4/5 ★ – Fernofai's review of Hogwarts Legacy.

Hogwarts Legacy precisely captures every Harry Potter fan’s fantasy – being a Hogwarts student, attending classes, exploring the castle, and embarking on magical adventures with friends. The other part of the story, in which you need to save the world, wasn’t part of at least my fantasy - I would have left that to Harry Potter, but since he still had to be born in this game, this was my responsibility as well. The main story makes a good start. It takes place during the Goblin Rebellions and involves the discovery of an old form of magic which your character is able to cast. However, between that and the spectacular finale, it felt a bit stretched as the old professors only revealed the experiences they had with this old magic bit by bit after you complete exercises for them. Nevertheless, there are some very well-written side-stories which you can play through with your student colleagues. It is obvious that the developers tried to include as many elements as possible from the original Harry Potter stories. Even the characters, most recognizable with the teachers, strongly reminded me of iconic characters such as McGonagall, Snape, or the Weasley twins. Only that they mixed up the names. For example: McGonagall is a Weasley now, or Snape a member of the Black family. But there are also many new things in the game, so the all too familiar elements don’t attract negative attention. Hogwarts itself is a masterpiece in level design. It is as big and labyrinthian as described in the books, and I often found myself in places I had never been before when I was originally searching for a classroom - which is a good thing here. The surrounding open world is vast and reminiscent of what Ubisoft does with its games: lots of collectibles, everything has its own icon on the map, and there's a tendency for completionism that occasionally makes the gameplay feel very tedious. Despite this, I enjoyed the experience as everything worked together very well. Simply wandering through Hogwarts’ corridors or Hogsmeade and watching other wizards, albeit with limited interactivity, was enjoyable. The graphics are impressive, and the soundtrack perfectly encapsulates the Harry Potter ambiance. I particularly appreciated the well-executed combat, finding satisfaction in stacking up combos, parrying, or dodging incoming spells while defeating opponents one by one. In conclusion, Hogwarts Legacy succeeds in delivering the magical experience fans crave, despite occasional pacing issues and sometimes a bit too formulaic execution. The well-crafted world, engaging gameplay, and faithful capture of the Harry Potter atmosphere make it a delightful journey for fans and gamers alike.