I think it’s safe to say, Hogwarts Legacy, by Avalanche Software, is the Harry Potter game every fan of the Wizarding World has been waiting for.

Taking place in the 1800s, long before the main line Harry Potter books, you step into the shoes of a fifth-year student who has been transferred to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

With the rare ability to be able to see an ancient form of magic, you must uncover one of the world’s longest mysteries created by a group that goes by the name of “The Keepers,” but you aren’t doing it alone. Professor Fig is by your side, teaching you everything you need to know in order to complete secret trials left behind by “The Keepers” to solve this ancient mystery, all while trying to fight off a powerful goblin that goes by the name of “Ranrok”.

Hogwarts Legacy is a huge and absolutely gorgeous open-world RPG, full of mysteries, danger, puzzles, and adorable creatures. I love how much freedom you have in this open world. Being such a large map, there is thankfully a fast travel system in the form of “Floo Powder Flames,” which soon becomes your best friend. As you explore, you’ll come across these fast travel locations which are automatically unlocked when you walk near them, giving you the ability to then use them at any time. Of course, if you want you’re more than welcome to use your broomstick or mount to get around. It’s totally up to you.

When you aren’t at Hogwarts doing what school students do, like learning new spells or brewing potions, you’ll be out in the beautiful open world completing a large array of activities, side quests, solving mysteries, and collecting ingredients for your potions, all while defending yourself against dangerous creatures and dark wizards. This is where the game really shines; in its combat.

The combat in Hogwarts Legacy is a real stand-out. As you play, you’ll unlock spells by completing quests or attending specific classes, with a total of 16 spells at your disposal, along with plenty of different potions and magic plants to help aid in healing, defence, and combat, for those tougher encounters. In addition to spells, you’ll have your basic dodge and counter moves, along with an ultimate magic ability that can be used after filling up its associated bar as you fight.

At times you’ll come across enemies that are shielded by a coloured bubble. The only way to break this is to attack them with a spell that corresponds with the same colour as their shield. Once you get the swing of the combat and how it all works, you’ll be chaining different spells together, hurling enemies around, and throwing boxes or explosive barrels at your foe, really making you feel like an unstoppable wizard/witch.

As you play, you’ll collect different clothing and gear, either from chests or by completing quests, with a total of six different types to equip; Hand, Face, Head, and Neckwear, along with Cloaks/Robes, and Outfits.

Each of these items comes tied with different offensive and defensive stats, with some of the rarer items having the ability to have trait slots that let you assign certain traits that give you gear modifications, like taking decreased damage from spiders, for example, or increasing your damage while using certain spells. Each item of clothing can further be customzied by changing its appearance to something else you’ve collected along the way.

Gear comes in different rarities, such as “Well-Appointed”, “Superb”, “Extraordinary”, and “Legendary,” and it can also be upgraded, but only after progressing through the story is this option unlocked, and it uses materials that you can gather throughout your playthrough.

Hogwarts Legacy’s skill tree comes in the form of “Talent Points”, and these can be spent in 5 different trees; “Spells”, “Dark Arts”, “Core”, “Stealth”, and “Room of Requirements”. Spending your Talent Points in each of these categories will increase your power and effectiveness of spells, the ability to be more stealthy, and so on. It’s straightforward to use and explains everything very well.

Everything you do in Hogwarts Legacy is tracked and stored in your “Wizarding Field Guide”, which also acts as your menu. Gear, Talents, Quests, Inventory, and Map, are all tracked and accessed within your Field Guide. There are also a TON of pages that can be found scattered throughout Hogwarts and the open world, providing players with a massive amount of lore.

As for performance and graphic settings, Hogwarts Legacy comes with a few options depending on your hardware and the type of monitor you have attached. First up is “Fidelity,” which aims for a higher resolution but sits at a more consistent 30fps. Next is “Fidelity with Raytracing,” which is the same as “Fidelity” but with the inclusion of Raytracing, and finally, “Performance” aims for the highest possible frame of around 60fps but at a lower resolution.

Those connected to a monitor that supports HDMI 2.1 will have two extra modes, “Balanced”, and “HFR Performance” modes. “Balanced” aims for a good balance between graphical quality, performance, and resolution, while “HFR Performance” will aim to offer an even higher frame rate but at the cost of graphical resolution.

Hogwarts Legacy is the best open-world experience set in the Wizarding World that any fan of this beloved franchise could ask for. Clocking in at over 30 hours if you just focus on the main story, whether you are a long-time fan or someone looking for a captivating story with an absolutely beautifully detailed world, Hogwarts Legacy is a MUST!!

Written by: MKAU Gaming