Hogwarts Legacy: Beloved yet controversial

  It is currently the best-selling game on the Ps5, Xbox, and PC. It has made $850 million dollars total and has already sold 12 million copies in just the first two weeks of release. Clearly, it’s an extraordinarily successful game. However, there is a large number of people who are boycotting the game, understandably so. A few years ago, Harry Potter writer J.K. Rowling made a few disturbing and transphobic tweets—here are just a few comments she left, “‘people who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people,” clearly making fun of trans women, “Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?” After Rowling tweeted this, there was a huge outrage among the fans, and even the cast. Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe had this to say, “I realize that certain news outlets will probably want to paint this as an in-fighting between J.K. Rowling and myself,” Radcliffe stated. “But that is really not what this is about, nor is it what’s important right now. While Jo is unquestionably responsible for the course my life has taken, as someone who has been honored to work with and continue to contribute to The Trevor Project for the last decade and just as a human being, I feel compelled to say something at this moment. Transgender women are women.” Several other actors from the cast also stood up against this injustice, but Radcliffe was the first. I hold it that the injustice committed by J.K. Rowling should be recognized, and it should NOT just be brushed under the rug—however, you will be rejoiced to hear that Hogwarts Legacy features several characters that fall under the LGBTQ+ umbrella, including a trans woman, named Sirona—she’s even played by a real trans person. So, if you are worried about purchasing the game because you do not wish to support J.K. Rowling, just know that you would also be supporting a trans-voice actress. Now that we have the controversy aside, let’s get into the good stuff. 

Gameplay: Spells

As far as spells go, I can guarantee you that you won’t be disappointed. If you are an avid fan of Harry Potter, I’m sure you know quite a bit about spellcasting. Hogwarts Legacy features a wide variety of spells, including but not limited to Accio, Expelliarmus, Incendio, Lumos, Aresto Momentum, Avada Kedavra, and so much more. The spells are separated into seven main categories: Control, Force, Damage, Utility, Transfiguration, Unforgivable Curse, and Essential. All spell categories but essential take up slots, so you’ll need to choose wisely as to which spells are in your hot bar. You can have up to four spells in each hot bar, and if you purchase all the necessary talent points (which we will discuss later), you can have four hot bars maximum. There are a total of thirty-four spells, with a maximum storage space of twenty-six. Each spell can be earned by completing a mission, though it should be noted that the unforgivable curses are, of course, not taught by Hogwarts. You will have to complete a side mission to attain those curses. 

Main Story: The gist

The game starts out with your character getting picked up by a guy called Professor Figg, so he can take you to Hogwarts. For a mysterious reason (that is revealed later in the game), you didn’t receive your Hogwarts letter until the fifth year—which means you’re going to be behind. You take a carriage that is pulled by Thestrails—which are these zombie-looking horses with wings that can only be seen if you’ve witnessed death—and as you’re on your merry way, suddenly, a dragon comes flying out of nowhere and crashes into your carriage. You and Professor Figg almost die—luckily, however, there was a Portkey so you guys grab hold and teleport to safety. Your character is unlike any other wizard, witch, or anything in between. You have access to this ancient form of magic that grants you otherworldly powers that only a select few can wield. This is a crucial part of the game because the main antagonist, Ranrok, who’s a goblin, is looking for a way to attain this power. For context, goblin kind has been mistreated and oppressed by wizards and witches for centuries—which is a likely reason why Ranrok wishes to possess your gift. 

Talent points

Talent Points are the points that you get each time you level up, and you can attain a total of thirty-six talent points since you can only level up a total of thirty-six times. In the Talents Menu, there are five separate skill trees in which you can purchase different abilities, or talents: Spells, Dark Arts, Core, Stealth, and Room of Requirement. The Spells skill tree focuses on upgrading spells, what a shocker. The Dark Arts skill tree comprises upgrades whereby normal spells act like curses. What I mean by that is that they will deal damage over time. The Core skill tree, which is my personal favorite, includes a combination of very unique and different upgrades. This is the skill tree that can upgrade your spell storage space, as I mentioned earlier, which will definitely come in handy. Second-to-last is the Stealth skill tree, which primarily deals with the disillusionment charm. This charm almost acts as an invisibility cloak, though it is not as effective. No one knows the incantation for this charm, but it was actually first used in the fifth book—Order of the Phoenix—when Mad-Eye Moody was escorting Harry from Privet Drive to Grimmauld Place. 

Clothing and Customization

In Hogwarts Legacy, you are able to customize virtually everything about your character. You can create a name, you can change the looks of your character, you can change the voice of your character, you can choose what house you’re sorted into, and most importantly, you can choose your clothing! You get new clothing by completing tasks and side missions, as well as opening chests. Now, it is important to note that clothes in Hogwarts Legacy aren't just for show, some clothing pieces increase your offensive and/or defensive capabilities—and some even have special perks which can make certain spells better. Some pieces of clothing are labeled as ‘unidentified’ which means that you need to bring it to the Room of Requirement—which I will talk about later—to identify it and make it actually usable. N ow, sometimes these unidentified clothing items are basically trash, but sometimes, you may just stumble upon a diamond in the rough. When you unlock a clothing piece, you’ll notice that it has a designated color. Some items are green, some are blue, some are purple, and if you’re lucky, maybe you’ll even find some that are gold. These are called rarity ranks. Green, the lowest rank, is called “Well Appointed,” blue is “Superb,” and purple is called “Extraordinary.” Lastly, gold is “Legendary.” As you go up in rank, the magnitude in which your offense/defense increases rises. There are many types of gear, including handwear, face wear, neckwear, and so much more. Really, the sky's the limit when it comes to character customization in Hogwarts Legacy. 

The Room of requirement

You gain access to the room of requirement after completing the seventeenth main quest, which is titled “The Map Chamber.” In the room, you will find a completely customizable space, entirely of your own design, which you can do at your leisure. You can change the theme, and the ambiance, you can decorate the room, etc. It’s basically your room. Now, the Room of Requirement does of course serve a purpose, other than being really cool. It has potion stations, and herbology stations and the most paramount is, assuredly, the desk of description. Remember I said some clothing items are unknown to you? This is how you identify those specific items. After completing the quest, you not only get access to the Room of Requirement, but you also unlock three spells, all of which can only be used in the room itself. There is a vanishing charm, which allows you to rid the room of anything that does not please you—along with that comes the conjuration charm which allows you to create things out of thin air—lastly, the transformation spells give you the ability to change one item into another. 

Final Thoughts

This game is filled with so many wonders and surprises—honestly, I could ramble on for hours. I’ve purposefully omitted several elements from this game because that’s how massive Hogwarts Legacy is; this review could easily be three-thousand words long. To fully complete the main story, along with the side quests, you’re looking at about forty hours of gameplay—that’s insane! The fact that it has taken this long to get a big-budget Harry Potter game is just nuts, considering the sheer popularity of the franchise. This game, though not perfect by any means, it has captured so many aspects of the amazing wizarding world that is Harry Potter—so many people when they were younger (probably not that many now) were just waiting to see their Hogwarts letter in the mail, hoping that someday, they’d be let into Hogwarts to study magic. Now, after so many years, we can finally live that dream. Overall, Hogwarts Legacy has risen so far above my expectations.