A new gameplay trailer highlighted several new features in Hogwarts Legacy, including flying around the castle, customizing the Room of Interest, and killing curses by killing other people.
The first part of the gameplay features flight on both a broomstick and a hippopotamus, which can be used to travel outside of Hogwarts to other villages and quests.
In this episode we will also look at the changing of the seasons. Later in the show we’ll take a deeper look at gear, magical creatures, and the section on desire, which can be tweaked with gameplay-customizable conjugation spells.
But perhaps the scariest part of the show for those familiar with the Harry Potter franchise is the middle section where the player heads to the Dark Arts Battle Arena. In this episode, we see the player – a student at Hogwarts and still a teenager – instantly killed someone with the curse of Avada Kedavra. The trailer uses a number of battle parties to damage and eventually defeat (kill?) several other enemies, including a goblin labeled “Loyal Warriors”.
It’s not unusual for a game to feature combat or teenage protagonists – many games do. But it’s a bit of a strange move to find the game’s basis in a book series that treats combat as a last resort and focuses most of its attention on day-to-day academic life and magical aspirations. The fighting, killing, and torture in those books was almost entirely the province of the villains, with combat as a last resort and the “Unforgivable Curse” as well as unforgivable.
It’s especially odd to see them accidentally use the Killing Curse, especially given the heavy weight it’s given in the books – though it’s not unexpected after the previous trailer revealed that players could choose to verbally torture curses on other students as well.
Hogwarts Legacy has been controversial since its release due to persistent hateful comments made by Harry Potter author JK Rowling. While Rowling is not involved in the game, per the studio’s direction, Avalanche also said she “has the right to express her personal opinion” and that the game is based on the original universe and IP, and Rowling continues to receive royalties.
Hogwarts Legacy launches on February 10, 2023 for PS5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC. It was recently delayed to April 4th on PS4 and Xbox One, and the Nintendo Switch version will arrive on July 25th.
Rebecca Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.
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