Topic: Hogwarts Legacy

Wow, I wasn’t expecting all these personalization and accessibility options. It’s a bit overwhelming. It took me an hour to arrange all my settings and then do the character creator. 😅

Anyone else have the issue of not receiving their cosmetic award for completing challenges? I have received most of them but a few I claimed late, but they never showed up. I also had my first game freeze. Hopefully this doesn't continue.

Edit: figured it out via reddit. It's a cosmetic item and can be changed by hovering over the item slot and "push square".

For what it's worth, I've just blitzed an entire controller charge in a single sitting for the first time since "Elden Ring". It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but the devs have done a really good job here - they deserve a pat on the back.

@LN78 Very recognisable. Usually i play 2 to 3 games at the same time, but this weekend 90% of my gaming time i spent on Hogwarts Legacy. I only did 2 hours of my replay of Yakuza 6, but the rest of weekend i was running around in Hogwarts. It's clearly visible these developers put a lot of hard work and their passion into this game. The world feels very alive. The RPG setting fits the school setting as well. By attending classes and doing assigments you're unlocking spells, so it feels real. It really makes me feel like I'm the main character myself, instead of just playing as him.
I already played around 25 hours since tuesday and can tell this one is going to end high on my game of the year list. And i am almost certain that this will be on my replay games list as well.

@Lavalera Yeah. It'll be a real shame if the dev's achievements end up getting sidelined because of the controversy surrounding the game. At the end of the day, they had a job of work to do and they've delivered something far, far better than I was expecting. I mean compare it to something like "Gotham Knights' and the contrasting standards are pretty starkly apparent.

I’ve enjoyed the small amount of the game that I’ve played so far. Between life commitments and the blasted SuperBowl, I didn’t get as much time in as i wanted, but I can definitely feel the draw of the game to keep playing. It’s got the familiar open world, checklist marking, “just one more quest” type of setup that fans of the genre will appreciate.

It’s funny because I have seen that several more “casual” gamers have been playing this because of the allure of the HP franchise, and some have expressed that the combat is quite difficult. So far it’s been straightforward for me, barely taking damage during the fights since the protego and stupify defense spells are fairly OP. I’m early in the game though so perhaps things get tough later on.

The game is quite complex too, with all the different kinds of side activities and the large map. I suspect this will be a very engrossing 60-80 hour jaunt for me and really scratch that open-world itch. It probably means that I’ll have to delay Horizon Forbidden West, Witcher 3, and a few others on my list because I don’t want to get fatigued on the open world genre, and we have Spider-Man 2 later this year. Spoilt for choice, indeed.

@LN78 Yeah that's why I'm happy to see the sales figures. Despite the controversy it still sold very well. I think it might even end up being the best sold game of the year. I think the biggest difference compared to Gotham Knights is, Hogwarts feels like a game they knew from the start what they wanted to do. Gotham Knights feels like they switched between a live service and a single player game back and forth and ending up with a mess of a game.

@Th3solution I'm generally a player who plays on easy mode and strays away from Fromsoft games, but i don't think the combat in Hogwarts is very difficult. I play it on normal and the indicators when you're about to get hit really help. With those indicators i can see when i need to dodge or press protego (i prefer dodging, somehow i get the timing on that better). The arsenal of spells they give you is very diverse. Only thing I'm really missing is an AOE spell, with a large group of enemies it can get a bit hectic to keep track on all enemies.

So I'm trying to play this without a minimap, but the castle is just a maze. Maybe one day I'll get it, but I just keep getting lost. It's also annoying when quests expect you to meet a certain character, but then when you go to said character, the quest doesn't start, because you were expected to meet up with said character in a random location that isn't mentioned in the quest description. That's bad game design.

Also slightly disappointed that you can't go underwater, especially after one quest had me to retrieve something from the bottom of the great lake. I got me all excited, thinking of all the ways I could reach it (gillyweed, bubble spell?), then I learned I merely had to interact with bubbles on the water's surface.

In terms of world design and effects it's perfect. Characters look a little too cartoon-y sometimes. Story is not bad so far. I'm only a little disappointed that the devs prioritised stuff like the Sims build-a-home in the room of requirements over integral gameplay mechanics like swimming underwater.

Also, most of the "secret" passages in the castle are of the push-a-button-and-teleport type. I wish it were actual passageways.

I'd say a good 7/10.

@Octane Although I usually don’t forego using a game’s mini-map when it has one, I do often try to avoid using the ‘magical highlighted trail’ that games sometimes have as an option to follow to the next point of interest, but in this game I’m just spamming that pixie dust breadcrumb trail to run through Hogwarts because of the complex layout. It does take some of the fun away from naturally exploring to chart your path, but so far it is a godsend for me. It also makes a lot more narrative sense in this game where magic is the core concept, versus other games where the arrows and trials to get you around are more obviously a sheer gameplay mechanic included to avoid the frustration of navigating the game world.

@Th3solution Yeah, I use it as a last resort. The castle is definitely based on the one in the films. But I don't think a layout was ever realised. The outside could be seen in the films, and individual locations, but the devs had to come up with ways to connect them within the castle template. I do wonder if the layout they created is the most logical one considering the limitations, but sometimes I feel like it could've been more intuitive.

@Octane Isn't one of the quirks of Hogwarts Caste that the layout (staircases and corridors etc) are constantly shifting? That's why I haven't turned the mini-map off - and I typically detest any and all HUD elements!

@LN78 I guess, but the game doesn't really do that. The grand stairway has shifting staircases, but they always appear in the same spot. I'm kinda glad they don't move like in the films lol.

I know the discussion for this game has quieted, but I continue to be awestruck at the quality of this game. I mean, it doesn’t necessarily reinvent the open-world genre, but for a licensed game I think this is one of the best interpretations I’ve ever played. Granted, I’m not apt to have played many of them outside of the Star Wars, Marvel, and DC franchises (oh… and I played Shadow of Mordor) but this game captures the Harry Potter IP so incredibly well. And it does so without relying on character callbacks from the original content, despite Easter Eggs here and there with recurring family names like Weasley, Black, and Gaunt.

I’d go so far as to say that getting the wizarding world right is a taller task than any of the aforementioned adaptations — More of a challenge than throwing some lightsabers and X-wing fighters into a Sci-Fi setting, or making a dark modern city and just calling it ‘Gotham.’ The realization of exploring Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, and the surrounding countryside has gone above and beyond expectations.

As far as playing the game itself, there’s that addictive open world checklisting on full display, and so far I don’t feel overwhelmed by being bombarded with diversions, rather I find myself enjoying the mental strategizing of what order I want to do things all the while naturally getting sidetracked chasing something of interest on the way to an objective and losing an hour wandering into a side activity, but that’s the beauty of open world games.

I’m around the 20 hour mark, with no slowing of my enjoyment. Perhaps I’ll burn out on the game before it’s all complete, but so far I’m amazed at just how much they’ve packed into the map, especially at Hogwarts itself. Progressing through the campaign has exposed me to a new familiar-yet-novel location at every turn (just saw the prefect’s bathroom for the first time, and also happened upon the boat dock where the new students come in, for example).

The story is also surprisingly above average so far, with a completely reasonable premise to keep the game, well… ‘gamey.’ But I’d say that so far it does a better job at the prequel / expansion of the original books than Fantastic Beasts did.

One complaint would be that they let you roam around pretty much from the get-go and so there’s essential skills that you probably needed to get earlier (Alohomora for example) to make the most of your time, but it’s a joy to discover, regardless. There’s a little imbalance in difficulty too. Some encounters are pitifully easy, while others are quite hard, even when being at or above the suggested level.

Anyways, I’ll stop gushing but I was just feeling the need to say that the game’s sales are well-deserved. Taking it objectively as a video game and disconnecting from the wider discussion surrounding the controversial IP, I can’t help but be impressed. It’s really unfortunate that the game ended up linked to the whole situation.

Oh, and another criticism — if there’s a location on earth with more globes you can spin, I’d be very surprised. 😅 Someone at Avalanche Software has a globe fetish. And clearly the development team are ‘cat people’ and not ‘dog people’. Never seen so many cats you can pet…

Edit: another annoyance (to keep things fair and balanced) is the constant equipment upgrading. It’s just too much. I appreciate the sheer volume of hats, glasses, robes, and gloves they designed, but come on — it’s got me changing clothes so frequently that it detracts from any connection to the character. And I detest the Fortnite-ness of the crazy getups.

@Th3solution I'm not sure how far I am through but haven't made nearly the progress I was hoping to. I'd agree with you on all of what you've said. The locations are so detailed and well built and seem to fit perfectly into the wizarding world. Whilst I'm pretty sure that the layout of Hogwarts itself is very different than the one imagined in the films they've done an extraordinary job building something that feels like it could easily have been the one that was originally dreamt up. Both inside and out there's no shortage of secrets to uncover and just when you've seen it all you'll come across something else.

The combat has been really well designed. It feels like it's got elements of a souls game, as well as GoW and perhaps even something like Control as well. Since I've now got multiple spell sets unlocked it feels really good to be able to cycle through the various spells trying to maximise the cooldowns and also pick the right spells per the situation.

I have to say that I am quite disappointed that there's no trophy for stroking every cat or spinning every globe. I can only imagine they were put in there purely to troll trophy enthusiasts thinking that there might be one connected 😂

Regarding the whole controversy thing, it does seem to have rather quietened down now we are a few weeks down the road. Hopefully going forward things will come back to focus on just how good this game is, what a great job the developer has done, and what an amazing world JKR imagined in the first place.

@render I’m taking my time and so I figure at 20 hrs I’m not even halfway. I’ve probably only seen about 20% of the Scottish Highlands and about 40% of Hogwarts (just a total guess based on the map). Hogsmeade has been thoroughly explored but now I have Alohomora I can go back and start going into buildings that are locked.

I agree the combat is better than expected. I am having to work to get the muscle memory down of cycling through the spell diamonds, as well as remembering to use my L1 tools like potions and attacking plants. I don’t know how many times I’ve run up to an enemy in the middle of a fray and pressed the square button expecting to be able to melee attack 😂. My brain knows there’s no melee in the game but in the midst of combat all the years of reactive twitch muscle training make my fingers do some things on their own.

Speaking of twitch muscles, the most annoying collectible / mini-game so far is the flying key / cabinet stuff. I consider my reaction time to be average to above average and those can get pretty frustrating at times!

@Th3solution I must admit I have been doing the same, especially when I use accio, it's just a hardwired thing that I struggle to get out of, and yep also been forgetting to use any of the tools / potions etc on L1. Some of them are great for crowd control as well so I really need to get into the habit of doing that.

I've only just started on the keys thing and the few I've done haven't been so bad but it's bound to get frustrating. I quite like the Merlin Trials though, they're varied enough and I'm also having to guess if I can't do it because I haven't get got a specific spell or I'm just not clever enough to work it out 😂

@render Some of the puzzles are tough. But I think I’ve sussed out all of them so far. Actually, I take that back — I did Google one of the puzzles having to do with some turning fire lanterns on a bridge. It was easy once you saw the seal on the ground with the cypher on it. Same for the weird doors with the animals numbers — once you have the legend of the value of each animal then it’s simple math after that.

All the Merlin trials I’ve done so far (about 6-7) have been pulling balls into place on a recessed place on the ground, lighting torches, or zapping spheres on [poorly hidden] pedestals. Oh yeah, and one that involved jumping in succession on several pillars. That was slightly hard because the platforming control of the game is pretty poor. Kept sliding off the pillar.

The chomping cabbage is pretty overpowered if you spend a talent to upgrade to have two deployed for each time you use it (I think it’s under the Room of Requirement heading in the talent menu). Highly recommend that if you want to make combat a little easier.

@Th3solution The chomping cabbage talent was one of the first I went for. It can be OP like you say, especially when you use it with a few other items. The potions I haven't used so much unless I've been required to for an assignment but now I've brewed some I'll start to use them a bit more. I did buy a few as well but they do seem quite expensive to get hold of that way. I'm sure at one point I had quite a bit of money but I've blown through that in no time so will have to start getting better at gathering things whilst I'm out and about.

I didn't touch the Merlin Trials for quite a while but got fed up with the message that my gear slots were full and it not even giving you the chance to swap an item you already had for one that you could pickup. I blitzed through quite a few of them and got the next two levels of gear slots unlocked but I've still ended up with the same problem, and you mentioned it yourself but I can't be bothered with this changing outfits all the time - just give me something that looks ok and the ability to upgrade the stats and I'm happy.

@render Have you finished the game yet? I’m running through at a turtle’s pace. This week I’ve spent several hours trying to track down the Daedalian keys and I’m down to the last one and it’s about to drive me bonkers! The lack of any tracking mechanism for the keys is at odds with the rest of the game’s collectibles, which most all have icons showing you where to go or at least a counter for how many are left in the area. I’m going to have to run through a YouTube walkthrough one by one to find that last blasted key.

As for the quests, I’m following the Sebastian Swallow storyline, which is getting better over time. Nevertheless, I’m a little disappointed at how cavalier the game treats the unforgivable curses. I’m early in the sequence, so maybe there eventually is more gravity to them, but it seems like doling out death and torture is all just part of life as a 5th year student. The dissonance is a little strange, given the context of the rest of the game (I’m pretty sure the usage of the 3 unforgivables amounts to a one-way ticket to Azkaban in the original lore). But this is a game, first and foremost, and it makes for good gameplay, so I’ll have to shrug it off.

@Th3solution I'm still making my way through it as well. The menu tells me I'm about 75% completion now but I don't think that takes into account all the collectables, of which there are many I don't think I've got yet. I started to try and put a dent into the Daedalian keys and Demiguise statues at the weekend having realised that I'd not really done many. At least the Demiguise statues lead to something in terms of being able to get into more places but so far I'm not really sure what the house tokens are going to get me. I also thought I'd done all the Merlin Trials as I'd maxed out the rewards available for those but the trophy completion said just 55% which is when I realised there's a massive section of map that I've not even visited yet. This game is way bigger than I appreciated.

Quests wise I've also enjoyed the Sebastian Swallow storyline. It's had it's fair share of action so far and I've still got a few things left to do on that easily which I'll try and get stuck into this week. Like you say though it does seem to have reached that point where you are throwing unforgivable curses around with reckless abandon and the only person that has an issue with that is Sebastian's uncle. I suppose the Ashwinders aren't going to go and report you to the ministry of magic anyway so I guess that might be how it's fine in the game. I've just been going along without thinking too much about it for the same reason you have really, it's just a fun game to play.

I also did the PS exclusive quest in Hogsmead, the haunted shop. It was quite good actually and probably took me about 40 minutes to an hour to complete and was a good mix of puzzles and action. I think they've generally struck a good balance with the additional content in the game and I've enjoyed most things. Probably the only thing I'd happily get rid of is those Depulso puzzle rooms which started off ok but got a bit annoying. At the rate I'm going though I'm likely to not finish this for weeks yet 😅