opinion: Actually, Potter expert ~ Dani ~ just wants to look forward to Hogwarts Legacy. But one question plagues her: Is it all too good to be true?
Waiting for Hogwarts Legacy is like reaching blindly into a bag full of Bertie Bott”s beans of every flavour. I just don”t know what”s coming next. When I watch the developer showcases of new gameplay, I hold my breath in anticipation: Will it just be the delicious strawberry flavour? Or will I catch the disgusting earwax again? It”s a real rollercoaster of emotions.
“But ~ Dani ~, didn”t you just write a column the other day about Hogwarts Legacy moving in the right direction?” Yes, I did. And I also remain convinced that the developers have the right ideas. Because in every showcase you can also clearly feel that true fans are behind this game, who want to offer all the other fans an unforgettable gaming experience.
But as much as I”d love to just be swept up in pure anticipation, one question keeps haunting my mind like Peeves through the corridors of Hogwarts: Isn”t this all too good to be true?
Quantity instead of quality?
To illustrate where this concern comes from, I”ll list below what Hogwarts Legacy is actually trying to offer:
- Comprehensive character editor
- Main quest in which we can solve an ancient mystery and save the world or indulge in dark magic
- Comprehensive side quests from three familiar companions
- Smaller side quests from NPCs
- Fully accessible Hogwarts with common rooms and many locations from books and films
- Secrets at Hogwarts for us to discover
- lessons where we can learn new spells
- Room of Wishes that we can decorate ourselves
- Brewing potions
- Breeding fantastic animal creatures
- Breeding plants
- Customising equipment and clothing
- Large Open World outside Hogwarts (Forbidden Forest, Hogsmead, etc.)
- Duelling Club
- Field Journal with tasks to catch up on missed school years
- Flying on brooms and animal creatures
Large open worlds are a challenge even for experienced developers. For Avalanche Software, this is the first project of this scale. As much as I”m looking forward to all the features – wouldn”t less have been more here?
The features presented sound like fan dreams come true and I look forward to trying each and every one of them. But with each presentation and showcase, I also have doubts about whether the quality can really keep up, or whether Hogwarts Legacy just looks like more than it actually is.
I could dive incredibly deep into the tiniest details and write an entire novel about my thoughts on the game. I”ll spare you that elaboration, so I”ll limit myself to three aspects that make me feel like the developers couldn”t keep up with their own ambitions.
The problem with the Open World
In the latest gameplay video, the developers finally show more of their Open World. So far, we”ve only seen little snippets here and there, but now we get an in-depth look at the areas outside of Hogwarts – and mainly from above. Because in the presentation, the protagonist flies over the lands on a broom and on a hippogriff. And that makes me wonder.
Why don”t the developers also show a longer walk through the neighbourhoods of the magic school? To demonstrate what we can expect in the open world. Of course, we travel much faster on the broom – and that could distract from how empty the open world actually is.
From time to time we fly over icons that mark tasks in the world. So far, however, they seem like formulaic collection tasks, which would put Hogwarts Legacy in the long line of games with generic and boring open world.
The highlight of Hogwarts Legacy is undoubtedly Hogwarts. The Open World must therefore offer me something worth leaving school for. It has to offer me something that I can”t find in Hogwarts. So far, I just don”t feel that the Open World can accomplish this difficult task.
With the Field Guide to Fifth Grade
Our character is a latecomer and arrives at Hogwarts a full four years late. To make up for this shortcoming, the Ministry of Magic gives him the so-called Field Guide, which is supposed to help him catch up on the material of the last missed school years. That sounds all well and good at first, until I take a closer look at these challenges and tasks.
Sure, so far I don”t know the full extent of the Field Guide, but tasks like “Apply Flipendo five times” or “Collect ten pages” don”t give me much hope and feed my worries I already expressed above about the Open World.
It also seems like this Field Guide will take a big role in the side quests. I”d rather be locked in the girls” bathroom with a troll than have to deal with only such formulaic occupational therapy in Hogwarts Legacy. It is incredibly important for the role-playing game to be convincing with the side quests, companion quests and main quests, not to let Hogwarts degenerate into a beautiful setting with little content, but to offer us fans an immersive and memorable gaming experience.
Currently, however, the Field Guide feels like a quick fix to somehow fill the huge world and make it seem like there”s a lot to do in Hogwarts Legacy.
Hogwarts Legacy becomes Animal Crossing
Probably the biggest surprise of the last showcase for me was by far the Room of Requirement. And I”ll be honest: I don”t know what to make of it. The Room of Wishes is almost its own game within the game and is reminiscent of life simulations like Animal Crossing.
We can design the room ourselves according to our wishes, decorate it – even adjust the colour of the furniture! Here we grow our own plants and brew potions. We can customise our clothes and equipment. And of course we can breed, pet, feed, play with and name fantastic animal creatures.
As much as I”m looking forward to growing my own little mooncalf, planting him a nice forest and teaching him how to play ball, I wonder one thing: how does this fit in with the rest of the game, please? Was Harry Potter also an amateur interior designer in his spare time? Did he also think about what colour the seat cushion should be in his spare time?
This is not the first time that Hogwarts Legacy has made me wonder how the developers intend to make the connection not only to the story, but also to the entire lore. Why are we allowed to use deadly spells and even unforgivable curses with impunity? Why have we never heard of this great wizard we”re apparently supposed to be playing? And how does the animal-crossing aspect fit into the overall role-playing picture?
Until I have the answer to these questions, Hogwarts Legacy feels to me like a hodgepodge of disparate ideas brainstormed. It”s like the developers let their minds run wild and didn”t hit the brakes in time. “Oh, breeding magical creatures would be good too!” – “And just think, you could still adjust the size of the wall decorations!” – “We should definitely do more outside of Hogwarts too. And preferably so big that we can fly around the lands with a broom forever!”
I don”t think Hogwarts Legacy will be a complete failure. The gameplay already shown and the visual realisation of the environments and especially Hogwarts looks too good for that. But the unanswered questions will definitely decide whether this is every Potter fan”s fantasy come true and the perfect Hogwarts game, or whether Hogwarts Legacy will quickly drown in the lake of mediocrity. We can only hope that the developers have not overreached themselves with their vision.
What do you think? Are you happy about the countless features? Or are you still sceptical about Hogwarst Legacy? And what do you think of the Room of Requirement? Feel free to tell me about it in the comments!
