It’s not easy to develop games based on big, established properties. Sure, it works out sometimes (ie. the Batman Arkham franchise), or it works against it (see: Marvel’s Avengers). But when it does work, it’s something magical. With the Harry Potter franchise, it’s not an easy task. While we’ve had multiple games based on the IP over the years, none has been good enough to live up to fan expectations…that is, until now, as Avalanche has done the impossible: the studio has made a Harry Potter game worth playing even if you’re not a Potterhead! Yes, Hogwarts Legacy manages to cast a spell, and it’s an insanely powerful one at that. Curious? Read on for our review (no spoilers).

I’m a Wizard, Harry

Set in the 1890s, Hogwarts Legacy will see players take on a new tale nearly a decade before the book’s events. While locations such as the wizarding school of Hogwarts and other neighboring sites will look and feel familiar, the world of Hogwarts Legacy is unlike anything of the likes you’ve seen thus far. 

Before you begin your journey, you’ll have the opportunity to create your character, and while not the deepest of creators, it’s in the least serviceable as you’ll be able to select from a wide selection of different hairstyles, face types, skin tones, gender, and even the pitch of your voice. There are preset ones, too, if you prefer to save time creating your character. 

From there, the game thrust into the world as a new student who immediately starts as a fifth year. We meet with Professor Fig, our primary mentor, who will guide us through the game’s central plot. It doesn’t take long after for chaos to ensue, as you’ll be confronted by a dragon and several powerful foes. It’s here we learn about the game’s antagonist, a goblin named Ranrok, who’s hell-bent on searching for the source of an ancient and powerful forbidden spell that grants its wielder with unfathomable dark magic. 

This is where you get tied into things, as it’s revealed that you’ve inherited a special kind of ability that allows you to see ancient magic long thought lost. The type of magic that Ranrok just so happens to be after. 

Thus your journey in the hunt for this source begins. 

Without going into spoilers, Avalanche did a fantastic job with Hogwarts Legacy’s story. It’s compelling with its well-written, lore-filled content that feels like a respectful homage to the source material while expanding upon it. To best describe it, it feels like a newly released novel or film (and not in the Fantastic Beast sense either,) something that Harry Potter fans have been clamoring for since the conclusion of the original series. 

However, as magical as the world of Hogwarts feels, the star-studded cast of characters you’ll meet along the way steals the show. Fans of the movies know precisely how well developed they are, especially when it comes to the introduction of new characters, as while you may end up hating them in the context of the story, there’s an undeniable amount of talent the actors give in their portrayal, winning you over with their believable performance. Hogwarts Legacy exceeds at delivering that very performance, with Simon Pegg as the headmaster giving one of his most humorous performances yet.  

Further adding to the Harry Potter vibe are the locations themselves. Hogwarts castle is a massive character unto itself. It’s very much alive, as while the floors and halls are filled with students going about their day, various objects such as picture frames, knight armor, and other items can be interacted with or interact with you as you pass by. Ominous whispers can be heard as if the castle is calling to you to let you know of the secrets it holds or to warn of the impending doom that awaits. 

I’m engrossed by the world that Avalanche Studios have crafted with Hogwarts Legacy, as so much love and attention to detail has gone into it. This is by far the best depiction of a Harry Potter game to date, and that’s saying a lot, considering it doesn’t even star Harry Potter. 

Casting an Enchantment Spell

However, the game’s world is only as strong if the gameplay is engaging enough to keep you playing and to say the least, Avalanche Studios has excelled at making you feel like a true wizard when it comes to the gameplay. 

Played from a third-person perspective, it’s easy to dismiss Hogwarts Legacy as another over-the-shoulder generic third-person shooter based on looks alone. And while it does give that impression at the start, once you start unlocking all the different spells, potions, and traits, you quickly realize that there is a lot more depth than what you see on screen. 

There are dozens of spells to earn and learn, with some giving you added abilities to unlock other areas and items, with others aiding you in combat. Potterheads will see familiar spells appear, such as Wingardium Leviosa, Lumos, and the like, but other spells are made just for the game.

All these spells play into a combo system, allowing you to transition from one spell to the next seamlessly. I’m reminded of the combat of the Batman Arkham series, where you can move around with such freedom and don’t have to worry about being overrun by an onslaught of enemies, as Hogwarts Legacy offers an easy-to-block and parry mechanic that works incredibly well. 

One thing to mention is that you can learn several forbidden spells from the Dark Arts. While it does add diversity to the combat, logically and narratively, I was disappointed that it had no consequence. There is no morality system in Hogwarts Legacy, something that it could have benefited from. That means that while you can play the “bad” guy, it has no significant implication over the story itself outside of a few choices that aren’t dependent on your playstyle. 

It’s the same for the House Cup, as it’s all predetermined. There’s no real scoring system, making choosing which house you want to be in feel less important. Oh well, there’s always hope for a sequel to address this.

Exploring the Wizarding World of Hogwarts

Outside the main story quest is a vast open world filled to the brim with things to discover and do. It’s the kind of world that isn’t playing the number games either, as despite having hundreds of collectibles scattered across it, there are actually a lot of unique things to do. 

Side missions are perhaps some of the best I’ve encountered in an open world, comparing them to the likes of The Witcher 3, God of War Ragnarok, and even Elden Ring to some extent. I rarely find myself playing in an open world and wanting to explore it because of how much unique content it has. 

Additionally, you can partake in relationship missions, which are just as long as the main campaign. These missions will see you taking on a unique storyline with the friends you made along the way. Mind you, you can’t romance any character, but these missions do feel very personal, to the point that they exceed even the main campaign in some parts. They’re fantastic. 

Other side activities include mini-games, such as broom racing (no Quidditch, sadly), dungeons, monster hunting, and puzzles like the Merlin trails. I never once felt like I was having a dull moment exploring, especially when flying around the world and visiting some of the gorgeous landscapes I’ve seen in a video game. 

While Hogwarts Legacy doesn’t opt for photorealistic visuals, its art direction really is something to behold. Everything feels like it was plucked straight out of the movie. I’ve spent countless hours flying around on my broomstick in total awe at the world’s beauty. It’s a damn shame that there’s no photo mode to capture the perfect moment. 

As for the collectibles, they are somewhat overwhelming. I’m all for content, but being a completionist, having hundreds, and that is with an “s” at the end, is somewhat of a nightmare. That’s because the spell to cast and highlight objects and enemies, Revelio, only lasts a few seconds, with no way to upgrade it. I’ve spent a considerable chunk of time on Hogwarts ground casting that spell nonstop because of how quickly objects disappear and how low visibility they are. Fingers crossed, a patch of some sort addresses this eventually. 

The Magic of Next-Gen Hardware

While Hogwarts Legacy is coming to last-gen consoles later this year, it’s hard to imagine how the game will run on those platforms, given its scale and how beautiful it runs on the PS5 hardware. I’m surprised because, going into this, I was expecting another Gotham Knight scenario where the game looked good visually but ran like crap. It didn’t,  and in my 30-plus hour campaign run, I’ve run into one or two hitches, those being during cutscenes. 

Performance mode is a buttery smooth 60fps, with fidelity aiming for 30fps at 4K, while there’s also a ray-tracing mode fidelity. The other modes are for those who prefer better visuals, but I felt the performance mode was the way to go. Luckily the game does support uncapped frames-per-second in both fidelity and performance, so if you have a VRR TV or monitor, you can take full advantage of the frame boost. 

Playing on the PS5 specifically, Avalanche makes good use of all the hardware features. Load times are near instant between areas, as is fast traveling. The use of 3D audio is also incredible, as exploring the Forbidden Forrest can feel terrifying as you hear branches break in the distance and the scattering of feet from a spider clacking around on the forest ground. 

The DualSense haptics and adaptive triggers also get utilized, with fantastic feedback allowing you to feel every spell you cast. I don’t like using the audio speakers in most of my games, but in the case of Hogwarts Legacy, it uses it really well. A fantastic showcase overall of what the controller can do to help up the immersion level of a game. 

Ten Points For Gryffindor 

I say this to the highest degree of praise possible when speaking about Avalanche Studios and Hogwarts Legacy. Avalanche Studios does for Harry Potter what Rocksteady did for Batman;  a perfect match, delivering a genuine, authentic experience like no other. For the last 20-plus years, I’ve dreamt about an open-world Harry Potter game that has everything you’d expect out of a Harry Potter game, and Avalanche has finally delivered on that dream. The attention to detail that has gone into this game, the love and care, and the pure dedication of the team. It all goes unnoticed. 

I feel like a kid again, reliving every magical moment I’ve ever had with the franchise, screaming and jumping with excitement during every minute of my playthrough. I strongly recommend playing Hogwarts Legacy, as it’s easily an early frontunner for easy Game of The Year.  

Score: 10/10

Pros

• Gameplay – It has a slow start, but once the spells, traits, and potions start pouring in, you’ll find it’s much deeper than it looks. 
• The World – Not only is this the best depiction of Hogwarts in a video game yet, and the world around the school is steeped in lore and will make any Harry Potter fan smile a few times.
• Visuals are breathtaking. They look and feel like they’re ripped right out of the pages and movies.
• Performance mode on the PS5 keeps a steady 60fps for most of the time.
• an excellent showcase of the PS5’s DualSense features.
• Has some of the best side quests I’ve played in an open world.
• The music, if you liked the soundtrack featured in the films, you will love it here.

Cons

• Can’t upgrade Revelio, the spell that highlights items, enemies, and such. It gets annoying pressing constantly, to the point of non-stop in some places. That makes collectibles feel like a chore.
• Enemy variety is on the low side, mainly consisting of goblins and dark wizards. It can get a little old.
• No morality system – There are Forbidden spells, yet almost no consequences for using them. It sort of takes you out when your suppose to be the good guy and are using torture spells and such.
• No House Cup mechanic. I would have loved to see this implemented with proper points awarded and deducted. 

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Hogwarts Legacy review code provided by the publisher. The game was tested on the PlayStation 5. You can read MP1st’s review and scoring policy right here.