Something that every Harry Potter fan has dreamed of is coming out in February 2023. It’s an immersive, open-world, role-playing game set in the Harry Potter wizarding universe and based on the beloved book series and movies.
Named Hogwarts Legacy, it is published by Warner Bros studios under the Portkey Games label and developed by Avalanche Software. The game will available for Xbox, Play Station, Nintendo Switch, and PC and will cost between £60 and £75 depending on the platform and edition of the game.
Hogwarts Legacy promises to be an absolute treat for ‘Potterheads’ – fans from around the world are waiting to play, and many have already signed up for the pre-release.
“I think I pre-ordered it straightaway, well, as soon as it was possible to,” says Sebastian Augustine, an immersive open-world game player, and a huge Harry Potter fan.
The main story of Hogwarts Legacy is that: “Players will experience life as a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the 1800s as they embark on a dangerous journey to uncover a hidden truth of the wizarding world,” according to the publicity material for the game.
Fans can look forward to learning who was causing problems in the wizarding world before Voldemort and Grindelwald as well as taming all new fantastic beasts.
Because the game takes place many years before the original Harry Potter books and film series, favourite characters such as Hermione, Hagrid, and Professor McGonagall don’t appear in it, which has disappointed some gamers.
However, Sebastian has been realistic about that: “As a nerd, I did my research about the whole game so I kinda knew I shouldn’t expect anyone from the current movies.”
Dylan Bear, an acting student, and keen gamer, was a little disappointed at first, because he was: “Excited to share a journey with favourite characters” but then when he learned that he can create his own story in the magic world he “forgot all about them”.
This game is very complex and the possibilities are diverse. “I think it just gives you a big variety of stuff to do in the game, and it’s good because it seems like you can’t get bored in the game. If you want, you can go on a quest, or just go around the surrounding areas of Hogwarts, you can play with the magic beasts, and also fly a broom. Yes please,” said Laticia-Rae Hylton, another gamer.
“Probably every aspiring wizard from a normal world dreamed to play the game of quidditch and catch a golden snitch.”
Sebastian Augustine
Laticia-Rae is not the only Potterhead who was “hoping to play Quidditch for Gryffindor.” Sebastian agrees, and adds: “Probably every aspiring wizard from a normal world dreamed to play the game of Quidditch and catch a golden snitch but I think they didn’t want to push with this because they want to give people something to look forward to.
“You kinda want to be able to bring things out in the future, you want to bring out more games, more titles, maybe they will want to add it to the next one.”
Fans are excited to tame fantastic beasts, go for wizarding or gardening classes to grow their own Mandragora (or Mandrake) plant, and learn how to brew potions. But in Hogwarts Legacy, there is no morality system and with the special edition, you have access to Dark Arts that will give you even more possibilities, maybe even becoming a dark wizard.
Sebastian has preordered the Dark Arts edition, so how far he would go with studying them and using them in the scenarios: “Well, I’m gonna see how much can you really push in the game, I would learn spells, good spells, but in terms of morality maybe my decision-making for the story would be fine, but then my decision with learning spells might be a bit darker, I want to learn the half-blood prince type spells, and you know just to be a very strong wizard.”
By learning and exploring you can grow as a character and master your abilities. Players will also encounter quests and scenarios that will put them in situations with hard decisions to make that will determine what they stand for and what wizard they want to become.
This decision-making will also influence future quests that will come your way and the ending of the game – of which there are a few different possible scenarios. All of it really gives each player their own individual story in Hogwarts.
Fans who have seen trailers for the game are pleased with the way it looks: “I think they are trying to give the player experience that resembles the fantasies of your childhood when you wanted to be in Hogwarts so it looks good. I have watched the trailer and I think they have put a lot of detail into the things that we have seen in films and read in books,” says Sebastian.
Laticia-Rae agrees: “The animation is really really good. It portrays Hogwarts very very good and it portrays the Room of Requirements very well, and all the magic and spells. I like the way they cast spells and how it looks so real like in the movies.”
Dylan agreed: “[I] loved how magical the fantastic beasts look,” and that he felt like he was in Hogwarts just from watching the trailer.
The gamers all agree that Hogwarts Legacy is well worth waiting for, and as Sebastian says: “There are a few games with that type of formula but it being in the Harry Potter world is what everyone has been waiting to play for a while.”
Featured image courtesy of Warner Bros.
Edited by Mia Lyndon and Sophie Patrick.