Syn1c

A love letter to the franchise and to the fans. And that's not something to be put off by either. Whether you like the series or have little interest in it. Hogwarts Legacy is a well-rounded, enjoyable experience that will make you question what a triple A game is supposed to be. Because in my opinion, this comes within millimeters of being a perfect example. As for future plans, if you have any interest in this game getting a REAL second part, please, Please--for the love of all that is good--let Warner hear it. If it's true that this game is to become a series, then why can't we just leave it as it is--as a really good single player game series that lets you be the main character? Imagine getting a three part development of your character and those they've introduced here. All the basics are already here. The world, the atmosphere, the characters. What we DO NOT need, is another mmorpg, live service game that capitalizes off of cheap gimmicks and cosmetics. We do NOT want it and I seriously hope no one with at least one good brain cell would ever pay for it; should the worst come to pass. Even if the next installments are just large additions to this game with the exact same map, I would rather pay another $150 for a proper second chapter that expands on this story than to have some half baked unlock-story pass that squeezes the living life out of the franchise. The only things lacking from HL as it stands: is quality of life features. Being able to sit, sleep, see the time/weather, and maybe more small interactions with the map and the characters in it. Forget quidditch, they can keep their plans for an online game for it separately, but just give us a good story. That's all we want. There is so much promise here, and you just don't find that with many--if any games these days. Don't ruin a good thing Warner, you'll be putting the final nail in the coffin; and it's there, waiting for you to get too greedy.

In comparison to WD2, this feels like step backwards. A wobblily, unsure step that might have almost made sense if it weren't for how lackluster this game feels to play. Sure, graphics are nice, and the concept of using npc's to accomplish unique tasks is...interesting. But it just falls flat on delivery. I originally bought this alongside the promise of past characters being included, (Wrench being my favourite addition) which I came to find, on launch, was not even available to use because they were still working on it. I shrugged it off and played anyway, which was a mistake. The storyline is just—a combination of the worst tropes and annoyingly soulless characters all smushed together to try and give some vague concept of a people's resistance. Firstly. Why does the AI swear like a sailor—more importantly, why does EVERYONE have to swear like a sailor? I get it, it's Britain, it's part of the culture, but you can definitely tell the writing relies too much on it. Maybe it's just me, but it doesn't add any humor, make it light-hearted or fun like it's predecessor, it's just annoying. On top of this, no-one, outside of a few—and I mean—a few PAID characters feel like they have any personality. Don't get me wrong, one of the reasons Watch Dogs 2 is one of my favourite games is the sheer believability of the world; specifically the npcs that walk amongst it. I could spend hours just walking around listening to pointless conversations or watching how a group of npcs on the beach will pack up and leave when it starts to rain. Everything feels alive, and it's rarely felt in games this big. However, in Legion, that concept loses it's charm fast. There's about three or four different voices for each gender, normal, heavily accented and old. And each just fails to deliver a compelling reason to invest in running them from point A to B. And even then, the conversations dotted in between feel like a collage of broken statements replying to each other in the hope it makes some sense. I can understand the necessity of it with ambitions of 'being able to play anyone and everyone', but there is nothing else to connect to when you can. You don't have your own player character even though you can customize any npc you like. None of them feel like they have any motive. Even though Watch Dogs 2 felt like an edgy play on modern hacking culture, we still had four main characters to follow. And each of them gave reasons for connecting to the story they were trying to tell. If they had only applied this here—and given us even just three well-developed characters—and our own, alongside this whole npc recruitment concept; the game would have flourished. Don't know where it goes from here, but I don't know whether I care. Triple A games these days all feel soulless and like mere cash grabs banking on the success from past installments.