Gaming Hogwarts Legacy (PS5/PC/Switch/Xbox)

You were 100% doing it wrong then!

Not even any studio tours and liquid lunches?
Tickets to a Street Fighter 4 tournament where I got to watch sweaty Asian people showcase their otherworldy talent for playing Street Fighter 4 and a perplexingly hyped audience is all I ever got.

I wrote for the lame Benelux variant of IGN though, not nearly as big as the American part.
 
Was on the fence but this looks fun. Will probably pre order considering the bonus items on offer
 
From what i've seen so far it looks like a pretty generic open world action game. I'm not a huge HP fan, so I'm going to wait for the Empress version on pc.
 
Have no feelings/interest in the game and no bad feelings for it either (just never been into Harry Potter) but I do find it funny that this was meant to demonstrate how all reviews are 'woke' and how this game was going to suffer because of politics and it's getting very good reviews all round :lol: .
 
Have no feelings/interest in the game and no bad feelings for it either (just never been into Harry Potter) but I do find it funny that this was meant to demonstrate how all reviews are 'woke' and how this game was going to suffer because of politics and it's getting very good reviews all round :lol: .
That is one of the reasons why I'm shocked at the Metacritic score. I did think it would get marked down for the 'controversy'. The game does only have 45 reviews, though. A big game like this tends to have 70+ when the embargo lifts. Have a bunch of reviewers chosen not to review it?
 
This is tempting but I may wait a couple of weeks and see what people are saying after playing it for a while.
 
TLOU is really boring and completely overrated. He's not wrong.
 


This along with ACG review has convinced me to use all my coupons on this game
 
Can't wait for this. Ordered the deluxe version just for early access. Always dreamed of a proper harry potter rpg
 
Yeh I tried to stay away from the hype because I honestly thought it would be abit crap or at least average. From watching a couple of reviews I think it looks really good and much more polished than expected. I’m a big fan of Harry Potter so this is just a must play for me. Decided on the deluxe edition so I’ll be diving in tomorrow eve! Something about just walking around Hogwarts looks amazing to me. I’d say my only fear is the general open world fatigue I’ve got recently but hoping the world can carry it.
 
Honestly I'm shocked that this game is getting such fantastic reviews. In so many ways it was set to become a hype trap. I'm so glad it isn't. Wife and I both plan to have a lazy weekend to play to our hearts content.

Anyone know what the performance is like on PC? Seen mostly PS5 reviews
 
I’ve played about 5 hours so far and I’m enjoying it, the combat is actually very satisfying which was one of the areas I was worried about
 
My friend got early access as his XBox membership linked to his kids Harry Potter Fan Club account he set up, this is his words to me "I am not sure how they could have made this any better" this was after around an hour or so of playing
 
Played 3 hours of this already and it’s been pretty fun & definitely taken me by surprise. Visually very good and the combat is enjoyable which was my main worry about this game.

Still to explore outside of Hogwarts as just been free roaming around inside the school. Overall I’ve enjoyed it in the short while I’ve played it. Keen to see how it progresses.
 
I've done about 6 hours I think, but not very far through as have been exploring everything and it's... OK?

The various graphical modes on PS5 are not great, both fidelity modes feel bad - and so I assume are running badly - it's hard to be sure as the motion blur is very jarring. Having to reboot to turn raytracing on/off is a bit shit, too.

I only have LCD TV (well, I have an LG OLED but I don't use it), and whilst it (the LCD) supports VRR it also gimps the HDR while doing so, but that's how I've been playing. It feels smooth most of the time, but I guess is dropping below 48fps in places as I have felt it, especially in Hogsmeade. As an aside, from Eurogamer's comments I don't think there's going to be any DF analysis (EG are skipping coverage) - so that Tweet earlier that shows EG giving it 8 out of 10 - i.e., Recommended is bullshit.

The pop in can be quite severe, especially in Hogsmeade with its many NPCs, and in Hogwart's when running between areas - in the latter, I've had entire rooms not draw in so it's like you're in a Unity level (this also happened on my first visit to the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade)

The Force Feedback is really bad. I haven't used a normal DualSense (I mugged myself and got the Edge), but there seems to be zero FFB in 90% of the cutscenes, even when things are exploding and being destroyed. The rest of the time, what little FFB there is is frequently 'weak'.

As for the gameplay, the combat is fun for sure. But most of the SQs so far have been really lacklustre and the battles few and far between. There's very little NPC interaction, but maybe quest lines are going to unlock where more interaction happens but it's weird to walk around parts of the castle where everyone's talking amongst themselves and then get to another area and all the people milling about are mute.

Running around Hogwart's is great though for the most part and it's really well realised with lots of recognisable locations from the films, really nostalgic and lots of nods to the movies - even some that are beat for beat - and for those moments it's good, but I kinda wish I had gone for the Steam version as I might have refunded it.

Edit: Another bit in, and it's getting better.

Sorry for the hotch potch thoughts.
 
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I've done about 6 hours I think, but not very far through as have been exploring everything and it's... OK?

The various graphical modes on PS5 are not great, both fidelity modes feel bad - and so I assume are running badly - it's hard to be sure as the motion blur is very jarring. Having to reboot to turn raytracing on/off is a bit shit, too.

I only have LCD TV (well, I have an LG OLED but I don't use it), and whilst it (the LCD) supports VRR it also gimps the HDR while doing so, but that's how I've been playing. It feels smooth most of the time, but I guess is dropping below 48fps in places as I have felt it, especially in Hogsmeade. As an aside, from Eurogamer's comments I don't think there's going to be any DF analysis (EG are skipping coverage) - so that Tweet earlier that shows EG giving it 8 out of 10 - i.e., Recommended is bullshit.

The pop in can be quite severe, especially in Hogsmeade with its many NPCs, and in Hogwart's when running between areas - in the latter, I've had entire rooms not draw in so it's like you're in a Unity level (this also happened on my first visit to the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade)

The Force Feedback is really bad. I haven't used a normal DualSense (I mugged myself and got the Edge), but there seems to be zero FFB in 90% of the cutscenes, even when things are exploding and being destroyed. The rest of the time, what little FFB there is is frequently 'weak'.

As for the gameplay, the combat is fun for sure. But most of the SQs so far have been really lacklustre and the battles few and far between. There's very little NPC interaction, but maybe quest lines are going to unlock where more interaction happens but it's weird to walk around parts of the castle where everyone's talking amongst themselves and then get to another area and all the people milling about are mute.

Running around Hogwart's is great though for the most part and it's really well realised with lots of recognisable locations from the films, really nostalgic and lots of nods to the movies - even some that are beat for beat - and for those moments it's good, but I kinda wish I had gone for the Steam version as I might have refunded it.

Sorry for the hotch potch thoughts.

Not at all, it's intriguing to hear genuine opinions as they happen! Keep it up, if you do keep playing. Kind of sound exactly how I expect, I highly doubt I'll get too many hours in it myself as I'm not the hugest of OW fans to begin with and this already looks like a weaker TW3 to me (and that I only got through for the brilliance of the story/setting as the gameplay was mediocre to fine at best).

I've got the Steam version, wasn't planning on it but the Mrs is so desperate to get me into HP that she bought it for me despite knowing how I am with games and will likely find about 50 things wrong just with the loading screen let alone the rest, but it's doesn't unlock until 6pm later. But from the bits and bobs I've seen on a stream, it's reasonably smooth and I'd say decent-ish for a launch game on PC. I can imagine what the consoles look like though, as soon as she gets in and boots up the PS5 I'll take a look.

As for the options, yes I'm afraid that's a newish thing Console owners have to deal with. It's great to have options, but sometimes they don't work as intended. Especially early on. (motion blur is and always will be fecking dreadful though, but console owners will always have it as it helps hides all the sins)
 
Not at all, it's intriguing to hear genuine opinions as they happen! Keep it up, if you do keep playing. Kind of sound exactly how I expect, I highly doubt I'll get too many hours in it myself as I'm not the hugest of OW fans to begin with and this already looks like a weaker TW3 to me (and that I only got through for the brilliance of the story/setting as the gameplay was mediocre to fine at best).

I've got the Steam version, wasn't planning on it but the Mrs is so desperate to get me into HP that she bought it for me despite knowing how I am with games and will likely find about 50 things wrong just with the loading screen let alone the rest, but it's doesn't unlock until 6pm later. But from the bits and bobs I've seen on a stream, it's reasonably smooth and I'd say decent-ish for a launch game on PC. I can imagine what the consoles look like though, as soon as she gets in and boots up the PS5 I'll take a look.

As for the options, yes I'm afraid that's a newish thing Console owners have to deal with. It's great to have options, but sometimes they don't work as intended. Especially early on. (motion blur is and always will be fecking dreadful though, but console owners will always have it as it helps hides all the sins)

This explains why I've not heard from the boy (he pre-ordered Steam). What I would add as well to my initial thoughts is that it feels a helluva lot like FFXIV A Realm Reborn's first few hours.
 
Been watching a bit of Loeya streaming it, and seems fine so far.

Doesn't unlock on PC until 6 tonight though (fecking idiots) so I'll give it a look properly then.
That's good to know. I imagine PC holds up better than PS5 typically but sometimes it seems games are optimized more for console.

Won't get to playing til Fri myself. Enjoy!
 
Played a couple hours yesterday and my low expectations are already being exceeded. Can't wait to crack on after work tonight. I thought the fidelity mode looked fine and I'll likely play on that mode since RDR2 has re-acclimatized me to 30fps.
 
Played a couple hours yesterday and my low expectations are already being exceeded. Can't wait to crack on after work tonight. I thought the fidelity mode looked fine and I'll likely play on that mode since RDR2 has re-acclimatized me to 30fps.

If you have a 120hz capable TV/monitor balanced mode is where it's at with an unlocked frame rate. Perfect mixture between the higher graphics presets and performance.
 
I thought this felt pretty bad, but only gave it the intro minutes before switching to HFR and taking the HDR hit on my tv. Does it smooth out?

It's not perfect, there's a few drops here and there but mostly smooth on my end. Performance mode has too many missing graphical settings. Shadows and lighting are almost non existent.
 
It's not perfect, there's a few drops here and there but mostly smooth on my end. Performance mode has too many missing graphical settings. Shadows and lighting are almost non existent.

Yeah they are, I will give balanced a go later again cheers. I was moaning about the game earlier, but it got a lot better soon after I'd posted. Still not 100% sold on the it, but the world is really well done.
 
If you have a 120hz capable TV/monitor balanced mode is where it's at with an unlocked frame rate. Perfect mixture between the higher graphics presets and performance.

Unfortunately my TV can do 120hz but only at 1080p (no HDMI 2.1), so I tend to leave 120Hz mode (rather have the higher resolution).

It's not perfect, there's a few drops here and there but mostly smooth on my end. Performance mode has too many missing graphical settings. Shadows and lighting are almost non existent.

Agreed that performance mode looked poor...not worth the trade off at all imo
 
Is the performance mode at least a relatively stable 60fps? I'm not too fussed about what it looks like. I'd far rather a worse looking game than playing it at 30.
 
Game looks good from watching a stream... Then...

I saw/heard Sirona Ryan for the first time. Uh... Did they have to do that with the voice? Couldnt they have a trans character without an extremely obvious male voice, one that sounded a bit more femanine... Considering the current situation with Potter. Think that was a blunder. Not sure J K Rowling would have come up with a worse trans character
 
Was just watching a twitch stream and the first few hours look like lots of talking and exposition. A bit monotonous and repetitive looking. Does it get better?