Summary
Avalanche Software’sHogwarts Legacyis an impressive and detailed game, but it’s far from perfect. Aside from some narrative inconsistencies and issues withHogwarts Legacy’s open-world, perhaps the most commonly criticized aspect of the game is its somewhat looter-shooter-style approach to gear and loot, which is ready for a major overhaul in the sequel.
As an open-world, Western role-playing game,Hogwarts Legacy’s progression and personalization revolves around loot. In many ways, loot drives the game’s exploration, as new wand handles, cosmetics, and Room of Requirement items serve as rewards for discovery and quest completion. However, this fairly integral part of the experience falls flat, especially later in the game, as nearly all the loot players can find in the many caverns, villages, and enemy encampments of the open-world is randomized. This is something that the next game ought to rectify.
The nextHogwarts Legacyhasn’t been confirmed, but the overwhelming success of the first game makes a sequel seem almost inevitable.
Hogwarts Legacy 2 Needs to Leave Randomization In the Past
RNG Loot Hurts Hogwarts Legacy
Hogwarts Legacyis rife with stylish apparel, unique Room of Requirement furnishings, and a straightforward transmog system that makes personalization easy and flexible. However, a lot of these strengths are undermined by the fact that, by all accounts, discoverable items seem to be randomized, making for quest and exploration rewards that are often underwhelming and redundant. It can be hard to feel engaged in the game’s loot system when, upon completing a side quest or clearing a particularly challenging area, any and all rewards have a chance to be either unremarkable or even a copy of something that has already been collected.
In another game, perhaps this wouldn’t be much of an issue, but as previously stated,Hogwarts Legacyis built around gear. When most of this gear winds up being lackluster, looting and exploration can quickly become arduous and boring, particularly in the late-game when most items have already been discovered and repeats abound. Coupled with the transmog system, which allows players to apply the cosmetic of any discovered item regardless of whether they have it in their inventory, collecting gear inHogwarts Legacycan ultimately feel pointless after so many hours, with newly discovered items serving as little more than junk to sell at vendors.
How Hogwarts Legacy 2 Can Improve Gear
As is typical of sequels,Hogwarts Legacy 2will probably offer more optionswhen it comes to gear and customization, but Avalanche Software should focus more on quality and variety than sheer abundance. A gross reduction or complete elimination of repeat items is a must for the sequel, but randomization should also be tossed in favor of a more bespoke, intentional gear system. Exploration and side activities could be so much more engaging and satisfying if players were guaranteed a unique piece of loot, even if it’s not scaled to their level. This would be especially true if the sequel retains the transmog system, as exploration would feel like genuine, linear progression, facilitating collection and completion, rather than the “treadmill” feeling that so many loot-based games engender.
Recent comments fromWarner Bros. Discovery suggest thatHogwarts Legacycould wind up taking a live-service route, which would likely not do much to help an RNG-centric loot system that already feels inspired by games-as-a-service. Assuming that theHogwarts Legacyfranchise doesn’t take such a sharp turn, though, it would be nice to see a less repetitive, meatier collection of gear, as this would result in not just better items to collect, but more rewarding exploration and open-world gameplay overall.
Hogwarts Legacy
WHERE TO PLAY
Hogwarts Legacy is an immersive, open-world action RPG set in the world first introduced in the Harry Potter books. For the first time, experience Hogwarts in the 1800s. Your character is a student who holds the key to an ancient secret that threatens to tear the wizarding world apart. Now you can take control of the action and be at the center of your own adventure in the wizarding world. Your legacy is what you make of it.Explore an Open WorldThe wizarding world awaits you. Freely roam Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, the Forbidden Forest, and the surrounding Overland area.Be the Witch or Wizard You Want to beLearn spells, brew potions, grow plants, and tend to magical beasts along your journey. Get sorted into your house, forge relationships, and master skills to become the witch or wizard you want to be Experience a New Wizarding World AdventureExperience the wizarding world in an unexplored era to uncover a hidden truth from its past. Battle against trolls, Dark Wizards, goblins, and more as you face a dangerous villain threatening the fate of the wizarding world.
