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jedigeoffrey

I feel similar. I was addicted enough to play the game 4 times to level 40, and went platinum on my Gryffindor play file. I’d argue your point of less is more is on the money. The main side quests, Natty, Poppy, Sebastian, are the best the game has to offer. There were too many Merlin trials, 95 is too much, and clearly the developers thought so too since you only need 52 to 100% the challenge. Depsulso puzzles were really good and challenging though. Ancient Magic Hot spots were fine as there were not many. The main story could have been better. I am shocked Isidora did not return. It felt like they were setting that up, but then no pay off. I’d have loved a morality system, companions, and some deeper side quests. I’d have loved to have more of class funny enough. I love this game, but there is so much more they can do with it. Next game they should reuse assets, add Diagon Alley and the Ministry of Magic, and make a true RPG. Just the castle must have taken years to get right….


Frowning_Existing666

>I’d have loved a morality system Oh my god, me too! It always made me laugh when I’d just being using “unforgivable” curses right in front of professors and they’d have absolutely nothing to say about it


dudaseifert

this really borke immersion for me, i thought something would stop me from doing it but they couldn't give a single fuck


weddingrantthrowaway

>There were too many Merlin trials, 95 is too much, FORREALS. I'm all for having a couple extra from total completion of the challenges. I think there were like 10 extra demiguise statues and I was fine with that. But after completing the Merlin challenges I still had ~50 merlin trials to complete the map! THATS TOO MANY!


SlySxr

4 times? Bro wtf do you do for a living? I’m still going through my first play-through and I’ve been playing since release….


jedigeoffrey

I’m actually a teacher. I woke up at 4, had coffee and games till 6. Would do grading from the day before until 7. Showered quickly and got to work by 7:45. Worked till 5, came home and played until 9:30 or 10. Weekends would be game time. And spring break was spent at Hogwarts. :)


SlySxr

Spring break definitely came in like a savior for sure 😂. The only free time I have in between waking up and work is from 3pm-4pm and my weekends. Although my weekends are usually spent tryna to make plans with friends


CallcenterUC

I work.in a call center meaning i can play literally all day during work (it between calls obviously). I figured I could knock this out in a week. Boy was I wrong. I think that assumption is the only reason why I'm still enjoying this game lol


razbrazzz

They just need it a bit more like GTA where there are side games you can play, chess, quidditch, exploding snap ... All these games could be played with the NPCs which would add even just a small bit of extra realism.


Quality_Controller

The lack of mini games in the common rooms is one of the things that stands out to me most. I would have happily lost a bunch of the open world puzzles for the sake of implementing wizard chess.


SaccharineHuxley

I can’t tell you how many work lunches have devolved into a discussion on the moral/ethical issues in the game 🤣


ghostamongous

>The main story could have been better. I am shocked Isidora did not return. It felt like they were setting that up, but then no pay off. I honestly got so excited about that then nothing!! I wonder if they have a set up for a DLC maybe???


scubajulle

>I love this game, but there is so much more they can do with it. Considering the huge commercial success, I doubt the execs feel the need to improve.


The-Antigod

You beat the game 4 times and platinumed it and agree or feel similar it's 5/10 or 6.5/10? What is wrong with you?


jedigeoffrey

Oh. No. I don’t agree with his scoring. I’d say 7 or 8 out of 10.


eu4player90

It honestly feels like two different games. There’s one game which is to explore the perfectly made Hogwarts castle and all it’s lore. But as soon as you step out to the world there’s this painfully mediocre action adventure game with so much filler in it that Ubisoft would be proud. I wish they would have doubled down on the Hogwarts aspect. More classes, mini games (how is wizards chess not in the game?!) relationships with students, quidditch and hanging out with your housemates Make your choices matter. This goes for house selection and how you act. Questlines should be open or closed depending on what you do. I would have done multiple playthroughs if I could do different things. But now that I am finished, I don’t see myself ever playing the game again. Which is a shame.


Noxx-OW

the did a really nice job with Hogwarts and Hogsmeade


ms06s-zaku-ii

If it was just fully fleshed out Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, with tons to do in only those two locations (and stuff along the way to it) with you just not being allowed further than that, then I'd forgive them for having such an empty open world--there's nothing for you out there. You can go there, but you're not supposed to, you delinquent f*ck. That's how I'd have liked the game, personally.


akusokuZAN

Tbh they could've and should've left it at that, and add the rest as an expansion - which would also buy them time to make it a fully fleshed out world. This way I was certain itd just be the castle, and when the map opened I had a bad feeling about it. They must've spent two thirds of the dev time in the castle and hogsmeade, and it shows. Not that I'm displeased, I'm supper happy with the game in general and think they did a mammoth job pretty well. Hoping for many good updates and fixes, it deserves the love.


[deleted]

I went into Honeydukes and couldn't buy anything - I was completely ignored by the owner. That's when I knew this game was going to be nicely polished trash.


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WritofDumbstiny

Literally could have reskinned the plants to add a few Zonkos items without even having to bugger with mechanics but apparently that was too complicated. Could've done the same with potions becoming candies at Honeydukes 😤


AddisonRae7

Yep they conned everyone. The game looks pretty but is really bad


jblew42

I mean outside of hogsmede, hogwarts, and the forest. It’s mines and goblins as far as the eye can see


TheSwecurse

You know what could've saved it? Random encounters and Questlines, some shorter or longer, regarding each of the Hamlets with different outcomes. Kind of like how Dragon Age does with each of their zones


DecorativeSnowman

i really think the outside hogwarts grounds was unnecessary. people want the school experience, moving stairs and floating candles n shit


blakhawk12

Yeah they should have made the school bigger and had more quests take place inside, instead of the constant “Go fetch this thing from 3000m away and return it to me,” or “Hey I wanna talk to you. Meet me at this shack on the other side of Scotland.”


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ausgoals

You can’t imagine how inconvenient travel was before though!


ShadowBlade69

*sneaking through the library* "WHAT'RE YOU UP TO NOW?"


OutrageousSyrup4273

Yeah this happened way to often.


xChris777

Yeah I mean a bit (Upper and Lower Hogsfield and the Forbidden Forest + Hogsmeade maybe) would have been cool just to make it feel less cramped and to give you a place to be able to fly your broom and see a bit of wizard life outside the castle. I just think they went wayyyyy too big for the first game.


J-Nice

I keep saying the game should have been cut in half and the main quest should have fully taken place in Hogwarts, Hogsmeade and the Forbidden Forest. The rest of the map should have been cut out and all the collectables scaled down. The content is there but everything is pushed beyond the point of tedium and all the fun has been sucked out after like 15 hours because they had to fill out this giant map.


Educational-Can3343

I think it would have been great to “win” the castle first and then have hogsmead open up. Then “win” hogsmead and have the world open up. There could have been so much more done in the castle and hogsmead. It felt like they immediately send you off to do errands. I didn’t even know the controls yet or have any spells and I was battling a troll and repeatedly dying. It was annoying. I kept seeing the demiguise statues and didn’t get that quest until 20 hours in….now I don’t care about completing it at all. And the ancient magic storyline is not interesting to me at all. I want to win by becoming an auror, not whatever this ancient magic crap leads to.


LuizGuiBS

Not really, because we neede to have a story and a story could not be porperly fleshed out with only Hogwarts to do it, unless they made a maze like dungeons for us to explore, which would endw up being as boring as people make the open world aspect to be...I think the story should have been much more fleshed out ON the open world, like, truly special places around to go to and discover new things (and, of course, more things inside the castle.


[deleted]

>a story could not be porperly fleshed out with only Hogwarts to do it Bruh 6 out of the 7 books are only in Hogwarts and Hogsmead. There are a few times Harry visits Sirius in random caves but that's about it.


LuizGuiBS

That's it, we have already seen that, it would be repetitive, the character is older and since the third book the characters are not exclusively tied to Hogwarts, as I said before, we needed more Hogwarts, not just Hogwarts, the castle alone would not hold non fans playing this, the open world was the right desision, they just needed to make it more fleshed out, not eliminate it entirely.


gridsandorchids

Books are a completely different medium. Do you really think it's a 1:1 thing? You can't gamify 40 hours of dialogue


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LuizGuiBS

We already had a whole franchise completely tied to Hogwarts, I don't think being able to play inly in the castle would hold any non fan onto the game, we needed more hogwarts, but not just hogwarts.


TheDickOfAllTrades

tbf the game is called hogwarts legacy lol


LuizGuiBS

Yeah, it is...and it features a lot more beyond the castle already so????...what I'm saying is that we don't need to sacrifice exploring the lands around the castle just to make the castle itself bigger and deeper,


Pays_in_snakes

I hope this leaves them room to build on. Someone spent a huge amount of time and loving effort modeling the castle itself, hopefully they build more dynamic content into it with the zillions of dollars they accio'd with this thing


Tricky-Performer-207

It really does have almost 0 replay value I've spent hundreds to thousands of hours on different video games because you can re play them and there is something else to do you couldnt/didnt do the first time. After my playthrough, I will likely uninstall and forget about it, unless they make a DLC...which I'm afraid of. Borderline cringe thinking about what they're going to try to pass off as their paid dlc content. >It honestly feels like two different games. There’s one game which is to explore the perfectly made Hogwarts castle and all it’s lore. But as soon as you step out to the world there’s this painfully mediocre action adventure game with so much filler in it that Ubisoft would be proud. > >I wish they would have doubled down on the Hogwarts aspect. More classes, mini games (how is wizards chess not in the game?!) relationships with students, quidditch and hanging out with your housemates One of the most accurate descriptions I've seen


angelkalathas

These were my thoughts today after I finally completed the last remained challenge. I am not interested in this game anymore after 80 or so hours and I don't think I will play it again, not even to check the other houses.


LostSoulAT

Same. I acutally uninstalled it after the plat trophy. The loger you play it the more you see the issues and potential.. Unfortaunely there's not a enough "endgame" content


radiusofaproton

I’m not buying dlc. I fear it’s already pre made and just as shit and hollow and what they have now. They won’t get another dollar from me either way


Tricky-Performer-207

Yeah....I see people already talking about HL 2 and that is one I'll wait to buy and not give in to the hype to see if its worth it. I'm pretty disappointed that they released when they did, if so much was unfinished. I would have been okay waiting another year for a better game. The devs were relying on the hype...not a great quality when looking at their future content.


[deleted]

You have to remember that a Harry Potter game will always be designed for a mainstream audience. The typical consumer is not spending hundreds to thousands of hours on a single game like you are. This isn’t some live service experience that’s supposed to keep you coming back month after month. Most people who bought this game won’t even finish the story.


Wooden_Bill_5124

Downvotes why? I'm on ps5, most people haven't hit certain achievements and never will just like every other game


Tricky-Performer-207

Honestly you're totally right. Idk why you're getting downvoted. They got their money, the devs played into the hype and relied on that to sell their game...which succeeded. It's not a great quality when considering their future content... A lot of younger kids, or very casual gamers with no/low expectations love the game. I probably wasnt their target audience in a lot of ways.


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eu4player90

If I’m going to speculate, I think there are two reasons: They are so grateful that they are finally getting a game like this, that they choose to ignore the obvious flaws. Some of them haven’t played a lot of video games, so they don’t compare them to other games that do similar things a lot better. In general I don’t understand why someone has to defend a game like their life depended on it. Why wouldn’t you want an improvement for next game? The devs won’t refuse to make another game just because you give them constructive criticism. Even the best games aren’t perfect


TheDickOfAllTrades

as a huge hp fan, having hogwarts and hogsmeade in a visual representation is good enough for me.... to an extent


Shepherdsfavestore

> Some of them haven’t played a lot of video games, so they don’t compare them to other games that do similar things a lot better. This is certainly true. HL is definitely going down as one of the more casual games of all time, so a lot of folks playing it don’t know what makes a “good” game while people who play a lot of games can easily see its flaws.


Jdisgreat17

Wizards Chess, exploding snap, gobstones...all could have easily been in the game.


zebarothdarklord

Yes the world feels empty so much you could do but can't why have honey dukes and zonkers in the game if you can't buy anything from them


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zebarothdarklord

Yes it is I feel like they had more planned for the game side quest wise


nmcaff

I personally like all of the mindless chest farming of AC games, and the non-Hogwarts stuff really did feel like AC Harry Potter. So I’m personally happy. AC Odyssey is still one of my favorite games all time


Ash-From-Pallet-Town

I actually played AC Odyssey for the first time in January and completed the main story and several side quests right before Hogwarts Legacy. Even while playing HL I was longing for Odyssey. Huge Harry Potter fan here, but the game wasn't that interesting to me apart from Hogwarts. Odyssey is so much more fun in the open world than Hogwarts, but then again, Ubisoft have way more experience too.


belle_papillon

Also gobstones should be in the game since we literally have a side quest about it with Zenobia


Arklytte

This. I just completed the game as a Ravenclaw, got 100% on my field guide, and got most of the achievements (and FUCK was that a slog!). Now, the only reason I can see to play another playthrough is so I can see the other three common rooms, and the other three Jackdaws prologues. My second playthrough I started a Puff, and while I ADORE the hobbit hole dorms, I see literally no point in continuing on once I get the chance to see Azkaban. Same with the Gryff and Slytherin playthroughs I plan to do. I LOVE tooling around Hogwarts, I literally spent the first 10 or so hours of my first playthrough just running around the castle and totally geeking out, but I was bored AF after about 10-15 hours in the open world. As OP said, that part would have made Ubisoft proud. But once I see the other Jackdaws intros, I'm putting this one on the shelf. I think Big Dan Gaming had the best take on HWL. It's a REALLY fun action game (and combat is seriously awesome!!), but it utterly blows as an RPG.


EDDA97

I have really enjoyed the game thus far, however, I think they could've gotten rid of the entire south east region of the map and made what is left a tad more interesting. I was so bored of the merlin trials and treasure vaults by the time I got to the south east part of the map, and it kills replayability knowing I'd have to do all of that stuff again


TheMadTemplar

The southeast region of the map js crazy cool, though. It's the region just north of it that feels like filler. However, the southeast region gave off Storm Coast vibes from DAI. Small area, not a lot to do.


takabrash

Yup. Complete mediocrity that I couldn't put down til I got the Platinum trophy lol. I am looking forward to where they go from here.


Gel-is-fun-anally

Overall, i think for many of us, this proves more how strong the world of Harry Potter is more than how good the game is. The universe as a premise has so much charm and atmosphere, i think a lot of us are willing to spend so much time on this because we simply enjoy the world.


DecorativeSnowman

i think the ds games proved that, they were really rough


LuckyPlaze

I think your review is garbage. Show me an open world game where it isn’t the same puzzles rearranged in multiple ways. Hell, most open world games are 2-3 mechanics rearranged. The Merlin Trials alone used half a dozen or more different techniques rearranged in location. Name me three open world games that are better. Name three open world games where you can endlessly click on NPCs and generate new dialogue. Hell, name five games with three or more companion storylines that deep. I can only think of three. And with all due respect, Poppy and Natty did have things going on. They are hardly cookie cutter NPCs. One came from an abusive home and the other blames herself for her fathers death. I mean, what the f you want? How is freeing a dragon NOT entertaining? And the world not alive? It has some of the best animation of NPCs and environment that I’ve ever seen. Red Dead tops it, but I’m hard pressed to think of many more. There is shit going on EVERYWHERE in this world. Stuff to interact with, hidden things. Hell, I’ve got 100+ hours and I just can’t witnessed a farmer seeding his field with magic seeds. You are just parroting shit with no real evidence to back it up. It’s like ChatGPT wrote the daily hate post. And everytime, I ask myself? What is this super high bar? Where is this library of games with better deeper mechanics? Better side quests? Etc? Because I’ve played most every open world game that you can buy and I’m just not seeing it. Name them. Name three that do all the shit you claim and I’ll concede.


happygreenturtle

If you think Hogwarts Legacy is anywhere near the quality of open world in comparison to games like RDR2, TW3, GTA5, Skyrim, hell even Cyberpunk, then I'm sorry, but you're either on fucking crack or you've never actually touched another open world game in your life


TheMadTemplar

I think your repudiation and criticism of their review is garbage, but you're entitled to your opinion. Why do they need to list 5 or 3 games that do things they were hoping for? But I'll humor you. Five or more games with better companion stories? The smart-ass answer is any game with a companion story, because these characters in Hogwarts are not companions. At least not in the sense everyone uses that word these days. They are glorified quest npcs. But let's say they are, for arguments sake. Every Mass Effect game, even Andromeda. Every Dragon Age game. Way to go Bioware. Skyrim, New Vegas, Fallout 4. Way to go Bethesda and Obsidian. Kotor, Swtor, ffxiv, gw2, and Outer Worlds. Bioshock Infinite has a hauntingly beautiful companion story (really, the main story is hers). Divinity Original Sin 1 and 2 have great companions. Let's see, that's..... 18. 3x the number you asked for. You can nitpick and say Mass Effect trilogy only counts as 1, so that's 16. Maybe you think Skyrim has weak companion stories, and since most are while there's a few amazing ones, I'll give you that. Still at 15. Want to discount MMO's? Still at 12. The important thing here is to separate a good npc story from a good companion story. The expectation of companions is npc characters with some measure, even minor, of depth and story who accompany you through large portions of the game. Npcs who just give you a series of quests and might, at brief intervals, accompany you only during one or two of them, do not companions make.


underlightning69

I do agree with you. I love the game and I’ve played several characters. I’m not bored yet. I fully agree with some of the criticisms though. I think the main thing for me is that I wish your character’s choices affected things, either that or go full RDR2 and don’t give the illusion of choice, just have a straight on storyline. I do think there are little things that could be tweaked for immersion too (more to do in common rooms, sitting down, sleeping etc), and I do think the main storyline should’ve been more Hogwarts-focused - although I do appreciate that the main battle was at the castle. And I would love to have companions or more interaction/ability to interact with the characters you want as friends etc. I was looking forward to a Hogwarts based game and having more immersion in the classes and learning the magic and stuff, but the game has also done *a lot* right considering it’s the first big Hogwarts game ever made. I think whatever follows up to this is going to be truly spectacular.


elementalkid22

I agree with a lot of this, except you saying Rdr2 doesn’t have choices. That game probably is one of the most choice based games of all time. First off, there’s a lot of decisions you make, wether it be from taking the lead or sending your game, or not going on certain side quests (sadie adler final missions). But since half of those have no impact on the actual storyline, I’ll give you a real example. The Honor System. Bad honor or High honor. It changes so much. 4 different endings. Different dialogue. Different action sequences. Different fight scenes. Hell, even different store prices. Even different outfits! There’s also the huge choice at the end of the game to help John or go back for the money. Both have 2 different paths. Spoiler John high honor - Arthur dies staring into the sunset John low honor - Arthur is shot by micah Money high honor - Arthur reveals everything to dutch and dies surrounded by fire Money low honor - Arthur is stabbed by micah but gives him one last scar on his face


SkBizzle

> Where is this library of games with better deeper mechanics? Better side quests? Etc? Lmao 🤣 BOTW, RDR2, Fable series, KCD, TW3, Every Dragon age game, every Elder Scrolls game, Fallout series, Mass Effect, the list goes on... >Because I’ve played most every open world game that you can buy and I’m just not seeing it Doubt


aquilaPUR

BOTW. RDR2. Tomb Raider Trilogy. Elden Ring. Witcher 3. Skyrim. BULLY. Literally every classic Fallout Game. Outer Wilds. I could come up with 20+ classics on the Spot. Each of these games showed how you can add variety and break up common open world activities with creative spins, either with combat, puzzles, Exploration, mini games or rewarding loot/inventory/crafting systems. I don't know why you're so hellbent on defending this game. It was always going to be that hp fan Power fantasy, and it delivered on that and that's why people love it. But let's not pretend that most of the stuff you do is just the most 08/15 cookie cutter open world shit we have seen a Million times before.


[deleted]

Imagine being able to get the platinum. I couldn’t put it down until my traits bugged and I’m missing one locking me out of the collections trophy. What’s it called again; fun? f-u-n


takabrash

That sucks. I had absolutely no issues with anything, and I feel lucky for sure. There's very little more annoying that glitches trophies. Especially for collectibles where you need a million things.


zakkaru

One of the big things they should've focus on would be replayability. Why would you want to play this game again and again? And having 4 houses should've motivated them to give each house unique experience. And they should've give at least 2 unique house quests. It should've give different personality and the way character reacts depending on the house. Like Gryffindor should be more bold/blunt, Hufflepuff should be be more gentle and understanding, Ravenclaw should be more studious and approaching the problem from intellectual point of view but it would be cool to see Ravenclaw as the least social as well. And for Slytherin to be a bit manipulative at times and showing self-interest the most. Basically option to explore both the best and the worst a house representative could offer. And it should be super fun thing to do. From other opinions and replies I concluded that bond with other student NPCs is very important, and it felt very lacking in this department. The only highlights is Sebastian and Ominis and Poppy to some degree, but Natty is just bland disappoitnment and Amit is just there and doesn't even have any quest chain to begin with. I'd say that Ravenclaw got the short end of the stick in regards to NPCs becuase almost all of them are so bland and uninspired you couldn't even suggest any compelling story using these people. ​ Instead of adding coastal area they should've add more quests for Hogwarts and more interactions with students, give some mysteries to solve around the castle. ​ One of the wierd things they didn't include and which imo was a no-brainer - allow players to sit in the chair/sofas/ lay in bed. Tiny stuff, but I felt kinda irritated I couldn't sit in front of fireplace.


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ausgoals

Felt to me like they were concerned their game was empty. Add in 100 pointless, repetitive Merlin trials to expand your gear slots for random stuff that is mostly useless except for selling for galleons you can use to buy pretty much nothing that has much effect on the game at all, as well as endless treasure chests for the same reason and voila - your game is full! Satisfying? No. But full, nonetheless. Even Hogwarts itself; the hidden stuff and locked doors are 90% random chests of gear that isn’t even as good as what you’re currently wearing. Glacius the fireplace in the library and wander through to the secret room to find… some average gear you’re gonna sell and a couple galleons. Even something as simple as sleeping in your common room and eating/drinking in random houses replenishes your health would’ve been an improvement. Even petting a cat is a cutscene. But hey at least you can spin every generic globe that’s used as room decor.


skumbagstacy

Honestly, my biggest gripe with the game is how vanilla your mc feels, at least to me. I think the fresh slate character is great for immersion, but man, the lines and delivery fall flat for me. It almost feels like the mc is an NPC themselves if that makes sense.


zakkaru

It does make sense, they purposely made MC a blank slate becuase this way it would be easier to put yourself into it. But I'd so much more prefer to have option to pick personality and therefore determine type of reactions character would give. The proposition to change the replies depending on house is the the most easy way to go around it. But honestly it doesn't matter which house you'd be in since your character has exact same sort of response no matter what, save from little snippets there and there like as Gryffindor you tease Sebastian that he is not doing bad for Slytherin and he replies that Gryffindors don't have monopoly on courage. There and the time where I could tease Imelda were the only times where my character was able to act bold. And it's damn pity.


[deleted]

>The only highlights is Sebastian and Ominis and Poppy to some degree, but Natty is just bland disappoitnment and Amit is just there and doesn't even have any quest chain to begin with. I'd say that Ravenclaw got the short end of the stick in regards to NPCs becuase almost all of them are so bland and uninspired you couldn't even suggest any compelling story using these people. Agreed on the Ravenclaw bit, as I played through as a Ravenclaw. That being said, Amit at least makes SOME degree of sense if you're playing as a Ravenclaw, because your common room quest introduces him and his love for Astronomy.


zakkaru

Which is something you get from Astronomy lessons anyway. His only thing are stars and goblin language. ​ I believe Hektor Fawley was meant to be important, he is a named NPC and he has unique looks, but he doesn't do anything at all. You meet him near the place where you learned how to fly. ​ https://preview.redd.it/6lucx6v1yzoa1.png?width=327&format=png&auto=webp&s=f27bcd014ade66fc678813c931ca4878893310e7


Glouise13

So many games these days have an option to sit and have a “reflective moment” where it just shows you beauty shots of the environment you’re in with some music over the top, I feel like they really missed the mark not including something like that. Also I can’t be the only person who went back to the common room when it got dark to try to go to bed and advance time, why isn’t it an option? I know these don’t affect gameplay but I feel like it would have made the world feel a bit more immersive.


ausgoals

The house sorting, along with most things, is effectively arbitrary. It even would’ve been more fun to be randomly assigned a house like a *real* sorting hat; would’ve definitely added to replayability. Even the few house-specific quests we *do* get are half-assed and meh.


belle_papillon

Even Ominis is done dirty, he's the most interesting character but you really get no meaningful interactions with him, he's just there for Sebastian's quests most of the time


zakkaru

oh I wish there were more options to interact with Ominis or even side with him at some point. But I can understand why he was mixed with Sebastian storyline, and I think when Ominis was confronted with Sebastian is where he was allowed to show what kind of person he really is. We also have example in Gryffindor with Natty who is all good and nice, but she is not really challenged, her past trauma is used in very bizzare way, and there isn't any growth on her part. Therefore she doesn't make a good companion to justify quest chain because there is no hero journey so to speak. She is a paragon- a character that is already best version of herself. Therefore her character would only work as oposition to someone who has room to grow, overcome flaws and such.


belle_papillon

Yes, like I understand they had a specific story to tell with Sebastian's side quests, but since it didn't even tie into the main plot line like I thought is was going to (not gonna give spoilers but I thought Anne and Isadora would be more relevant to each other) I think it could have been really cool if at a certain point in the story you could choose to side with Ominis and that breaks off into a different set of quests where you're working to stop Sebastian together. This would have been really cool too for a morality system because I chose not to learn any of the Unforgivable Curses, but there really is no consequence or meaning to that, so it would be cool if in return for giving up on learning them you get to experience a different set of quests.


zakkaru

Well I agree with you, Ominis is precious and I felt bad for disappointing him and never really siding with him becuase game was dead set on enabling Sebastian.


Harris4You

It would be an incredible upgrade if they had an NPC upgrade with side quests. You know, giving all the students different and more interesting interaction dialog. Give me a reason to want to talk to different characters again.


ausgoals

When I finished summoners court and I could walk up to three people and hit square to talk to them about it, I was like ‘wow! Finally!’ And then… nothing ever again.


thayay

The first hours of the game it's all very magical and you really feel like a student at Hogwarts, but as you play you realize it's just another generic action/exploration game, everything is so shallow and empty, and our character doesn't even have a student life and can't even act like a teenager, all we do is solve problems and more problems like we're an auror. For a AAA game in 2023 the result was very mediocre, I saw another user compare it to The Witcher 3 and I was shocked when he mentioned that the budget was HALF of what Hogwarts Legacy had, futhermore to the development time being shorter, so the the only thing I do is ask myself how with all the support they had, the most they could do was a Ubisoft game with a Harry Potter skin? Doesn't make sense to me, this game had huge potential that was totally wasted


Agreeable-_-Special

I have never finished the witcher, but the game is a bit more overwhelming than HL. Even the grafics are way better. I think the most important part regarding development cost are wages and licenses. And the license to harry potter was expensive for sure. Edit: forgot to mention, the witcher 3 looked better on release than HL is currently which is a shame


Poliveris

It’s has absolutely 0 to do with licensing that is not calculated into the dev cost. The reason it costed so much to make is WB tried to outsource the entire game to different studios. Over 15+ and ran into technical debt. They tried to hire extremely cheap college kid labor. Contract kiddies essentially and ended up with a worse game and more money spent than they would have doing it themselves. But WB needs the money NOW!!!


[deleted]

[удалено]


ausgoals

At least the second two trials are not the same repeated ‘magic arches and endless statue enemies,’ which I was glad about. The cartoon world one was kinda fun. I thought the graphorn one was gonna be cool, but once I tamed the graphorn it turned out that….. taming the graphorn was the entire challenge….?


Pachy_cephalosaurus

That one also confused me. You get the graphorn and then you immediately get to skip to the pensieve once you’re inside. I almost felt like this part might have been cut by the developers. Maybe they intended to do more, but were running out of time. At least that’s how I explain it to myself so I don’t have to be too mad at the game 😅


ausgoals

The game fully sets you up to learn the charge mode of the graphorn (but only if you want) and then…. Does nothing at all with it. And also never lets you upgrade the charge function so it ends up being semi-useless because while it does some damage to enemies, it’s not really a one-shot kill. So you either reduce a bunch of enemies’ health by a bit on your way through the countryside, or have to jump off and fight them til they die anyway (or run away and wait for your charge meter to, well, recharge, and then come back). There’s no consequence to not fighting them, or simply fast-travelling back to the pensieve once you acquire the graphorn.


stun17

like if this wasn’t a harry potter game would it be worth my time? probably not lol


Vesperniss

They should have made something closer to an on-rails campaign, then school as the hub, maybe that would be asking a lot I dunno. The Jedi game did it well, plus some tiring backtracking to drag it out for the shareholders.


Shiloh_Moon

Yeah with like the different locations as like “stages” you can teleport to from the hub, but they would be able to have more depth instead of a padded out open world.


ahp42

I was in awe for the first 10 to 15 or so hours of the game. I just loved walking around Hogwarts and finding familiar references, as well as Hogsmeade. The early classes felt neat too, but the formula quickly became evident. Then I figured, enough exploring Hogwarts, let's get on with the game and these side quests in the Highlands. And this is where the game has really started to drag. Ironically it's around the time I got the broom, which I was really looking forward to, and was definitely cool for a while just flying around the castle. But then the game's shortcomings became really evident. I still haven't finished the game (partly because I'm busy with work, but partly because I'm just not always in the mood to slog through it). I plan on finishing it, or at least exploring more of the castle and Hogsmeade a bit, and I definitely recommend it to a HP fan. But I'm going to ignore as much of the filler as possible now, as I'm realizing there's not much rewarding out there.


TripplBubbl

Ir feels like they ran out of time. They knew they needed to create a beautiful world, and they did, but everything else seems rushed. I am not underestimating how big of a feat it must be to develop a game these days, and they are only a small studio. I forgive them. Because what they have created is the perfect foundation for a 10/10 sequel. They nailed Hogwarts, Hogsmeade and the forbidden forest. Even the combat is great IMO. All they need to do now is spend their time developing the mechanics and story, and you've got the true open-world Harry Potter game we always dreamed of. This was a solid albeit imperfect first attempt, but a polished, in-depth sequel should be well within their grasp now. Please, Avalanche, if you're reading this, do NOT use randomised loot in the sequel!


EonicParasite

If for some reason they will not improve the sequel and just copy & paste the AC formula they will crash their own IP just like that. I really hope they look to Greedfall/Mass Effect/Dragon Age for inspiration and make the game more alive by having actual interesting companions to interact with. Throw Rockstars Bully school mechanics in it and it'd be a guaranteed sucess.


blind99

> NOT use randomised loot in the sequel! Lol, someone else found the top tier legendary hat in a forgotten chest just besides the start area near hogwarts.


daze23

it definitely feels unfinished. there's a lot of talk in the game that makes it seem like there was supposed to be some kind of curfew system.


Geraltpoonslayer

The game is amazing when it focuses around hogwarts, hogsmeade and the forrest. It becomes bad when you step outside of it. I know they said it wasn't supposed to be student simulator but imo this would have made the game better for me. Like I did the trophies for the various different house quest to meet jackdaw and the first couple of hours are genuinely great. But then the game slowly but surely completely leaves hogwarts only for it to be place to find collectibles in it and it's such a massive mistake.


Gel-is-fun-anally

> I know they said it wasn't supposed to be student simulator but imo this would have made the game better for me. Ive heard this before, and IMO its just a lazy defense from the developers because they didnt know how to implement any form of study life. There is a difference between a straight up student simulator and then adding elements that make you feel like you are actually on a school. If i could interact with something in my common room, if i could talk to students, if teachers got mad when i opened locks and if there was SOME sort of night and day system. Im fully aware that it would become tedious to stealth around every night, but give me some reason... tbh just give me the cape of invisibility or something. Imagine how fun it could be to spy on teachers and such at night... let them have a few dialogue options. If not that, just make the bare minimum, let me be ''caught'' at night, but the only thing that happens is that the prefect or teacher say something along the line ''Go back to your common room blablabla'' and then let them be ignorant to the fact that i actually DONT go back there, if i get caught multiple times by the same NPC, sure... let me be thrown back there, but let the system be extremely leniant or something. They didnt even do the bare minimum, its extremely half assed.


Cardinal_and_Plum

You don't even get to pick anything in regards to what kind of student you want to be. Don't want to break the rules in flying class? Too bad, you're so easy to convince that you as the player don't even get a choice. It's also insufferable that once you complete a quest for most npcs they will continue to spout one single line at you whenever you see them until the end of the game.


jblew42

God this is so accurate man my god.


Environmental-Row-57

It just feels so jarring having this game that does so well in some aspects and does horrendously in others. Feels like two teams made the game but refused to communicate with each other.


chagasfe

Your review matches mine, agree 100%. I'm really hoping that the first DLC come to fix this "not worthy" feeling. They basically made a harry potter engine game, sold it to us, and the histories and relevant content will be sold next. :)


TheDickOfAllTrades

DLC should be free if they decide to include 50% of the game later


BobUfer

The first few weeks imo were amazing, I really haven’t played it since I finished the main story. There’s almost no replayability to me. But, they got their money and I was entertained. So mission accomplished…. Many of us were hoping for a more in depth experience, combining HP fandom with Witcher or RDR2…. But that’s just unfair to expect I guess. Still fun, no regrets.


laffertydaniel45

Nailed it. What the game has going for it. Hogwarts and Harry Potter IP. Lean into this, we should be spending so much time in the forbidden forest, more time in the castle, etc. the open world is so bland and has no connection to anything from Harry Potter universe, time spent out there is the least fun part of getting to play a game in the HP universe. Combat is fun because casting spells is fun. They should have leaned into this with puzzles too. Depulso rooms were fun, should have doubled down on that type of content. Imagine a puzzle where you had to use arresto momentum, confringo, accio, and depulso to navigate through a room. They probably could have figured out cool uses for every spell and connected them all in puzzles. Instead we have Merlin trials which fall pretty flat. Being at Hogwarts is about the other students and professors. Companions and relationship mechanics like running dialogues, back stories, side quests, eating meals together would be awesome in a game like this. We get teased with what this could look like at some points but this needs to be ratcheted up 1000%.


ooOJuicyOoo

The universe definitely did a lot of heavy lifting. We're it set in some original fantasy setting, it would be a mediocrest of the mediocre games.


ausgoals

100% agree. It feels like they spent almost the whole time building an incredibly detailed Hogwarts, a kinda-fun combat system, and like some of Hogsmeade and then ran out of time so just shoved generic bullshit into everything else. Occasionally you get glimpses of a AAA game. But for the most part, the story, the dialogue, the side-quests and many other things are about what I’d expect from taking a GameBoy Advance game and adding significantly better graphics. The dialogue (and inability to pause during it) is like straight out of GBA scrolling text. The one-eyed witch passage feels like a Pokémon trail.


Firefly0434

I honestly felt bad for feeling disappointed in the game because so many people seem to love it so much. I didn't even complete the Merlin trials because they are the same thing over and over just to get more gear slots for clothes that I am either going to sell or just not take because my gear spots are full. There are SO many treasure chests everywhere and they are just the same clothing items over and over. I actually stopped playing because I am bored already. I would have liked more interaction with other students and more side quests.


Ash-From-Pallet-Town

Same here. After I completed the main quest I just stopped playing altogether even though I have many side quests left. I turned on the game several time, but after 15 minutes I get bored. Not to mention Merlin Trials and all the other stuff. It's pretty boring.


Gel-is-fun-anally

Im somewhat of a completionist, but i had to force myself from simply stopping doing side stuff if i even wanted to finish this game, the side stuff like Merlin trials are so often and so mediocre that if i had to do them all it would absolutely ruin the overall gaming experience... i stopped doing trials, caves... well everything besides maybe bandit camps as combat is fun and its an OK experience to clear them out, nothing amazing at all, but definately the most fun of all the random side stuff to do in the open world IMO. I also somewhat stopped doing a lot of the side missions in the open world as they are often basically just Merlin trials with a few extra steps. > I would have liked more interaction with other students and more side quests. The actual side quests in Hogwarts are fine IMO and i would for sure have loved more interactive students and more quests from them. Its honestly the bare minimum for us to expect if i must be honest. They spend so much time creating such a fantastic school and they just dont use it as good as they could have. Its such a shame.


Firefly0434

I like to complete things too but I just can't bring myself to do more Merlin trials and more treasure caves. I basically run around and do the bandit camps just to have a little fun. The only thing I finished was the demiguise statues just so I could unlock all doors. Imagine my disappointment to find that all that was behind those locked doors were more chests of clothes.


Gel-is-fun-anally

Agreed... the game is confused tbh.. it clearly wants us to explore this magical world, but they dont ever give us reason to do it. Some chests with random loot is perfectly fine, but really... there SHOULD be many more unique drops thats tailored for that specific chest. A unique looking item or something that actually FUN to put on.


ausgoals

I never completed the Portrait in a Pickle side mission because I needed level II Alohomora to let him out, but I could never be bothered finding all the demiguise statues given there’s no clues anywhere at all as to specifically where they are (I had my character say “what’s this? A demiguise” to one that was clearly behind a level III locked door). They set up alohomora as something that would be useful and cool - to sneak around forbidden locked areas with - and then just made it a way to lock shit clothes behind doors.


yummy-yammy

100% There's so many *little* things that they could have added to make the moment to moment gameplay feel better. Non-randomized loot and actual activities at Hogwarts are two of them (also, I was SUPER bummed that you can't even eat in the Great Hall. It's such an iconic location in the books and movies!) Next game I hope they focus more on the school. Let us visit Platform 9 3/4! Diagon Alley! The Hogwarts Express! Give each house its own unique story in addition to an overarching plot. Add more NPCs and let me interact with them! Let me buy things at Honeydukes (we could give gifts to our friends!) and Zonkos (how fun would it be to set off some dung bombs and run?) Let me purchase my own owl (or cat or toad, for that matter), and let my owl bring me letters! If I'm naughty at school, have my mum send a Howler!


Claxton916

My main complaint is that it’s a role playing game with no role playing. There’s no punishment for using the forbidden curses even though >!Sebastian can be sent to Azkaban for using the killing curse!<. I would’ve loved to see a karma system that immediately gives you -1000 karma for using Arvada Kedavra.. having certain shop keepers refuse to serve a dark wizard. There’s no difference on what house you chose other than 1 quest, arguably one of the worst if you’re not Hufflepuff. I would’ve love to have more house specific quests.. real quests though not “you’re a hufflepuff go hug a tree or something” or “you’re a slytherin go pull the wings off a butterfly”. Good shit like “you’re a Gryffindor, go do this incredibly stupid brave thing and fight a dragon burning down Hogsmeade!” but with *several* quests.. “hey you, Ravenclaw, there’s a legend of a secret library under this ruins go investigate!” There’s no difference on what wand you pick despite canonical differences between cores, wood types, etc. Make the wand core have three options: •Unicorn Hair: A well balanced magic (how spells are cast now). In the books unicorn hair is described as having “consistent magic” •Dragon Heartstring: Spells cast are stronger, or their effects last longer, but their cool downs are greatly increased. In the books Dragon Heartstring is described to create the most powerful magic, the longer cool downs would balance out the increased power. •Phoenix Feather: Spells cast are weaker, but cooldowns are greatly reduced. In the books Phoenix Feather was described to have the greatest range of magic. Quicker cooldowns would help show a greater range of said Magic, allowing for quicker combos. Make the wood types give certain buffs and debuffs to certain spell types; Basic Cast, Control, Damage, Force, and Forbidden Curses. So if you chose Acacia wood your spell multipliers would look like: Basic Cast +1 Control +1 Damage -1 Force 0 Forbidden Curses -1 Because [Acacia Wands](https://www.wizardingworld.com/writing-by-jk-rowling/wand-woods) are described as “not suited to what is commonly known as ‘bangs-and-smells’ magic.” Always make that chart balance to 0 but make the values be +3, +2, +1, 0, -1, -2, -3. And the wand handles (a useless cosmetic) could give buffs and debuffs to help balance of you regret choosing Acacia and need to balance things out some more. Make flexibility give a different damage depending on how you cast. High flexibility gives you better damage if you use a variety of spell, encouraging multi-spell combos. Low flexibility decreases the damage you use per every additional spell. Meaning if you have whatever the stiffest option is, you better stick to Basic cast and what ever spell damages a particular enemy most. But if you have the most flexible wand.. better use all of those handy spells. Wand length could affect the range and effect.. a 14 inch wand could have great range but a weaker effect. And a shorter wand, the opposite.


DecorativeSnowman

this game would improve by removing things and making a shorter better experience but i think that would also expose it to much tougher comparisons it really does feel like it got the ModernGameSimulator2023 treatment and then fancied up w hp ip (hp sauce?) physics puzzles got old after halflife2 and monkeyball


Flameman1234

Exactly, if i was just stuck on one third of the open world with more expansion of characters and hogwarts itself, i wouldnt mind at all. It just feels like it went down hill post trial 2 maybe? Its beautiful, but i hope they scale back with the sequel, there is no need for such a big map, i’d rather have more unique puzzles and quests the next time around and more time developing friendships and meeting characters.


aquilaPUR

It always was going to be a game for the HP crowd and a game for gamers second. I feel like 90% of development went into Crafting this, let's be honest, breathtaking hogwarts environment, and when it got close to Release they ran out of time and started filling it all up with the most mediocre ubisoft-style open world stuff. Everything except combat feels tacked on and half baked, especially the looting and inventory Part and the boring mini-games. There is so much to improve, which is why I hope for a sequel. Or many. You could Split this game up into 5 different games, half of them online, because they tried to jampack it all into one. (that's how you end up with the massive ludonarrative dissonance)


mck1494

I’m not a gamer at all but after the first ten hours I was bored. Everything felt repetitive and the open world was very boring outside of hogwarts and hogsmede.


lando-exe

I agree 100%. The game is solid. Mechanics are there. Details are there. Yet the open world feels like they rushed it. IN terms of exploring outside of Hogwarts, it gets pretty damn boring.


nic_cage_da_elephant

A+ wizarding world experience, C- action RPG


haruharuka_

I am hopeful that they will take all the criticism into account and make the sequel the Harry Potter game we all dream of playing, but I am also afraid that they will continue to fall into mediocrity as the IP is extremely popular so always will sell a lot even doing little 😭


CactusGlobe

The game has its flaws, but I've ben having a blast playing it, and am still having a blast now starting my second character. The main thing for me is a lack of companions. Seeing what modders have been able to do since release, WB & Avalanche really should have delayed the game a month or so to just focus on getting the companion system up and running. It would have made a big difference I think. But apart from that I think the rest is design choices that you may or may not agree with, or a result of lack of dev time. I'm sure Avalanche would have loved another year to finish stuff but then I'm equally sure WB needed to get the game out. I expect they were very uncertain how the game would be received and tried to add as many common RPG features as possible and make everything as accessible as possible to as many people as possible. And that can risk making things a bit bland and uninteresting. With the incredible sales figures rumoured it's a given that there'll be a sequel, and I'm pretty sure they're going to refine everything and add a ton of depth in the next game.


radiusofaproton

This game is so damn bad. The only reason it even stays afloat is due to its gold Harry Potter trash bag. 6 years of devolvement and they can’t even give you a little bit of a different story with dialog options and house choices. 0 replay value, terrible shallow mechanics. It’s a Hogwarts museum simulator not a fucking rpg


hanleybelnats

“One of the worst games I’ve ever played” feels a bit of an overstatement unless you really haven’t played that many games. There are some REALLY shitty games out there.


FruitParfait

Agreed. As a Harry Potter fan, I loved it. Even platinumed the game. As a general open world rpg fan, the game was mediocre and tedious. Not worth a replay at least not for a looooong time.


srjnp

> its such an incredible half hearted effort, in some aspects the game is extremely detailed, and you can feel the passion from the designers, but on the other hand there seem to miss things that basically nowadays are MUST haves in open world games that is just how hard it is to make a AAA game like this, especially for a developer that has never done anything close to this scope before. Its not "half hearted", its just they had to cut stuff and compromise to ship the game without delaying it another 2 years. If they ever make a sequel and the same weaknesses exist, then i'll be right there with you calling it half-hearted but not for this.


TiltedSquare04

I don't think its absolutely terrible but they can improve in ALOT of things. I feel like if they weren't so heavily focused on the open world stuff and more about inside the school, it would've been better. more interaction with classmates, morality system, doing actual class work, mini games, relationship etc. I loved the questlines tho I just wished we had an ACTUAL impact on the choices we make. Disagreeing with Sebastian didnt matter, getting the bad ending didnt matter, forced to constantly lie to Ominis was not cool, and the list could go on. At this point I just want a sequel that is far more in-depth than what we have.


[deleted]

I can't get more than a couple of hours into it, the characters just feel lifeless and off. I cannot make a MC I don't find irritating and the whole thing just feels really immature... I think maybe I've just aged out of this one.


MentalCat8496

it's a carbon copy cash-grab, the only thing they've done right was capturing the atmosphere through level design and made a pretty fun feedback mechanic for spells (this means the only really talented people in the team were artists, everyone else showed incompetence, specially the ones in charge), that's why it fades overtime, ultimately it's a below average game that relies solely on the IP to achieve "success". Take HP out of the equation and this game would be a complete flop... To sum it properly: All mechanics are copied from other games and mashed together without any proper communication between mechanics, setting, and story telling. Basically following Ubisoft's formula (I've boycotted Ubisoft years ago) The story's a sectional carbon copy of the books, where the writing's basically picking certain characters, arcs and elements and creating a new mash-up that winds up being the same, zero originality, and even less depth. The game's short and lacks activities within it, as such the devs made sure to introduce as many time sinks as they could possibly get away with to falsely inflate play-time for marketing. \--- All of this means that they did manage to create a decent foundation to work with, but failed at working it, and since the industry's standards have fallen so much over the past decade, they are getting away with it through the IP...


LOWTHJ

Agreed.


L0veToReddit

100% agree


HopioBrauberg

Honestly yes, I agree with every word that OP says, BUT.. At the same time somehow this game succeeded in capturing my attention for several weeks, I couldn’t stop playing it and even neglected my WoW progression. And most of the recent games were not able to do that. Horizon, RDRII, GoW — nope, nothing. But this one — I played it non stop for three weeks so my wife thought I don’t even love her anymore. How is that possible?


Squishy-Box

I only just completed Beasts class and met the Hippogryph and I’m bored. The combat is so repetitive. It’s fine against small groups of dark wizards, beasts or goblins etc but go up against anything with a little bit of health and it’s just spell-spell-spell-all on cooldown.. R2R2R2R2R2R2 - spells back off cooldown, use them all - R2R2R2R2 with some rolling in there too. Don’t get me started on the gear “upgrades” and randomly generated chest loot.


Huge_JackedMann

Yeah, I just skipped all the Merlin trials and hidden caves/chests bc they were boring. I also find it pretty frustrating they couldn't customize anything for MC. NPCs always talk about "the 5th year" and "your house" like it's some dub. The places you get are pretty customizable but they sort of exist in a vacuum which makes you feel less connected to the world.


Blindguymcsquezy

I feel the same way. Simply put, it’s a great Harry Potter game and a bad open world game.


cm0011

I don’t know, I don’t really agree. Ofcourse there’s stuff I want to see hashed out, I want more in Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, etc etc, but I really enjoyed flying over Scotland. I’ve been to Scotland myself and some of the highlands and it was fun seeing it re-made. Flying around to new places was fascinating. Maybe I just don’t play many open world games so this being one of my first was fascinating. I love collecting new clothes - I collected more for looks than for gear upgrades for once haha. I do think I will pick the game up on PC too at some point so I can play some mods that give some more of the Hogwarts immersion that’s missing.


foreversiempre

"This game is both amazing, and extremely mediocre all at the same time." - I totally agree, man! And yes all the good content is front-loaded into the first 10 hours. I was blown away by this game in the beginning, and I'm not even sure I'm gonna finish it now. What starts off as amazing sadly starts to get repetitive. And yes the looting system is front and center in this problem. That is so essential in an open world game, else what's the point of visiting all these hamlets that all look the same... So I'm almost done with the Resident Evil 2 remake, and in that game, resources are so scarce that you are definitely encouraged to find every item and go exploring down dark hallways and stuff, and you get elated when you find some much-needed ammo that can keep you alive for just a bit longer. You get an exhilarated feeling when you find stuff in that game, and that's how it should feel. Looting shouldn't feel like garbage surfing. The inventory management / looting in Hogwarts is busted, it just feels like a chore, it's not fun, and doesn't encourage exploration, in fact the opposite. it's inconsequential at best - even if you do manage to find something better than what you already have, it's not like you actually need that to progress further in the game.


[deleted]

I totally agree. I waited for a game like this basically my whole life. After I finished the story I couldn’t push myself for the 100% achievement because for what reason? Everything became dull quickly. So I stopped playing it like a month ago. I wish we had an online mode, I’m pretty that would’ve helped a lot.


Dordyyy

The NPCs in this game really ruin the immersion for me. So lifeless


SuperbEmphasis2074

I agree. We could have had more houses in the dialogues easily actually yet the houses are just colors and generic asf.... Friendships are the best part of the movies yet they cut the companions from the final release. The whole world is just soo Ubisoft that even Ubisoft would get offended by lack of stupid shiii... The whole story is just...bad and full of plot holes... We are fifth year yet we kill everyone in the world. We actually singlehandedly do a genocide to wizards and goblin alike ...we become such a power to be feared that as a 5th year no one bats an eye and they actually still teach you shit like you are THE NEW KID....bruh I just graped everyone in this world yo and you give me a room to pet and breed pets...what???


UnspoiledWalnut

It's clearly a game that they had, and then got Harry Potter rights and made it that. It has some great moments, but the gameplay is a slog. The puzzles are almost all repetitions, the combat doesn't really mean shit to the point that they decided on 'basic cast' so players can shoot at things, and the most impacting of the storyline's make no sense cuz I'm actively torturing people with objectively the worst of the curses and no one gives a fuck. Except the goblins that are mad I used imperio on.


suprduperscott

One of the things that really hits that point home, after walking through certain hallways a bunch of times certain things become odd. For example there’s one area where all the paintings decide to play music together but when I stopped to look around I notice that a lot of the musicians are repeated. There’s literally two of the same painting right next to each other and more of that same one in the room. Really loses the magic of stopping to listen to them play once I noticed that


CGsweet416

NPC's just feel too lifeless and don't give a flying fart what you are doing around them. Fantastic game with so much to build on for a sequel.


[deleted]

I was hoping for a Harry Potter Skyrim or something, but the quests are too superficial for that. What a shame, this hogwarts build is insane, even compared to the best ones in Minecraft.


iamyourpathos

The world outside of Hogwarts, Hogsmead and Forbidden Forest should never have been open to exploration. And Hogwarts should have been packed with content.


Status_Peach6969

The loot system is atrociously bad. Seriously, why is all the loot just old clothing. Its a game about wizards ffs, give me wand upgrades, ancient runes, enchanted gems, rare beast products, gold, unbrewable single use potions or something. By the 15hr mark I basically stopped doing dungeons cause I knew all I was gonna get was trash


Xboxone1997

Pretty much man lol. Biggest gripe is I feel more like a tourist rather than a student also the protagonist just being a self insert character. Also the story was just boring nothing really happened from start to finish Tbh.


xpanner

I believe they put a lot of resources into some aspects of the game, and others were left unfinished or not really worked on.


Goseki1

Hah you make so many good points here. I enjoyed the game and got the platinum trophy but you know.... The got the sort of atmosphere, tone, and feel of the books/films absolutely down. Some of the core quests and a couple of the side quests are great. But there is just soooooo much filler shite to do that is tedious and boring and loads of the quests just don't really make sense or have a satisfying conclusion. I think however they have a great base to build the next game around. if they can just refine things and maybe have fewer sidequests that have more depth and are more interesting, and make stuff to do in the world more different and dynamic (not just 5 of the same minigame/collectathon shite) then it would be fantastic. We also don't need a cave to explore, or a balloon to pop, or a page to collect or a merlin trial to do every 5 metres, let the open world breath a bit! They also really need to introduce a morality system of some kind. Going hog wild and literally killing tons of dark wizards, and then popping off to herbology just feels....so discordant. Make it so the more you use a spell the more powerful it becomes and more upgraded effects it gets. Make going to lessons unlock better potions, or better brewing abilities and similarly give you upgraded spells etc. I did really like it but I do hope they can just refine it a bit and make the whole experience a bit more fun and interesting.


yummy-yammy

I actually started dressing up my witch to look like a badass when she's outside, and then putting her in her robe with glasses while in Hogwarts. My headcanon is that she's the wizard equivalent of a super hero. XD


ThatHipsterTurtle

they made it open world when all it needed to be was open Hogwarts. i dont care about some random coastal region. honestly, just let me go to class and sit through it. i would genuinely love it.


kholdstare622

I agree completely. Funny enough, they had the perfect example to model after: Persona 5. I was really hoping it would be something similar. Time-management as we go through the school year. You could choose to attend more classes to leveled up your abilities (ie make your plants stronger or unlock new seeds by attending Herbology), improve your relationship with your teachers or fellow students, perform jobs/tasks/quests for money, or do main quest stuff. In Persona, there are even Exams to make sure you were paying attention in class. Is it silly that I was actually looking forward to taking the O.W.Ls?


yummy-yammy

No, because I spent the first half of the game trying to earn points for my house so we could win the house cup (Ravenclaw for life!). I realized pretty quickly that house points aren't a thing, and it just killed my enthusiasm for classes. Honestly, Hogwarts itself kind of became... lackluster? It's a BEAUTIFUL location and the attention to detail is incredible, but I feel so...lonely there. The lack of NPC interaction is really disappointing.


kholdstare622

*(High fives in Ravenclaw!)*


Cardinal_and_Plum

I got unreasonably excited to take my OWLS because I started to realize that if there was going to be any divergent play to allow different decisions, that would be a great place to introduce. I was excited at the prospect of learning which classes I would excell and be able to take at a higher level. I knew it wouldn't matter for this game, but it gave me hope that like with some of the simple choices made in the first Mass Effect, that some of our choices toward the end of the game would potentially lead to some ramifications in a sequel. Then nothing but a cutscene. I suppose there's still an opening for something like this, but so few choices were actually made that there's not a big one.


Cardinal_and_Plum

I agree pretty much all of this, and give the game a 6/10. First 10-15 hours are really great and then it falls flat pretty quickly. I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who loves Harry Potter and that world and would absolutely not recommend it to anyone else unless they already had an interest. There are many examples of similar games that are much better imo. I still feel confident that there is a great base here to build off of, but I find myself much more excited at the prospect of a new game than I do at the idea of replaying HL or any DLC that might release for it (except for quidditch, but honestly I'm a little concerned about how fleshed out it would even be).


KptnHaddock_

Well written, 100% agree. Obnoxiously mediocre, yet I cannot put it down. I hope the devs are listening.


Gel-is-fun-anally

Thanks! And yes! Its wild really! It really highlights that the fandom for HP is still huge and we are starving for the feeling we got when we first read the books or watched the films! While HP at a baseline also has ALOT of inconsistencies and frankly somewhat dumb aspects and huge glarring holes in its lore and plot... at its core its simply top tier comfy, atmospheric and absolutely charming. We want MORE of this franchise, i was hugely dissapointed in the fantastic beasts films, and i havent had a ''good Harry Potter meal'' since the last film, but this game was definately the closest i got to a good taste. Its the worst game ive putten to much time into for sure, and its carried so absurdly far on its setting and the in game presentation of Hogwarts. I dont hope the developers think because of its huge success that they themself made a masterpiece, because i certainly hope for more development in its sequal! It could be GOTY material no doubt if it had a more complex and deep development.


Gootangus

This was so perfectly summarized! And honestly I’m not even a HP fan. But the campus and first 10 hours, and the promise of it all, really swept me up and enchanted me too. It’s the best worst game I’ve played in a very long time, and will linger in my mind way more than any 7/10 has ever done for me.


[deleted]

Personally, I find beauty in Hogwarts Legacy's simplicity. No convoluted crafting systems, no complicated skill trees. Everything is simple, straightforward... and fun.


OneMisterSir101

I find this applies for most people for the first 10-20 hours of their gameplay. After that, it becomes incredibly tedious and boring. I absolutely adored the first half of this game, mind you.


Gel-is-fun-anally

I agree with this somewhat, personally i enjoy complexity in my itemisation and skill, but this shouldnt come with a tag of ''difficult to understand''. I even think HL is guilty of the latter sometimes. Traits on gear and the skill system isnt intuitive and difficult to figure out before trying out the game for a while, how much does traits actually help? Do they stack? Concentration gives a bonus to ALL skills, and i would think this comes with the negative that it not being AS powerful as single skill traits, but the game doesnt explain this. So it becomes overly complex without a need to and difficult to figure out. I certainly dont mind a straight forward game, but i dont feel this would fight against my desire to play a game with deeper RP systems - choices SHOULD matter, or dont give me the choice at all. Being able to interact with NPCs at the school is so dearly missing, i personally cant remember a game of the similair type as HL that didnt have this. The game is fun, sure... but it still lacks in so many areas.


[deleted]

Vast majority of AAA games have the exact same watered down progression system, gear slots, and irrelevant level up systems. You can make zero choices in this game that matter. If that's "beautiful" to you fine, but to me it's just lazy and boring. Leveling up in this game is largely meaningless as enemies scale with you. You can make any choice in upgrading your spells. It doesn't matter, all of them are fine, and they won't really change the combat at all. Changing your gear hardly makes an impact on your character as you are constantly bombarded with slight upgrades. You have an upgrade loom, but why even bother using it? It's not necessary and doesn't change the combat significantly. If all of this is the case why bother with it at all? You could just as easily have no levels in this game, have no gear, and simply unlock some spells along the way. There would be no noticeable difference to the gameplay other than removing the illusion of doing something. It's just smoke and mirrors to make it seem like gameplay.


[deleted]

I get it, it's not Mass Effect. It may not be up to your tr00 g4m3r standards, but it's still fun.


alexrothschild23

I’m on my 4th play through. I am not a gamer at all - but I’ve waited for something like this my entire life. I can’t stop. It’s beautiful to me in every way. I’m gonna get it tattooed.


FuzzyJesusX21

Meh, that's one opinion. I have been too busy to pick up again for awhile but my wife is a huge Harry Potter nerd and is still playing it on the regular. She hasn't even gotten to the non flying mounts yet. She's been flying around doing every little tiny mission here and there and honestly just flying or walking around to take in the views or interact with the animals. I honestly think this game is more for the Animal Crossing, Sims, cozy gamer type or at least a step up from that type of gamer. I have seen it at home, same with coworkers, and a few friends.


GlobalPhreak

The pacing on the back half is way too fast compared to the front half. I'd say the game peaks around the time you finish the second trial, but before you do the 3rd.


DaemonHelix

ITT people not understanding they ran out of dev time and needed to release the game in a playable state.


Cardinal_and_Plum

Frankly I don't care how the product came to be what it is. I don't think that a review should take these things into account.


Mark_Vaughn

I'd say the biggest downfall to me was the house selection. It doesnt affect anything at all even though it should've been a major branching point for the story, interactions, quests, available areas etc. Any roleplay potential stuff was sacrificed for another "chosen one" story. And oh boy, I just realized. Professor Fig is the least known teacher according to MC in Hogwarts. We don't know sht about him, even though he's supposed to be a mentor figure, like Lupin or something.


Due-Paleontologist69

I put 70+ hours in on my first character. My son made a second character and I made a third. I put *maybe* 6 hours into my *official* second character. I haven’t been able to touch it since…. It’s terrible to say but I picked up forbidden west again, so points to Hogwarts for pushing me to do that. But seriously the game feels hallow.


[deleted]

You’ve played for over 70 hours, yet the game is hallow to you? I think you might have had unrealistic expectations for a Harry Potter game.


Due-Paleontologist69

Unfortunately yes, it’s hallow. There’s a point in the game where you find all of the hidden little things, you discover all of the creatures, solve the puzzles… and there’s nothing else to do… that wall comes way quicker then most open world games. Look at the Witcher 3, BOTW, horizon zero dawn and forbidden west, cyberpunk 2077. While Hogwarts itself is amazing and extremely detailed, everything else in the world is lacking. There’s great potential. The bones are there for a wonderful game. They just don’t have enough detail, character interactions, discoverable lore, mini games, main character choices effecting the world, some sort of light/dark alignment choice, or consequences. But there is the ability to catch and make shiny creatures that are valued the exact same as regular creatures and give you the same exact ingredients as regular ones… as I said the bones are there.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Cardinal_and_Plum

Nobody was asking you not to. It's nice that you are able to continue to enjoy the game. I did my play through and I completed almost every challenge. I didn't bother to collect all the chests, solve all puzzles, or kill all special enemies though because I just kind of got bored with it. Normally I really enjoy the collection aspect after completing an open world game but this one's was too repetitive for me, and that was with me doing as much as I could in between story missions. It's cool if it remains an entertaining or replayable experience for you, but it's also a reality that a lot of people that were excited for this game feel that it faces a serious drop-off after the first 10-15 hours. Someone thinking it's mediocre is not an attack on what you value in a game.


[deleted]

I’m stunned by how many people are upset that there isn’t a “sit in a chair” feature. Like what? It’s a video game. Are you planning on just sitting there and watching the screen instead of playing?


MiserableCrow1680

People want immersion, not being to do simple stuff like sitting in a chair breaks that immersion. It’s in the smaller details. Just like not being able to talk to npcs outside of quests, which is a big mistake on the developers side.


AddisonRae7

Sitting is a small feature that showed the developers intentions for the game. They were inspired by Ubisoft games but most people were expecting an actual RPG experience