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Hogwarts Legacy


DisturbedSwan
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This is a massive WRPG based on the Harry Potter book/film series from the early to late 2000s. Potter, Malfoy, Hermione, Ron, Neville & Co. aren't in this though as it is set in the late 1800s, so it's set in the same world and there are certainly plenty of references to the books/films, certain character names etc. and some fan service in terms of locations you'll visit (particularly the intro which is super cool for a Potter-fan, which I won't spoil) but it doesn't try too hard or wink metaphorically at you too much if that makes sense. You play as a new character of your choice who joins Hogwarts as a 5th year, one of the few Witches/Wizards that have done this in history.

 

The game is set in Hogwarts itself and its surroundings, no real surprise there. Hogwarts itself is absolutely gigantic, filled with labyrinthian corridors, dungeons, classrooms with all the key locales you'll recognise from the films like the moving staircase, broom lawn, clock tower etc. everything feels exactly as it should do, everything is in its correct place from the films and just feels right. Outside of Hogwarts is a humungous world to explore based on the Scottish Highlands, with plenty of greenery, forests and undulating hills, flora and fauna, Hogsmeade is largely the shopping district where you'll get all your bits needed for your classes and adventures throughout the region, it's every bit as charming as it is in the films and an absolute delight to just walkthrough and take in all the kookiness of the wizarding world you inhabit. 

 

The two core pillars to the game, as in many games I guess, are combat and exploration. The combat is easily what has surprised me about the game the most, I think when you look at it in videos it's quite easy to dismiss as being perhaps a bit overly simplistic but in your hands it's got a lot of depth to it. There's a weight to the spell casting that isn't easy to get across on video, I don't really know how to describe it but there's a wind-up to the animation, a motion, a movement to it, it's not just firing off little bolts of whatever spell, it feels like you've actually cast it if that makes any sense at all lol. Different enemies will have a shield that corresponds with a certain spell colour (red, purple, yellow are the main combat-based spells) which you'll have to use to break their shield and ultimately defeat them. You can have up to 12 named spells in the spell wheel at any one time (need to hold R2 and press one of the face buttons to cast), these act as special spells on a cooldown meter. On top of this you've also got your regular no-name spell which you can cast at anyone at anytime by pressing R2 (or by using L2, going into a 3rd-person over the shoulder aiming mode) which you can keep firing off at enemies whilst your special spells are on a cooldown. 

 

There's a lot of different enemy types I've encountered so far. These Guardian/Statue type things I guess a little bit similar to the Gargoyles in Souls games or something (maybe?), your more standard dark witches/wizards, Ashwinders which are kind of suped up dark witches/wizards, Spiders, Wolves, Trolls, Goblins, these little furball looking things that reside in rivers/lakes (can't remember the name), so there's a lot of variety there and each have their own strengths and weaknesses for you to exploit. Combat in this game is far from easy as well, it's not anywhere near something like Souls or something like that but you do have to think about your attacks, strategies etc. quite a bit, it's not mindless button mashing in the slightest, there is some strategy involved and some threat associated whenever you enter a combat scenario.

 

Exploration is handled a little more how you'd expect really, I absolutely hate the 'Ubisoft game' analogy as I feel it's a lazy quasi-criticism, I've played many and they're all slightly differently to one another but the closest analogy I can give to how this game handles its exploration is AC Valhalla. The landscapes are very similar on the surface of it, one being set mainly in England and this being set in the Scottish Highlands, there are these 'Merlin Trials' which are very similar to a lot of the little puzzles and glitches you see dotted around in that game. Standard kind of stuff like getting a ball from the top of a hill down into a hole, lighting three pillars before the time runs out, exploding 4 rock columns, having to lead a group of fireflies into a column to light it up, just little bits and pieces like that.

 

There's a lot of collectibles to get, the field pages are the most plentiful of the bunch, I think Hogwarts alone has over 100 of these that you get by pressing Revelio to reveal hidden objects in the surroundings, much like the pulse mechanic in a lot of games that reveals hidden items, there's also Chests, little statues, seals to find where you'll have to lead a dragonfly-type thing to a cabinet to squash it into the hole and open it up. Nothing too ground-breaking here or anything really no one has seen before, but they all work well in harmony with one another. Again, similar to AC Valhalla there's also dungeons and caves you can enter dotted around the landscape, the infamous bandit camps where you have to clear them out and find the chest to tick them off as completed, Balloons in the sky to pop whilst flying your broom, broom time trials, mini-games with your wand you can compete with other students at Hogwarts.

 

The game has such a fantastic atmosphere to it and is such a joy to explore, whether that's just walking around on foot or flying around on your broom, it's always visually arresting to just meander even if you don't have a set goal in mind. The attention to detail here is just absolutely staggering, there's a sweetshop in Hogsmeade and every single individual kooky wizardy type sweet is included in such an special authentic way, every aspect of the game feels extremely polished, it runs well and everything feels like it has that same attention to detail that the sweetshop has, it really is a sight to behold. Graphically, this is a current-gen showpiece, the world feels so alive and helps bring everything to life and look as magnificent as it does, the music in this game is absolutely fantastic as well and helps place you into this world. There's a few ditties in here that will sound familiar if you've seen the films but nothing is a straight up rip from the movies, everything feels unique and makes you feel like you're on your own adventure in this world, not reliving Harry's. The sound design with all the spells like 'Lumos' sounding exactly how it should from the films, is really special. Again, it just helps drive home how much attention to detail was spent in this world and getting everything right, in terms of world design and world building, it's nothing but a masterpiece. 

 

The story itself has been interesting too, I'm not too far in as I've been mostly ignoring it and doing collectibles, side quests and all that good stuff, but yeah it has been intriguing so far and I can't wait to learn more, I've only just got my broom at 22-ish hours in which is meant to be something you get within the first 3 hours, so I think I'm quite behind on this front lol. Talking of side quests, they're in here but largely unremarkable really, they're standard kind of side quests where you'll have to clear out a bandit camp to get an item or something like that, nothing out of ordinary. Occasionally you do get assignments from the various different classes at Hogwarts which will give you a couple of tasks to complete, this are usually more interesting and reward you with a nice little classroom scene once you hand it to the Professor in question.

 

So yeah, I think it is absolutely fantastic so far. I just wish I had more time to play more of it really, it's one of the best WPRGs I've played in recent years, feels like its had an awful lot of money spent on it and is just dripping in polish and attention to detail. A must-play if you're a fan of the films/books but I think a great game (so far) in its own right and well worth playing still if you're not. 

 

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10 hours in now, and this is really bloody good. It looks astonishing, and the level of depth is really impressive. There’s a lot to do, I’ve spent most of my time pissing about doing side quests. I’ve unlocked a fair few decent spells, and a broom. There’s so much to do, but it doesn’t feel overwhelming.

 

One thing I don’t like in open world games, is where they use an absolutely massive map, pretty much just for the sake of going “Look how huge the map is”. Only to populate it with either fuck all, or a total barrage of icons that feels overwhelming. I much prefer the approach that Yakuza does, use a smaller map, but have lots to do in it. This reminds me a bit of that. The castle doesn’t feel overwhelming, and every time you explore, you’re either bound to find something new, or something you can do something with once you get a new ability, Metroid style. 
 

It’s clearly had a lot of love put into it. I’m definitely not a franchise pro (read the books, seen the films, that’s it). But there’s still much to enjoy here.

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One slight issue I have with this, is how you configure your spell load out. You start off only being able to have 4 equipped. Eventually you unlock the “Talents” option, which basically allows you to use skill points to level up various different abilities (stealth, spell power, dark arts etc). One of those gives you the option to have a further 4 slots, and there’s 3 versions of that. 
 

As I’d done a fair bit of grinding before unlocking talents, I had 15 talent points to spend, 3 of which went on increasing my spell slots. 
 

Still, that hasn’t completely solved the issue. You have a selection of 4 spells, which can be anything you want, configuration-wise. With each of the extra slots you unlock, you can allocate 4 more spells to the face buttons. To reach each different load-out, you hold down R2, and press a directional button to access the other 4 slot load out you have. 
 

Outside of combat, it’s fine. But when you’re in combat, changing loadouts is a bit of a ballache. Especially when being bombarded with attacks from multiple enemies. 
 

To make it worse, there’s combat challenges to complete, some are simple enough (defeat so many enemies). Others are a bit more complicated (keep an enemy in the air for 10 seconds, set an airborne enemy on fire). These challenges pop up when in combat. If your spell load is a bit all over the place, these can be a real chore to do. 
 

Maybe it’ll feel better once I have more time with it. It can feel a bit clunky. Maybe it’s just me. 
 

Oh, and I just got the ability to unlock padlocks. There’s a minigame to complete that. Could I do it? Could I bollocks. Dyspraxia strikes again. Fortunately if you lower the difficulty to Story, you can auto solve them with a single button press. Thank fuck for that 😄

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  • 2 weeks later...

Fired this up today. Made my character and, after the fab opening gambit, I spent a couple of hours making my way around Hogwarts, taking a few quests, chasing butterflies back to the paintings they'd escaped from, joining the dueling club and winning my first battle etc..

 

This take on Hogwarts is exceptional I must say. It's really well done. Just walking around, looking at paintings and then stumbling into classrooms or common rooms is very satisfying. To be honest I'm a bit old for Potter, but my kids grew up on the stories, which sort of meant I spent a lot of time in that universe myself. As a gamer I'm finding this experience much more gratifying than the movies or books which, as I say, were a tad young for my tastes. An open world RPG full of magic is basically my thing, potterverse or not. And this certainly has the makings of a exceptional and deep RPG. Up to now I love it.

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Feckin Nora this is good. I can't even believe how good it is. I messed around in Hogwarts for about 6 hours, and when I eventually left the school grounds I found one of the best open worlds I've experienced in years. The first bit was so good I forgot this is an open world RPG and getting out there for the first time blew me away. It's just so full of stuff to find, and the dungeons are deep, complex and satisfying to explore.

 

I wasn't expecting any of this, but if you love western RPGs this is a must play. Plus it has a better combat system than just about any action RPG I can remember playing (and that's a lot). You have 4 loadouts and can flip between them in combat with the D pad, meaning that, with a bit of practice, mad combos are right there, and spell cooldowns are nullified by loadout switching on the fly. What I'm saying is that you can get really good at it if you want, in a sort of action game sense of the word - or you can have one workable loadout and just keep health potions and dodge your way thru cooldown periods. Options are here. You can be the Dante of Hogwarts, or a broken wanded Ron Weasley.

 

And the flying.... Don't get me started on my broom....

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Have meant to post more on this as I'm now 40 hours in, got an absolutely absurd amount of screenshots to show off but I keep forgetting lol. 

 

I pretty much echo @bellow's thoughts and have done throughout. Hogwarts itself is masterfully designed and appropriately labyrinthian in design and then you get into the open world and it's just as masterfully designed as Hogwarts really, unusual for a game these days but the world itself doesn't really feel too big, there's a lot to do without feeling bewildered or overwhelmed somehow and it doesn't really throw too much at you, just let's you explore.

 

I admittedly have almost completely neglected the story side of the game but it has been a little disappointing after the fantastic Intro/Tutorial, I'm probably still in the very early stages though despite putting 40 hours in. I've pretty much gone off exploring, doing all sorts of bits of pieces, finding collectibles, doing all the various activities there is to do etc.

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  • 2 weeks later...

This is rapidly turning into a top ten game of all time for me. (I wonder what it'll edge out. Haven't done a top 10oat for a while).

   It's like someone has asked the fundamental question, 'What does bellow like about WRPGs?' And they've just about answered every question. Deep exploration? check. A phenomenal hub area? Exciting combat? Endless magic? A believable game world? A great campaign and serious side quests? Intelligent QoL, with in-game transport that's such a joy you sometimes don't even think about the excellent fast travelling system.

 

I don't know. It's just wonderful.

 

I'm just glad those boycott campaigners raised it's profile so much that loads of people bought it. Should guarantee a sequel.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Finished 2 days ago, took me about 80-85 hours. Just been mopping everything up for the Plat which I got earlier today. Absolutely phenomenal game and one of the best WRPGs in recent memory, AAA WRPGs don’t really seem to be made anymore and when they do they don’t seem to go down too well nowadays so this has been such a tremendous, genuine surprise, from a team that previously had only developed Disney Infinity, pretty damn incredible.

 


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Finished this tonight. Exceptional game I thought. Wanted more really, and that's my only complaint. It had 32 side quests which were mostly as interesting as the main campaign as they were often linked to the concerns of fellow students and  had multiple 'episodes.' Some were a bit more basic, but in the main I found myself always happy to find a new quest marker. 

 

Got 53 hours out of it and I had a challenge completion of 93 percent, so I'm not really sure where @DisturbedSwangot those other 30 hours from. I can only assume he broke his broom and had to walk everywhere.

Can't recommend it highly enough.

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50 hours is bloody good going! I think it was probably the opening 20-30 hours where I spent a lot of time just revelio-ing around Hogwarts, Hogsmeade and other nearby settlements that did it lol, I don't think I even unlocked the broom until the 20 hour mark or so. I 100%'d the map as well (aside from a glitched page at Hogwarts unfortunately) and polished off various trophies so that's probably where the extra time came in too.

 

Once finished I had to go back and replay the first 2 hours or so with each of the other houses to get a trophy as well.

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