My prediction is that Hogwarts Legacy will be a must-play game
In a nutshell, Hogwarts Legacy is an immersive, open-world, action role-playing game (RPG) set in the 1800s wizarding world, which puts players at the centre of their adventure.
And, in my humble opinion, if you are either a fan of the Wizarding World, a fan of the Harry Potter saga, or an RPG gamer, this game will be a must-have for you. Here’s why:
What are the key elements of stunning RPG games?
Several key elements can contribute to a stunning RPG (Role-Playing Game):
- Engaging storyline: A well-written and engaging storyline can keep players invested in the game and encourage them to continue playing.
- Interesting and well-developed characters: Memorable and well-developed characters can help players to connect with the game and become more immersed in the story.
- Interesting, exciting and varied gameplay: RPG games that offer a variety of gameplay mechanics and challenges can keep players engaged and prevent the game from becoming repetitive.
- Good balance of difficulty: RPG games that offer a good balance of challenge and reward can keep players motivated to continue playing.
- Beautiful graphics and immersive environments: Visually stunning graphics and immersive environments can help players to feel more connected to the game world.
- Smooth performance: A game that runs smoothly without technical issues can enhance the player experience.
- Substantial replay value: RPG games that offer multiple endings or branching storylines or allow players to create and customize their characters can have significant replay value and encourage players to play the game numerous times.
Ultimately, the key elements that make an RPG game stunning depend on the players’ preferences.
How does this affect Hogwarts Legacy?
Following the previous bullet list, it seems pretty easy to understand how Hogwarts Legacy includes all these mechanics and elements, so these are the reasons to consider this game a must-play:
Engaging storyline:
The game is focused on a period never seen and offers an unwritten story. This is not just an adaptation from a book or movie with known faces or easy to criticise because it’s not like described in the books.
It explores a new story that can define and may have an impact on the (known) history timeline of the Wizarding World.
Interesting, exciting and varied gameplay:
It is already known that Hogwarts Legacy will include varied gameplay, such as attending classes, progressing on side quests, exploring the vast map to search for potion ingredients, taking care of magical creatures, and more. So, the varied gameplay is one of the keystones of the game.
Good balance of difficulty:
As part of the gameshow we have seen so far, the game will offer four difficulty levels, which means there will be a good balance for every player. If that’s not enough, we have already seen during the same gameplay that some enemies might be brutal to defeat unless we decide to use Dark Arts (and the unforgivable curses).
Beautiful graphics and immersive environments:
Plenty of in-game footage shows you how stunning the game looks, and it’s known the game has been developed using the Unreal Engine (that has caused a lot of excitement, and there are already many next-gen titles confirmed using this engine). The main character, the NPCs and the environment look amazing.
Smooth performance:
It is known that the game was initially announced by the end of 2021, then it was postponed to Christmas 2022 and finally announced for February 2023 for the next-gen consoles, but it got another delay for the old consoles.
Postponing a product release usually shows how much love is being put into it. For games, the developers don’t want the users to experience technical glitches or bugs that can break the immersion.
Also, the main reason for not building the game for both platforms at the same time is, precisely, performance, as new-gen consoles can deal with much more elements at once, but not the old ones, so adjustments for them to work as expected must be implemented.
Substantial replay value:
Some specific achievements and trophies will be obtained just when completing other NPC storylines, as well as other ones achievable only when our main character belongs to one of the four houses of Hogwarts. If you want to get the 100% of the game, you will play it at least four times.
The huge Hogwarts Legacy controversy
Hogwarts Legacy has unleashed an insane number of opinions even before its launching date.
Some of them are focused on what the Harry Potter and the Wizarding World fans have wished, prayed and wanted for years.
Others are pure criticism because J. K. Rowling (who owns the Harry Potter and the Wizarding World IP) has made several comments against the LGTBI+ community. This group has also asked everyone not to buy the game (but to get illegal copies if they want to play it) so Rowling won’t get paid for the game's sales.
The reality
Avalanche Software is developing this game and is formed by a team of creatives (3D artists, game developers, art designers, and more). And no, J. K. Rowling is not a team member of Avalanche Software.
So, having the impression that sabotaging the sales will have any impact on Rowling’s royalties is just evidence of the lack of knowledge people has.
Why? Because Avalanche Software (through Warner Brothers) has already paid Rowling the agreed amount to use her IP and build a video game based on her Wizarding World.
Resources
Gameplay Showcase:
- Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecgrvh4kQRU
- Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WS4qPq20aVo
Images:
- https://gamerant.com/hogwarts-legacy-poster-giant-spider/
- https://www.dualshockers.com/hogwarts-legacy-character-creation-gameplay-showcase/
- https://gamerant.com/hogwarts-legacy-character-creation-detail-freedom-gender-features/
- https://gamerant.com/hogwarts-legacy-controversy-explained-jk-rowling-goblins-diversity/
- https://www.buildium.com/blog/cash-flow-statements-for-all/
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