Hogwarts Legacy understands the allure of treasure maps in video games and the appeal of the treasure hunter with seven treasure maps to discover and solve in the vast open-world RPG. The mysterious map fragment is perhaps Hogwarts Legacy's most desirable and trickiest treasure map, not only from its curious title.

Players find the mysterious map fragment during Hogwarts Legacy's cursed tomb quest, locked behind a level 3 lock door or alternative secret entrance, inside a locked chest. However, unlike other side quests in the game, its clues are tricky to decipher for many players. No floating candles lead the way like in Ghost of Our Love, or sizable world map landmarks like in Solved by the Bell. The map's ambiguity kills two birds with one stone by encouraging players to explore its vast open world while reflecting treasure-hunting practices in classic RPG and tabletop games.

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How Hogwarts Legacy’s Mysterious Map Fragment is a Throwback To Classic RPGs Like D&D

Hogwarts Legacy Map of Hogwarts

Hogwarts Legacy's maps depict several pictures and are perhaps not as obscure as other types of treasure-hunting clues found in classic RPGs and tabletop games like Dungeons and Dragons. However, their inclusion is a callback to the exciting genre feature where players can create engaging and purposeful treasure maps. Yet, Hogwarts Legacy's mysterious map fragment stands out from others in the game. It not only leads to the treasure, but a surrounding backstory in letter format about the family connected to the cursed Tomb of Treachery, where the treasure lies as if thought up by a skilled Dungeon Master.

However, conversely, Hogwarts Legacy's treasure maps fall short in the variety of rewards players receive for discovering treasure. Hogwarts Legacy's map-puzzle rewards are primarily treasured-themed outfits, like the treasure seeker's attire awarded for solving the mysterious map. That said, this does leave room for other puzzle-solving rewards beyond clothing cosmetics to appear in a potential Hogwarts Legacy sequel, which would also make sense according to Hogwarts Legacy's endings. As much as the game acknowledges many gamers' love for solving mysteries and seeking rewards, not all treasure is silver and gold. Treasure maps could lead to discovering magical artifacts or other sources of magic for players to increase their power, ideal for players who followed Hogwarts Legacy's "bad" pathway ending.

How Hogwarts Legacy’s Mysterious Map Fragment Encourages Open-World Game Exploration

Hogwarts Legacy cursed tomb of treachery location from mysterious map fragment

The mysterious map fragment is also discovered at one of Hogwarts Legacy's Infamous Foe locations, letting players battle other types of enemies while prompting them to explore the vast open-world game further. Although discovered in Manor Cape, the mysterious map fragment leads players to a hidden location behind a Poidsear Coast waterfall. It's up to players to solve the map's mysteries, as there are no UI text prompts to rely upon like in the Cache in the Castle side quest. Although handily, the Tomb of Treachery is marked on the map as a location once discovered in the area.

Once inside the Tomb, players can only reach the treasure after solving a magical stone puzzle. In many ways, this combination of map and magical puzzle solving is a rewarding way to explore more of the vast world map. However, in a potential Hogwarts Legacy sequel, treasure hunting could become even more magical if treasure maps like the mysterious map fragment are animated like a kind of Hogwarts Legacy open-world marauders map that players can interact with. In a world as magical as Hogwarts, perhaps almost anything imaginable could be possible. It will be interesting to see how side quest activities might evolve in potential future games and how this might link to the player's legacy.

Hogwarts Legacy is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, with a Switch version releasing November 14.

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