Hogwarts Legacy – The Good and The Bad

Description

This game is actually pretty fun to play and shows the universe of Harry Potter so much better than the movies could. It adheres to the books quite well. You are a special new student admitted in the fifth year that possesses unique abilities, which sets you off on the main storyline. You learn new skills along the way as you progress. You learn

• Spells
• Potions
• Herbology
• Flying
• Beast Care

You can have three different “mounts” for travel. Two fly and one is really fast on the ground.

You can customize your character’s look and gender. There is a limited choice of facial features and hair styles, as well as race and voice, but enough.

Much like Harry Potter and his friends, you have to save the wizarding world and the school.

There are a variety of enemies, humans, goblins, trolls, dragons and many more creatures. The worst of them all, frankly, are the spiders. To quote “Ron” in J.K. Rowling’s second book, “Why did it have to be spiders?” I have arachnophobia, big time, and it takes major “getting the willies” to pass sections and areas with these huge spiders. Yes, you even fight achromantulas too (shiver).

The game takes place in the 1800s. It never specifies, but the authors of the game said “the 1800s” and it looks like it, including carriages etc.

Pros

Magnificent graphics quality! I have an NVidia 3080 RTX and it plays magnificently in 4K. The objects and textures are quite detailed and the world looks quite real. This game deserves the VR treatment, but I doubt that will happen.

The characters are voiced superbly, even the minor ones.

There are a decent amount of side missions to enhance your XP and skills, but you don’t need to play them to complete the game. Many side missions do not activate until you either have a specific game level or completed specific missions.

I happen to like to complete everything, so this makes for quite a long game.

There is a monetary system of gold coins only, disgarding the knuts, etc. from the book. This simplifies the game play. You gain gold coins by selling items, finding gold around the world in chests and pouches. You can also find and receive (as payment) clothing with magical properties giving you better defense and offense. These clothes are upgradable with the right equipment.

There is also a “Challenges” system that rewards you for completing feats. The rewards can be clothing or cosmetic items.

A talents system that enhances the effects of your skills and items.

You also attend classes, but what you experience is limited. For a school, you are rarely in it, but mostly out in the world.

Hogwarts castle is magnificent and puts the movie castle to shame. It is quite huge and intricate with lots and lots of stairs. OMG a real human being would die with the amont of stair climbing, and the altitude you have to achieve to do it. Nevertheless, it adds to the size and charm of the castle. You truly grasp that this is a magical castle.

There are puzzles to solve that are quite different than puzzles in the other Harry Potter games, yet these puzzles stay within what is possible in the wizarding world.

Because the engine looks so well, the cinematics are magnificent.

Cons

Some of the characters you meet are beyond believable. It is more of the poilitics and social life of the 2020s brought into the 1800s. This means while the scenery and the clothing are/ period accurate, the world of the 1800s they have makes you roll your eyes.

Minority races in 1800s England and Scottland? I don’t think so. Most blacks would still be slaves and Indians would be under British oppression. Yet in this game it’s all mixed races. It may be nice, but it’s not historically accurate, even for a fantasy game.

The idea that homosexuals and trans people would be part of open society is also a joke for the 1800s, yet there are homosexuals bragging about their partners and a trans person running the pub in Hogsmead. I am guessing they were trying to include everyone in the game, but that actually made it unbelievable, even for a fantasy game. Even fantasy has to have something of reality if it’s supposed to take place on Earth in the 1800s. Nevertheless, I guess it keeps the alphabet whiners and fans included. So whatever.

The PS5 version has a bonus feature/mission that gives you the ability to open your own items shop to sell your items yourself. The PC version (which I think is better) does not give this ability. You pay the same price for the game, so you should have the same game.

Summary

Despite its silly and politically based faults, this game is magnificent to play, and it doesn’t shove those faults in your face.

Aside

I will probably get hate messages in the comments, but I don’t care. I am amazed at the suckups on Harry Potter web sites, including Warner Brothers, that try to demonize J.K. Rowling’s view on how male rapists in prison magically saying they are now women should not be placed in female prisons. A common sense view with which I agree with, but the alphabet people don’t care about those women in prison, but instead the new inductee of rapists into their fold of trans people. They say she hates on trans people. NO, she doesn’t want male repists pretending to be women placed in female prisons. It’s that common sense and simple.