Hogwarts Legacy: Revamping the Magic, Unleashing New Adventures in an Epic Sequel

Highlights

The immersive open-world experience, engaging story, and fan-service of Hogwarts Legacy were all beyond what was expected. However, the companion system could have offered more depth and screen time for the characters.

The four companions within Hogwarts Legacy possessed intriguing backstories and distinct personalities; however, their presence often faded into obscurity as they only made memorable appearances during their specific quests. Amit, in particular, was frequently overshadowed by the other three prominent companions. In order to enhance the companion system within a potential sequel to Hogwarts Legacy, it is paramount to focus on granting characters increased screen time, fostering interactions, and providing them with distinctive missions. Taking inspiration from titles such as Mass Effect 2 would be beneficial in achieving this goal.

Avalanche Software faced a daunting task with Hogwarts Legacy. Previously known for their work on Disney and Pixar movie tie-in games and the discontinued Disney Infinity series, the studio didn't have the strongest reputation. As a result, fans were understandably skeptical about their ability to successfully tackle such an ambitious project. However, contrary to expectations, Avalanche Software managed to surpass all predictions with their work on Hogwarts Legacy.

Hogwarts Legacy presents players with an incredibly immersive open-world experience. It delivers everything that fans had yearned for - from the iconic locations to the abundant fan-service, captivating storyline, and a wealth of intriguing side quests and activities. Nevertheless, despite its greatness as a first attempt, Hogwarts Legacy had its flaws. With a sequel in the works, now is the perfect opportunity to examine areas for improvement, starting with the enhancement of its companion system.

Hogwarts Legacy's Sequel Could Use an Improved Companion System

Companions play a significant role in the Harry Potter franchise, with Ron and Hermione being indispensable to Harry's journey. They provide comic relief, emotional grounding, and even act as secondary heroes. In the case of Hogwarts Legacy, an attempt was made to recreate this companionship within its own story. However, it did not quite succeed in doing so.

Hogwarts Legacy features four companions, each representing a different Hogwarts House. While these characters have unique personalities and intriguing backstories, they unfortunately end up being forgotten by players once they complete the game. Each companion in Hogwarts Legacy only has a few missions to their name, and the quality of these missions varies greatly. For instance, Sebastian receives the exciting and captivating Unforgivable Curses missions.

Poppy is assigned dragon-centric missions while Natsai's tasks involve defeating notorious Ashwinders. On the other hand, Amit only has two missions, which are not particularly memorable.

Another notable drawback of Hogwarts Legacy's companions is their limited presence outside of their assigned missions. Although a few familiar faces occasionally appear during classes and end-of-year cutscenes, the player-character rarely interacts with Sebastian, Poppy, Natsai, or Amit in other areas of the school or the surrounding vicinity. As a result, they feel less like organic characters with their own lives and more like non-playable characters in a video game.

A sequel to Hogwarts Legacy should prioritize enhancing the companion system to better capture the essence of companionship in the Harry Potter franchise. Drawing inspiration from games like Mass Effect 2, the sequel should ensure that each companion plays a significant role in both the game's story and gameplay. They should have ample screen time during the main campaign and also be fully interactable in the open-world setting. Allowing players to bring companions along on missions and exploration would provide more opportunities for unique interactions and fostering bonds. Furthermore, it would be beneficial for Hogwarts Legacy 2 to incorporate loyalty-like missions for companions, granting them upgrades that can be utilized throughout the game.

Hogwarts Legacy is currently available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, and is set to release on the Nintendo Switch on November 14, 2023.