Hogwarts Legacy has been inspiring fan fantasies ever since its announcement. High hopes were placed on Avalanche Software, the first unique game based on the Wizarding World narrative published by Warner Bros. under its Portkey Games label. Despite growing reservations as its release date drew near, the title has generated unwarranted excitement among many of us due to its reputation as the most ambitious undertaking in the series to date.

The game takes inspiration from the Harry Potter novels and brings nostalgic feelings for many while it portrays its own distinct story. Taking place in the 19th century, hundred years before the events of the Harry Potter saga, Hogwarts Legacy introduces a fresh storyline and group of characters as we traverse its gorgeous and comprehensive universe.

While more setbacks than usual games marred the preparation of Hogwarts Legacy, it eventually launched in February 2023. It's challenging to balance appeasing diehards and attracting beginners since there's always the chance of alienating either group. And it's a complex endeavor, especially when dealing with the Harry Potter series. Avalanche luckily constructed a genuine and captivating fairytale world that would delight not only the fans but also a regular RPG fan unfamiliar with this wizardly world.

Despite its open world's relatively minor flaws and a few technological issues, Hogwarts Legacy is an action RPG as magical as its particular topic, captivating and pleasing players with its thoughtful design and attention to detail, and manages to showcase some unexpected qualities. Being able to create our persona was the best possible way to fulfill the greatest fan fantasy and, of course, see the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry returns.

Your journey of the Hogwarts Legacy begins in the fifth year at Hogwarts when you venture to the school with Professor Fig with an unexpected incident. After creating your character, you take on the role of a bright young student with a unique ability that gives her the power to perceive the remnants of ancient and powerful magic. The plot follows the path of being more like a prologue to all that was seen in the Harry Potter series.

Although referred to as a prologue, the events it depicts took place almost a century before the original writings. It begins with a lengthy and unforeseen journey, during which you are promptly confronted by a goblin plotting something evil. But what's much more significant is that you understand that you have a heightened awareness of ancient magical acts.

Though it's evident that ancient magic plays a significant part in the plot, you'll have to wait quite a while for the story's underlying mechanisms to be revealed. Because of your exceptional ability to apprehend ancient magic, you draw unwelcome attention from Ranrok, a savage goblin with his army, and Victor Rookwood, the leader of an infamous organization of dark wizards. As these evil individuals desire to use the ancient magic to their benefit, Professor Fig, your mentor, becomes your guide even before you arrive at Hogwarts.

But as a new student of Hogwarts, you must first learn to balance the school activities while at the same time discovering the truth about what happened on the trip to Hogwarts and how it relates to Ranrok. The game's early stages are dedicated to familiarizing you with Hogwarts, the school's curriculum, surroundings, and other characters.

The arrival of a new and, at the same time, such an elderly fifth-year student at Hogwarts is not typical. So after the first trials of the Sorting Hat, you are given a Wizard's Field Guide by Professor Weasley to keep track of your learning and catch up with a fifth-grade student's studies. The guide, however, isn't simply a handbook to the game; it contains all of the game's quests, a map, quick travel options, and even a wardrobe full of alternate costumes. And to ensure that you are adept in the expertise of a senior student and can quickly and completely understand your role, the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry faculties have developed a specialized curriculum for you to follow.

Of course, this involves you attending their classes and learning new spells. Fans finally get their fantasy of an explorable Hogwarts; however, the castle only takes up a tiny portion of the landscape. In addition, there is the hamlet of Hogsmeade, which is located farther to the north, the Forbidden Forest, the train station, and many other tiny settlements dispersed throughout, each of which has its unique set of quests, foes, and monsters. It would have been fascinating if there had been more variation in the landscape, but there is still much to explore that may even come close to becoming overwhelming.

The world outside the school is full of challenges and possibilities in Hogwarts Legacy. You'll get access to every feature of the game as the game progress in the manner of you completing several classes. Eventually, you will get in contact with Alahoo Cave, have the ability to unlock doors and pick locks, and get the magic weapon that enables you to travel far in an instant, learn how to create potions, and catch magical creatures.

There are areas such as dungeons, forests, towns, camps, hidden valleys, etc., each separated by the threat level. In every area, you'll be able to solve environmental puzzles, uncover treasures, and interact with NPSs who often have side quests, shops, etc. The flying broom unlocks after a few hours of play, and the fog-based limits and obstacles progressively vanish as you go through the main narrative.

Eventually, you will learn spells after you've finished your professors' objectives, which will also take you through Hogwarts and its surroundings. You have access to various spells that will aid you on your travels, and the ever-expanding collection of spells should be more than enough to frustrate your enemies. There is a wide range of use between the classes, with some more suited for fighting, others for solving puzzles, and others for discovering new areas.

While you cast any spell with the selected button, the technique of learning spells may seem awkward at first. Though combining spells during fights is tricker at the beginning, you'll soon find yourself casting spells with ease, even under pressure. Each spell has a specific color, which is crucial since the enemies often protect themselves with one and require that you cast a spell of the same color to penetrate it. There is no limit on how many times you can cast spells that aren't the most basic without waiting a short while.

Hogwarts Legacy follows the traditional Action-RPG formula, with you gaining experience and talent points and using these points to improve your magic and spellcasting, etc. Also, to advance the game's plot, you need to keep raising your wizard level by completing objectives and puzzles. Gaining a higher Wizard Level will boost your overall strength as a Witch or Wizard and provide you access to more impressive aesthetic prizes as you go through the levels.

There are mostly story-based objectives, although sometimes you'll have to assist your classmates to escape from goblins or participate in a game or two with them. There are several components of typical role-playing games, such as an inventory system where you can buy and modify various items for your character, including robes, gowns, hats, brooms, gloves, wands, etc. You can add health attributes, defense, and offensive capabilities to certain objects by upgrading them with others of a matching class. You can also alter your character's appearance by swapping clothes for better defenses and attacks.

One of the best parts of Hogwarts Legacy is undoubtedly the battles. Battles within Hogwarts, as well as with the dark wizards, goblins, trolls, and other hostile creatures, ensure that combat is central to the game. Each battle is presented with numerous effects and quite graphically. You can cast spells of different sorts in rapid succession to create devastating combos, while portions and equipment provide an additional layer of variety to fights. The designated quick-action buttons for offensive and defensive spells with the controller make them simple to cast.

You can employ portions to enhance your strikes, shielding, and offenses, in addition to various spells that have varying effects depending on enemies. As long as you keep moving while pressing the proper button that appears over your character's head to dodge and defend yourself, you won't sweat much dealing with any of the enemies or even a group of them.

Even though the battles are never tedious, no matter how many times you encounter different enemies, sometimes combat will feel the same once you've played the game for several hours. The biggest concern is the larger number of enemies in the arena at once, making keeping track of everything a little more challenging. The lock-on aiming mechanism is a little bit shaky when it comes to close-quarters battles or confrontations with a greater number of potential targets.

In situations like these identifying the right target to switch to in a group becomes challenging. And at the later stage of the game, the impact of different equipment on enhancing battle capability doesn't make any considerable difference. Investing your money in the enhancements will seem pointless as you can take down enemies without much trouble, even without the enhancements.

The game mechanics in Hogwarts Legacy aren't limited to a simple combat system; you'll also need to use puzzle-solving skills to progress your journey. There are a ton of puzzles to solve, and you'll have to be inventive with your spellcasting if you want to move forward. Hundreds of Merlin's trails are hidden across the map, in addition to the riddles found in caverns, ruins, mines, and even Hogwarts. These problems, which need innovative solutions, have served as pleasant treats along the journey.

When they arrive, these intervals are a welcome relief; they don't pose any significant difficulties, but they help expand our sense of affiliation with the magical world that you're part of. The interconnectivity and mutual support of the game's many components become immediately apparent. As you go through the game and solve these puzzles, you will unlock a variety of shortcuts and an overload of treasures in the form of hidden scrolls and flying books.

Of course, there's more to a Hogwarts than merely completing quests or solving puzzles. Hogwarts Legacy is more than just a mission-based game; it's an immersive simulation of a student's life at Hogwarts. Knowledge gained through study is unquestionably the most powerful tool. You can learn about magical arts, from concocting potions, casting spells to protect yourself from enemies, and using herbs to fly. It is common practice for just the first few courses in a given topic to count toward the core objectives, with the following classes being considered bonus content. These classes will teach you many abilities that will serve you well in battle and on your exploratory adventures.

The open world of Hogwarts Legacy is relatively large, and venturing out to discover it is a delight. On the other hand, if you don't feel like venturing out into the open game world, it's not a need at all. The game doesn't rush through the process of showing you around and explaining the various features. But when you explore corners of the game, it's hard to deny the visual quality of Hogwarts and its surroundings, ranging from the grand staircase's deep treads to the sheer beauty of the Forbidden Forest.

And whenever you assume you've seen everything, a new season rolls around, and the game, as you know, undergoes a dramatic overhaul. As you progress through Hogwarts Legacy, you'll discover that the world is much more than just Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, and the forbidden forest. You may either travel by foot or use your flying broom, which is introduced when traveling becomes more frequent during the gameplay in later quests.

Hogwarts Legacy has stunning visuals with barely any technical issues. The art design is gorgeous, starting from the attention to detail in the animation of almost every artwork in the castle and other classroom antiques and items is likely only equaled by its excellent character design. Although the NPCs don't respond to spells and sometimes make strange faces and lip-synch, these minor issues won't impede the pleasant experience.

The difference between each character and creature is undoubtedly recognizable. The animations during battles are also fantastic, and you'll be blown away by the quality of the key cinematics, particularly early on. The soundtracks also blend nicely with the game. Voice acting by Simon Pegg for Phineas Nigellus Black and protagonist voices by Sebastian Croft and Amelia Gething has added remarkable realism to the game's overall presentation.

It's hard to do justice to the scope of the Hogwarts Legacy experience in just a few words. It's a great RPG with magnificent graphics, intense gameplay, and an excellent representation of the wizarding world. Avalanche Software has shown courage by attempting to develop something fresh while remaining authentic to the original content. Even though the characters are very different from the Harry Potter series, fans will find enough to like in the game.

For those who don't care about its lore, you have a role-playing game with mechanics that won't change the genre but will still provide enough enjoyment. If you're looking for a deep-action RPG experience, Hogwarts Legacy isn't it. It is neither an open world that reinvents the wheel but does a wonderful job reviving Hogwarts and its wizarding world. If you're hoping for a game that can keep you captivated for hours, Hogwarts Legacy is definitely the game you must try.
 

Azfar Rayan (@AzfarRayan)
Editor, NoobFeed