I’m playing this game right now and it’s honestly a six out of 10. The only reason to launch the game at all is because of the world design which is top notch. So top notch it scores all of those six points, because the plot characters story and gameplay are all a let down otherwise. This is the type of game that will disable the controls for your magical flying broom and then tell you that you need to climb a wall. I wish it wasn’t so successful so they didn’t think this formula was so good, because if they made the game actually good AND a Harry Potter property, that would have really been something special. But as it is now, it’s just an uninspired video game painted in a pretty coat of a popular franchise. I’m sure we’ll get a sequel.
Hogwarts Legacy has officially cleared Zelda as 2023's best-selling game worldwide
Submitted 9 months ago by simple@lemm.ee to games@lemmy.world
Comments
FunnyUsername@lemmy.world 9 months ago
PeterPoopshit@lemmy.world 9 months ago
I would have loved to have this game as a kid. It may be a 6 out of 10 but all the other harry potter shovelware was at best a 0.2 out of 10.
kusttra@lemmy.world 9 months ago
IDK. Most of the early games were actually pretty entertaining. I fairly recently played sorcerer’s stone on the gbc, and it was still pretty fantastic.
jacksilver@lemmy.world 9 months ago
I’m curious, what open world games do you rate as a 9 or 10? I’m not saying Hogwarts did anything revolutionary, but it did most things pretty solidly. It’s been a while since Ive played an open world game that does a good job on making the world actually feel alive.
Carighan@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Not the person you asked, but for me personally to rate some open world games:
- Hogwarts: 4/10-5/10. It’s pretty damn bad IMO, beyond the fan pandering.
- Avatar Frontiers of Pandora: 5/10-7/10, it’s a slightly worse Far Cry (which is already damn tepid) but looks insanely pretty which makes it a good braindead time waster.
- Cyberpunk 2077: Originally 2/10, laughably underdesigned and so buggy it felt like industry-criticizing sarcasm. Nowadays 7/10 if including the expansion, still quite buggy but not in a bad way, and the redesigned combat and character systems feel artificial but pretty fun. City still too dead and underdesigned, sadly.
- Witcher 3: 8/10-9/10, essentially same design flaws as modern CP2077, but given its fantasy world suffers much less from it, of course the empty countryside is, well, empty.
- Subnautica: 10/10, amazing horror vibes, good progression, not too open and not too confined, focus on exploration.
- Outer Wilds: 10/10, completely open and pure exploration, reductive game design done perfectly right.
orientalsniper@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Witcher 3 I’d rate 9/10.
FunnyUsername@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Subnautica gets a 9/10. Fallout 2 and 3, if we’re specifically going RPGs. NieR: Automata for action RPGs. Look at Persona for school influenced RPGs. I’d have geeked out so hard if we got even Persona-style class experiences in Hogwarts Legacy. Instead, all we get is completely contextless montage cutscenes.
I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Red Dead Redemption 1 and 2 are both up there for me.
Badeendje@lemmy.world 9 months ago
I guess all the twitter drama around the author matters less to the real world. It’s impressive to see how a vocal minority can completely distort what is happening offline.
Deceptichum@kbin.social 9 months ago
Hogwarts came out a quarter of a year earlier and released on every platform compared to Zelda only being on one.
I wouldn't take that as a strong indictment that J.K.'s terf bullshit didn't have an impact.
gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Yeah, and the fact that people basically can’t talk about this game without mentioning it got boycotted because one of the people who makes money from it is a massive piece of transphobic shit is a small step forward all on its own
Kusimulkku@lemm.ee 9 months ago
Doesn’t seem to have had a big impact I’d say
Aielman15@lemmy.world 9 months ago
It happens every time. Pokémon Sword/Shield and Scarlett/Violet had the biggest launch in the franchise’s history despite being (justifiably so) heavily criticized by pretty much everyone online.
People shit on microtransactions and always-online games but the top charts always show online multiplayer games are among the most played.
It doesn’t make the criticisms any less valid; it just means that the general public is usually ignorant of them.
Kusimulkku@lemm.ee 9 months ago
Or just don’t care that much
xkforce@lemmy.world 9 months ago
JKR is a very vocal TERF that basically wants yrans people to dissappear. A lot of people dont want to financially support her because of that. That most people seemingly either dont care about trans erasure or even worse, bought the game specifically because theyre the type to do shit just because people with a conscience told them they shouldn’t, says more about most people than it does that “vocal minority”
Badeendje@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Oh pipe down, I read the entire thing when it was recent and in no way does she want what you claim. She has an open letter on her own website outlining her views.
Over the course of the years since this happened it has grown, morphed and people are now probably also saying she would be the one herding the trans people into the gas Chambers.
TORFdot0@lemmy.world 9 months ago
I think that the masses are mostly disengaged with terminally-online type discourse. The only reason I knew JK Rowling was TERF was because of reading it on here, so if you are only on social media to follow your old high school classmates on facebook, you’d probably never find out
TwilightVulpine@lemmy.world 9 months ago
The masses are largely disengaged with LGBT rights in general, but the declining rights of transgender people in the UK (and the US) shows this is not just a “terminally-online” kind of issue. She is not the only one responsible, of course, but her outspoken antagonism towards transgender people is influencing people.
It concerns me when people can’t differentiate “this issue does not affect me” from “this issue does not exist”. Even calling matters “terminally-online” in general is a bit questionable when whole ass presidents get elected by meme campaigns these days.
aew360@lemm.ee 9 months ago
The game has a minor character who is trans too. It uses the world she invented but does not borrow her real world views
betheydocrime@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Just because a minority is depicted in a work of art does not mean that depiction was made in good faith. Americans are familiar with that concept because of our dark history of minstrel shows and blackface performances.
When the trans woman character’s name is Sirona Ryan, it calls into question whether she is meant to be a character or a caricature.
Napain@lemmy.ml 8 months ago
poped in to say transrights! that’ll be all
dumpsterlid@lemmy.world 8 months ago
fuck harry potter go read terry pratchett
Silentiea@lemm.ee 8 months ago
Can I just read Pratchett without fucking anyome? I’m ace and it’s just really smelly and uncomfortable.
Carighan@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Bit unfair, because when compared to Terry Pratchett, just about everything else gets tossed to read more Pratchett. 😅
(not that I disagree, Pratchett is best)
ARk@lemm.ee 8 months ago
okay
De_Narm@lemmy.world 9 months ago
It’s multi-platform, uses one of the biggest IPs of an entire generation and seems to do it quite well too. Everything else would have been more surprising to me.
Kusimulkku@lemm.ee 9 months ago
I’m shocked the online outrage from gamingcirlclejerk didn’t work
ChicoSuave@lemmy.world 9 months ago
It’s like the sub made for taking the piss out of gaming criticism and critique did what it was supposed to do.
SuperSaiyanSwag@lemmy.zip 9 months ago
I used to love that sub, but these days they are only focused on the outrage culture. Nothing inherently wrong with that, I like to laugh at people who take their video game waifu too seriously. I initially joined that sub because it seemed like the best place to have level-headed conversations about overhyped games, like the Witcher 3. Everywhere else seems to love that game as if it’s the second coming of Jesus, but if you find some places that didn’t like the game, they swing a bit too hard on the opposite site, so you can’t have a conversation with them either. I found plenty of people in that sub who loved that game, but knew where the shortcomings were.
AbsurdityAccelerator@lemmy.world 9 months ago
I wonder it’s because it attracted a bunch of people who weren’t into games, but are huge Harry Potter fans.
samus12345@lemmy.world 9 months ago
It’s also on every platform, including the Switch, while TotK is just on the Switch.
garretble@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Yeah this feels like a Look What They Have to Do (release on every system) to Mimic a Fraction of Our Power (be Zelda) meme.
Shadywack@lemmy.world 9 months ago
I think you just nailed it, this is exactly why.
AFC1886VCC@reddthat.com 9 months ago
Yep it’s an unfair comparison. If Zelda was available on all platforms then it might have been a different story.
EssentialCoffee@midwest.social 9 months ago
Honestly it was just a good game. I saw it attracting both Potterheads and non-Potterheads. (I would not consider myself a Potterhead).
Does it have a bunch of replay value? Not really (neither do a lot of games). But man, that initial playthrough was just really good. It also looks like I clocked 113 hours on the game, so that’s a pretty decent return to me.
Also, despite the source material and the author, it had a lot of very inclusive elements, which were a nice touch.
good_girl@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 months ago
if you seriously think this game was special, I have a far cry themed bridge to sell you
muse@kbin.social 9 months ago
Hasnt Nintendo like, not released digital sales for TotK? I remember reading that recently.
Not a cope post, I don't care if you play the terf game, just actually curious.
morphballganon@lemmy.world 9 months ago
The terf game?
The owner of the Three Broomsticks is trans… ?
TwilightVulpine@lemmy.world 9 months ago
When the series creator is vocally advocating to marginalize transgender people and financially supporting other members of the hate movement, it takes more than a token NPC to make up for it.
Most likely that character is an insincere PR move from Warner Bros, but some trans people also pointed out that naming her Miss Ryan was probably done in bad faith. If anything, sounds exactly like the kind of tasteless thoughtless naming that JKR is infamous for.
gaylord_fartmaster@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Thank god tokenism is here to save the day again.
HerbalGamer@sh.itjust.works 9 months ago
If you have nothing else to play and want a simple open world game set in and around Hogwarts, it’s perfectly servicable as long as you pirate it. Don’t expect to be blown away by it though.
BowtiesAreCool@lemmy.world 9 months ago
I assumed that after literally nobody or any media outlets have talked about it since release. Telltale sign of bang on average game. Probably great for potter fans and boring for those who don’t care or haven’t seen the films/read the books.
Carighan@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I would - and I hate my saying this - rather recommend Avatar then. Yeah it’s a Ubisoft game. I know. Yeah, it needs a beefier machine to actually look really pretty.
But oh my fucking hell is it pretty when cranked up. And it helps the generic open world gameplay a lot to be this awesome looking. Fun to just wander around and take in the scenery, even when you leave the jungle areas and go to the plains and see the wind-swept grass and all.
_sideffect@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Zelda was more fun though
Honytawk@lemmy.zip 8 months ago
Zelda would have been even more fun if it was available on every platform instead of just Nintendo.
Obi@sopuli.xyz 8 months ago
That’s it, I never played Nintendo games because I never had their hardware. For me personally it’s just not worth getting into their closed ecosystem. Basically same reason I never had anything apple.
Cort@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I only played the unpatched version with the dupe glitches, that was super fun.
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Genuinely curious which game has more “Hours Played”. I’m willing to put money down on it being Zelda.
Toneswirly@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Millions of people have bad taste. Shocker
GilgameshCatBeard@lemmy.ca 9 months ago
Smug gamer thinks what others like is wrong. Shocker.
AceTKen@lemmy.ca 9 months ago
Never got into Harry Potter since I was too old. This game was really fun to just explore and I constantly felt a forward momentum. Some of the stories were good, and some were awful.
I would absolutely play a sequel just based on the well done sense of discovery alone. I just wish more of what you found was impactful instead of cosmetic.
Silentiea@lemm.ee 8 months ago
On the one hand, I agree about wishing there was more to find than a new color cloak, but on the other hand I think it’s a neat way to keep the game approachable to more casual gamers (and to try and get as many Harry Potter fans to get it as possible). That being said, I would have liked if there were more challenge, and something other than just flat stat improvements could have been a way to keep that interesting if they had higher difficulties.
arc@lemm.ee 8 months ago
I thought it was a great game that captured the spirit of the books & movies so well. Thankfully all the mock outrage and bogus reviews didn’t affect its sales and probably boosted them.
i_ben_fine@lemmy.one 8 months ago
mock?
MrGerrit@feddit.nl 9 months ago
Completed both 100% and they’re such great fun games.
Hogwarts was awesome to walk through the wizardry world. Battling wizards, poachers, spiders, etc. Finding all the secrets and going through the story. Finished the game in a week, I just couldn’t put the controller down.
Murvel@lemm.ee 9 months ago
Oh no, but what about the boycott…
muse@kbin.social 9 months ago
What about it? None of us are surprised that people chose a childhood memory over respect for trans people as human beings.
Neato@ttrpg.network 9 months ago
When has a boycott ever worked? For the most part people don’t have principals unless their very livelihoods are directly threatened.
comrade19@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Has anyone played both? Im loving zelda at the moment and wouldn’t mind moving onto this next
o_oli@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Hogwarts is fun for about 30 hours roleplaying as a wizard, as a casual potter fan. I got really bored of it after that and never finished the game. At its core it really is very generic, it’s really propped up by the IP. That’s not to say it’s bad by any means but its not got the depth of Zelda.
520@kbin.social 9 months ago
Zelda is the better game. Problem is (sales wise) Zelda isn't nearly as popular outside of gaming circles, and access to the game is locked to those that own a Switch, whereas HL is on all platforms
zkfcfbzr@lemmy.world 9 months ago
I played both. Both are excellent games, and both also have flaws.
I think Zelda was by far the better game - HL isn’t really on the same level as it at all, design-wise, story-wise, or or in terms of things to do.
HL’s strength is definitely the world itself - the Hogwarts and Hogsmeade areas in particular are both incredibly well done and very faithful to the source material. The other areas are just alright.
I’d say HL’s weaknesses become most apparent if you’re a completionist. Things can get very repetitive if you’re going for 100%. I did, and I honestly think you’ll like it a lot more if you just don’t.
It’s still lots of fun though. Zelda was my most played game in 2023 and HL wasn’t far behind, and everything else combined would still probably be a distant third.
LucidBoi@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I pirated it and played for maybe two hours. It was boring and the controls didn’t feel good. Uninstalled shortly after.
Vespair@lemm.ee 9 months ago
Embarrassing.
dangblingus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 months ago
Culture wars sell games. If not for all of the noise surrounding JK Rowling, the right wing contingent of the internet probably would have passed it over as “a game for kids”. If comment sections are any metric to go by, everyone that played it either thought it was completely mid or bought it to own the libs.
001@kbin.melroy.org 9 months ago
I absolutely loved hogwarts legacy personally. Any other year it would have won more awards, just that Baldurs Gate and Alan Wake were even better. We really were spoiled in 2023
BudgieMania@kbin.social 9 months ago
If you are WB, I can't see how you compare the performance of this game vs the performance of Suicide Squad (which had similar development time) and not rethink your approach to future licensed titles
hal_5700X@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Hogwarts Legacy is a 7.5 of 10. It’s a fun game. But it’s not revolutionary or break new ground. I hadn’t played Tears of the Kingdom.
The two things the boycott did is the make the trans community look bad and made people hate them. The final thing was to give the game free advertising.
Here’s a video about the Harry Potter IP. Like who owns the rights to the games, books, plays, and so on.
thorbot@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Very curious. I played for about 10-15 hours and was just bored, but I’ve never been a huge potter head. Glad people like it though
books@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I bought it and was hoping for more leveling up and more RPG elements but it wasn’t.
Harbinger01173430@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Serious question. Who’d win, wizard trying to cast a spell or sovereign citizen with a gun?
rab@lemmy.ca 9 months ago
The people who tried cancelling the game are the reason it sold so well and that is hilarious. Everyone was talking about it, any advertising is good advertising
Haha@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Oh just now?… wow they had to work real hard to top a fame that released on a single console.
Grass@sh.itjust.works 9 months ago
The open world Zeldazes were over hyped but still, really? I haven’t played it myself but watching others play, it didn’t seem all that great.
Fedizen@lemmy.world 8 months ago
where do we find the stats for zelda?
newthrowaway20@lemmy.world 9 months ago
It’s honestly amazing how well this game sold considering how mid the gameplay actually is. Having a popular IP really helped.
gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Eh, people don’t buy for the gameplay mechanics most of the time, they buy for what they see in the trailers and read in the descriptions. Being the only videogame available for this IP, having the WB marketing juggernaut behind it, releasing at a time of the year without much competition, coming out on every single platform - it would have been weird if this game wasn’t the best selling one in 2023.
bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 9 months ago
Exactly. You don’t know what the gameplay is until after you buy the game, unless you are savvy and watch reviews or something, which hardly any consumers do.
aksdb@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Are you saying that marketing works?!
Kingofthezyx@lemm.ee 9 months ago
My wife, whose entire history with video games is Sims 3, Animal Crossing: NH, and Pokémon Go, played through this game start to finish and loved it. It wasn’t really made for “gamers”, it was made for Harry Potter fans that wanted to play a Hogwarts game.
Personally, I love that she got into it whether it’s mid or not, because it introduced her to a lot of the mechanics necessary to play “real” games in the future. And she had a lot of fun.
theRealBassist@lemmy.world 9 months ago
I’m both a gamer and HP fan.
I thought the game was great, and I didn’t really realize the depths of people’s distaste for it, I guess.
Was it crazy revolutionary? No, but it was fun.
BigBananaDealer@lemm.ee 8 months ago
the last video game my mom played before hogwarts legacy was like…pac man in the arcades. it was amazing to share our progress together and bond
GeneralEmergency@lemmy.world 9 months ago
What can you say gamers love anti-Semitism.
neurosnail@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I thought the gameplay was awesome. To me, a really impressive entry to a potential series. What did you feel were the weak points in the gameplay?
newthrowaway20@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I found the combat to be serviceable, and at some points even decent. But it kind of got repetitive really quick. Like once you learn the core mechanics, they didn’t really introduce a lot after that to keep you on your toes. But the main problem I had with the game came from the quests, they just felt so monotonous. I love exploring the castle, but finding every little collectible just felt tedious and didn’t really seem to have any payoff.
All things I hope can be improved with an eventual sequel, I’m definitely glad I picked up the game. But it’s not something I’ve ever considered revisiting once I beat it.
CaptPretentious@lemmy.world 9 months ago
The IP was my only interest. Games like this I get bored with so I generally avoid. But the views of the school looked great and I’ve always wanted to walk around it, like the fantasy version of it. I’ve been to the real set and walked around that which is cool. My only complaint is I bought it on PC so I didn’t get to see Azkaban.
HUMAN_TRASH@lemmy.world 8 months ago
What do you mean? I played on pc and went to Azkaban, what very little there was to see anyway
Carighan@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Azkaban is not based on platform but house, join Hufflepuff to see it.