Published on: 07/02/2023

Hogwarts Legacy gains overall positive reviews from early players

Hogwarts Legacy, a new Harry Potter franchise video game, has generated positive reviews from early players.

Potterheads have been anticipating the game since its announcement in September 2020. Initially, fans raised concerns about whether American developer Avalanche Software could deliver the game’s premise because its title collections were considered “middling.”

Now, analysts and early players have said that the game does just that. In the open world of Hogwarts Legacy, players can find faithfulness to the source, like how the Hogwarts castle has moving paintings and disappearing staircases.

Analysts maintained that the game is a Potterhead’s dream come true. With its top-notch graphic, exploring the school ground can feel “unnerving,” especially in areas like the Forbidden Forest, which, based on the original story, hosts dangerous creatures.

There are various magical and non-magical items to collect in the game, including spells — which can be used in duels — and cloaks. Players can find more items in new buildings they encounter along the journey.

Analysts praised Avalanche’s effort in making the game more diverse to fit the audience in the modern era. Many reviewers said the effort was necessary to draw people in, considering the book’s original author, J.K. Rowling, is currently under fire for her transphobic remarks on social media.

Hogwarts Legacy’s downsides

Despite the positive aspects of the game, analysts said that the game doesn’t have “so much personality.” Its storyline surrounds the goblin uprising, which analysts described as uninteresting due to the lack of intrigues — Dark Arts and wizard-Muggle tensions — found in the books.

Additionally, analysts noted that a large portion of the game occurs outside the castle, where players complete various quests and receive rewards. They said it reduces the interaction between characters, making the game feel less intimate.

Analysts added that the player’s character — whose appearance and personality are decided by players — was not memorable. They said that the friendship elements in the game were not believable and meaningful. Characters that players found likable also mostly showed up just to give out quests.

Some also complained about the voice actors in the game, saying that while some were good, some others did not suit the characters and could not deliver the right accent, especially Scottish.

Due to certain limitations, analysts said the game would feel like the usual open-world game after a while, meaning that it lacks the immersive quality expected from a video game.

Hogwarts Legacy will be released on February 10 on PC, Xbox Series X|S and PS5. Meanwhile, the developer will launch the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and PS4 versions later on April 14.

Performance across consoles

Based on performance metrics on Metacritic, the Xbox Series X version gained the highest rating of 89 at the time of writing. If the game can maintain its high rating after the official launch, Hogwarts Legacy will likely be one of the highest-rated games this year.

The PS5 version followed the Xbox Series X with a rating score of 86. Meanwhile, the PC version received the least score among the three pre-released versions at 83. Analysts said the PC version had performance issues that are common in other PC games of this caliber.