Hogwarts Legacy

 

Release: 2023

Developer: Avalanche Software

Publisher: WB Games

Gameplay Stats: ~60 hours, all achievements

Man, I have kinda complicated feelings about this game. In order to kind of get them out I'm going to just ramble a bit.

Harry Potter was really important to me when I was younger. I stood in line for the books at midnight releases, I watched all the movies, I dreamt of attending Hogwarts. I feel more complicated about the legacy of JK Rowling now that I am older and she has expressed so many abhorrent beliefs. I can divorce her from her creation, but I don't have an easy time doing it. Looking at the world with older eyes certainly highlights many issues, but the feeling of play in the books is still a highlight.

I think this game is lacking that playfulness. The structure of the game is very bog standard open world game which is really unfortunate. There is some whimsy present but I don't think it's enough. Everyone expresses themselves clearly and talks about everything so certainly. Where's the magic? Where's the mystery? I think this game lacks a sense of wonder which is what the books captured for me as a child.

This game is competent, it does what it sets out to, but in such a weird way. I don't think whoever was in charge of the project was looking at the same things in the source material that I was. It's the problem with a lot of reboots/reimaginings coming out these days. They stay within the structure of the world but fail to capture the emotion evoked by the source material.

The name of the game is weirdly prescient. This game really does capture the legacy of Hogwarts, which is complicated and makes people feel weird these days. There is some wonder, some playfulness, but mostly the game feels hollow. Much like JK Rowling's stories now that we know more about her.