Summary
- Hogwarts Legacy captured the Harry Potter atmosphere, but needs to work harder in the sequel to maintain the feeling of authenticity.
- A party system in Hogwarts Legacy 2 could enhance the game's social features and emphasize the theme of friendship. Characters could perform team-up moves like the synergy attacks in FF7 Rebirth.
- While the first game had well-fleshed companion characters, they didn't play a significant role in the main story, and having multiple allies tag along more often could help solve that problem.
One of the biggest highlights of Hogwarts Legacy was its remarkable ability to capture the general atmosphere of the Harry Potter movies. With some excellent visual design, some stellar recreations of some iconic locations, and a nice blend of humor, whimsy, and danger, Hogwarts Legacy - at least for the most part - felt like an authentic Wizarding World experience. But that feeling is going to be difficult to capture again in the sequel.
Though it hasn't been officially confirmed yet, a sequel to Hogwarts Legacy seems inevitable at this point due to the first game's unprecedented success. But one of the biggest advantages that the first Hogwarts Legacy had was that it was the first AAA open-world RPG of the franchise, and a lot of its charms came from giving players an experience they'd never had before but always wanted. Hogwarts Legacy 2 is going to have to go above and beyond to capture that same feeling again, and one such way could be by introducing a party system.
Hogwarts Legacy 2 Could Draw on Goblet of Fire to Spotlight Some Underserved Lore
Hogwarts Legacy 2 should look to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire for inspiration concerning what other Harry Potter schools it could represent.
Hogwarts Legacy 2 Should Embrace a Party System
The Harry Potter Franchise Is a Very Social One
While the Harry Potter franchise dabbles in a wide range of different themes, one of its most prevalent is the theme of friendship. From the very beginning, friendship is at the very heart of the Harry Potter series, whether it's Harry's isolation due to a lack of friends, him embracing a new found-family with Ron and Hermione, or the friendship that binds together the Order of the Phoenix and the subsequent Dumbledore's Army. While Harry is always the one to save the day in the end, it's made expressly clear that he wouldn't get very far without those who support him along the way.
Though Hogwarts Legacy lifted a lot from the Harry Potter series, it didn't quite capture this core theme of friendship. In all fairness, Hogwarts Legacy offered a handful of companion missions with well fleshed-out characters like Poppy Sweeting and Sebastian Sallow, but these missions never feel like the player is forming a lifelong friendship with the companion, and these characters don't play too much of a role in the game's main story. At the end of Hogwarts Legacy, it's all down to the player-character to save the day, with little to no help from the friends they've made along the way.
Hogwarts Legacy 2 Can Spotlight The Series' Social Features With a Party System
But this is exactly where Hogwarts Legacy 2 can go above and beyond. In doubling down on its social features, Hogwarts Legacy 2 should be able to emphasize the series' themes of friendship even more, and a surefire way to do that is via an extensive party system. A staple of many RPGs, party systems often merge gameplay with narrative, letting players bond with their companions through battle and dialogue simultaneously. The more players battle alongside their companions, the more they'll learn about them, and the more they'll grow attached.
A great recent example of this is Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Though Final Fantasy 7's party members have been iconic for decades now, Rebirth takes it a few steps further by introducing Synergy Moves that encourage constant teamwork during battle, along with new quests and sequences that see more party members get their time in the spotlight. If Hogwarts Legacy 2 adopted a party system like this, then it could be a great way to capture more of the spirit of the Harry Potter franchise.
Hogwarts Legacy
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 84 /100 Critics Rec: 88%
- Released
- February 10, 2023
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Blood, Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, Use of Alcohol
- Developer(s)
- Avalanche Software
- Publisher(s)
- Warner Bros. Games
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 4
- Cross-Platform Play
- Hogwarts Legacy doesn't have crossplay or crossplatform support
- Cross Save
- you can freely use your saved data between each console as long as you are connected to the internet and signed into the same account where the saved data was created
WHERE TO PLAY
Hogwarts Legacy is an immersive, open-world action RPG set in the world first introduced in the Harry Potter books. For the first time, experience Hogwarts in the 1800s. Your character is a student who holds the key to an ancient secret that threatens to tear the wizarding world apart. Now you can take control of the action and be at the center of your own adventure in the wizarding world. Your legacy is what you make of it.
Explore an Open World
The wizarding world awaits you. Freely roam Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, the Forbidden Forest, and the surrounding Overland area.
Be the Witch or Wizard You Want to be
Learn spells, brew potions, grow plants, and tend to magical beasts along your journey. Get sorted into your house, forge relationships, and master skills to become the witch or wizard you want to be Experience a New Wizarding World Adventure
Experience the wizarding world in an unexplored era to uncover a hidden truth from its past. Battle against trolls, Dark Wizards, goblins, and more as you face a dangerous villain threatening the fate of the wizarding world.
- Franchise
- Harry Potter
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PC
- How Long To Beat
- 26 Hours
- Metascore
- 84
