The Harry Potter universe is something deeply beloved by fans from over the entire planet Earth. The series, from its inception with the books written by J.K Rowling, to the eight films of the main series and the spinoff Fantastic Beasts films have had a mark on pop culture history for more than twenty years. Along with the films and books, videogames adaptations have been produced and held a special place in fans hearts for their charming, yet limited gameplay.
It is no surprise then, that the announcement of Hogwarts Legacy way back in September of 2020 set every Potter fans cauldrons on fire with the potential to be THE Potter game every fan had always dreamed of. Since the studios producing and creating this game have fed us more information, gameplay, and details on this upcoming wizarding adventure, fans are most definitely on the verge of needing one of Snape's potions to contain their excitement for the game.
With just a few weeks from release, Hogwarts Legacy has become the number one best selling game from a report from Forbes, stating that Hogwarts Legacy sales are through the roof, with no chance of slowing down any time soon. So with this report, it is a sure bet that this game is going to sell bonkers amounts of copies, but is there something more sinister at hand?
What could I mean by this? I'm not talking about the controversy surrounding J.K. Rowling and her comments on various communities and topics that some people rightly disagree with, while others simply couldn't care. If you are one of these people who want to boycott this game because of the creators involvement, then that is entirely up to you.
I am referring to the way some of this game's content, will be hidden behind a pay wall. It is unfortunate that in today's gaming world, that so many games that we are looking forward to and play, are hidden behind real world money microtransactions, pay-walls, battle passes, and DLC's, rather than actually releasing games that are finished, where we pay our £40-£70 and we get the whole game. But unfortunately, the industry tries to milk it's consumers dry with all these addons; some of which are cosmetic which is all fine, but the real problem is when content that is vital to the game is hidden behind more transactions.
Hogwarts Legacy seems to be guilty of the latter, as players of the upcoming Potter game, will be only able to use certain spells in some areas, only if they pay for a certain version of the game. Hogwarts Legacy will give players access to the unforgivable curses, Crucio, Imperio, and the killing curse Avada Kadavra, and will be able to unlock them simply by just playing the narrative of the game. The problem I am talking about is players will be able to use these spells in an area called the Dark Arts Battle Arena (where they can use them as much as they like) only if they purchase the Deluxe Edition of the game.
Normally, special editions of games mainly boast that you will unlock cosmetics that the regular editions do not include - the Deluxe Edition of Hogwarts Legacy does include special dark-arts cosmetics; but the fact that the regular edition of this game will be completely missing this dark-arts arena and area is a problem that I just can't stand.
This brings me to my apprehension and fears about the release of this game and the months and years following. How much more content that should have been in the game on release, will now be advertised as DLC, or other gameplay features hidden behind real world money, and not the coins housed at Gringotts Bank? The developers have stated that the popular wizard sport Quidditch is not featured in the game, (even though flying around on your broom is) just how long until the sport is advertised and not included as a free update, but instead a £20 DLC?
Don't get me wrong, I am excited for this game, and from what I have seen from the showcases and the footage, there is a whole heap of content that looks fantastic and promising; from the castle itself, to the customization of the Room of Requirement, and the animal and magical beast system, this does look like the closest thing to a perfect Harry Potter videogame we will ever get. Let's just hope we are rewarded with a complete game, with nothing hidden under an invisibility cloak with dark intentions.
Hogwarts Legacy will be released on February 10th on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
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