It’s hard to argue if there has been a series in the last several decades that has had more of an impact on popular culture than the Harry Potter series, complete with books, movies, video games, and a stage play. So, while the Harry Potter: Hogwarts Legacy reveal at the PS5 Showcase was a welcome surprise for many players, it was only a matter of time until the series made its way to digital platforms again.
Fans of Harry Potter are excited to see the open-world adventure Hogwarts Legacy preparing to launch on next-gen consoles, but the game might mean more for the series than some might immediately assume. Namely, the extended lore of the series reaches deep to the creation of Hogwarts and a long history of combating dark wizards, much of which is mentioned in passing in the original books. One place fans can check to find this background story is through the info-dump website Pottermore that has added to the lore while ironically removing some of the magic from the overall world.
The Harry Potter series creator, J.K. Rowling, has continued to create and share more information about the franchise long after the final book released and used Pottermore and her personal Twitter to share these ideas. Putting the writer’s more controversial tweets aside for a separate discussion, fans have still had a mixed response to some of these lore-dumps, thanks in part to the way they affect the original story without having come up in the books more naturally. As a result, the background information that fills in the world has been expanded, but some fans find the random drops of newly revealed thoughts as uninspired, seeing as many would prefer to see a new original story touch on these topics.
There is a lot more to do on Pottermore other than simply read a host of backstory and analysis from the books and movies, but it has been a central source into the mind of the series creator. Fans can sign in and take quizzes, as well as interact with the extended magical world of Harry Potter, but as a form of world building, it can come off as more of a “tell” rather than a “show” for letting readers organically learn about the universe. With the limited view allowed by the original premise, there is only so much that can be done from the view of a student in a boarding school, but there are more inventive ways to build out the extended story.
It would appear that this latest Harry Potter title will extend beyond the limits of the school, allowing players to explore a large open-world both inside and outside of Hogwarts castle. From the reveal of Hogwarts Legacy, there appears to be a number of shots of English countryside and forests, which could be the surrounding area of the castle, but it does seem to go farther than the books or films. More importantly than simply letting players leave the school, the nature of the game being open-world also means that there will be a freedom to move around the area like never before.
While there are plenty of interesting and exciting things that happen throughout the original series, a lot of the world building before has been secondhand, with characters talking about the world instead of readers experiencing much of it. With everything that the rumors claim about Hogwarts Legacy, players will have a chance to experience the world first hand in a way that fans have never really had before. No more following Harry Potter around Hogwarts, the freedom to explore will mean that even the aspects that have already been introduced to the world can be seen in a whole new way.
Partially as a result of more recent controversies, Avalanche Studio has distanced from Rowling recently, although this does also mean that it has a limited amount of freedom to introduce new stories and references in order to ground a lot of the lore. Having the creative freedom that comes with disconnecting from the original creator means that the developer has a chance to look at the things that it thinks is important to expand upon. Without being limited by the more narrow view that comes with wanting to preserve a single person’s creation, there is more room to stretch and flex the series into.
Fortunately for the team, there is a large amount of lore to work with, coming from the aforementioned Pottermore website and Rowling’s many tweets on everything from Dumbledore’s sexuality to wizard plumbing. So all of the information about Hogwarts and the extended world of the Harry Potter universe can be filtered into the game without the intervention of the creator in order to more organically blend it into Hogwarts Legacy. This both gives Avalanche Studio a huge chance with the upcoming title, but also adds a certain amount of risk as it will need to carefully pay due diligence to continuity in order keep the already established world consistent.
The list of spells and nature of being able to create and discover new ways to utilize magic is both one of the most impressive aspects of the Harry Potter series, as well as being one of the most disappointing. While the inventive use of spells feeds well into the action and world of the series, fans are only ever introduced to a handful of spells, like the Patronus Charm, The Killing Curse, and a glorified flashlight, throughout the series. This becomes especially limited for those more familiar with the films than the books, as many spells either don’t make their way into the movies or are used without a deeper explanation.
In this case, there is a huge opportunity for Avalanche to improve on Harry Potter games by putting a emphasis on creating new spells and building out this key aspect to magic in the series. Most other games that tie into the series seem afraid to expand upon the available spells for the sake of building the game, thanks mostly in part to following the perspective of Harry Potter and the story of the books. However, adding more spells than Expelliarmus for combat and Accio for finding objects can expand gameplay with new fighting spells or charms and potions for item discovery, but will also add a much needed expansion onto the series’ magical lexicon.
Harry Potter: Hogwarts Legacy is in development for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
![\"IT電腦補習](\"http://itteacheritfreelance.hk/test/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/logo2-2.png\"){kind=logo}
www.itsec.hk
www.itsec.vip
www.itseceu.uk
Leave a Reply