Hogwarts Legacy: Hogwarts Legacy - the world of Harry Potter as you've never seen it before!

Game news Hogwarts Legacy: Hogwarts Legacy – the world of Harry Potter as you’ve never seen it before!

Published on 02/08/2023 at 14:27, updated on 02/09/2023 at 08:00

Hogwarts like the first day…

Hogwarts Castle is obviously on the list of places you can visit as you see fit, or almost, in Hogwarts Legacy: Hogwarts Legacy! From its tableaux vivants, to its huge luminous stained glass windows, to its millennium-old Gothic foundations (because yes, Hogwarts was built in the tenth century !)… The lair of magic can be discovered in a thousand and one ways, through sets modeled down to the last detail.

As with every return to Hogwarts, your training will begin in particular in the legendary Big room, for the Director’s Welcome Speech and the Sorting Hat Ceremony! Inspired by the dining room of Christ Church College in Oxford in the Harry Potter films, the gigantic room offers a new face here, although it retains its floating candles and long dining tables which are so characteristic of him.

Hogwarts Legacy: Hogwarts Legacy - the world of Harry Potter as you've never seen it before!

But there’s no question of strolling around the Great Hall all day, other rooms are just waiting for you, starting with the Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw common rooms. Each one benefiting from its own style and architecture, these rooms will bring back fond memories because, as with Harry Potter, it is in these warm spaces that you can maintain your relationships with the other residents, or revise your spells.

First introduced in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the Room of Requirement also plays a central role in the game world. In this freely customizable place, you can, among other things, concoct potions, grow your plants and improve your equipment. Artists at Avalanche Software have made it a most welcoming space, with the latter sporting a bright aesthetic due to the presence of a huge canopy on the ceiling.

…and beyond !

However, your playground is not limited to the corridors of Hogwarts. Avalanche Software has created an entire open world around the college that you can freely explore on your broomstick or on the back of fantastic animals. Sorcerer’s apprentices will for example have the opportunity to go to Hogsmeade to take your mind off things – but also to complete a terrifying quest, Hogsmeade Haunted Shop, exclusive to PlayStation consoles. You will of course find its old buildings with pointed frames, but something new: unlike the films which present it mainly under the snow, the game allows you to discover the village during the four seasons. A real breath of fresh air!

Another emblematic place of the Harry Potter saga to be present: the forbidden forest. And as in the books and films of the saga, venture there at your own risk! Centaurs, black mages and terrifying creatures await you there, starting with giant spiders, which suggests that the ravenous Aragog wasn’t the first Acromentula to call the Cursed Wood home! It remains to be seen if you belong to the category of person who will face them with a magic wand, or if, like Ron Weasley, you will decamp at the slightest mandible seen.

Meet the ancestors

In addition to your Potion and Defense Against the Dark Arts classes, Hogwarts Legacy: Hogwarts Legacy also allows you to meet characters with familiar names. Among them is a certain Phineas Nigellus Black. A distant relative of Sirius Black? Absolutely ! It is neither more nor less than the great-great-grandfather of the godfather of Harry Potter, who here holds the position of director of Hogwarts. If his name means nothing to you, you have however already seen him briefly in the films since he appears as an animated portrait in Dumbledore’s office. That being said, as explained by actor Simon Pegg who lends his voice to the character in VO, he is one of the least appreciated directors of Hogwarts. And you will quickly discover why during your magical epic!

Unlike Phineas Nigellus Black for whom teaching is openly secondary, you can count on the support of the Transfiguration teacher Mathilda Weasley, ancestor of Ron and Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts in 1890, to become the most powerful witch or wizard. This new character, imagined by the developers of Avalanche Software, is indeed the person which introduces you to the Room of Requirement, in addition to introducing you to the basics of gameplay.

As any knowledgeable Potterhead knows, Hogwarts would also be nothing without its goofy ghosts that roam the halls of the castle. And this was already the case in the 19th century! Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington says Nearly Headless Nick, is making its big comeback and will not fail to “haunt” the students of the school in its own way. But if there’s one specter you need to dread, it’s Peeves, the poltergeist. Mentioned in the Harry Potter books, this ghost takes pleasure in playing tricks on the school’s residents and teachers.

If the Sorting Hat sends you to Gryffindor, you will also be able to cross the Fat Lady of the painting, at the entrance to the Common Room. A word of advice, be nice and friendly with her, at the risk of staying on the doorstep all night!