Hogwarts Legacy Review: The Dream of Schooling at Hogwarts Finally Realized!

This Hogwarts Legacy review may contain spoilers, so for those of you who really don’t want to be spoiled by the Hogwarts Legacy story, you can wait until this game is released on February 11, 2023.

Hogwarts Legacy is the Harry Potter game you’ve been waiting for. There are many who have tried to make a Wizarding World game like this, but unfortunately, none of them can meet the expectations of the fans.

As a 90s generation who used to watch Harry Potter movies on TV, I always felt curious. How does it feel to be in a world where we study at Hogwarts, interact, and live in the daily lives of wizards or witches.

that being said, One of the media that we can use is certainly games, and there are many Harry Potter games that are present but none of them can satisfy that curiosity. Until finally this Hogwarts Legacy surfaced.

For that, let’s review Hogwarts Legacy together and I will also share my experience while playing this game. will this game satisfy my curiosity so far? let’s start with Gameplay:

Hogwarts Legacy Gameplay

Honestly, I think this game will be very boring in terms of Gameplay. because the previous wizard world-themed games also had the same problem, bad gameplay. We also understand why that can happen, It’s hard to make a good mechanical game when the main weapon is a wand.

Almost perfect Spell mechanic ( + )

There are various kinds of spells that can be used, but balancing all the spells and mechanics is very difficult to do.

But I think Hogwarts Legacy managed to find the right mix. By relying on castless spells as a basic attack, then you can defend or parry with stupefy, can scan the area ala Assassin’s Creed using Revelio, and change many spell skill wheels that can be accessed very easily.

Although you can only use 4 main charms at a time, without having to stop the gameplay, you can change charm sets very easily. If you are using a PC, you can simply use F1, F2, F3, or F4. For Playstation you can use the R2 + Left, right, up, or down combination. Then on Xbox just use RT + left, right, up, or down. So you could say it’s quite easy to use.

In addition, the charms you can use vary, but there are 5 main variations and each variation has 4 types of charms. So there are a total of 20 charms that you can combine to create your preferred mechanic.

In addition, each of these variations can also be used by the enemy, so there will be a paper scissors stone mechanism that is distinguished by color. So later you have to destroy enemy defenses using spells that match the color before you can attack your opponent.

And for stealth gameplay lovers, you can use the petrificus totalus charm which is the same function as the execute button when you are near the enemy without being caught, aka a sneak attack.

What do you think? Hogwarts Gameplay choice’s is complete isn’t it? So you can aggressively or play Stealthy as you wish.

Diverse side missions ( + )

Hogwarts Legacy has a variety of side missions or what we call Side Quest. Each of these side missions has an interesting background story and is also very diverse. Actually this Side Quest itself is divided again from those that have a deep story and those that don’t.

Usually the ones with deep stories are Side Quests from your close friends at Hogwarts, while the short Quests are usually just from people around Hogwarts.

This Side Quest can be from saving someone in the forest, picking up ingredients to make potions, or missions related to Beasts as well. So this diverse Side Quest will also take up your time even up to dozens of hours in Hogwarts Legacy.

Interesting Talent, Challenge, and Gear System( + )

This is also an interesting point of Hogwarts Legacy, although it can only be used a few hours after playing the main story. But you can unlock the Talent system like most RPG games. Where each Talent will increase the strength of both Spells, Dark arts, cores, stealth, or Room of of Requirments.

Every time you level up, you will get one talent point to exchange for various talents. You can increase the casting power of the Incendio spell or even make the most powerful forbidden spell Avada kedavra hit every enemy that has been marked by a curse.

What is clear is that like other RPG games, Hogwarts Legacy also provides an interesting Talent system.

In addition to Talents, you can also take part in Challenges to improve your fighting skills. Where the Challenges themselves are also very diverse and also improve many things. When I first played this game, I didn’t expect that we could get a prize when completing the given Challenge. One of them is Challenges in the exploration section, more precisely the Collect Ancient Magic Traces section, which when completed we can get additional Ancient magic bars which are very useful.

In addition, you can also increase your attacking ability by upgrading Gear. Gear itself you can upgrade when the Room of Requierments is open and then spike the loom. the point is there are so many RPG elements in this Hogwarts Legacy game that you can take advantage of so that your character becomes stronger.

Few Enemy Variations( – )

Unfortunately, while you can play Hogwarts Legacy like the wizard you want to be, the variety of enemies on offer is limited. They can be counted on the fingers and their attack patterns are quite predictable.

If we exclude the special types, the only enemies you face are Goblins, WizardKind, Inferi, Spiders, Statues, and occasionally Trolls that somehow appear only as a complement.

Yes, although the mechanics are quite fun, fighting enemies whose attack patterns are always the same will eventually get boring too. Unless you decide to hunt down Beasts to use as ingredients for Gear enchanment. Then there’s another variation to try.

But in the end, the enemies throughout the gameplay still feel like the same thing. Although there are a variety that can be faced, it’s just very rare that you fight.

No attention-grabbing buzz( ~ )

Although Hogwarts Legacy offers a lot of RPG elements as well as a very interesting wand mechanic. But from a technical standpoint, there’s nothing new to offer.

We are still presented with a standard RPG game + elements from the Wizarding worlds. So don’t expect a breakthrough system or gameplay like Elden Rings did. But that doesn’t mean this game is bad, but it can make good use of the existing RPG and Open World systems.

It’s just that these systems won’t make you feel amazed, so I don’t think this point can be used as a factor in whether Hogwarts Legacy is a good game or not. It’s just something to discuss so you don’t get your hopes up.

Hogwarts Legacy Characters

When it comes to characters, Hogwarts Legacy actually manages to create a lively world because of the interesting characters. Each character in this game will practically not make you feel strange or feel that their existence is not needed.

Every mission you do, even though the format is almost the same, is still fun to follow. Unfortunately, although the NPC characters are charming, I don’t really like the current gaming industry standards.

There are Many Interesting Characters ( + )

First, let’s talk about the charming NPC characters. Somehow different from games like Assassin’s creed valhalla, every character in this game has more “character”. what does that mean? yes they have more uniqueness compared to the characters in Valhalla who feel like copy and paste, especially the Side Quest giver NPC characters.

But in my personal opinion, the main differentiator is in the voice actors. Because if in Valhalla it seems like there is no intention, maybe because of the British accent factor, I don’t know. But there is something that makes the voice actors in Hogwarts Legacy feel fresher.

In addition, facial expressions. for some reason, even though they have a similar system, facial expressions in Hogwarts legacy are more vivid. It may also be due to the help of Unreal Engine 4. What is clear is that the characters in Hogwarts really help complement the open worlds of this game.

The main character is not memorable

maybe this is just a personal preference, But I don’t like the trend of creating my own character in Single Player games. I feel that games with a “Main Character” are more interesting than games with self-made characters. Do you know what I mean, if only we play a character who is already clear who the person is compared to us having to create a character with our own name or nickname?

That way we can cheer for our protagonist or evenhope to play the same character in Hogwarts 2 (maybe?).

But like I said earlier, this is a personal preference so it might be different for you. What is clear is that games with established characters are more memorable. For example, Claoud from Final Fantasy 7, or Leon from Resident Evil 4, you know what I mean?

Hogwarts Legacy Music

The music of Hogwarts Legacy is good. Maybe because it also takes the same music theme as the Harry Potter movie, I also like it. Because the soundtrack itself is iconic, right. Just like the iconic Pirates of Carabean soundtrack, Harry Potter also has a theme music that is easily recognizable and catchy to the ears.

Even though Hogwarts Legacy itself has some twists and additional soundtracks that you’ll love, it’s still the main soundtrack of the wizarding world that sticks in your head. So you can’t complain about the music, even the sound design for the individual spells is good and spoils your ears when you use them.

Hogwarts Legacy Storyline

I think this is the main flaw of Hogwarts Legacy. The story that is presented, although it has an interesting plot, is still mediocre. Classic bad guy good guy is the right term to describe the main plot of Hogwarts Legacy. there are no plot twists, no gray characters, and no surprises or big reveals that you can expect from this game.

But that doesn’t mean the story isn’t good. like I said earlier, it’s ordinary. That doesn’t mean it’s bad, it’s just ordinary.

Interesting enough main plot ( + )

Yes, as I said at the beginning, the main plot is quite interesting. Hogwarts Legacy is set in the 1890s and follows a student who starts at Hogwarts in fifth year. Since you, the main character got into Hogwarts later than other students, a wizards field guider is given by the Ministry of Magic.

Completing this section of the guide through exploration provides additional information and experience points. The player character, who holds the key to “Ancient Magic that threatens to destroy the world of magic”, is able to manipulate mysterious ancient magic, and needs to help uncover why this forgotten magic has suddenly revived and others are simultaneously trying to utilize it.

Isn’t the main plot good? But it’s still poorly executed. Because in the end, the storyline is so predictable.

Too predictable ( – )

The storyline is so predictable, the characters are black and white, although wrapped in good “intentions” according to the Antagonist. But still, we already know that A is good, B is evil without any ambiguous characters or betrayals that are often the mainstay of today’s stories.

Maybe I was wrong to expect more from the Harry Potter franchise story which has always been like this. The antagonist and protagonist already have clear roles, there are no plot twists or big surprises that will amaze you.

Does the choice we make actually have any influence or not?

Hogwarts Legacy adopts the RPG and Open world system that is currently popular, namely the Decision tree or the ability to choose responses that should have an influence on the story.

This ability usually allows you to get a different ending from each choice you make throughout the game. But in Hogwarts Legacy, each choice means nothing but a sweetener.

Maybe there are one or two ways that allow you to control certain spells (namely the unforgivable curse) or the fate of secondary characters. But the actual impact on the main plot is not noticeable at all. So I wonder what exactly is the point of a decision tree if it has no effective impact on the game?

Hogwarts Legacy Graphics

Here too, Hogwarts Legacy manages to utilize Unreal Engine 4 very well. The wizarding world looks so beautiful to the eye. In addition, the magic particle effect is also very good, the character design is also very well made.

This game also manages to make every element of magic in this world feel so integrated with the surroundings. We are indeed brought into a world where the power of magic exists in the daily lives of WizardKind.

The only problem that could possibly be fixed, is when opening doors to other rooms. We have to wait for a load to finish before the door can open, although this is not always the case.

Yes, I understand that this game is very compact and requires a lot of resources to load all the assets. But the PC spec I’m using should be strong enough to do it. But yes, this is probably a problem that is not too significant, but I have to discuss it because it will sometimes feel annoying.

Kesimpulan Review Hogwarts Legacy

So that’s the Hogwarts Legacy review from Dafunda Game. this game manages to present a magical world that you can explore at will. You can play this game for dozens of hours without getting bored. Starting from exploring the Wizarding world, looking for ingredients to make potions, or even decorating the Room of Requirments at will.

The point is that Hogwarts Legacy is not a perfect game, but it is perfect enough to cure the “thirst” of Harry Potter fans for a good game for this giant franchise.