During Sony's most recent State of Play event, gamers got the chance to see more of Hogwarts Legacy. Although there have been plenty of Harry Potter games in the years prior, Hogwarts Legacy promises to be the most fleshed out and immersive version of the wizarding world yet. As the State of Play event revealed, gamers will be able to craft their own character, get sorted into one of Hogwarts' four houses, and attend classes as a fifth-year student. Not only will gamers be able to wander the hallways of Hogwarts castle and uncover its many secrets, but Hogsmeade Village will also be open for players to explore.
Although the State of Play event was successful in revealing what a large scope Hogwarts Legacy will have, it also raised a few issues. Notably, though having plenty of content is usually desirable, it is possible to have too much of a good thing. With Hogwarts Legacy scheduled to release during holiday 2022 on both current generation and last generation gaming systems, Avalanche Software could be biting off more than it can chew.
Hogwarts Legacy May Have Too Many Moving Parts
The most impressive part of the State of Play event was just how many features were revealed. As a student in Hogwarts, players will be able to attend classes like Potions, Charms, Herbology, and Defense Against the Dark Arts, to name a few. In these classes, players will learn how to cast spells, brew spells, and master the mysteries of magic. This knowledge will come in handy, because there are many dangers lurking from both dark wizards and terrifying beasts.
When players are not in class, they can explore Hogwarts castle, venture into its many secret locations, and interact with the ghosts and fellow students that roam the hallways. Braver players can enter the Forbidden Forest where there are both fascinating creatures and ferocious beasts lurking in the shadows. Hogwarts Legacy players can also have companions who have their own rich backstories. Other elements from the Potterverse that are present include broomstick riding, the Room of Requirements, magical beasts, and house elves, to name a few.
Open-world games are all the rage in gaming due to how much freedom and exploration they give gamers, and how much content can be crammed into them. However, they are notoriously difficult to craft and even harder to craft well. Hence, even established studios such as CD Projekt Red have stumbled trying to create ambitious open-world games. Though Hogwarts Legacy makes many promises, it will take a Herculean effort to ensure that every feature is fleshed out, and that the whole game is able to maintain stable performance, even on last generation gaming systems.
Hogwarts Legacy is being developed by Avalanche Software. The studio was founded in 1995, and it has developed plenty of Disney games, including Toy Story 3, Chicken Little: Ace in Action, Cars 2, and the Disney Infinity series. Avalanche was acquired by Warner Bros. Interactive Software in 2017, and the first game the studio developed for the company is Cars 3: Driven to Win.
Although Avalanche has plenty of experience under its belt, Hogwarts Legacy is easily its most ambitious project yet. Rather than focus on a core element, the studio has decided to try its hand at a number of features. While this approach is daring, it leaves a lot of opportunities for things to go wrong. There seems to have been some concessions made, as Hogwarts Legacy is purely a single-player experience, and it will feature no co-op elements. However, there is still a lot on Avalanche's plate.
Hogwarts Legacy Must Balance Story and Open-World Freedom
It is clear that Hogwarts Legacy intends to give gamers freedom to explore and make discoveries of their own. However, the game is not a directionless sandbox, and there will be plenty of narrative threads to follow. As the State of Play event revealed, players will have the special ability to manipulate an ancient form of magic, and it is imperative that players uncover why this ancient magic has returned if they are to save the wizarding world.
Goblins will also feature prominently, and they will align themselves with dark wizards. Players, alongside Professor Figg, will also try to discover whether the murmurs of a bubbling goblin rebellion are true. Additionally, the companions that players can befriend will also have their own stories to unfurl.
Weaving all these plot points together in a linear game would be a difficult task, but attempting to do it in an open-world game is even more tricky. In many ways, it requires developers to find harmony between two elements that seem diametrically opposed to each other, as it necessitates funneling players into a preconceived narrative while not sacrificing on the freedom promised by the open-world format. This is an arduous task for even the biggest studios in gaming, as seen with Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption 2, which caused many gamers to complain that the scripted main story missions rob players of the freedom they enjoy when exploring the open-world.
By deciding to take on so much content, Avalanche must now perform the delicate balancing act of ensuring that all the introduced elements work together synergistically, and that none of the elements end up work antagonistically against other elements. It is a difficult task that can go wrong in a myriad of ways, but if it is pulled off correctly, Hogwarts Legacy could be one of the most immersive open-world games in recent times.
Gamers can expect Hogwarts Legacy in the latter half of 2022. Hopefully, that will be enough time for Avalanche to deliver on the ambitious project that the State of Play event showed off. With its numerous features, its faithfulness to the source material, and the absence of microtransctions, Hogwarts Legacy certainly does appear to be a crowd pleaser. However, as Avalanche attempts to be a jack of all trades, it should ensure that it does not become a master of none.
Hogwarts Legacy is scheduled to release in late 2022 on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.