Led by host Chandler Wood, Community Manager at Avalanche and community host James Whitehead from XpectoGo, we were treated to our most thorough look at Hogwarts Legacy so far, alongside Game Director Alan Tew and Senior Environment Artist Boston Madsen.
So, what did we learn and what did we see?
Character Creator
Your Hogwarts legacy is what you make it, and creating the perfect character is crucial to discovering who you are in the wizarding world. Hogwarts Legacy’s character creator is extremely rich and detailed, full of different skin colors, hair types, and even a voice slider. In terms of your outfit, you can embrace the 1800s with some robes befitting of the period. We spotted some Harry Potter-style round glasses we had our eye on… And Harry Potter Fan Club members who link their accounts with the game will even be able to grab a special type of robe, called the Fan-atic robe, to make your appearance extra unique.
Your common room
As with any regular Hogwarts experience, it all starts with getting sorted into your house, and then, it’s off to your common room and dormitory. James Whitehead, who was sampling the game for us, got to embrace the wholesome Hufflepuff life, with a common room reminiscent of a badgers’ sett. Fans will be extra-excited to explore Hufflepuff’s space, seeing as we never got to visit it in the books or films. And it certainly doesn’t disappoint, full of plants, light and comfortable furniture.
Exploring Hogwarts
We’ve always wanted to fully explore Hogwarts, and now, this game truly can make that dream a reality. And, as you’ve probably guessed, it looks rather magnificent. We’re sure you’ll recognise a few iconic pieces, such as the grand staircases and the Hogwarts house hourglasses, but there’s all sorts of other impressive features to observe, such as a grand-looking water fountain where the students like to hang out, huge hanging bones in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom and a formidable brass Hogwarts crest adorned across a wall. The luscious Scottish greenery is present all over the outskirts of the castle, and the game-makers encourage you to get lost in it all – “no two hallways should look the same at Hogwarts” they say.
Side-quests, characters and familiar names
The presentation introduces us to characters and side-quests you can expect to embark upon. For example, one young student called Zenobia wants us to help find her Gobstones – and even mentions a fellow student called “Prewett” which is a last name that should ring familiar to certain fans. Prewett is Molly Weasley’s maiden name. Could this be an ancestor?
That is not the only familiarity we came across – Peeves the poltergeist is still haunting Hogwarts, showing just how long he has been terrorising the castle before Harry’s era!
Dueling and combat
Dueling will be a big part of Hogwarts Legacy, and in this preview, we get to see exactly how you train, which includes practicing your skills on a training dummy, an adorable wizard-on-wheels. You can also fight classmates when you’re feeling more au fait with dueling or pick random competitors. Spell combinations are encouraged for maximum impact, and Shield Charms will be crucial to win your battles unscathed.
Anything else?
At the end of the showcase, we are treated to a Q&A with the game developers, who run through a few things you might’ve been thinking about.
Extra-curricular assignments will be available all over Hogwarts, and the richness of the school will offer up all sorts of little details to look out for, so don’t rush through the game or you may miss something! We also learnt about other fun features that will be available, such as being able to visit a hairdressers in Hogsmeade, discovering different identities to our ‘core spells’ and much, much more.
If we weren’t very, very excited about Hogwarts Legacy already, you can add a few extra “verys” to how we’re feeling right now!
Hogwarts Legacy will launch on February 10, 2023 for PlayStation, Xbox, and PC. The Nintendo Switch launch date will be revealed soon. Learn all about pre-ordering the game here, or check out our Hogwarts Legacy page to explore other trailers.
And remember! If you are a member of our Harry Potter Fan Club, you can actually bring your wand and house into the game experience if you link accounts - which also gets you exclusive in-game goodies. Here's how you do it.
