Hogwarts Legacy Review
| Game Name: | Hogwarts Legacy |
| Platforms: | PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S |
| Publisher(s): | WB Games |
| Developer(s): | Avalanche Software LLC, Portkey Games |
| Genre(s): | Fantasy |
| Release Date: | February 10th, 2023 |
| ESRB Rating: | Teen |
I want to start this write up by stating that this game was one that was steeped in controversy. Personally, I believe that the controversy was illegitimate due to the steps that the developers took to ensure that it was an all-inclusive game. A game that was designed for the fans of the universe created by someone who’s morals did not and continue to not fall in line with the morals of the millions of fans of the universe. I’ve personally spoken on this during one of my streams of playing this game.
Hogwarts Legacy is a game that is not with out faults. First, we’ll talk about the game itself, this game is a beautifully crafted vision of a world that Portkey Games wanted to deliver. The environments are gorgeous, and I can spend hours exploring the open world styled areas that were created for the player to explore. The animations of the characters are well
done, and the world is alive around you, enough so that sometimes you just want to stop and watch the house elves pop in and out of world as they set about their tasks through out the campus. Not just the house elves but the fellow students as well. The music just adds to the overall ambience of the different areas of the campus and the different areas you are tasked at exploring through out your play through.
The environments that you get to explore are lovingly crafted to show you the level of care and detail that went into expanding the world around Hogwarts, which were mostly based off the books where they were described and left the imagination of the reader to craft. Portkey’s team did a fantastic job and created world I would love to explore more. This is one of the few games that I have no problem wandering around aimlessly in before getting frustrated that I don’t pay enough attention to where I am
going.
Next, we look at the game play and mechanics. It was brought to my attention that this game was built on the blueprint of the Assassin Creed games. This knowledge bomb was dropped on me during one of
my streams of this game, and knowing that now, you can see it. This is not a bad thing, because the game feels good. My personal gripes about the combat is that if feels like it would play better on a controller rather than on a mouse and keyboard. This does not mean the game in unplayable, no in fact once you get the flow of the mechanics and changing spells on fly. Speaking of spells, it is a breath of fresh air as you get to learn to wand movements of certain spells to lock them into your knowledge of
magic. But I digress, another grip is that you will find your character stepping forward as you throw flurries of spells as the enemies come at you. Again, neither of these are game breaking, just personal complaints. Oh, and the final complaint about the mechanics, the camera seems to close over the shoulder for when you feel the need to look around, or you are trying to find things that Revelio highlights for you to seek out and explore.
This game has weathered much, and before saying that this game is a must play for Harry Porter fans, remember that fandom knows no bounds, so please leave controversy at the door when you enter the realm of this game. Or any game for that matter, we are all here to have fun and enjoy and escape into a world and work of fiction. Be it witches and wizards to space marines and xenomorphs.
Game 2 Gamer’s Final Score – 4.5 / 5
Frustration Level : 3 / 10
Replay value : Mid
