Thoughts on Hogwarts Legacy

This post is part of Agora Road's October 2024 Travelogue.

Preface

As a kid, I was absolutely terrified by the Harry Potter movies, causing me to avoid them like the plague. When I got in high school, I read the books. That is pretty much the only interaction I had with the franchise. Oh, I also had a LEGO minfigurine of Hermione for some reason I believe.

While I do not dislike the Wizarding World, I am not really a "Harry Potter fan". If anything, I am more a fan of the "Hogwarts at night" vibe than anything else. Hogwarts Legacy released on 10 February 2023, I never got the game. This was because the game released on next-gen consoles I do not posseses and there was no way my 2016 computer could handle the game. I knew a Switch version was coming, but I kinda just forgot about the game.

Purchase

On 16 October 2024, I randomly decided to browse the Nintendo Switch eShop. I found out that the switch version of Hogwarts Legacy was released and was on sale. I decided to buy the game. I am rarely hyped for video games those days, but I must admit that I was excited to play this game.

I was a bit worried that the game would be "AAA slop". I know that some aspect of the games were a bit memed, but I did not recall anyone saying it was a bad game. So I decided to purchase it.

The game

Having recently read The Spook, I decided to make a character called "Grimme Deane" - a sorceress loosely based on Grimalkin. I was essentially roleplaying as a good witch that does not hesitate to experiment with dark magic in her spare time.

The first thing that struck me is how utterly boring the main story is. The "ancient magic" plot is so uninteresting. As soon as I could, I ignored the main story to go explore Hogwarts. The map design in this game is superb. It is EXTREMELY easy to get lost in the castle. I am still not sure if this is a bad thing or not.

The most fun I had with this game was simply exploring the map. This game heavily reminded me of Super Mario 64 DS of all things. My guess was because I was trying to jump around and find collision glitches for funsies.

The game nails the aforementioned "Hogwarts at night" feeling immaculately. Exploring the rest of the overworld is fun.

You can also eventually unlock a flying broom. Flying around is very satisfying. The game also got a very good combat system. Brutally murdering every living being by throwing nearby items at them is a great feeling.

I felt like a kid when playing this game. I think that's because I wanted a "medieval fantasy" action RPG that was this open for a long time. This game feels like Zelda: Twilight Princess on steroids. It feels like a great classic that was released in the early 2000s.

Those last years, I became wary about playing new video games in general, so my thoughts were likely blinded by me simply rediscovering the concept of fun again. Regardless, I have a great time with this game, there is no denying that.

Written by manpaint on 22 October 2024