Hogwarts Legacy review

Developer Avalanche Software and publisher Warner Bros Games take a tricky test with the new Harry Potter game, but just how good is Hogwarts Legacy on PS5?

[Hogwarts Legacy Switch](https://www.radiotimes.com/technology/gaming/hogwarts-legacy-switch/)- handheld version explained [Hogwarts Legacy PC requirements](https://www.radiotimes.com/technology/gaming/hogwarts-legacy-pc-requirements/)- the specs you need [Hogwarts Legacy Deluxe Edition](https://www.radiotimes.com/technology/gaming/hogwarts-legacy-deluxe-edition/)- price for early access [subscribe now](http://radiotimes.com/magazine-subscription?utm_term=evergreen-article). [Hogwarts Legacy multiplayer](https://www.radiotimes.com/technology/gaming/hogwarts-legacy-multiplayer/)- is it co-op? The game is at its best when it forges a new path, though, and you've got to applaud the team at Avalanche Software for acing this very tricky test. It feels good to be back in Hogwarts, and this feels every bit like the game that Harry Potter fans have been calling out for over the last few years. There are occasional boss battles that will have you rolling around and pushing your powers to the limits, not offering the same challenge as a game like [Elden Ring](https://www.radiotimes.com/technology/gaming/elden-ring-dlc-release-date/) but definitely pulling on a similar set of skills. In a similar way, this game carves out its own corner of a much-loved universe, allowing you to feel more ownership than usual over your adventure, and allowing the writers to have some fun trying to wrongfoot you. All in all, it feels safe to say that this is the Harry Potter game that you've been waiting for. (Top tip to make money in the game: don't forget to sell outfits that you find on your adventures!) [Hogwarts Legacy release date](https://www.radiotimes.com/technology/gaming/hogwarts-legacy-game-release-date-trailer-story-news/) is beginning its gradual rollout this week, but is this new Harry Potter game worth playing? Speaking of teachers, as the game progresses, you may start to feel like you're being pulled in a few too many directions by all of the adult characters. For the most part, we'd argue that the game design here is really strong, pulling inspiration from various places and making all of it gel together seamlessly.

The big budget Harry Potter role-playing game fans have been dreaming of is finally here, but does it live up to expectations?

Cons: Little in the way of new ideas, compared to the genre as a whole. While respectful to its source material, it uses its extra leeway to grand effect; the world’s beauty and multitude of side quests and distractions giving it a robust quality that’s been sorely lacking in previous attempts. Arriving at Hogwarts as a senior, the first order of business is to meet the sorting hat and find out which house you belong in. Friendships are forged by helping them with their problems, which involves a great deal of running around Hogwarts castle and the wider landscape – which in this game goes a lot further than the wizards-only village of Hogsmeade. This is representative of the high level of polish throughout. It looks nothing short of spectacular, its rendering of the Scottish countryside looking gorgeously craggy and varied, even if the total absence of rain must be something to do with all that magic. That combination of lush scenery and apparently limitless things to do within it, lends proceedings a spark that’s long been missing from Harry Potter games. A couple of questions and it’s made up its mind, although in a break with tradition, if you don’t fancy the house you’re given you can simply request a transfer to the one you prefer. When you save animals, your initial motivation is to rescue them from poachers, but you soon unlock a vivarium where you can let them run free. That means you’ve got a lot of catching up to do in terms of learning about spells, potions, and defence against the dark arts. This unusual ability sets in motion the mystery that powers the plot and provides you with some amusingly spectacular finishing moves. Hogwarts Legacy, with its big budget and historical setting – that removes it from the limitations imposed by the

Smart fan service, satisfying combat, and an impressive Hogwarts make this the definitive Harry Potter fantasy…

Hogwarts Legacy brilliantly captures the magic of the world of Harry Potter with its beautiful open world, engaging characters and exciting combat. [Hogwarts Legacy killing curse](https://www.videogameschronicle.com/guide/hogwarts-legacy-avada-kedavra-how-to-get-the-killing-curse/) [Hogwarts Legacy Hippogriff](https://www.videogameschronicle.com/guide/hogwarts-legacy-hippogriff-mount/) As much an icon of the franchise as Harry Potter, Hogwarts itself is an incredible location for the game, and it’s impossible not to lose yourself in its scale, both physically and metaphorically. It’s reverent to a franchise without having to play the hits. For example, in one mission, I tracked a woman’s lost brother down, only to find that he’d met a sticky end at the hands of the living dead, Inferi. While both mega franchises had to wait a few decades, they each deliver a huge, excellent video game adaptation that is almost exactly what fans had been asking for since the early 2000s. This is also somewhat frustrating when exploring, and we’d wished there had been an option for a more distant, overhead camera, or the ability to cycle through several different distances depending on the situation, such as in modern [Avalanche Software](https://www.videogameschronicle.com/companies/avalanche-software/)‘s game due to her publicly-stated, harmful views regarding the rights of transgender people. Spellcasting is used for combat and puzzle solving, with most new spells being taught to the player at specific points throughout the main story, and some being offered as optional extras in the game’s back half, (including fan favourite Flippendo). Enemies have a significant amount of health, even on normal difficulty, so combat can sometimes become a frantic firework display of spells flying across the battlefield, but in general, it’s largely readable, and the spellcasting itself is very satisfying. It’s soon apparent that your magical powers aren’t simply restricted to turning your classmates into ferrets and changing the colour of your pet rat, but a deep connection with ancient magic buried deep within Hogwarts.

Hogwarts is a beautiful place to visit, but needs more to justify the tuition fee. Potter fans will adore the excuse to visit the place.

This review is based on the Hogwarts Legacy gameplay and the time spent hands-on with the game, it is not an endorsement of Rowling’s opinions or comments. Hogwarts Legacy is fun and manages to get a lot of things right, but it already feels somewhat dated, no doubt a hangover from the six-year development cycle. S](https://www.nme.com/tag/xbox-series-xs) and [PC](https://www.nme.com/tag/pc), with future ports planned for the [PS4](https://www.nme.com/tag/ps4), [Xbox One](https://www.nme.com/tag/xbox-one) and [Switch](https://www.nme.com/tag/nintendo-switch). Rowling is not directly involved in the creation of the game, however, her extraordinary body of writing is the foundation of all projects in the Wizarding World. While I would argue this has made the game unwieldy and daunting to get to grips with, fans of the franchise will likely adore the attention to detail. By far the biggest issue in Hogwarts Legacy at the time of this review is performance on the PC build. Great news if you don’t want to walk around the school in a pair of magical pyjamas you found in a lake. Your character also has access to “ancient magic”, which often takes the form of innate quick-cast abilities in combat, like the aforementioned box tossing and lightning bolts. The combat seems like it’s taken a little too much of the This enthusiasm extends to the characters you interact with during cutscenes, who are well-written and in a lot of cases much more diverse than the original Harry Potter book. Spells are the way you’ll do most of your fighting – alongside the occasional combat cabbage – and they’re used in an interesting way here even if the execution doesn’t quite come off for me. Most of the non-player characters (NPCs) you’ll meet won’t react to you in any shape or form, whether you’re barging past them, trying to jump on their head, or even just casting a fire spell and spewing fire into their face.

Being able to wield a wand in the hallowed halls is enchanting, but what's beneath the spell is competent but unspectacular.

Hogwarts Legacy starts to feel like countless open-world games of the past decade once you’ve been playing it for more than 15 hours. In place of that, we have hundreds of things to collect and dark wizards and magical wildlife to battle, and like most open-world games it starts to feel repetitive and meaningless after a while. The story, which revolves around a goblin uprising, is thin and uninteresting, and interrogates nothing about the Dark Arts or the sources of conflict between wizard-kind and other magical denizens. Hogwarts Legacy has so much to work with: it is the product of millions of childhood dreams. When Hogwarts Legacy leans into its role as a wizarding wish-fulfilment simulator, it is – forgive me – enchanting. It is a shame that the game can’t escape this context, because tremendous effort has clearly gone into diversifying Potter’s magical world for a 2023 audience.

The most ambitious game ever to emerge from the franchise will delight fans — unless they join the boycott.

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