Unveiling the Ultimate Secrets of Hogwarts Legacy's House Cup

Highlights

Hogwarts Legacy captures the essence of Harry Potter with its spellbinding visuals and attention to detail, making it a beloved game among millions globally.

The House Cup in Hogwarts Legacy lacks impact on the game's core design or progression loop, making it feel like an afterthought. However, a potential sequel has the opportunity to rectify this by introducing a competitive element among the houses, resulting in a more immersive gameplay experience.

Rewriting: It was a daunting task to do justice to the beloved Harry Potter franchise, cherished by millions worldwide. However, Avalanche managed to overcome the challenge admirably. The enchantment of exploring the halls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is truly captivating, and the meticulous attention to visual details is truly remarkable. With the immense success of Hogwarts Legacy, a sequel appears highly likely, given its exceptional quality and potential for further enhancement.

Despite effectively capturing the essence of Harry Potter, Hogwarts Legacy is not without its flaws. There are missed opportunities within the franchise's lore that could have been utilized. For instance, the House Cup, while evident within the castle, lacks substantial impact on the game's core design or progression loop, except for a single cutscene for dedicated completionists of side quests.

Hogwarts Legacy's House Cup is an After Game Afterthought

Following the main storyline of Hogwarts Legacy, players can embark on two additional quests once they have defeated the antagonist. Speaking with Professor Weasley to review progress on side quests and completion of the field guide offers a satisfying conclusion to the experience, allowing players to reflect on their achievements. However, the second post-game quest requires the protagonist to reach level 34, which may involve additional gameplay in the open world to trigger a revealing cutscene showcasing the game's "true" ending.

In this scene, it is revealed that the player's pre-selected house has emerged triumphant in the House Cup, thanks to their "heroic" actions during Ranrok's villainous schemes (similar to Gryffindor winning the trophy in The Sorcerer's Stone). This gratifying conclusion aligns well with the rich lore of the Harry Potter universe, yet it cannot be ignored that the idea of inter-house point competition throughout the year holds great potential. Regrettably, this potential was not fully realized in the first game, leaving room for improvement in a potential sequel.

Hogwarts Needs More Competition

Classes in Hogwarts Legacy can be attended, but a common criticism of the game is that there are no consequences or rewards for attending them. To keep players engaged in the school ecosystem and its extracurricular activities, it would be beneficial to provide some kind of game progression statistic for participating in classes. One way to do this would be through the House Cup, where points are awarded to players who role-play as ideal students. This progression could be integrated into the overall experience of Hogwarts Legacy or simply serve as an additional incentive to keep players invested in the game world for a longer period of time. Either way, it would provide a meaningful reward for the effort put into attending classes and contribute to a sense of accomplishment when the winners of the House Cup are announced.

Hogwarts Legacy is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, with a Switch release scheduled for November 14, 2023.