Hogwarts Legacy

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It’s hard to say when a new franchise will spawn and shake up the media landscape. It’s unlikely that anyone thought that J. K. Rowling’s original Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone book would lead to a multi-billion-dollar franchise, but here we are. Said franchise includes numerous books, movies, part of a theme park…and video games. There’s even a new, spicy video game called Hogwarts Legacy that just dropped, so let’s take a look.

You’re quite an unusual case, a young witch and/or wizard – and you’ve been chosen to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, only you’re starting as a fifth-year student, bypassing a significant portion of Hogwarts’ curriculum. What’s more, after a bit of bother on the way there, it quickly becomes clear you have the ability to sense and even control threads of ancient magic power.

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Why do you have this power and what does it mean? You’ll have to try and figure that out while simultaneously dealing with both your studies and the minefield that is the wizarding school social life. Sounds like it’s time to grab some Chocolate Frogs, perfect your wand-waggling skills and get to casting!

You’ll get to create your own witch or wizard, of course, which entails a fairly in-depth character creator. Basically any option you’d like is available outside of clothing, which is acquired via the gear and transmogrification systems later in the game. After a quick tutorial, you’ll come to your first big choice: which Great House will you join? You’re able to choose whichever you like, of course, and this has a sizable roleplaying (if not gameplay) effect for the rest of your journey. Naturally, Wizarding World aficionados already know what House they’d like to be in, and Legacy’s not going to disappoint when it comes to flavor. You can even take flight on a broom and a mount of your own after making your way through the game a bit!

Gameplay-wise, Hogwarts Legacy is an open-world collectathon game in the truest sense, layered with plenty of Wizarding World flavor. Its closest contemporaries would be Ubisoft’s modern take on Assassin’s Creed, where you combine questing, combat and exploration to get a whole that’s bound to hit the mark for any fan of the Wizarding World. Hogwarts is the giant, confusing mess of a castle it’s always been said to be, and as you explore you’ll want to keep an eye out for pages of the Field Guide your character carries to help them get acquainted with the school, as well as keys, tokens and more. There’s a never-ending array of stuff to find and see, so fans of this style of game are bound to be pleased.

Naturally, exploration’s not all this game’s about. There’s a main story and plenty of sidequests to examine as well. It’s probably worth one’s while to put some time into the main story just to ensure they’ve got the spells they need to get the most out of exploration. The Reparo spell’s a must-have for fixing broken objects, for instance, as is the Incendio spell’s versatile uses in both combat and puzzle-solving. This is very much a game for people who might not normally play games, so quests and puzzles tend to be a little bit simple, but once again the flavor of the Wizarding World comes through to save the day. Even the silliest block-pushing puzzle feels pretty good to solve if you have to use the classic Accio telekinesis spell to do it.

Naturally, this wouldn’t be the Wizarding World if there wasn’t a little bit of danger as well. You’re well-armed with a fully customizable wand, so you’re ready for anything, and “anything” is more than happy to put this to the test. Between evil goblins, wildlife and so on, you’re going to have your magical work cut out for you. Legacy’s combat is a bit unusual, combining standard third-person shooter mechanics with a standard cooldown-based skill system and the parrying system from the Batman: Arkham games.

You can unleash the spells you’ve learned throughout the game, even launching enemies into a combo if you use them correctly, and parry incoming attacks in order to avoid damage and increase the pain you inflict to enemies. Grabbing a foe with Accio and juggling them with wand blasts and damaging spells is pretty enjoyable, even if nothing you run into really shakes up any of the notions you’re probably used to from years of playing games. There’s something to be said for a quality foundation, though, and Legacy has that in spades.

While it’s got plenty of things to do, there’s little question that the “point” of Legacy is to enjoy existing in the Wizarding World. Legacy’s a beautiful game as a result, though this comes with a cost – the PC version is extremely rough, even on top-end hardware, and even current-gen console versions require you to choose between acceptable performance and great visuals. Still, Legacy’s visuals are absolutely gorgeous and fans of the franchise are sure to enjoy the little notes of lore and worldbuilding scattered all over the place. Likewise, Legacy’s sound design is also perfectly solid, particularly in the voice acting department.

While it’s absolutely a game that would like to appeal to more casual players, Hogwarts Legacy is a rock-solid adventure title that has a lot to offer intrepid casters-in-training eager to explore this magical wizarding world. This is a game that does a lot, and does none of it so poorly that it merits individual complaint. From that qualification alone, Hogwarts Legacy merits an easy win. Accio trophy, indeed.