Hogwarts Legacy - a mini review

Sircaw

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All I did was answer 3 questions and I got Slytherin as suggestion. I'm a bit worried now because I wasn't even trying to be bad lol.
Just face it, You are a DIRTBAG 😍

I bet you hoover up your friend's loot in diablo games too.

Bbc One Christmas GIF by BBC
 
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Sircaw

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And only 3 days till the new diablo ladder starts,

Looking forward to seeing your summoner druid in action @Nobermeijer 😍
 

TubzGaming

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Developer Note - This patch addresses overall gameplay performance and stability as well as online connection improvements.

Bug Fixes:

  • General
    • Online
      • Fixed issues with achievement data being properly pushed to Wizarding World portal after linking.
    • Gameplay
      • Owl Mail
        • Fixed an issue with mail not properly triggering sequential mission.
      • World Events
        • Fixed rare crash around certain locations where in-game World Events spawning.
      • NPC
        • Fixed a rare crash when respawning NPCs in the world.
        • Fixed crash with some NPC schedules.
      • Characters
        • Fixed issues with flickering occurring with a transparent head while hair is still present.
    • UI
      • Updated localization text for additional content items.
      • Added Build version to first time EULA.
      • Fixed rare occurrence of mission descriptions not being displayed correctly.
    • Cinematics
      • Corrected VFX presentation of robe transformation.
      • Fixed a stability issue when skipping cutscenes.
      • Fixed a crash when playing cutscenes and cinematics.
    • Save Game
    • Performance and Stability
      • Improved performance on Fidelity mode.
      • Fixed rare crash around hovering over the map.
      • Fixed issue with wind causing distortion and stretching of world assets.
      • Fixed a rare occurrence with material swapping.
      • Fixed a rare crash with map assets state.
      • Fixed Rare crash occurring with in-game world events.
      • Fixed a memory leak with global lighting system HL-313.
  • XSX
    • Performance and Stability
      • Improved crash collection to help chase rare crashes.
  • PC Steam/PC Epic Games
    • Cinematics
      • Fixed audio issues missing or not properly playing.
    • Controllers
      • Switch Pro controller support updates HL-346.
    • Upscalers
      • Enable frame generation while DLSS is disabled.
      • Anti-Aliasing and Screen resolution settings disabled when using DLSS and not Super Resolution.
    • Raytracing
      • Fixed issue with RTAO looking worse than SSAO.
      • Adjusted default setting to Medium Quality.
    • Performance and Stability
      • Shader type compilation optimization.
      • Shader compilation performance updates and functionality enhancements.
      • Fixed a crash affecting Text2Speech usability.
      • Resolved issues with world assets abruptly being stretched which resolves the following reported issues: HL-305, HL-265.
      • Resolved an issue with Nvidia GPUs having lower frame rate compared to AMD.
    • DirectX Version 12
      • Please note DirectX Version 12 is required to run Hogwarts Legacy on PC. We do not suggest attempting workarounds to run the game with DirectX Version 11 as this can cause stability issues with launching the game and the player experience.

 

Sircaw

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1299476.png



Mini Review, this is my first so try to be nice :p

This review is my personal opinion(s) of the game and may not reflect on other's impressions.

I played on the Series X in Performance mode.
My Wizard is level 35 (Max is 40) and sorted into Slytherin

Clocking in at just over 30 hours I have completed the main story and a good lot of side quests, However I still have a good amount of content to go and didn't expect the open world part of the game to be as big as it is.

View attachment 513

Hogwarts Legacy is an action role-playing game set in the wizarding world of Harry Potter, and it allows players to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and create their own character.
In the game, players will explore the Hogwarts castle and grounds, as well as other iconic wizarding world locations, and interact with familiar characters and creatures from the franchise. The game also features magic spells, potion-making, and dueling mechanics, allowing players to experience life as a wizard and discover the hidden secrets of Hogwarts
The game has immersive world-building and the chance to experience life at Hogwarts. The graphics and attention to detail in the Hogwarts castle and surrounding areas are impressive, and the opportunity to attend classes and learn spells adds an extra layer of immersion to the game.

View attachment 510

What I liked:

The combat is one of my favorite parts of the game, dueling is very enjoyable and you can mix it up with the spells your learn from your teachers, with a lot of them having combinations for very strong attacks. There is a good amount of enemy variety with multiple ways to dealing with them. However there is a negative which I will talk about later.
You also have an additional power called 'ancient magic' which has its own meter, and is drained each time you cast it 'TONS OF DAMAGE'. This is also enhanced to allow you to cast more with challenges in the open world.

Exploration, as I said this game is huge and goes further into the areas around Hogwarts which is never really detailed or shown in the movies or books. The forbidden forest is present but its only a small area compared to the rest.
You will be going through multiple hamlets, visiting the famous town of Hogsmeade, taking out bandit/poacher camps and other little mini games to help your character grow.
You are able to freely travel around on a broom, Flying mount, and eventually land mount.

Transmog, from the get go, everything you collect is immediately available for you to transmog over your currently equipped gear, giving you plenty of freedom to mold your Witch or Wizards look into your liking.

The Wizard field guide, is a book given to you at the beginning of the game, it records all of your progress, the games map, enemy variants (shows what spells can work for extra damage), the map and talent trees. The talent system itself isn't anything to special other than enhancing your existing spells, potions etc.

You are not forced to be good or bad, there are no repercussions of what kind of Wizard or Witch you want to be - if I want to cast dark spells I will.
One cool little addition was where the enemy NPC'S would make subtle nods about my play style, there were multiple times where they would taunt me about using dark magic or a certain spell I used often than others in a fight.

The Room of Requirement, is a nice little hub where you can grow various ingredients to help you make your potions, it also adds smaller rooms where you can house the bests you collect, nurturing these beasts allow you to then use there Feathers or strands of hair to upgrade your gear or lock in extra damage or afflictions from your spells ( I however did not use the upgrades for my gear as I was constantly replacing it and thought it was just a waste of resources).

The in-between:

The story was ok, a nice edition to the wider world but the gameplay was the main joy for me.
However the side missions are a plenty in the open world which is appreciated,
The characters are ok too. I do give props to the Slytherin companions story line, it was excellent from start to finish and the character building for that particular person was well done.

What I didn't like:
The performance can at times be jittery, especially when exploring the castle. Running around the corridors of Hogwarts is very much appreciated in the fidelity or fidelity with ray tracing, its stunning and hopefully a few more patches can help it be a bit more stable.

The exclusive Playstation misson, apparently this is only a year long wait, but without DLC or Expansion, it could become next to useless.
It is also one of the best side missions and you will receive increased sell costs for gear you are no longer using.

The negative side of combat. there are so many spells to choose from, you have to rely on hot swapping them all the time. You can unlock more to add into your rotation ( 4 is the max per bar) but while in the middle of combat this can get a bit daunting and can easily lose a good combo.

Without upgrades, you can only hold about 20 or so pieces of gear before you cant pick up anymore and are forced to sell. You must travel to a vendor to sell, which usually means opening your map to fast travel to a Hamlet or Hogsmeade, breaking your flow of exploration.

No Quidditch :(

Final Verdict:

Overall, this game is a must play for fans. Even if you aren't a fan of the franchise there is something for everyone here.
I believe this will be a GOTY contender. I praise the developers for creating a world that many have been wanting to experience for nearly 20 years and the controversy surrounding this title has not soured my experience.
I hope we can expect more in terms of DLC, this is a solid foundation to build upon!

I score this a solid 8.5/10!

View attachment 512
Just out of curiosity, a friend of mine is playing the game, he says he really likes it, his only negative is that the game seems way too easy.

How did you find its difficulty?
 

TubzGaming

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Just out of curiosity, a friend of mine is playing the game, he says he really likes it, his only negative is that the game seems way too easy.

How did you find its difficulty?
Hogwarts Legacy does allow you to change its difficulty settings.
...
To do so, you can follow these steps:
  1. Hit the pause button.
  2. Go to gameplay options.
  3. The difficulty setting is located near the top of the screen. Select it, and a drop-down menu will appear. Pick one of the choices and continue on your journey.
 
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Sircaw

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Hogwarts Legacy does allow you to change its difficulty settings.
...
To do so, you can follow these steps:
  1. Hit the pause button.
  2. Go to gameplay options.
  3. The difficulty setting is located near the top of the screen. Select it, and a drop-down menu will appear. Pick one of the choices and continue on your journey.
he is already playing it on the hardest setting
 
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Lord Mittens

Lord Mittens

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Just out of curiosity, a friend of mine is playing the game, he says he really likes it, his only negative is that the game seems way too easy.

How did you find its difficulty?

Interesting, how far through is he? Once you find which spells go together to deliver massive damage I can see it becoming quite easy.
In a way it's a bit like Arkham combat but with wands..
 
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