I certainly don’t advocate for giving her money and would support anyone choosing not to. I don’t go out of my way to negatively engage anyone who does buy HP franchise things, but I do quietly think less of them for it and snicker behind their back. That’s mostly just because I try to avoid confrontation though.

I did, however, play Hogwarts Legacy, enough at least to get a good read on the game. If I can save someone the trouble of playing it themselves, and especially save them from paying money to do so, then it was time… spent. Maybe not well spent, but since I can’t get a refund on time and I’m not out a dime anyway, let’s just… move on, shall we?

Hogwarts Legacy definitely has it’s problematic elements, most of which are more a result of the Harry Potter setting lore. The most egregious I recall is the connection of Goblins and some of the ugliest old stories of Jewish people. I’m of the opinion that Rowling didn’t do that intentionally, so much as she’s just kind of a shitty writer who didn’t actually think about what she was doing at all, but that doesn’t excuse it’s inclusion in the books, and certainly doesn’t excuse the proliferation in the game. That’s an ugly mark against the game that shouldn’t be overlooked, but when I played I was specifically on a mission to try to evaluate the game on it’s own merits, so… moving on.

As it relates to the trans community, I seem to recall the character creation was actually one of the more progressive I’d encountered. The game also didn’t do anything to try to enforce a gender identity on the player, beyond making you choose whether you call yourself a Witch or a Wizard, with you choice determining which side of the common room your bed is in. This was entirely unconnected to body type or voice chosen, and it didn’t do anything so crass as scold you for which bathrooms you went into. While I suspect that was specifically in an effort to counter some of the ugly things Rowling has said before, I still felt like it was worth recognizing that the creators of the game itself went out of their way to be more open about gender identity than most games.

As far as gameplay goes, it was pretty… okay? Not great, not terrible. It felt generic, a few kinda high points like the free roaming on a broomstick was fun, but countered with the lows of a pretty bland open world that was quickly not worth exploring. The RPG mechanics were functional enough, but not exactly engaging. Mediocre feels like a pretty solid description of the game, if it hadn’t been for the setting, and the controversy surrounding the setting, the game itself would have been completely forgotten in no time.

So, what about the setting? I still remember back when I was a child, growing up reading the HP books, it was a more innocent time that allowed the setting to garner some nostalgia credit with me, which Rowling’s later actions, and a helping of more mature hindsight, tarnished considerably. So, did the game serve to at least feed that craving for nostalgic old warmth?

Eh, not really. Sure it was kinda neat to explore the castle, there were a couple of locations that were memorable enough that finding them myself was… something, at least. Mostly though, it was just… bland. And not just the locations, but other elements of the setting. The game is set well before any of the books, so the only characters anyone is familiar with would be the ghosts, so that’s just boring. The whole world just feels… Dull. Just an example, you can learn the Unforgivable Curses in game, but using them in front of a professor just gets a pathetic little “I’d better not see you doing that again” line, no matter how many times you keep doing it. It’s pathetic, and of course never addresses things like why using a fire spell to light someone on fire until they burn to death is fine, but just zapping them with a green death ray isn’t. Boring, lifeless, uninspired. But surely, the sorting hat, that most memorable of- Nope nevermind, even that sucks. It asks you a single question akin to “How would you best describe yourself?” And they might as well have color coded the four answers, because it just picks your house based on that alone. If that wasn’t lame enough, it even gives you the chance to just change your mind and manually pick your house immediately after.

All in all, I’m sure the most avid fans of the Harry Potter world could find something to like in Hogwarts Legacy. The rest of us, though, have few reasons to try it, and far more reasons to avoid it and it’s Author entirely.