Hogwarts Legacy Is An Incredible Magical Experience

     Preface: I had no intention of comparing these two games. It just happened as they are both newer and both very special to me. I could have easily removed all the comparison talk and jumped into a "review" but I also wanted to share my extra thoughts so I've left them.

     Hogwarts Legacy is a truly special and immersive magical experience.

     It is extremely rare to see this kind of deep passion from a developer team in a video game. The amount of detail that went into this world is mind-blowingly incredible. I think the same about Star Wars Outlaws but that game isn't anywhere close to half as good as Hogwarts Legacy and I don't say that as an insult. That's just how special Hogwarts Legacy is. Star Wars Outlaws is pretty extraordinary even without reaching it's full potential.

      While Star Wars Outlaws also has a deeply special world, Hogwarts Legacy takes it even futher by having every single aspect of gameplay also being very special. Star Wars Outlaws has basic and fun gameplay while Hogwarts Legacy offers multiple unique ways to play in combat, puzzles, and exploration. Some if it does feel a bit dumbed down as most of it is on the simplistic side. But the large variety in puzzles and events to do in the game make up for the simplicity. There is also wasted potential in Hogwarts Legacy such as caves that are just tiny but they exist in a manner that makes the world as a whole fun to explore in. I can't help but wonder if maybe they went unfinished, as cool as they are. It would have been nicer if more of the side dungeons were larger. The main story dungeons are decent size and offer something more deep and meaningful at least.

     The reason I'm comparing these two games is because I also felt like Star Wars Outlaws really immersed me into the universe of Star Wars. Everything was familiar and it felt great to experience the world of Star Wars. The same goes for Hogwarts Legacy. I feel like I'm living in a truly magical world as I walk, run, and fly through it.

     Forgive me for rambling, I just really love both of these games and felt the need to say that. Now, for the finer details as to what is great and bad (very little) about Howarts Legacy.

     The actual school of Hogwarts is so enormous that it's really easy to get lost in and have no idea where you should go. Fortunately, the quest guide is very easy to follow as in most games, a visual guide will lead you up and down and around to where you need to be. But when you decide to explore, it'll take many hours to get used to. I remember after around ten hours of running around the school I thought to myself, "oh yeah, doesn't this game also have an open world to play in?" The school itself is so big that I had thought it was going to be the whole game. It's so impressive.

     Not only is Hogwarts huge, it's alive. Just like in the movies and books, invisible staircases come to life as you approach them and spiral upwards or downwards, statues animate, people in paintings play music, ghosts fly around, there's so much living magic everywhere you go.

     I would like to go into details about the variety of puzzles and events you encounter but there's so many and I also don't want to spoil that experience for you. Eventually it will get repetitive and copy/pastey but it'll take awhile before it does because there are so many different things to do and enjoy. 

     Character customization was a thing I forgot was even going to be in Hogwarts Legacy. There's a decent starting kit to choose from, nothing super advanced but enough to put yourself together. You also go through the act of choosing your school House with the "Sorting Hat" who asks you questions. Just like in the books, you're able to choose your House if the hat picks one for you that you don't like (or am I remembering that wrong?). As you play through the game, you will unlock even more customization such as different robes, hats, eyewear like masks and glasses, scarfs, your broom, and even your wand! It's very cool and there's quite a bit to unlock but it does take awhile.

     That reminds me about the loot in Hogwarts Legacy. This is an actual RPG with gear improvements. I haven't given it much thought most of the time while playing cuz once you have good gear, it's rare to get an actual upgrade. You can even get higher level gear that is worse than what you're currently wearing. Most of the time when I'm looting gear, I'm just hopeful that I'm getting a new transmog to customize my character with. I'm fine with that. I don't mind that I'm not constantly upgrading my gear but it is a little weird to have so much loot with so few upgrades. (I think every looter game suffers this same issue).

     You can also upgrade your gear and modify the stats on it eventually. This is one of the long grinds of the game. I didn't start really crafting my gear until forty hours into the game. I'm sure you can do it sooner but probably not to much benefit. As you play, you also unlock the different modifications and crafting material to upgrade your gear so you won't have anything major until you're deeper into the story. It is cool that you can modify your gear to your playstyle preference: more defense or offense, more powerful throwable weapons, things like that. I focus on faster gain of the Ancient Magic Meter for epic takedowns quicker. Again, I only finally did that after I was forty hours into the game. Cool upgrades and modifications, not required to kick butt and play before using or accessing that feature.

     I also hadn't even unlocked Skill Talents until I was ten hours into the game. Most of this is based on how quickly you play through the main story missions. I did a lot of exploring and side content out of natural enjoyment of the world I've played in so I'm not sure how quickly you can unlock some of these features in comparison to how long it took me. But also, most of the main story missions require you to do a bunch of side stuff that I wasn't always too interested in doing right away.

     Hogwarts Legacy also has personal housing of a kind. Inside Hogwarts, you get your own room and as you play through the game, you unlock new ways to customize it and it even grows bigger. Eventually you'll also unlock even more extra rooms called a "Vivarium" where you store and can breed all kinds of magical creatures. You can decorate your main room with paintings and chairs and all kinds of things. You also build crafting tables in your room and if you do that, it will likely take up most of your early space before any fun customization because the crafting tables take up a lot of space. That will change deeper into the story when your room grows and expands!

     In the Vivarium where your magical pets live, you can add trees, stairs, towers, and I forget what else. There's a lot of really cool and beautiful customization items for your personal and pet homes. You can also change the sizes of each item to smaller or larger. These customization unlocks can be very grindy which I have not had a problem with. I'm still mostly playing the open world side content as I push through the main story. I hadn't mentioned, I still haven't completed the campaign yet. I have taken my time with the game and breaks from it here and there. I find it easy to burn out on but I love it so much. I hope I take the time to fully modify out my Vivarium cuz I have imagined doing it but often times I never do much with housing in the games I play, even when I like the concept.

     The combat in Hogwarts Legacy is one of my most favorite things about it. It's like the Batman Arkham games but with magic. I was not expecting so many puzzles and activities in this game, though. I don't know why but I think I was expecting more combat. It's not that there isn't plenty of combat, there's just a lot more puzzles and activities than I had expected. It reminds me a lot of the Zelda series. New spells are usually unlocked through main story missions but some are also gained from side missions. You also get spell loadoats that you can easily swap between. Each spellbar holds a total of four spells and you're gonna end up having a lot of different spells to pick from. The animations in combat are epic, the spells really shine and stand out.

     Saying that, I hadn't written down any notes on the graphics, specifically. I usually don't. Some might call me a "graphics whore" but good gameplay is always my number one want in the games that I play, then story, then music and sound effects. Visual style and graphics are gonna be my first impression of course but if the gameplay is bad, the graphics don't matter. I love good art and this game is stunningly gorgeous. It has that thing where graphics in the distance out in the open world aren't as great but eff that, this game is insanely beautiful and impressive.

     For general gameplay, the controls are smooth and fun, easy. I love that you just walk through doors by pushing forward on the controls to move your character through them rather than having a "use" button unless the door is actually locked. It drives me nuts having to press E or F on the keyboard to open a door every single time. I like when games do this natural door mechanic and it's rare.

     Then there's the broom in Hogwarts Legacy. I love riding on it but it never really feels that fast or anything. I'm fine with that. It obviously gets you around quicker than walking or running does. It just doesn't have some great sensation of speed. It reminds me a little of the motorcycle in Gotham Knights. It's fun, it's cool, but it doesn't actually feel fast. That feeling changes when doing precision racing missions which are fun.

     As incredible and deep as this game is, a lot of it seems unfinished such as caves that have more room to use and work with but just have one chest. There are seemingly unfinished puzzles so I wonder if the developer team ended up just making it quick and simple instead of finishing what was originally started.

     Hogwarts Legacy is a game you want to have patience with. It's not meant to be rushed through. While the combat is action based like the Spider-Man or Batman Arkham games, the world itself is designed for you to be immersed into. It's designed to be an experience. The main quest puzzles and events are long and involved. The side stuff is pretty quick but there's a lot and it allows you to really enjoy the game as if it were a life sim meant to be played for a long time.

     Hogwarts Legacy takes place before the books. There is a lot of lore in side quests (not all) and journals or notes that you find along the way. You may meet or read about the parents or grandparents of characters you are already familiar with if you were a fan of the books or movies.

     Always remember that you may not feel the same as me. You may think to yourself, "Wow, he likes it that much?! I have to go play this!" and then you might be disappointed. I can't imagine why but hype can easily ruin anything for anyone. Try to never approach anything based on someone else's opinions. Halo was such a major disappointment to me but I do enjoy the series. It was just so hyped up. Not all hype is intentional. We just get excited for things that we like. I absolutely love Hogwarts Legacy and Star Wars Outlaws. They are very special to me and certainly do stand out from most of the other garbage that is out there in the "AAA" industry.

     I really wish they would add a New Game Plus!!! It's a major request but for some nonsensical reason...

     I would also recommend you check out Forspoken if you never have. It's easily better than any of the newer Final Fantasy games (which I've also been playing lately).

     These screenshots were taken by me and that is some of my character customization.

     Thanks for reading. Game on. Trust nothing but your own living experience.

VLOG with some but not a whole lot of extra thoughts not included here: