We’ve heard next to nothing about Hogwarts Legacy since its announcement, but recently, WB Games and Sony finally pulled back the curtain on it with a full State of Play presentation dedicated to showing a healthy chunk of gameplay and providing a detailed overview of the game. Obviously, we’ve learned quite a bit about Hogwarts Legacy in the process, and here, we’re going to talk about the key details that you should know about the game.
STORY
Set in the 1800s, which is well before even Grindelwald happened, Hogwarts Legacy is going to tell an entirely original story. The tale told in this game revolves around a rebellion brewing, with an army of goblins and dark wizards seemingly preparing to destroy the Wizarding World as we know it. Mysterious, ancient magic is going to have a key role to play as well, though of course, what exactly that is remains to be seen.
PROTAGONIST
Hogwarts Legacy will allow you to create your own wizard or witch before you begin playing the game, but either way, the protagonist is sounding like an interesting character. Rather than entering Hogwarts as a first year student, you’re coming in straight as a fifth year, which is highly unusual, which means catching up on your studies and keeping up with your classmates will also be important drivers in the game in several ways. The reasons for the protagonist’s unusual admission into Hogwarts haven’t been explained, but the developers have hinted that they survived something in the past that’s made them a bit of a celebrity.
CHARACTERS
Several other key characters are going to have a role to play in the story as well, and with this game being set at the time that it is, most of them are going to be entirely new faces. For instance, there’s Professor Eleazar Fig, who’ll act as a mentor to you on your journey, and whose investigations into rumours about a goblin rebellion have made him a little unpopular with the Ministry of Magic. Then there’s Ranrok, the leader of the goblin rebellion, who, like the protagonist, has mysterious ties to ancient magic. Dark wizard Victor Rookwood, who has an alliance with Ranrok, will also have an important role to play. Meanwhile, it’s been confirmed that some familiar faces will be returning as well. In the recent trailer, for instance, we saw a glimpse of Nearly Headless Nick.
OPEN WORLD
In case there was any doubt about it, developer Avalanche has made it abundantly clear that Hogwarts Legacy is an open world action RPG. That’s obviously an exciting prospect- getting to explore a well-realized, detailed Hogwarts with the full freedom of an open world structure is something many have wanted to do for many years. Avalanche also confirms that the game will feature a mix of old and new locations, so while many of the memorable and iconic Hogwarts locations will be present in the game as well, there will also be several new areas that we’ve never seen before.
EXPLORATION
Exploring Hogwarts should also prove to be quite interesting for many reasons. Different areas, for instance, could require different spells to unlock certain doors or get past certain blocks, while as shown in the recent gameplay trailer, Hogwarts is also going to have an abundance of secret passageways, hidden dungeons, connecting corridors, moving staircases, and what have you. Exactly how layered and complex the design of Hogwarts is remains to be seen, but the game will have to live up to high expectations in this area.
BEYOND THE GROUNDS
It’s not just Hogwarts itself that players will be able to explore. The open world of Hogwarts Legacy also includes the castle’s grounds, the Forbidden Forest, and Hogsmeade. Interestingly, however, the scope of the game will stretch even beyond that, taking us to other villages, settlements, and dungeons scattered in the landscape stretching beyond Hogwarts. In a PlayStation Blog update, game director Alan Tew said: “We wanted you to have new locations to discover; to see what lies around and beyond the Black Lake, to meet new witches and wizards in the dwellings that dot the landscape beyond Hogsmeade and learn what other undiscovered chambers lie within Hogwarts or scattered across the Scottish Highlands.”
HOUSES
A key part of living out your childhood Hogwarts fantasy is, of course, getting sorted into one of the four Houses. Even though you’re entering as a fifth year student, on your first day, you’ll be putting on the Sorting Hat and get sorted into a House. Exactly how that process will work hasn’t been detailed, but each House will have its own unique common room and dormitories. You’ll also meet and spend time with various different classmates and students, form deeper bonds with them as they become companion characters, and more. Avalanche has said that it’ll be providing detailed looks at each of the four common rooms later this year.
CLASSES
As a Hogwarts student, attending classes is going to be a big part of your life. We don’t yet know if Hogwarts Legacy is going to adopt a slice-of-life structure similar to Persona (it doesn’t seem like it will), or if it’ll do things differently, but you’ll be attending all the different classes you’d expect to at Hogwarts, including Potions, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Charms, and more. Through these classes, you’ll be able to learn new spells and grow more powerful- though there will be plenty of other ways to do that as well.
PROGRESSION
Plenty of details have been revealed on how progression will work in Hogwarts Legacy- this is an action RPG, after all. These will come in the form of Talents and abilities, described as “a deep set of upgrades” encompassing various categories, such as spells, stealth, potions, and more. Players will complete challenges scattered throughout the open world to experience points and level up different skills. What gear you’ve got equipped will also have a big impact, and as you’d expect, you can either loot, buy, or craft equipment, which can then be upgraded as well.
ROOM OF REQUIREMENT
The Room of Requirement if one of the most iconic Hogwarts locations for most Harry Potter fans, so it’s no surprise that it’s going to feature in Hogwarts Legacy as well. It is, in fact, going to be used in the game quite interestingly. The customizable Room of Requirement can be changed to fit your needs. You can add a station for making potions, grow different herbs and plants, upgrade your gear, and more.
BEASTS
The Harry Potter universe is full of fantastic beasts, and you’ll find plenty of them in Hogwarts Legacy. We’ve seen dragons, trolls, Hippogriffs, and even a Niffler, and we’re quite curious to see how these different creatures will play a role on the gameplay side of things in the open world. Interestingly, you’ll also have your own menagerie of magical beasts to take care of in Hogwarts Legacy, which can be freely customized in several ways. Its primary purpose, however, will be to serve as a home to various magical beasts that you can find and take under your wing in the open world.
FLYING
As you may have expected, flying is going to be an important traversal mechanic in Hogwarts Legacy. We’ve seen glimpses of the protagonist flying on a Hippogriff, but it seems the primary form of long distance traversal will be a broomstick. Our hope is that we’ll be able to upgrade and customize this broomstick as well, while many will be desperate for an entire Quidditch side activity as well- but there’s no word yet on whether that stuff is going to be in the game.
COMBAT AND SPELLS
So how exactly is combat going to function in Hogwarts Legacy? Well, spells are your primary form of attack, obviously, and I think variety is the name of the game here. Avalanche seems to have stuffed a large number of spells with different effects that can be learned in several ways. Using them in combos with each other seems to be an important part of the loop. Some of the spells that have been revealed so far are Accio to pull enemies or objects in the environment toward you, Incendio to burn things, Petrificus Totalus for a silent takedown, the Disillusionment Charm for a stealthy approach, while the final moments of the recent gameplay demo also revealed that players will be able to use the Killing Curse as well- which implies exciting things about how far down the dark path the game will allow players to go.
PLANTS AND POTIONS
Other elements are going to have a role to play in the combat too, even though the spells are the biggest factor. Different potions, for instance, can be bought or brewed for different buffs and power ups, while you can also deploy magical plants to fight by your side in various ways, from keeping enemies at bay with attacks of their own, to even incapacitating enemies by shoving a screaming Mandrake right in their face.
DIFFICULTY
Avalanche has also confirmed that Hogwarts Legacy is going to have multiple difficulty levels when it launches this Holiday. While the specifics of that aren’t yet known, but the developers say that Hogwarts Legacy’s combat will have “a depth and challenge for players who want it”. The developer added: “Whether you just want to experience the story or make every swish and flick of your wand matter, a range of difficulty options will be available to meet various skill levels enabling players to experience the game in a way most enjoyable to them.”
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