It has always been explained that player choice will be a massive underpinning in Hogwarts Legacy as an open-world action-RPG. This is apparent in Hogwarts Legacy’s customization options, which help fans personalize their character, which Hogwarts house they belong to, and what their Room of Requirement looks like. This has also been said to apply to regular gameplay, with different choices players make that reportedly affect the game’s narrative. The different options players have in gameplay, though, have not yet been depicted thoroughly.
It is still unclear what companion quests will look like; it is possible that each interaction with companions leads to a scripted, linear quest, and unique rewards for the player based on the companion. These social features are intriguing as a result, but moment-to-moment gameplay instead seems to revolve almost exclusively around combat. However, Hogwarts Legacy gameplay looks incredibly ambitious, and its stealth options deserve to share the same limelight that its combat currently possesses due to how creative and fun they may be.
Hogwarts Legacy's Talent Perks Honor Player Choice
Two gameplay showcases for Hogwarts Legacy have now put a huge priority on explaining the fundamentals of combat. Of course, this makes sense because it is likely that players will be engaging in duels much more than in stealth encounters. However, that may also be completely up to the player in certain situations. If stealth is regarded as a build that players can spec into with a desire to tip-toe around enemies, that will hopefully be a satisfying gameplay path and not left on the back burner. A playstyle is achieved through respective Talents that players assign themselves, with Stealth being a single branch of these Talent options.
Stealth wasn't delved into deeply in the Hogwarts Legacy’s State of Play presentation that introduces these Talent trees, but it is at least nice to hear an acknowledgment of player choice being important in gameplay. Stealth encounters could easily devolve into combat ambushes if players are not careful, and so it's undoubtedly important to have considered combative skills as well. That said, successfully and creatively eluding enemies could be much more satisfying and might help to break up any monotony players may potentially experience in combat encounters.
Hogwarts Legacy’s Stealth Options Look Creative and Nostalgic
There may not be a lot of it shown, but what little stealth gameplay Hogwarts Legacy has shown looks engaging and resembles the harmless stealth approaches that students employ in the franchise. One paramount feature of stealth in Harry Potter is the premise of being fully invisible if not translucent. Harry uses his father’s invisibility cloak to peruse the library’s restricted section, for example, but Hogwarts Legacy’s protagonist will instead be able to perk into stealth mechanics as part of a branch of their magical capabilities. One short clip showed the player rendering themselves invisible with a spell before tip-toeing toward an unsuspecting human enemy.
The prompt then appears for the player to cast Petrificus Totalus on him, which immobilizes him as he falls to the floor. Petrificus Totalus is a fantastic choice for a stealth-oriented spell in Hogwarts Legacy since it does not harm the target, but simply puts them in a temporary catatonic state where they will not be able to thwart the player or alert other enemies to their position. The player then defeats two other enemies in the area with ease, using Accio to pull a distant enemy toward them. It is exciting to imagine what other spells and means the player will have at their disposal in stealth, making their trips to restricted sections of the school or around hostile NPCs a thrilling adventure.
Hogwarts Legacy launches February 10 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, April 4 for PS4 and Xbox One, and July 25 for Nintendo Switch.
