogwarts Legacy successor could improve - and its companion system should be one of the first refinements made.
Hogwarts Legacy's Sequel Could Use an Improved Companion System
Companions are a major part of the Harry Potter franchise. While Harry is the star of the show, he wouldn't get very far without Ron or Hermione. Serving as the comic relief, the emotion-grounding, and the secondary heroes all at once, Ron and Hermione play a prominent role in the Harry Potter saga, acting as far more than just Harry's friends. With Hogwarts Legacy trying to capture the magic of the Harry Potter franchise as closely as possible, it's only natural that it tried to replicate this companionship in its own story, but it fell short in some noticeable ways.
Hogwarts Legacy technically has a total of four companions, one coming from each Hogwarts House. While each of these characters has a distinct personality, intriguing backstory, and is written fairly well, most end up being completely forgotten by the time players roll credits on the game. Each Hogwarts Legacy character is given just a handful of missions each, and they vary wildly in quality. While Sebastian gets the thrilling Unforgivable Curses set of missions,
Poppy gets the dragon-centric missions, and Natsai's missions see the player take down some notorious Ashwinders, Amit has just two missions, and they aren't exactly the most memorable.
Another noticeable issue with Hogwarts Legacy's companions is that they aren't often seen outside their designated missions. Though a few familiar faces pop up every now and then during classes and end-of-year cutscenes, the player-character is very rarely seen interacting with Sebastian, Poppy, Natsai, or Amit around the school or out in the surrounding area, making them feel less like organic characters with their own lives and more like video game NPCs.
A Hogwarts Legacy sequel should really spend the time forging a better companion system. In order to better capture the feeling of companionship in the Harry Potter franchise, a Hogwarts Legacy sequel needs to give these characters a more prominent role in the game's story and gameplay. A Hogwarts Legacy sequel should look to a game like Mass Effect 2 for inspiration on this subject, ensuring that each companion has plenty of screen time during the main campaign, but can also be interacted with in the open-world. It would also be great to see a Hogwarts Legacy sequel let players take companions with them on missions and during exploration, giving them more time for unique interactions and bonding. Hogwarts Legacy 2's companions could also have a set of loyalty-like missions, with each one giving them some kind of upgrade that can be used for the rest of the game.
Hogwarts Legacy is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, with a Switch release scheduled for November 14, 2023.
