Just to get this out of the way, no, there will be no talk of the controversy, and no, there will be no speaking on behalf of either side of the argument. Video games are meant for escapism and that is how they will remain from here until whenever. For true escapism, you could do a lot worse than Hogwarts Legacy. This has been the fan's dream for decades and now they are able to create 4 of their own witches and/or wizards as they please from the comfort of their own home.
While the graphics are not stellar, they get the job done and keep with the right tone. They're a tiny bit on the overly realistic side, but there is the cartoony edge of the character design that brings it home with the true atmosphere that the wizarding world is built around. Thankfully, this game didn't buy into the Harry Potter era, nor the Voldemort first war. We are a new student in a past era of the late 1800's and there are a few ascendants from that era, but otherwise, it's a clean slate.
We're supposed to pass off the fact that you're a new 5th year student, alright, fine. There could have been other ways of doing this, with wizarding home schooling, but it's a tiny contrivance. The main focus we're looking at is that there is a conflict building between wizards and goblins. Wizards are fighting goblins while other wizards are helping goblins fight against the establishment. That's the overall landscape of the plot, but really, you could have slapped a big troll invasion or a thestral uprising and it would have been about as enthralling. The plot and story progression, overall, seemed a little dim.
The problem is the people you run into, aside from maybe Sebastian, are not especially dynamic. People generally just act like they like you and just kind of help you because it's conveniant for them rather than keeping to the Two Best Friend trio rule of devoted friendship. It may have been a better idea to maybe let players make 3 characters rather than just one. As it stands, it's more annoying to talk to a lot of these people than it is to actually try and care for them. The way they talk has a biting undertone of sarcasm and patronization and the result is you generally try to rush through the dialogue.
The real joy of this game comes from you creating your character and shaping them with the techniques that you choose with what spells you are given. For one single game, the mechanics incorporated a lot of the lore. The spells are very numerous and it's not hard to come up with a general technique of attack. So long as you make sure to keep a vast array of spell types in your arsenal, you will go very far.
While they are rather late in the game, the unforgiveable curses are very well worth the wait. The Killing Curse is the last one you learn if you do all of the spell quests in order of receiving them and there is your troll killer. Now, anytime there is a huge, heavy armor mob with scary clubs, Avada Kedavra! It is very slow to cool down in your menu, but with so many other spells to choose from, that's not a tall order. Glaceo, Bombarda, Confringo and any number of others are fun to toy with, especially coming up with effective combos.
The game shines in some of its side quests when you develop your own useful Room of Requirement and start getting large amounts of magical creatures. You feed them, groom them and collect valuable resources. These are used in upgrades to your gear and make your spells more powerful, only bulking up your already very potent magical prowess.
The late game is where this title really suffers. To say the very least, it is not worth going 100%. It is not even worth reaching the O.W.L's for the "proper" ending that isn't very proper at all. You'd think there would be something more of unlockable content or more in the ways of achievements, but no. You get a very poorly done ending with a built in glitch. Oh, yes, dear readers, there is a glitch in it if you put a certain boy through the cold hands of authority after he murders his father. Even though he is in Azkaban, you still wave to the air where he is not. The cut scene is awkward enough with the extreme lack of students cheering. It looks like the real party has already taken place and the B-Team get to have 15 minutes of jumping and cheering.
Reaching Level 34 is just flat out not worth it. The grind is only so fun and trying to finish every quest is a slog, especially when it's taking on the Merlin challenges and/or finding every bit of ancient magic. You don't need the ancient magic, it's already badass enough with a couple of extra meters. The fact that you can do it to multiple people in quick succession is already pushing the boundaries. By the later levels, your Stupefy charm will be enough to take down whole dark wizards with its partial damage. You are basically Doomguy levels of awesome when you get to around 30.
The replay value is not through the roof, and a little bit more of a New Games + option would have been nice. You can try out all four houses of Hogwarts, but the differences in the story are miniscule. The game can get repetitive, yes, but there is still plenty of good material for Harry Potter fans and muggles alike. It's a fun game that you can pick up and play, but of course you youngsters sure seem to like your downloadable content and updates, so maybe it's not quite ready yet. That's right, I'm going to rag on that until my dying days. Virtua Deal With It!!
