PREVIEW – One of Harry Potter’s nicknames might be “The-Boy-Who-Lived” in the original English version, but in this upcoming game he didn’t live, since the 1800s takes place in years! Is there a Harry Potter game without Harry Potter? We’ve gathered the latest details on the open-world wizarding RPG Hogwarts Legacy so you can answer that question for yourself.

 

We haven’t had any information on Hogwarts Legacy since its 2020 reveal, but this year we’ve had a significant amount of information on Portkey Games’ Harry Potter RPG. After the beefy gameplay reveal in March 2022, we know enough details to give you a pretty complete picture of what the wizarding world of Hogwarts Legacy will look like when it arrives in 2023, including character customization, companion characters, and more. magical fight.

Hogwarts Legacy will be a trip back in wizarding history, set in the late 19th century, before Harry and most of the book’s characters were born. Dumbledore is the only character old enough to have a chance of appearing, and even then he’s just a kid – maybe even a classmate? Either way, the older era offers enough creative freedom to create your very own Hogwarts student without the burdens of existing storytelling weighing you down as you explore the world and uncover the secrets of ancient magic.

Hogwarts Legacy comes at a tense time for the wizarding universe. The author of the book series, J.K. Rowling has doubled, tripled and quadrupled her public transphobia, while the lackluster reception of the latest Fantastic Beasts movie seems to have Warner Bros. shying away from continuing the series. It is not yet known what role the Hogwarts Legacy will play in the state of the Harry Potter world.

 

When is the expected release date of Hogwarts Legacy?

 

Hogwarts Legacy will be released on February 10, 2023. Despite the conventional wisdom that wizards arrive exactly when they want, Hogwarts Legacy has suffered two delays – the first pushing the planned release from 2021 to 2022, and the latest pushing the holiday 2022 release window to the first quarter of 2023 .

“The team is excited for you to play, but we need a little more time to deliver the best possible gaming experience,” Portkey Games wrote on Hogwarts Legacy’s Twitter account while announcing the latest delay.

 

Hogwarts Legacy latest trailer

 

Fresh from the latest delay announcement, Hogwarts Legacy showed off a new trailer at the Gamescom Opening Night Live presentation. This time it was a story trailer centered on Slytherin student Sebastian Sallow, who teaches the other characters about self-defense curses and the resulting conflict with the Hogwarts professors.

The first reveal trailer for Hogwarts Legacy above only gave us a brief glimpse of what the great wizarding RPG will contain, but it certainly made it clear what a beautiful game it will be. From the first trailer, we only got to see a bit of the combat and the story, although now we know a lot more about both.

Above you can see some screenshots from the Hogwarts Legacy reveal trailer to see how Portkey games designed the 1800s version of Hogwarts.

 

What do we know about the gameplay of Hogwarts Legacy?

 

When first revealed, Portkey Games called Hogwarts Legacy an “immersive, open-world action RPG”. The studio also explains that “[players] will increase their character’s abilities as they master powerful spells, hone their they choose combat skills and companions to help them face the deadly enemy,” says Portkey Games. “Players will also encounter missions and scenarios that will force them to make difficult decisions and define what they stand for.”

We’ve already seen a lot more of what that actually means from the lengthy gameplay reveal we showed in March 2022.

Portkey Games revealed that you’ll be exploring Hogwarts Castle itself, solving puzzles using your spells and abilities to unlock secret rooms and castle dungeons. You will also be able to fly on your broom.

As a student, you will also be able to take classes such as Herbology, Magic, Defense Against the Dark Arts or Potions. Based on what we’ve seen so far, there will also be interactive mini-games in some classes.

We also got a brief look at the talent point system, where you can put points into categories like Room of Requirement, stealth, and your “basic” skills. The other two categories are left unnamed, but I believe that one of them is related to combat.

 

Is there combat in Hogwarts Legacy?

 

It really looks like there will be a lot of fighting in Hogwarts Legacy. You may be just a student, but you’ll be fighting magical creatures, dueling with your classmates, and battling adult wizards.

You’ll learn all sorts of spells for combat, and the gameplay demo showed quite a few of them. Some spells can stun enemies, pull them towards you, or throw them into the air. Elemental spells can summon fire to an area of ​​effect. It all looks pretty action-packed, with spells and effects flying as you face multiple enemies at once, mostly armed with your wand.

You will also have other tools, including special plants and animals. Portkey has shown that plants like Screaming Mandrakes can be used offensively to stun enemies, while other small plants can be used to distract enemies while you attack.

There’s also a stealth system that we’ve seen used to sneak up on unsuspecting enemy wizards.

 

What is the “Room of Requirement” for?

 

The Room of Requirement is a special room in Hogwarts Castle that only appears to those who need it most. As a fifth-year transfer student, it looks like you qualify. The Room of Requirement seems to function as a sort of customizable base and crafting center for your student.

Here you can unlock craft stations for plants and potions, or raise animals as friends. From what we’ve seen so far, it looks like potions, plants, and other stations will take time to produce – though whether that’s real-world time or just in-game time isn’t clear yet.

 

 

What will be the story of Hogwarts Legacy?

 

According to Avalanche Software and Portkey Games, Hogwarts Legacy follows the story of the wizarding world described in the original Harry Potter novels, but is the studio’s own story, not written by J.K. Rowling wrote.

In the game, you play as a student at Hogwarts in the late 1890s who attends classes and learns magic with the other students. “You have been admitted late to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and you soon discover that you are no ordinary student: you have an unusual ability to sense and master ancient magic,” the studio writes. “Only you can decide whether you will protect this secret for the benefit of all, or succumb to the temptation of more sinister spells.”

You meet the mysterious Professor Fig to find out the answers to your special abilities. There is also some kind of rebellion led by a goblin named Ranrock. You will also fight Ranrock’s goblins, dark witches and wizards, and magical monsters.

 

Which locations are in Hogwarts Legacy?

 

Hogwarts Legacy might not feature any familiar faces due to the era it’s set in, but it looks like we can definitely expect some familiar locations. Avalanche says it’s an open-world game, so there’s likely to be plenty to explore inside and outside the castle. Seasons will come and go during the school year, as you can explore areas outside the castle.

 

• Hogwarts Castle

It’s no surprise that as students we will spend a lot of time in Hogwarts Castle itself. In the revealing trailer, we were able to see the huge hall and the already well-known exterior.

 

• Hogsmeade

The nearby village of Hogsmeade looks set to be prominent. Part of the story will take place there, as will the purchase of potion ingredients and clothing for your character.

 

 

• Forbidden forest

We can also see from the revealing trailer that we venture into the Forbidden Forest, where a student fights against unknown dark wizards.

 

 

Is Harry Potter in Hogwarts Legacy?

 

No! Remember, this is set in the 1800s, so the child who lived is several generations before his birth. Harry Potter won’t be in Hogwarts Legacy, but since you can create your own character, you can probably design a wizard’s apprentice that looks like him if you really wanted to.

Familiar faces will probably be few and far between, given the time period, but during the gameplay reveal, a very short clip was shown of a student talking to Nearly Headless Nick, the ghost. Maybe some other, less fitting cameos could be included.

 

Here’s what we know about character creation

 

So far in the gameplay reveal, we’ve only seen a bit of character customization, showing that we can change attributes like hairstyle and hair color, skin tone and scars. After selecting the appearance, it will also be possible to choose which Hogwarts house the student will be assigned to.

In addition, Portkey Games is also looking at mid-game customization through a selection of clothing that you can purchase and equip by visiting the shops in Hogsmeade.

According to a 2021 report by Bloomberg, Hogwarts Legacy will allow you to independently choose a masculine or feminine voice, body type, and dorm placement as a “witch” or “wizard” when creating a student.

“Some members of the Hogwarts Legacy development team fought to make the game as inclusive as possible and pushed for character customization, even adding a transgender character,” reports Bloomberg. “There was resistance from management at first, but character customization is now in the game, according to people familiar with the project.”

At the Hogwarts Legacy presentation held at the 2022 Autodesk Vision series, we got a more complete picture of the game’s character creation screen. Official screenshots of the event have yet to be released, but fan-made screenshots are available on the Unofficial News Twitter accounts and the Hogwarts Legacy subreddit.

 

Who are your companions?

 

Portkey Games said that each student in the story has their own personal story that you can get involved in and will eventually accompany you through the world and into combat. Here’s who we know so far:

 

• Natsai Onai: Gryffindor and “a brave adventurer driven by the search for truth.”

 

• Poppy Sweeting: a Hufflepuff who “has a kind heart and loves magical animals.”

 

• Sebastian Sallow: a Slytherin who is “not afraid of punishment or breaking the rules.”

Hogwarts Legacy PC system requirements

 

Avalanche Software has finally updated the Hogwarts Legacy Steam page with the minimum and recommended system requirements for the upcoming open-world action RPG.

Fortunately, there are also some notes on resolution and frame rate targets, and the availability of some upscaling methods has been confirmed.

MINIMUM:

64-bit processor and operating system required.
OS: Windows 10
Processor: Intel Core i5-8400 OR AMD Ryzen 5 2600
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 or AMD RX Vega 56
DirectX: Version 12
Storage: 85 GB free space
Additional notes: 1080p/60 fps, Low quality settings, Higher performance settings

RECOMMENDED:

64-bit processor and operating system required.
Operating system: Windows 10
Processor: Processor: Intel Core i7-8700 OR AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Graphics: XT or AMD RX 5700 XT
DirectX: Version 12
Storage: 85 GB free space
Additional notes: SSD, 1080p/60 fps, high quality settings, upscaled quality settings
We do not yet know if this will be AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR), NVIDIA Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS), or perhaps some other upscaling method created by the development team specifically for the game.

Unfortunately, along with Xbox and Nintendo players, PC players will also have to miss out on a side quest and the Felix Felicis potion recipe, as these will be available exclusively to PlayStation players.

 

What are the effects on the Hogwarts Legacy of J.K. Rowling and Troy Leavitt scandals?

 

Although Hogwarts Legacy goes back to the history of the wizarding world, the game comes with a good amount of real world history that is worth knowing about.

In recent years, J.K. Rowling made a series of transphobic comments that outraged some Harry Potter fans, making her connection to the Hogwarts Legacy a major question. The story of Hogwarts Legacy is by Portkey Games and the FAQ on the WB Games website states that “J.K. Rowling is not directly involved in the creation of the game, but her extraordinary work as a writer forms the basis of every Wizarding World project.”

When Kotaku asked Warner Bros. about whether Rowling would receive royalties from sales of Hogwarts Legacy, a representative declined to comment.

Some fans have also raised concerns about the videos produced by Hogwarts Legacy lead designer Troy Leavitt, who previously ran an anti-social justice YouTube channel. Leavitt’s videos included pro-Gamergate comments and references to the #MeToo movement as a “moral panic.”

“I’m happy to say that even though I made my YouTube channel public for WB Games, it didn’t seem to be a problem for them,” Leavitt said in a 2018 video. “Not that they approve of anything I’ve said, of course, but at least they seem more interested in making good games than pushing some kind of social justice agenda, so there’s hope.”

On March 4, two weeks after the videos resurfaced online, Leavitt tweeted: “I have made the decision to part ways with Avalanche Software. I have nothing but good things to say about the game, the development team and WB Games”.

-theGeek-