HOGWARTS LEGACY

Avalanche Software/Warner Bros Games' Hogwarts Legacy is an open world action-RPG, and undoubtedly one of the most anticipated titles of recent years, based on a franchise so popular that its commercial success was practically guaranteed from pre-orders.

Before proceeding to the main review, I had intended to make a brief reference to the controversy that has erupted on social networks about the title, but even the most sober attempt at a concise explanation reached five hundred words, and also gave me a headache. So I'll just say that personally I've always made a distinction between creator and artwork, any other opinion respected but mine is this one, and it doesn't change.

Script-wise, Hogwarts Legacy faithfully serves the genre it belongs to, and I'm not talking about fantasy but so-called Young Adult fiction. All the relevant tropes are here, first and foremost the brilliant sixteen-year-old protagonist with special powers, who unravels and binds in a world of indifferent or incompetent adults, with a sharp mind that solves centuries-old mysteries in five minutes, and who, if it's time for beating, counts for ten army companies. Now in my forties, like most of the original fans of the books, it all seems funny, and spoils the suspension of disbelief. Beyond that, within that YA framework, the story is quite interesting, and manages to deal with issues like managing negative emotions, accepting loss, and self-destructive obsession without losing its high fantasy nature and going down grimdark paths.

Beyond the story campaign, of course, the joy of any player who loved Wizarding World from a young age is the world's rendering. We're set circa 1880, a hundred years before the events we know from Harry Potter, but that makes little difference to how familiar it all feels. Hogwarts Castle, Hogsmead village, the Forbidden Forest and its surroundings are a sight to behold, clearly influenced by the aesthetic of the films, and provoke exploration of every inch, and conversation with every character - where fan service goes up, with familiar family names mentioned everywhere. Most tasteful of all, of course, is the magical interactivity of the environment. Moving staircases, magical paintings, living hedge statues, the world is full of such details just waiting to be noticed.

The technical aspect also helps in the exploration mood. First, let's be clear that the game is hardware intensive, and even relatively powerful older cards, or mid-range newer ones, will need upscaling to get the coveted 1080p/high/60, without drops. Fortunately, AMD FSR works flawlessly. Also, it's clear that the game benefits from having plenty of RAM and VRAM on top of what's listed in the recommended requirements.

Players who qualify will be rewarded with an AAA tier world that looks beautiful, and that you can traverse from end to end without pop-ins, slow texture loading and other ills that often plague open world design. Stuttering phenomena were never pronounced, and the latest patch eliminated them. The main characters also have very well thought out character models and facial animations, but there have been some discounts on the models of the secondary NPCs, perhaps understandable given that there are hundreds of them running around.

Hogwarts Legacy is advertised as an open world action RPG. Open world fine, action fine with some asterisks, but RPG simply not, and let's not open the "but you're playing a character" debate again. Let's look at them one by one.

The open-world is unquestionable, an area of almost eight square kilometres (I didn't count, the company says so and I accept it) is there to explore, with a dozen activities with little to no relevance to the story available to players who want a break from the thunderous developments of the scenario. Not all of them are equally successful - the Merlin challenges I couldn't stomach, the balloon popping has the same appeal as breaking bubbles in the wrapping paper - but that's also a matter of taste, others certainly didn't like some that ate up my hours, such as the creature breeding. This is a good point to mention here that the Wizarding World's trademark sport, Quiddich, is absent. Perhaps the company is looking forward to future DLC, though personally I'm not sure I want to see that, given the very floaty handling in broom flying.

The action is also not open to doubt. Times are tough, and the surrounding area is full of dark wizards who want our heads, goblin rebels who want our heads, and many, many, many, many, many spiders who want our heads. The only way to secure our heads - other than sitting quietly at Hogwarts and reading a lesson like a bunch of fluffy buffoons - is to fight with the means at our disposal. And since we're wizards, our available resources include mostly spells, most of them well-known to fans of the series. Expeliarmus, Accio and Wingardium Leviosa give and take, and as the storyline progresses, we learn more and more. Even the dreaded Unforgivable Curses are available to those who dare to delve into the Dark Arts, but more on that later.

The combat is obviously real time, third person, and is based on a successful casting combo that manages to first break the opponent's defense, then deal damage, while of course at the same time we have to take care of our own defense. The variety of enemies is small in kind, but not in abilities. One thing that struck me and is worth noting is that most melee opponents have a way of getting close to you very quickly, even if at first glance they do not seem to - so be careful. The process isn't technically complicated, but it can lead to impressively choreographed melee, especially when synergies between spells and talents start to emerge as you level up.

The bigger issue is that the battles are more fun during the mid-game. But as we get closer to the end-game, even though we're theoretically more powerful than ever, the opponents become terrible bullet sponges, and of course we get hit more numerous than ever. There were battles that lasted five minutes or more, which is really too much - and that's even though I was a bad boy and Crucio and Imperio were raining down, or else... but more on that in a moment.

So RPG... if it's enough that the character gains xp investing in talents that make him stronger, and that he chooses what gear to wear that also gives attack and defense bonuses, then Hogwarts Legacy is an RPG. If a proper RPG requires at least the illusion that certain choices affect your world, and that certain choices must have consequences, especially when supported by the lore, then Hogwarts Legacy gets a zero on the RPG meter. None of your decisions matter, and as if that weren't enough, on the subject of Dark Arts the game simply shatters any notion of in-world consistency.

All Harry Potter fans know what the use of Crucio, Imperio and Avada Kedavra means. And if a player doesn't know, because they don't know anything about Wizarding World, Hogwarts Legacy itself makes sure to let them know. Still, the player - and only the player - can massacre people and worlds with the Dark Arts in front of classmates, teachers, and passersby with no fuss. Then comes Sebastian's, very well-written, companion quest, in which the ban on Unforgivable Curses plays a pivotal role, and instead of feeling a dramatic climax you just facepalm. And if you open up the discussion of why a professor is telling you that Avada Kedavra is banned while the dismembered corpses of dozens of "Dark Wizards" you just killed in company are still steaming behind you, using of course the unbanned Bombarda... and it goes on and on.

I know I gave a lot of weight to script tropes and gaffes that other players will probably skip over by happily yelling "Harry Potter, yay!" But it's precisely these things that honestly kept me from being fully absorbed by the title, and I believe that my testimony of this experience is worth at least being aware of for prospective players in my age group who want to visit the world they loved as children or teenagers.

In the end, of course, that's more my issue than the game's, which, with the exception of the RPG designation, is perfectly honest in what it offers. Never mind that not everything is for everyone, and Hogwarts Legacy in its story campaign is primarily for a young audience, as Harry Potter has always been. It's also solid in core mechanics, and packed with content. And while the story didn't win me over for the reasons I (over)analyzed, I'll be back immediately for challenges, side content, achievement hunting, and simple sight seeing, and that says a lot about the world Avalanche has created.

We would like to thank CD Media for providing the review code.

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