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Hogwarts Legacy Game Review

Hogwarts Legacy is a 2023 action role-playing game developed by Avalanche Software and published by Warner Bros. Games for PC and other platforms. It’s a phenomenal game.

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“It wasn’t you who told me what I needed to hear“

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As a huge Harry Potter fan I played every single major game released under this IP. Although most of them received mixed reviews, I loved playing the vast majority of those games with the Lego ones being the best of the bunch. But we’ve never really gotten a truly terrific game set in the Wizarding World, one that can appeal to not just HP fans, but gamers alike. This all changed with the release of Hogwarts Legacy in 2023, a game that was a huge seller and one that received for the most part excellent reviews and word of mouth. I was very excited to play this game and for the most part I was very satisfied with the end product.

This is an action role-playing game, the first RPG game in the franchise. It is played from a third-person perspective. It has character creation, which ended up being only okay. The clothing and other options fared much better than the aesthetics as the facial options were scarce. The game also was promised to have a morality system where you can choose to be evil and others would act accordingly around you, but that never materialized unfortunately.

Let’s first talk about the plot, which I really loved. It’s the most underrated aspect of this game where the creators really took their sweet time to introduce this world with some memorable characters and interesting new ideas added to this universe. It is clear that the fans of the series wrote and made this game as a lot of love was put into it. The choice to set the game in the late 1800s paid off as it led to a more intriguing and different world with characters that we get to meet for the first time. This is the way to go with these franchises – backwards or forwards and with new personalities and ideas that expand the mythology instead of shrinking it.

So yes, the script was surprisingly strong for this game. While undoubtedly it paled in comparison to the original book series, it arguably fared better than the Fantastic Beasts movies. Goblins have never gotten such a pronounced role in the franchise before, so it was refreshing that Hogwarts Legacy centered on the wizardkind-goblin conflict that was ripe for more exploration. The beginning of the game ranks among the best sequences ever in the history of this franchise – it was epic and simply enchanting.

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The ancient magic idea was something new and it worked in the context of this story. The trials fitted the gameplay so well and the same goes for the classes, though I wished for more of them in the second half of the game’s span. Ultimately, the story is simple, but for a video game it was pretty good and satisfactory while also being populated by some very interesting, well realized characters.

Deek was a lovely new addition to the house elf canon while Ranrok was quite menacing and memorable as the big villain of the story. Rookwood was also badass. The battles that you have to take against these two rank among the hardest and most memorable of the bunch. Of the professors, Hecat and Weasley were best defined, but Professor Fig was the heart of the story and his arc was strong.

Isidora’s arc was quite tragic and those flashbacks were very intriguing. Through Poppy we got to explore the animal smuggling issue in the wizarding world and Natsai was a likable presence among the protagonist’s friends. Ominis was also very interesting, but of course Sebastian Sallow by far was the best and most interesting character in this game. His tragic backstory is so well explored and his arc is one that is heartbreaking and so complex. In order to save his sister, he turns to dark magic, which negatively influences his closest friends and family. It was a great choice to make you learn the unforgivable curses through his character and his story was so fascinating and striking that it unfortunately put the main storyline to shame in the process.

This is an open world game and its world is absolutely huge for better and for worse. Clearly inspired by Soulsborne games in its world and combat mechanics, Hogwarts Legacy offers dozens of hours of gameplay, which is wonderful for the fans of the franchise in particular. While I loved exploring each new area to the minutest detail, I also found this world overwhelmingly large to the point that it was exhausting at times.

My main issue is that in the second half of the game’s span we move from Hogwarts to the surrounding hills in the Scottish Highlands. While those landscapes were gorgeously visualized and so adventurous to explore, I did wish to go back to the castle from time to time and unfortunately way too often the game forsake Hogwarts itself, which was a problem as the castle is in the title. The classes that we get to attend are wonderfully cozy and charming, but they only help you learn all of the spells in the game’s roster, and after you learn them you only get to go to the castle to find collectibles. More quests and gameplay mechanics were needed in Hogwarts itself.

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With that being said, the castle looked incredible. It was pretty much the castle that we see in the movies. It is similar to the fifth game in the franchise, but it’s so enlarged that it felt genuinely huge. Although its staircases and numerous floors made it overly labyrinthine at times, having a map and a clear directive in the form of footsteps made roaming around it much easier. I loved the castle and I wanted more of it, but thankfully the mountains, lakes and caves were all very intriguing to explore and my highlight was actually Diagon Alley as the best utilized Harry Potter setting of the bunch. It looked so incredibly charming as every single shop is well utilized and there are so many chests and interesting quests to obtain there.

What I want from the sequel is all of the things that were missing here. The game does a lot, don’t get me wrong, but a more cozy approach was desperately missing here. I want more of the castle, but also more classes, more NPCs in it and a house point system that would be wonderful to have in this type of game. Quidditch will also be lovely to play and I want to see many more mini-games inside the castle too. This original game is a great foundation, but the second game could definitely be even better and these additions would make the sequel truly fantastic.

One of the highlights is the Room of Requirements, which was stupendously realized within this game. Not only was it true to the book series that inspired it, but it fitted the gameplay so well as it functioned as a huge additional mini-game on its own right. You can modify the room as you like with so many options present. You can also brew potions and grow plants that you can use in battles. I found the plants’ usage limited, but potions were certainly highly helpful as this is an RPG after all. Wigenweld Potion was the most useful one as health is crucial in combat while Maxima Potion was especially valuable during the hardest battles as it increases damage inflicted on the enemies.

There are so many valuable things to buy in Diagon Alley that you can take to the Room of Requirement, including herbs and potions and even enlarging your potions stations as well as the animal habitats. Yes, there is even a vivarium in this room where you can take care of various magical beasts. There are different vivariums based on different ecosystems and you can put feeding areas and even toys in there for your beasts. You catch beasts with an interesting stun and pull into a knapsack mechanic that was beautifully utilized and encountering many different animals in different areas in the highlands made for such an adventurous playthrough.

There are thirteen beasts in total to obtain in the game with the highlights being the adorable Niffler and Puffskein, the cute and gracious Mooncalf, the majestic Thestral and the magnificent Hippogriff that you can ride. You can also ride a Graphorn after defeating it in a battle that was among the game’s hardest. Riding him was so cool and you feel like a badass doing it.

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By far the most accomplished aspect of the gameplay is the combat, which ranks among the best in entire gaming. Dueling in Hogwarts Legacy makes you feel like a real wizard, which is something that the movies never could replicate. Dodging, throwing many different spells or objects at your opponents and being inside all this mayhem with so many different enemies made for an exhilarating gaming experience that never ceased to be thrilling.

This incredibly complex combat comes with a caveat and that is the control scheme, which is definitely very demanding to get a hold of properly. It took me quite a bit of time to get accustomed to the controls, but at least you have the option to put the spells in the order that most suits you personally, which helped things out considerably. Playing it on PC, I was overwhelmed with a sheer number of buttons that I had to push at all times, but playing it on consoles must be even more difficult.

What you have here is a list of spells at your disposal, each spell being put into a different color category. Yellow spells are control spells, purple spells are force spells, red spells are damage spells whereas green spells are the three unforgivable curses. When the opponent puts on a shield, it has one of those colors and you have to break it by targeting them with a spell of the corresponding color.

That is the crucial element of combat, one that makes each battle much easier if you do it right. But you also can use potions and plants while the dodging (especially the improved one) was a significant defense boost for me personally. Protego was personally not my favorite. It works, but dodging was a much more stable choice for defense. As for ancient magic, when that meter is filled, you can throw that attack on one of the opponents, which depletes their energy significantly. It was the most powerful and badass part of each battle. Throwing various objects at your enemies was also very well utilized and the same goes for many different tasks that you get to finish off opponents by mixing certain spells and moves.

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How Alohomora worked was interesting and that puzzle was easy and fun to play. I did not use Petrificus Totalus all that much as I found the stealth elements in the game totally unnecessary and disposable. Revelio was superbly utilized for exploration. Reparo, Wingardium Leviosa and Arresto Momentum were well realized, but barely used. Levioso was quite helpful and throwing enemies over the cliff made for a very satisfying instant kill. The transformation spells were fun, but only that as they weren’t essential.

Glacius was underrated and useful, Descendo and Depulso were quite useful as most purple spells like Accio too were. Flipendo and Bombarda I did not use as much, though they had their purpose. Diffindo was cool, but hardly essential. Confringo was very powerful, Expelliarmus was so well utilized as a disarming spell, Incendio was ridiculously strong, especially for creatures such as spiders and Inferi. Avada Kedavra was of course ridiculously overpowered and Imperio made you turn enemies on your side, which was so cool, but Crucio was far from crucial.

Although I did want more mini-games inside this huge RPG, the ones that we got were great and the game is full of interesting side things that you can do after you finish the main campaign. You can use Revelio to find the missing book pages scattered all around the castle and its surroundings, which was a lot of fun. Finding Daedalian Keys was also fun, but a bit more difficult. Astronomy Tables added a lovely astronomic spin while Arithmancy Puzzle Doors were the rare puzzle included in the game and once you get the hang of them, these puzzles are not that hard. It was wonderful that these lesser-known classes got their due in this game.

Following the butterflies was wonderful and Merlin Trials were outstanding. They were versatile and different in each trial as some require platforming while others functioned more as puzzles with the majority centering on collectables. Whatever the case, these trials never bored me. The only side missions that I strongly disliked were the Demiguise Statues. You can only find these during night, but most require the improved Alohomora, which made finding them way too exhausting.

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Hogwarts Legacy was actually at its best during side quests. Those were just as memorable as the main campaign, though obviously not as important in storytelling with the exception of Sebastian’s arc that was incredible. The side quests definitely were filled with those where you had to help out somebody by fighting creatures or collecting something, but most were so well done with the highlights being those where you had to find a hidden cave or swim in a lake.

I just wished that the NPCs had bigger and more nuanced roles and a stronger impact on the story and your character himself. While I loved hearing about their stories and their problems, most of the students and the people in surrounding areas were overly positively characterized and lacking depth.

With that being said, the voice acting was phenomenal, especially the main performance as the main character sounds eerily similar to Harry Potter’s voice while still being himself. Almost every single voice in the game was memorable, charming and lovely, significantly helping out the feel and atmosphere of the game that is charming and brimming with life and coziness.

Graphically speaking, it’s a beautiful-looking game that is consistently gorgeous to behold with the highlights being the meticulously detailed castle and the immensely cozy Hogsmeade that has a storybook quality to it. The hills with caves and lakes looked splendid and the highlight was the change of seasons and night-day cycle. When winter came, I was having a blast going around snowy landscapes. It was pure magic. The enemy designs were fantastic too and the effects were thrilling with the duels being suitably colorful and bombastic.

The sound on the game was also superb and quite evocative throughout, but the score left a lot to be desired. The music that was here was excellent, but the problem here was the general lack of score throughout this game that way too often traded music for lived-in thrills with no score and just sound. The result is a realistic, but far from moving approach that did not quite work.

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The game had no bugs to speak of, the menus were organized so well and the length was commendable as you have numerous hours of playing time at your disposal. The battles were well executed and the A.I. was surprisingly clever. The difficulty curve was just right as it offers a solid challenge for anybody who isn’t fully powered up with gear and potions. I didn’t personally care for gear and I did not use it much, but at least that option was there for RPG fans.