Hogwarts Legacy Review: Harry Potter at its Finest

There was a time in my life when I was fortunate enough to come across two things that still keep me occupied to this day. Video games and magic, specifically the Harry Potter films, or books depending on what kind of fan you aspire to be.

The world they lived in always fascinated me as a child, especially the part where all they had to do was utter a word or flick their wrists to have an inanimate object do household chores for them, but that’s me being lazy.

Now that world is made available to everyone with the recent yet very successful release of Hogwarts Legacy! After all this time you can finally become a part of the adventure that you always wanted.

Hogwarts Legacy starts right off with you receiving the fabled acceptance letter that you always anticipated during your days as a youngling. That day finally comes and now you find yourself near a back alley somewhere in 19th-century London, a place you’re more than eager to immediately part ways with.

Unfortunately, things don’t go swimmingly as you immediately are made aware of the existence of Thestrals due to the fact that you just witnessed your first death on your way to school, something that your character seems to have easily recovered from upon arrival.

After the tutorial segment, you can give yourself free rein to explore Hogwarts at your leisure. I had no regrets leaving Natty at the entrance for a whole five hours as I found myself way up the Astronomy Tower and at a basement of some sort that had nothing but an indignant one-eyed chest that showed nothing but disdain towards my presence.

Besides the ill treatment I received from the enchanted strongbox, I decided to push forth with my exploration as there were still plenty of awe-inspiring places to loiter around in.

You can simply walk in on almost every location within the castle grounds, locations from the source material that have been clearly expanded on. There were even two occasions where I wound up in two separate restrooms that had stalls that weren’t being used for their intended purpose, an amusing sight to see as you come to realize that not everyone is always keen on focusing on their studies.

Still, if you wish to see more of the alluring archways and intricate stonework you will have to progress through the story occasionally. The game is good at making you understand that larger-scale exploration can wait for later as you will be needing your broom for that, something you will work for later on.

Don’t let the others see you walk for more than a kilometer outside of Hogwarts or Hogsmeade, that’s an easy way to bring ridicule upon yourself (That’s a joke but seriously, the world outside the castle is huge. Don’t walk all the way)! You can still gather a sizeable amount of collectibles while keeping close to Hogwarts for the first few hours if that’s what you’re after.

As you go around the valley you will definitely remember that you’re not always safe, given the fact that you’ve been marked by at least two very dangerous figures that terrorize the locals on a daily basis. So you have that to worry about along with the rest of your studies. This is where you experience vigorous wand waving firsthand as you tackle combat.

The movements you make just flow as you swish and roll about while different gleams of light blanket your foe, rendering them lifeless afterward. Some people say that I would regret it forever if I cast an Unforgivable Curse even once. Then again, I had a difficult time remembering who told me that after casting all three of them for the umpteenth time without any reactions or consequences from the bystanders nearby.

Yes, combat can be quite brutal here sometimes if you consider the fact that you can slam your opponents into the ground numerous times with reckless abandon. I can even go as far as saying that some combinations of spells are more questionable in nature compared to the three Unforgivable Curses.

Using them instead would be considered mercy compared to the other things you can do towards creatures or poachers that look at you funny. Remember, you’ll have an edge over your opponents if you learn more spells first before diving into anything you can’t easily walk away from!

Without spoiling too much I can definitely say that this will easily be one of the most revisited triple-A titles of the year. The hype it got over at Twitch alone just proves that it did way better compared to another title that was unfortunately riddled with issues at launch two years ago. It still has its own shortcomings from time to time from a gameplay perspective, however.

Sometimes it felt like my hand is being held too tightly through dialog a little bit too much to the point where the game looks like it was doubting my mental faculties. This was very prevalent during the intro as it’s often spelled out to you that you’re the protagonist and you have what it takes to create world-changing events. This is completely understandable, the game is made for a broad audience after all.

Also, the conversations outside of the main story or side quests between the NPCs just didn’t make any sense while I was listening in. Maybe this is just how practitioners of magic communicate on a normal basis. This also has a tie-in to the fact that good-hearted magicians will freely look over your incessant casting of Avada Kedavra in broad daylight without any comment whatsoever, hopefully, that won’t ruin your immersion if you ever decide to roleplay as a Death Eater. In the end, you’re still left to assume that having too much power will eventually corrupt you.

On a side note, you may want to consider the house you want to be sorted into, your quests and interactions will slightly vary depending on where you end up in. This is great as starting over can give you a different experience altogether!

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