The upcoming Hogwarts Legacy is aiming to provide the most ambitious and comprehensive adaptation of the massively popular Harry Potter franchise within the video game sphere. With players taking holistic control over a Hogwarts student during a period of sinister unrest, the possibilities and avenues for adventure are seemingly endless within the title.

Of course, a huge portion of this gameplay experience within Hogwarts Legacy will be the player's choice of what student house they assign themselves to. Due to this, it is extremely important that house Slytherin moves away from the evil and mean-spirited connotations that the films and books fostered, with the good sides of the house being just as prevalent.

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The Negative Reputation of Slytherin

Lord Voldemort (Harry Potter)

With student life at Hogwarts being split into its four houses, each house can be said to have a distinct overarching theme that sets it wholly apart from the others. For example, Gryffindor is arguably the most well-known house within Harry Potter, being the house of the main characters and representing courage and bravery above all else.

While the houses of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw possess their own characteristics, Slytherin is the second most well-known house due to its role as an antagonist group within the famous books and films that propelled the franchise to stardom. Slytherin was the house of characters such as Draco Malfoy, a cruel and vindictive bully, and even the nefarious Lord Voldemort during his time at Hogwarts as Tom Riddle.

It can be said in this way that Slytherin has always been portrayed as a kind of antithesis group to the compassion and bravery of Gryffindor, instead showcasing connotations of selfishness, ego, and cruelty. Despite the fact that these traits are what most people will think of Slytherin, Hogwarts Legacy would do very well to portray the house as more than just a one-dimensional group of backstabbers and evildoers.

The Different Side to Slytherin

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The primary traits of those sorted into house Slytherin are that of ambition, resourcefulness, determination, and cleverness, and these should take precedent over the more stereotypical negative associations of Slytherin and its members. While it remains true that Slytherin has been home to some of the wizarding world's most nefarious figures, the likes of Draco would go on to redeem themselves, with ex-Slytherin student Severus Snape also showing an intense level of compassion in his secret safeguarding of Harry Potter over the course of his Hogwarts tenure.

As well as this, there have of course been a litany of Slytherin students throughout the history of Hogwarts that have simply been unproblematic and largely beneficial to the magical sphere. Due to its very nature as an RPG, Hogwarts Legacy should still allow players to choose their own paths of morality, but the negatives should not be solely limited to a Slytherin playthrough. The player should be able to utilize house traits for a wide range of gameplay avenues, whether they be morally just or morally bankrupt.

The comparatively high levels of cunning and intellect within Slytherin would understandably be well-suited to a "bad" playthrough of Legacy, but could just as easily be used to spur on companions and influence figures of importance to bring about positive change and development. While it is likely that Slytherin house within Hogwarts Legacy will not be purely limited to a more uncaring and cruel playthrough of the game, fans can currently only hope that a more representative range of gameplay paths will be available to them upon the game's launch.

Hogwarts Legacy launches on February 10 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, with a Switch version also in development.

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