The first Hogwarts Legacy game impressed dedicated Harry Potter fans and open-world enthusiasts alike with its gorgeous rendition of the Scottish Highlands and intricate spellcasting combat. However, since its release in early 2023, much of its game design has already begun to feel a little tired. Fortunately, a sequel is already planned, with Warner Bros. eager to get fans back into the shoes of a student at Hogwarts.
Of course, fans have already begun discussing what new features Hogwarts Legacy 2 should include, as well as those it should borrow from other games. Perhaps more importantly, however, fans should start thinking about which ideas and mechanics from the original game Hogwarts Legacy should leave behind. From poor design decisions to annoying content, there is plenty that Hogwarts Legacy 2 needs to ditch from the first game.
10
Restrictive Flying In Certain Areas
Being Unable To Fly Into Hogsmeade Is Weird
Flying around in Hogwarts Legacy is a lot of fun, especially after unlocking the best broom in the game. Being able to launch from within Hogwarts’ walls and fly to the other side of the Scottish Highlands is a genuine joy and one that rarely gets old. However, while at least the next-gen and PC versions of the game allow players to do this freely, they even limit players when it comes to entering certain areas.
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Hogwarts Legacy 2 needs to make improvements to the companion system, and doing so can not only add immersion, but make house choices matter.
Inexplicably, players cannot enter Hogsmeade while flying on a broom, with the entire village covered by a magical force field preventing anyone from entering. The only way to gain access is to land near the edge of the bubble and then enter on foot. It’s incredibly tedious, especially for those who want to fly over Hogsmeade, rather than actually enter it. The Hogwarts Legacy sequel should do away with this entirely and allow players to fly over and into Hogsmeade and all other areas without issue.
9
The Enormous Open World
It’s Too Cluttered And Feels Like Wasted Space
Hogwarts Legacy’s crowning achievement is its striking recreation of Hogwarts, an environment that is an impressive spectacle from the outside, but even more magnificent on the inside. Its winding halls with moving portraits, grand halls with ghosts flying in and out, and the plethora of sumptuously detailed classrooms all help to make it a truly phenomenal location to visit. Similarly, the immediate surrounding areas, including Hogsmeade and a smattering of villages, are equally delightful in their details.
However, Hogwarts Legacy should have stopped there, rather than expanding further south into generic grasslands and even more repetitive villages. Beyond the top part of the map, Hogwarts Legacy has little to offer players, which is a great shame. Instead, Hogwarts Legacy 2’s map should be smaller, with more details and enjoyable activities added to the top section of the map rather than spread thinly across the original game’s unnecessarily large open world.
8
Freely Exploring Hogwarts At Night
It Doesn’t Make Any Sense
One of the most bizarre aspects of Hogwarts Legacy was the ability to explore the castle at night without repercussions. It was made even stranger by the inclusion of a stealth mission set at night in which prefects roam the corridors. This feature never pops up again, with players being able to explore each and every inch of the castle without being interrupted before students and teachers magically spawn back in when day strikes.
Fortunately, there are great Hogwarts Legacy mods that add a curfew to the vanilla experience. However, a sequel should implement an official solution to this, restricting players from exploring the castle freely at night or even leaving, forcing them to think creatively if they want to accomplish nighttime missions or locate certain creatures that only appear at night.
7
The Nintendo Switch Port
It Just Sacrifices Too Much
The Nintendo Switch port of Hogwarts Legacy was, to put it bluntly, not particularly good. While it retains all the gameplay elements of the original experience and manages to cram the impressive interiors of Hogwarts as well as the open world, it does so by sacrificing performance, visual clarity, and, perhaps worst of all, implementing an obscene number of loading screens that are detrimental to the entire game. Of course, it is worth noting that it allowed those who play exclusively on Switch to finally play Hogwarts Legacy, and that is a positive.
However, the sacrifices made were too significant and too great to make the Nintendo Switch port worth it. The sequel should avoid making such sacrifices for last-gen consoles, especially if it is at the cost of the magical experience at the heart of it. While, in an ideal world, everyone would be able to experience it, Hogwarts Legacy 2, like Cyberpunk 2077, should understand when to leave last-gen consoles behind, and develop experiences specifically designed for next-gen platforms.
6
The Room Of Requirement Timers
They’re Pointless And Make It Feel Like A Mobile Game
One of the most unique aspects of Hogwarts Legacy was the inclusion of the fully customizable Room of Requirement. It was a space in which players could place their collected magical creatures, craft potions, plant rare seeds, and hang out with the adorable Deek. However, one of the most baffling design decisions in all of Hogwarts Legacy is also featured in the Room of Requirement, and that’s timers.
For some reason, players have to wait in real time for a timer to end whenever brewing potions or planting new seeds in Hogwarts Legacy. This absolutely unnecessarily inflates the amount of time fans need to wait before they can access their crafted materials and potions, which incentivizes buying them rather than wasting time in the Room of Requirement. This feature must go in the Hogwarts Legacy sequel as it is completely unnecessary.
5
Clothing Armor Stats
It Isn’t Necessary And Feels Out Of Place
Another unnecessary feature in Hogwarts Legacy is the gear stats, which see items of clothing, such as hats, robes, and glasses all have rarity ranks and stats associated with them. Players could improve their characters’ stats by equipping certain clothes which felt completely out of place in a Harry Potter game. It doesn’t make much sense why one robe is better than another when they all look identical outside some color or fabric changes.
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Hogwarts Legacy 2 Should Take One Lesson From Classic Harry Potter Games For A True Wizard School Experience
Hogwarts Legacy did a great job at giving players a vast, open magical world to play in, but there is one thing that could be improved in the sequel.
That’s not to say that Hogwarts Legacy has bad cosmetics, but rather its implementation within the RPG space is poorly handled. Hogwarts Legacy 2 should remove the gear stats altogether and instead focus on either creating more unique cosmetics that actually look good, or having certain items of clothing unlock unique abilities, rather than simply increase certain stats by a small amount.
4
Dark Arts Spells
They Break The Game
The Dark Arts spells in Hogwarts Legacy are, on paper, a compelling concept. Giving players the ability to learn some of the most dangerous and forbidden spells in the entire wizarding world feels like a weighty choice that could completely change the dynamic of a narrative. It also feels like something that should tie directly into a morality system that sees players choose whether they want to be a good or evil witch or wizard.
However, neither of these things is true, and Hogwarts Legacy’s implementation of the Dark Arts was a little lazy. Players can learn the most deadly spells of all time by simply completing a side quest chain and can then proceed to use them on whomever they like without any repercussions. The Dark Art spells should be removed completely from Hogwarts Legacy 2, unless Avalanche Software is committed to making them more instrumental in the main narrative.
3
Spell Slots
There Are Too Many Spells To Juggle
Managing spells in Hogwarts Legacy can get a little tricky, especially when factoring in all those needed exclusively within the Room of Requirement. Players do have multiple spell slots to play with. However, they’re limited to seeing four on screen at any given time. Naturally, this implementation allows it to be more console-friendly, and also ensures that the UI doesn’t overwhelm players.
However, the way spells are managed should change in Hogwarts Legacy 2 as it’s entirely inefficient in the original game. For example, spells reserved for specific activities or areas should appear by default when entering those areas, especially if there is no need to use any other spell while there. The whole system needs to be streamlined in Hogwarts Legacy 2 to ensure that combat is as smooth as possible.
2
The Alohomora Minigame
It Makes Hogwarts Legacy Feel Less Magical
Casting Alohomora should, in theory, unlock a door immediately and give players access to whatever lies beyond. However, Hogwarts Legacy handles this iconic spell a little differently by forcing them to engage in a frustratingly simple lockpicking minigame. While it’s understandable why the Alohomora minigame exists within Hogwarts Legacy – for some reason every open-world game needs a lockpicking mechanic – it feels completely out of place.
Forcing players to do a lockpicking minigame after they’ve just cast a spell that should immediately unlock any door feels like a redundant step that could easily be cut out. Fans already have to level up their Alohomora skill in order to unlock higher-level locks, so there isn’t really any need to test people’s skills with a minigame. Hogwarts Legacy 2 should cut this minigame completely, or use it as an option for moments when players lack the requisite skills or magic to unlock a door.
1
Merlin Trials
They’re The Worst Piece Of Side Content
Hogwarts Legacy has a lot of open-world clutter, but by far the worst of it are the Merlin Trials. There are so many of them, and they’re so easy to solve that they never feel like a challenge or an exciting discovery. To make matters worse, the reward for completing them feels unsubstantial, making any amount of effort put into solving them wasted.
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Merlin Trials Prove What Hogwarts Legacy’s Biggest Problem Really Is
For the most part, the wizarding world RPG is a magical experience – but a problem with Hogwarts Legacy’s Merlin Trials overshadow these successes.
The Merlin Trials should be removed completely in Hogwarts Legacy 2, especially as they have all been canonically solved now, and replaced with a more substantial and challenging puzzle minigame. Features like the Merlin Trial prove that the original Hogwarts Legacy was more focused on creating a believable world than a unique gameplay loop. Hopefully, Hogwarts Legacy 2 utilizes the amazing groundwork set by its predecessor to craft a more engaging gameplay loop that leaves behind all of its baggage.
Source: Nintendo of America/YouTube, Astrosive/YouTube
Harry Potter: Hogwarts Legacy
- Platform(s)
-
PC
, Switch
, PS4
, PS5
, Xbox One
, Xbox Series S
, Xbox Series X - Released
-
February 10, 2023
- Developer(s)
-
Avalanche Software
- Publisher(s)
-
Warner Bros. Interactive
- Engine
-
Unreal Engine 4
- ESRB
-
T For Teen Due To Blood, Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, Use of Alcohol
- How Long To Beat
-
26 Hours
- X|S Optimized
-
yes
- Metascore
-
84
- PS Plus Availability
-
N/A
- Steam Deck Compatibility
-
Yes, Hogwarts Legacy is Verified on Steam Deck
- OpenCritic Rating
-
Mighty
- Cross Save
-
you can freely use your saved data between each console as long as you are connected to the internet and signed into the same account where the saved data was created
- Cross-Platform Play
-
Hogwarts Legacy doesn’t have crossplay or crossplatform support
