Hogwarts Legacy has enjoyed a level of success not afforded to most games, but such success comes with a cost: all eyes will be on its sequel to deliver an expanded, improved experience. Indeed, the first Hogwarts Legacy had the benefit of being a bold new Harry Potter adaptation, but Hogwarts Legacy 2 has to shoulder the weight of expectation.
Luckily (or not so luckily, depending on perspective), there are plenty of clear shortcomings that the Hogwarts Legacy sequel can target. Aside from assorted narrative and gameplay woes, there are a number of obvious features and lore-relevant concepts that ought to be added to the original formula. As many have already suggested, more interactive classroom segments ala Bully or Persona could go a long way toward driving home the fantasy of being a magical schoolgoer, but one crucial aspect of the Harry Potter experience needs to be stirred into the mix as well.
Hogwarts Legacy 2: The Case For and Against Revelio Returning
Revelio plays a major role in Hogwarts Legacy, but there might be some benefits to leaving it on the cutting room floor for the sequel.
Why Quidditch Will Be Important in Hogwarts Legacy 2
Quidditch Is a Glaring Omission in Hogwarts Legacy
One of the strangest missing features of Hogwarts Legacy is quidditch, the famous airborne wizard sport that combines elements of soccer, cricket, and water polo. It's not entirely clear why Avalanche Software opted to leave quidditch out of the final cut of the game, though many have speculated that it was to make room for Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions, a standalone game designed around the sport. But even though Quidditch Champions has already been released, and regardless of its potential for growth as a live-service title, Hogwarts Legacy 2 should still welcome the game into the fold, as it has a lot of potential within the RPG framework.
Quidditch is written out of Hogwarts Legacy in a rather awkward way, with Headmaster Black declaring the season canceled after a pure-blood student was injured on the pitch.
Quidditch Could Greatly Improve the Hogwarts Legacy 2 Experience
While it definitely has some shortcomings, chief among them a general lack of depth and content, Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions is surprisingly fun and well-designed. It's a respectable translation of a sport that, obviously, no one has ever actually played, and its physics, controls, and slight rule tweaks help the game feel intuitive and expressive. But at the end of the day, even with potential updates and ambitious expansions, Quidditch Champions will likely never match the bold expansiveness of a full-blown RPG like Hogwarts Legacy.
Quidditch could be introduced into the broader RPG formula of Hogwarts Legacy as an exciting optional side activity. Perhaps players could engage with the sport in a similar manner as guilds in The Elder Scrolls, for instance: quidditch could have its own dedicated quest chain, progression, and narrative, which would be steered by the player for a more complete role-playing experience. This could greatly elevate the fantasy of being a Hogwarts student, as players would have the option to pursue the sporty character archetype while mastering a new gameplay facet.
One could make the case that quidditch is more than just a cool potential feature for Hogwarts Legacy 2; it's a borderline necessity for the sequel. The fact that there is no quidditch in the first game is puzzling, but forgivable, especially in light of the standalone Quidditch Champions, but it would, quite frankly, not make any sense for the sport to be absent during the second go-around. In the worst case scenario, skirting around quidditch yet again could make it seem like Avalanche Software is withholding a potentially transformative aspect of the RPG sandbox for no other reason than to funnel players into the live-service Quidditch Champions, which would be frustrating and immersion-breaking to say the least.
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
- Number of Players
- Single-player
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- Verified
- PC Release Date
- February 10, 2023
- Xbox Series X|S Release Date
- February 10, 2023
- PS5 Release Date
- February 10, 2023
- Nintendo Switch Release Date
- November 14, 2023
- Nintendo Switch 2 Release Date
- June 5, 2025
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PC
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
- How Long To Beat
- 26 Hours
- X|S Optimized
- yes
- PS Plus Availability
- Extra & Premium
