'Hogwarts Legacy' Review: A Quality Magical Adventure

From the very first opening moments of Hogwarts Legacy, you'll be introduced to an intriguing mystery that involves your fifth-year Hogwarts student and his/her rare ability to wield ancient magic. And just like the books/movies themselves, you'll witness your witch/wizard getting tugged in many different directions as they tend to their everyday studies, enjoy adventurous scenarios inside/outside of the school grounds, and get to the bottom of a dangerous mission that impacts the world of magic at large. As someone that's read every Harry Potter book, it felt great to act out my own narrative as a young magic user who's at the center of something monumental. I was genuinely absorbed by the plot being told during the entirety of Hogwarts Legacy - making important decisions regarding the use of severely dangerous magic, mingling with the Hogwarts student body, and discovering the totality of my importance between the warring factions were all captivating.

Now as your typical open-world game, Hogwarts Legacy implores you to dig through every nook & cranny of its world to find assorted collectibles. But shockingly, both of those activities never devolve into feeling like a chore due to the unique ways you can find and unlock things. Solving tricky door math equations, grabbing assorted flying pages around campus, and guiding moths to mysterious mirrors are just a sample of the myriad side activities you'll get addicted to during your stay at Hogwarts. Attending classes in order to actually acquire new skills/items attached to the game's main mechanics felt so on-brand. I found myself quick to pick up new side missions every time I saw one available since they always pointed me toward somewhere that was full of even more secrets to uncover. Using different spells to unearth various secrets points to why I had so much fun finding everything this game has to offer. Hogwarts Legacy's main campaign and optional objectives are equally alluring, which came as a nice surprise.

One of the best aspects of this game that surprised me is its deep combat system. Flinging out basic attack spells starts out on a simple note. Then you get your hands on additional spells that levitate your foes, break the defensive orb surrounding them, and instantly bring them toward you. And even with all that, newer elemental spells become a part of your repertoire and allow you to punish your foes in more devastating ways. Taking the fight to rival duelists, statues, evil magicians, and giant trolls with your upgraded spells delivers that power fantasy Harry Potter fans have always wanted to live out. I must say, though - the lack of enemy variety does rear its ugly head the deeper you get into the game. You'll end up wishing there were other evil denizens of the Wizarding World to clash with besides the usual fare I mentioned beforehand. Thankfully, burning, freezing, and pulling off devastating ancient magic finishers always produces feelings of immense satisfaction.

Basking in the familiar sights on display in Hogwarts Legacy provides some of the most memorable occurrences for diehard fans. You'll find yourself stopping to peek at the many moving sculptures, armor, and paintings around every corner. You'll also find yourself perusing through Hogsmeade to pick out recognizable portions of its inviting shops & hangouts, pet every cat you encounter, and take note of everything you remember from the books' depictions of the Forbidden Forest. The central locales you can venture into within Hogwarts Legacy all come to life wonderfully thanks to some extraordinary visuals. The beautiful indoor architecture and outdoor settings look as great as you'd imagine they'd be when they were nothing but images concocted by the words in each Harry Potter novel. Issues due arise in the form of bugs and glitches that point to this game being a bit rough around the edges, sadly.

Now let's get into my main grips within this Hogwarts Legacy review. Moments of deep immersion are broken by some strange errors. I've witnessed NPCs clip through the environment, such as a student walking through a bridge and seemingly floating in midair before walking back to its idle animation. I never got used to the fact that entering separate locations activates a loading animation that's clearly visible as a cycle symbol appears on doors before you're allowed to open them. Weird audio glitches would pop up from time to time, such as an annoying robotic voice bug that's in dire need of patching. I'm already used to the issue of games not being their absolute best at launch these days, but I figured Hogwarts Legacy would have been handled with a bit more care in some areas of its technical performance.