Hogwarts Legacy delivers a stunning world in an excellent, if sometimes dated, RPG

videogameschronicle.com:

Harry Potter is a generational franchise. For many who were born in the early 90s, the impact of the books, and later the films, is akin to Star Wars for those born a generation earlier.

It’s spawned multiple theme parks, broadway shows, and endless merch stocking the shelves of almost any shop you go into, but surprisingly, until now, no attempt at a massive, blockbuster video game. Unfortunately, it’s arrived after many people are understandably questioning their ties to the Wizarding World due to comments made by series creator J.K. Rowling.

And although Rowling was not involved in the development of the game, her impact as the creator of the franchise is firmly felt regardless, so it’s absolutely understandable that some will decide not to endorse Avalanche Software‘s game due to her publicly-stated, harmful views regarding the rights of transgender people. (For a full breakdown of the situation, we recommend this article by Glamour. Warner has publicly distanced itself from Rowling).

Avalanche Software’s game is an open-world RPG set around 100 years before the adventures of Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and after 35 hours with the game’s lengthy main quest, some dated open-world elements aside, it’s difficult to regard it as anything other than a success for those who’ve long awaited a triple-A Hogwarts game experience.

You play as a student who develops magical abilities later in life, joining Hogwarts in the fifth year. When creating your character, you’re free to give them any combination of complexion, hairstyle, or skin color you’d like. You then choose whether you’d like to be referred to as a witch or a wizard (which from our experience only changes which dormitory you have access to), and what kind of voice you’d