A Vast, Magical World

Any talk of Hogwarts Legacy tends to go either one of two ways.

- HOOTS THE OWL

Hogwarts Legacy

Players who laud the title as the Harry Potter game they've been waiting for, and those who argue that it is impossible to separate the problematic views of creator J.K. Rowling from her work.

That said, Rowling was not involved in the development or writing of Hogwarts Legacy, and the game arguably goes out of its way to distance itself from her comments. For example, the game introduces Sirona Ryan, the firstever trans character in the wizarding world.

Hogwarts Legacy’s myriad side characters are also more varied than before, breaking from the traditional House tropes that defined the books and series. For instance, not all Slytherins are purposefully malicious and enamoured with dark magic. Most notably, Ominis Gaunt despises his family’s obsession with blood purity, and remains firmly against all use of dark magic. Similarly, Solomon Sallow considers all use of dark magic abhorrent.

However, it is Hogwarts Legacy’s vast, open world that makes the game immensely engrossing. I should point out that Legacy’s story in itself is not anything to get excited about. The entire plot revolves around a giant McGuffin – you are the only person in a long while to be able to see and wield “ancient magic,” an uninspired name that says nothing about what it can do. In combat, your ancient magic abilities are clearly very potent, but don’t look particularly different from what regular magic would be able to conjure.