Those of you who dreamed of going to Hogwarts and living the magical experiences of Harry Potter will be able to see your wish come true in a week (at least digitally). Hogwarts Legacy, the latest creation of Avalanche Studios, the creators of the Just Cause saga, will be released on February 10 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One and PC, although it will also have a Deluxe edition that will allow its lucky buyers to play three days earlier.
The video game, which recently showed its launch trailer, has dazzled many players, from fans of the saga to those who know nothing about the Harry Potter universe. Whether you have already pre-ordered the game or are considering whether or not to buy it, here are the highlights of Hogwarts Legacy.
Create your character in your image and likeness
One of the most characteristic features of role-playing video games is the ability to create your character however you want. While some titles give you more freedom than others, allowing you to choose your race and powers (The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim), or even the characteristics of your “most intimate parts” (Cyberpunk 2077), any game with RPG elements must include the ability to customize the character you control.
And Hogwarts Legacy is no slouch in this respect. Apart from being able to choose among various predefined aspects, you’ll be able to customize each of the character’s basic characteristics, such as gender, hairstyle, eyes, skin color, face shape and even the main character’s voice. Each of the options is broken down into different settings, so you’ll be able to create your dream character without any problem.
Choose your house (and your common room)
If we already had a hard time choosing our initial Pokémon (Charmander, of course), when you start Hogwarts Legacy you will have to make another big decision that will change your life forever: the Hogwarts house you will belong to. But, don’t worry, if you still don’t know whether to join Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Slytherin, the Wizarding World website allows you to take a test that will make your choice easier and whose results can be imported into the game by linking your accounts.
While we don’t know most of the exact implications of making this difficult decision, we do know that the common room you will go to will depend on the Hogwarts house you choose. Both the appearance and the way to access these common rooms will be drastically different from one another, and in them you will be able to interact with other characters and perform various activities.
Swim and fly
When playing an open world game, the character’s freedom to explore the map is one of the most important aspects. While in titles like Red Dead Redemption (but not its sequel) our character lacks the ability to swim, dying instantly once we enter an area with too deep water, in Hogwarts Legacy we can swim as if we were in the town pool.
And that’s not all. In addition to swimming in the Hogwarts lake (we don’t guarantee your safety when trying to do so), our protagonist will be able to take to the skies. Either with the classic flying broom that every wizard must have (we anticipate that they will not be Nimbus 2000) or on the back of our majestic hippogriff, we will be able to explore this magical universe as free as the wind.
Learn all kinds of magical skills
While math and language are very important in the Muggle world, in the magical world there are other… priorities. Multiplying and speaking well in your language are useful, yes, but not as useful as learning how to levitate objects, create potions that alter human will, defend yourself from evil spirits, or predict the future (at least not as much fun).
In Hogwarts Legacy you will be able to attend the classes we all saw in the Harry Potter movies and books, such as Potions, Herbology, Charms and Defenses against the Dark Arts, among others, and learn all sorts of magical skills that will be of great use to you as you explore this open world and all its nooks and crannies.
Fight with your wand
The magical abilities you acquire will not only serve you to explore Hogwarts and other places. As in the world that we could already live thanks to the Harry Potter movies and books, magic can also be used in Hogwarts Legacy to fight, and we will have at our disposal (once obtained) a total of 20 different spells that we can assign in different slots.
From spells like Incendio and Oppungo, to a classic from the Harry Potter videogames like Flipendo, to dark magic like the fearsome (and lethal) Avada Kedavra, you’ll be able to fight using diverse combos with magics, whose use depends on a recharge time. You will also be able to dodge your enemies with a dodge button, and improve your combat skills with potions and by using experience points.
