If you’ve ever found yourself yearning for a stream of acceptance letters from your favorite wizarding world to come flying out of the fireplace or wondered what life could be if you were the chosen one, then you should play “Hogwarts Legacy.” It’s a Harry Potter fanatic’s dream made real.
The game takes place in the 1800’s, where your character has just been transferred into the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as a fifth year. Your character navigates through the vast world to make friends, battle foes, and uncover the hidden secrets of ancient magic. The single player game is narrative driven, you could replay the game multiple times with different outcomes, depending on what house you choose as well as other choices you’ll need to make for your character.
The creators of this game kept the Potter-heads in mind. The game is constructed around a massive open world that allows you to explore any part of the map, including many familiar favorites like Gringotts, Diagon Alley, and of course Hogwarts Castle. Although there are no characters directly from the franchise, the new characters like Sebastian the Slytherin, voiced by Alfie Nugent and Natsai the Gryffindor, voiced by Jessica Hayles, are loveable and charming. This is a game that is very easy to completely immerse yourself in. There are over 100 side quests in addition to the already intricate main storyline; from customizing your own witch or wizard, to potion making and even mastering the dark arts, Hogwarts Legacy sets up its players for hours upon hours of gameplay.
The action in this game is also impressive. Players must learn new spells by attending classes or helping friends. Memorizing and combining different spell attacks is the only way to defeat your foes. There are even certain characters with color-coded shields that can only be defeated using specific incantations. People who enjoy complex fighting combinations like that in “Mortal Kombat” will be very pleased with the fighting techniques deployed in this game, even though there’s little variation in enemies aside from the classics like spiders, goblins and evil wizards.
Harry Potter fans were drawn in by the mystery and appeal of attending a school only for wizards. One cannot expect to see classic characters like Hermione Granger roaming the halls but can expect a riveting plot line with hours of gameplay and wizardly aesthetics. From beautiful graphics to a storyline that honors the true magic of Hogwarts without being an exact copy, Hogwarts Legacy” is certainly one of the must-play games this year.
