After waiting for it, having discussed it and having played it, it’s time to sum up and collect ideas in this review of Hogwarts Legacy
Finding an incipit, a word or a concept that can open the doors of one review it is not always a simple operation, if it comes then to Hogwarts Legacy the level of complexity rises even more. This is because we are dealing with a title that, in one way or another, will go down in the history of the gaming market as an exponent of a narrative universe that has positioned itself as one of the leaders of the popular culture of the last 25/30 years (yes, it’s been that long already).
Harry Potter and… no, Harry isn’t here! – Hogwarts Legacy review
As usual we will start ours Hogwarts Legacy review going to treat what is the narrative sector of the title. We will not analyze the plot of the game to avoid spoilers and to leave you the pleasure of following what is, in our opinion, an excellent narrative. Let’s start immediately, therefore, from our last statement. The story of Hogwarts Legacy is a story that benefits from that type of narration that is halfway between an adult narrative and a teen narrative. These two souls meet very easily and from the very first minutes of the game.
The tone, therefore, fits perfectly with that of the entire saga created by Rowling. The cut-scenes enjoy a smooth and well-crafted script, with dialogues that reveal the personalities of the main characters and which, moreover, stimulate a series of reflections in the player linked precisely to the characters themselves and their future, as well as to the continuation of the plot itself.
The cut-scenes themselves also enjoy a good directing that accompanies the player in the dynamics of events. Direction which, however, it fails in the case of dialogues relating to secondary quests which appear to be flatter and in which cases it is limited to an alternation of shots between our character and his interlocutor.
“Follow the spiders, follow the spiders!” – Hogwarts Legacy review
Anyone who has read the books or seen the movies (or done both) can’t help but get excited once catapulted inside the Hogwarts castle. That sense of familiarity mixed with discovery accompanied us from the early hours. Even just wandering around the school for a fan could be worth the price of the ticket, even more so if the attention to detail is what has been placed in the development and construction phases of the environments. The Hogwarts Legacy map has one more branch mini-maps of the single explorable places.
We will find ourselves venturing, therefore, both inside and outside the castle. This offers appreciable variety to exploration but, at the same time, brings out some gaps which, in our opinion, make the exploration itself slightly flat. If on the one hand we can conceive and in a certain sense support the idea of not limiting ourselves only to Hogwarts, on the other we cannot help but underline how much the attention to detail and the management of some areas, which the map a lot, leave a little time as they find.
Just as, these same areas, they will fail to arouse the same curiosity and interest as the Castle and the places closest to it such as Hogsmeade and the Forbidden Forest. The exploration and mobilization within the map will take place most of the time through the use of the broom – or through fast travel – and therefore of the flight system, excellent and intuitive at the right point, with a correct learning curve and with the possibility of mastering this mechanic through training and tests on the broom.
“Go to page 394…” – Hogwarts Legacy Review
The world of Hogwarts Legacy, therefore, from what we could see in the previous paragraph of our review, is a vast and alive world. The enemies present are diversified into various creatures and human beings. Dealing with them will be our task and that of the student that we will create and customize in the very first phase of character editing.
A good editor, quite simple and clean and which (fortunately) does not give the possibility to get lost in sometimes excessive details. Our days – which are not real days, given a questionable management of the day/night alternation – they will develop on the basis of the quests or rather, the tasks we will have to carry out.
Starting from the lessons, passing through real side missions on behalf of friends or other NPCs – side missions that enjoy a good variety – ending up with free exploration sessions; however, everything is channeled in the direction of the continuation of the main storyline. This can elicit a sense of excessive framing of the title. In reality, we have not welcomed this structure with regret, as it is capable of offering a good pace to the game and a series of activities that will keep the player glued to the console (or PC!).
Speaking of the flight system we have mentioned a slight but fair learning curve. This also applies to spells that we will learn right in the lessons or thanks to the assignments of the teachers. This management of the role of the teacher and of the lessons themselves is very interesting. Enchantments are divided into basic spells which will not be “expendable” but always feasible, e more complex spells.
The latter will need a initial mini-game to learn them and then they can be placed among the slot that we will have available. To these will be added the potions or other elements that can be used (such as combat plants) and the ancient magica special ability that our character will have and which will be usable after filling a specific bar.
This long series of elements will make up the combat system, which is combined with a good movement system (not excellent due to a very slight input-lag) which can also be mastered through arenas and duels, but still capable of being satisfying It is funny. the feedback, pad in handis absolutely positive and, in the case of the PS5 versions, we can assure you that the DualSense looks great on her. We are not at the level of exclusive productions but we are still happy to note the effort made with the adaptive triggers, for example.
“Truth is a wonderful and terrible thing…” – Hogwarts Legacy review
In the previous paragraph we dealt, in broad terms, with the structure and gameplay structure of Hogwarts Legacy. We have not mentioned an element, that is the equipment. We didn’t do it because it helps us to introduce a concept which, in our opinion, represents one of the major flaws of the title. The moment we find an item of equipment we will also discover what are “its” parameters: trivially we are referring to attack/defense points and, based on them, we will replace it with what we already have or not. all with the ability to give to that item the look we preferthus maintaining our aesthetic taste and maintaining the search for an aesthetic taste inherent in the gaming system.
This, on the one hand represents an interesting plus but on the other it opens up a crack hard to ignore. The role-playing component of Hogwarts Legacy, unfortunately (and we unfortunately emphasize considering the potential) is limited to this. The choice of wand, the choice of the house, our actions and our choices in dialogue will have no impact, if not minimally, on what happens and on what we can and cannot do. Yes, this offers freedom, but it is a freedom that, fundamentally, it boils down to aesthetic choices or choices that ultimately have a very minimal impact (if not null) and this, from a title which is presented as a action-gdrwe didn’t expect it.
Just as, going back to what we have written about the environments and considering the lack of balance in the care of them, we would probably have appreciated more a reduced map but all with the same care that we found in the school and in some neighboring places. Moreover, this freedom offers us possibilities that they lack coherence with what should be the lore of the game world. We have the opportunity to travel at night, to go to the Forbidden Forest or areas that should be prohibited but this, as students, should not be allowed or should involve more risks.
“We all have light and dark within us…” – Hogwarts Legacy review
Sirius Black wasn’t wrong at all, we all have a bright soul and a dark soul inside and, perhaps, we project this double soul into all our creations. Hogwarts Legacy has it, as does this review itself, and as does any creative work. Hogwarts Legacy, however, makes this dualism on the one hand a real strength, perhaps the greatest selling point but, at the same time, it offers a business card that is not always convincing. The dualism of Hogwarts Legacy is noticeable in the technical soul of the gamea soul that is sometimes extremely bright, but which is sometimes wrapped in dark textures.
The latter are represented, in our opinion, by some too approximate facial animations, a series of graphic glitches, a few too many bugs, a revisable physics management, loading before accessing some areas and by a stylistic choice halfway between photorealism and cartoon that yes, offers a good overall impact, but that is not surprising. The cross-gen nature of the title, in this case, despite the fact that the release of the versions for what we can now consider almost “old-gen” has been postponed, does not help.
It helps, however, to increase the degree of enjoyment of the game the atmosphere it is able to offer. Hogwarts is palpable, livable and “dressing” in the shoes of the student corresponds to re-immerse yourself in the pages of the books of the saga and between the seats of a cinema while savoring a basket of excellent popcorn. All seasoned with one soundtrack perfectly apt, an audio sector which is also excellent and a good dubbing.
“After all this time? Always.”
We have reached the final stages of this one Hogwarts Legacy review. We admit it, it was not easy to gather ideas and the fear of having failed to deal with something or having given little (or too much) weight to others accompanies us, but this is part of our job and as Albus Dumbledore would say: “The fear of the name (and therefore of something ed) does nothing but increase the fear of the thing itself.” And so, Is Hogwarts Legacy a good game? Yes. It is an enjoyable title that will keep you busy for several hours, letting you enter, timidly first and then more vehemently, in what is an enchanting atmosphere. Is Hogwarts Legacy a masterpiece? No. It isn’t and it won’t be. Several defects grip it, both in terms of the technical aspect and …