I solemnly swear that I am up to no good. Ever since I was a kid and played Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, I dreamed of a game like Hogwarts Legacy. The idea of exploring a fully realised open-world version of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry simply held too much potential and for years, I kept hope alive that a developer would be given a massive budget and the freedom to make this dream game a reality. Of course, achieving this would require some level of technical witchcraft and wizardry to actually pull off. As it turns out, dreams do come true because Hogwarts Legacy is a passion-filled love letter to the Wizarding World - and a damn good RPG.

Note: this review is spoiler-free.



Hogwarts Legacy is set a few centuries before the events of Harry Potter. You play as a custom created protagonist enrolling as a fifth-year transfer student in Hogwarts. After being whisked away to the school, you immediately begin honing your various magical skills and knowledge by participating in classes, studies and a mountain of activities - all the while unravelling a strange mystery going on with a goblin uprising, a shady dark wizard and a troubled Slytherin student.

The main story of Hogwarts Legacy admittedly takes a while to get going but once it passes a certain point and more layers are added on top of the central mystery, it gets great. One particular late-game quest utterly blew me away and delivered an unexpected blast of fan service that I did not see coming. That said, some side quests are better than others.



Sebastian Sallow, a Slytherin student, is one of the more fascinating characters in the game. You understand his emotional plight which makes certain story revelations shockingly impactful. A good number of side quests tend to revolve around collecting or delivering items and completing tasks. It's not anything we haven't seen before in open-world games but the terrific world-building and immersive feeling of being in the wonderful Wizarding World kept me going, keen to unravel more of the world and its lore.

This is a world that has been painstakingly recreated from the movies down to almost every single key location and point of interest.

Hogwarts Legacy is the kind of open-world RPG that seems rudimentary on paper. There's a massive map with an absurdly large check list of quests and locations that contribute towards your standard open-world busywork. However, it runs a bit deeper than that. This is a world that has been painstakingly recreated from the movies down to almost every single key location and point of interest. Hogwarts and Hogsmeade aside, developer Avalanche Software went the extra mile (quite literally) and crafted the fully explorable countryside of Scotland in the surrounding areas, filled with forests, rivers, mountains, caves, dungeons, villages and more. It's honestly astonishing and a lot to take in at first glance.



Hogwarts castle itself is an enormous labyrinth and a breathtaking sight to behold. I took it as a personal challenge to find every room and area from the movies (assuming nothing changed over a hundred years before the movies). I was surprised to discover that Avalanche Software left no stone unturned. It's all there - even places that you wouldn't have seen in the movies, such as all four common rooms, class rooms, quarters, hidden areas and courtyards.

Hogwarts is where you'll spend a good majority of your playtime taking on various main and side quests, attending classes such as potions, charms, astronomy, Beasts, Defense Against the Dark Arts and flying lessons, and just being immersed in the daily life of a Hogwarts student. I wish that it felt a bit more lively, especially given the sheer size of the castle and how few students are actually enrolled, but that might be a detail that even the books and movies don't let you in on. Of course, there's a dreamy level of agency when it comes to exploring the Wizarding World as your own character.



The initial character creation isn't particularly detailed. You can choose from a bunch of preset models with varying hairstyles, eye colours, eyebrows, skin tones and voices before being whisked away. The Sorting Hat places you in either Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw (but you can totally choose a house too). Customisation, however, extends to your wand and even your own broom - both of which you can completely customise. You don't have to adhere to the school uniform either as there's a large variety of different stylish robes and clothing to wear that all come with their own stats. It's worth noting that you can also alter your character's appearance whenever you want in the game as well.

Hogwarts Legacy boasts a sizeable map filled with secrets and adventures, so your time as a student isn't exactly limited or confined to the school.

Hogsmeade acts as the "hub" town packed with an assortment of stores to browse and purchase items such as potions, outfits, charms, ingredients and more. Quests can also be initiated here but that's true for every little town and village across the open-world. Besides Hogwarts and Hogsmeade being the largest individual areas to explore, the other villages aren't as massive (think Oblivion or Skyrim) but they do have their own distinct vibes that are worth the pitstops. Hogwarts Legacy boasts a sizeable map filled with secrets and adventures, so your time as a student isn't exactly limited or confined to the school.



Hogwarts Legacy's role-playing character progression is tied to classes that hone your abilities and skills, giving the game a bit more flexibility with what you want your character to "specialise" in. It's not exactly Persona 5 since most classes aren't set to a daily schedule unless they're important for a quest, so don't expect anything as intricate or deep. You'll eventually have to attend almost every class anyway, but learning new spells, brewing explosive potions or growing man-eating plants are all really enjoyable and feel rewarding in their own right.

The real meat of Hogwarts Legacy is its gameplay. Once you begin to learn new spells, they're added to a sub-menu and hotkeys that can be quickly accessed in the middle of fights. Offence-based spells like Bombarda create powerful explosions that send out shockwaves, while spells like Accio hurl enemies towards you and keeps them suspended in mid-air as you unleash attacks that bounce them backwards. At first, the starting spells can be a bit disappointing but once you unlock more and begin to seamlessly weave different spells for creative combos, combat really opens up and it evolves into something complex and fantastic.



There's also the matter of using Dark magic, particularly the Unforgivable Curses. I won't go into too much detail about their usage but in a couple of circumstances, they do have an effect on how some NPCs treat you. Nonetheless, they're extremely powerful but understandably grim. It all really depends on the moral compass of your character and what you stand to gain (and lose) from attaining such power.

Some head-scratching puzzles also require creative uses of spells and thankfully, the game doesn't hold your hand...

Spells also serve a purpose outside of combat. Leviosa, for example, can levitate objects like crates in place to climb up to high ledges while a handly invisibility spell is required for some of the game's unavoidable stealth sections. They can be used in combat just as effectively, so it always gives you the option of taking the Solid Snake route or simply going in wands blazing. Some head-scratching puzzles also require creative uses of spells and thankfully, the game doesn't hold your hand and have characters blurt out obvious solutions five seconds later.



Like any good RPG, Hogwarts Legacy offers a variety of builds (which is surprisingly flexible given that you're essentially just a mage class). Craftable Traits can be attached to gear slots that increases damage output, reduces spell cooldowns, doubles the area of effect, powers up basic and special attacks, extends the time limit for certain spells, etc. These options only become viable later in the game but once you get a good grasp of the systems, you'll spend a good amount of time experimenting with what suits your playstyle the best.

Items such as defensive potions or a number of hostile plants (Mandrakes are no joke) all play a part in battle too. They can control crowds, temporarily stun enemies or buff your spells, but they all integrate remarkably well into fights. How you leverage them is entirely optional but the fact that you have this many combat options in the first place is truly insane. The combat in Hogwarts Legacy certainly won't be for everyone, though, and some of it can be overwhelming. Give it time and you might find a flow that suits you.



I haven't really touched the surface of Hogwarts Legacy's gameplay. Combat encounters also let you deflect or parry oncoming attacks while downing specific potions essentially turns you into the wizard equivalent of a Super Saiyan. However, one piece of gameplay that I adored relates to traversal. The open-world is massive and exploring everything on foot is a bit much, but you'll eventually unlock two forms of air traversal: a flying broom and a Hippogriff. Having the option to simply mount your broom and fly to locations is great. Flying itself is fun and surprisingly, controls really well. The lack of Quidditch really hurts, though, especially since most NPCs can't seem to stop talking about it.

[Avalanche Software] is a studio that evidently loves the world of Harry Potter and it shows in every single facet of the game.

The biggest accomplishment of Hogwarts Legacy is how it treats its source material. Avalanche Software deserve an applause for just how much passion has been poured into the game and its finer details. This is a studio that evidently loves the world of Harry Potter and it shows in every single facet of the game. Furthermore, I don't think you'll find a game quite like Hogwarts Legacy. It's easy to label it as derivative of other bigger RPGs, but the Wizarding World coating gives it a tremendous, earnest quality that should appeal to any Harry Potter fan.



Over on the technical side, Hogwarts Legacy was reviewed on PS5 and for the most part, it's a polished experience overall. I only encountered one or two odd graphical hiccups and one instance where the framerate dipped drastically for a few seconds. The haptic feedback is well-integrated with a satisfying crunch and pop to all casted spells, and suitable pressure applied when flying on your broom against the wind. There's an impressive day/night cycle including a seasonal cycle that completely changes the landscape of the world, which works astonishingly well in giving players a visual representation of the passage of time and the story's progression (much like the movies).

The sound design, voice acting and soundtrack all deserve praise as well. Simon Pegg is phenomenal as the bumbling and hated Headmaster Black (though a bit underused), while several side character's voice actors - especially for Sebastian and another Slytherin, Ominis - are exceptional. It's a bit weird that the male voice sounds almost exactly like Daniel Radcliffe, though, even though the voice acting work there is solid too. The score manages to mix John Williams' iconic musical cues with original music to great effect, especially the first time we see Hogwarts in the game. For lack of a better word, it's just magical.



Hogwarts Legacy beautifully captures the awe-inspiring magic and wonder of the Harry Potter movies and the Wizarding World. It's a massive, densely packed RPG with so much care and passion poured into it by Avalanche Software. While the lack of Quidditch is certainly felt and the main story takes a while to hook you, it was simply euphoric to be immersed in this great rendition of a fantasy world that fans are intimately familiar with. This is the Harry Potter RPG that you've been waiting for. Mischief managed.

*PS5 Review code provided by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment