Several spells act as stand-ins for standard video game tropes, painting over basic mechanics with an extra flash of color. While I had fun levitating enemies up into the air and slamming them to the ground, I was surprised by how unmagical a lot of the magic feels. Image used with permission by copyright holder Abilities like that can create some exciting moments, though several of the game’s more fun spells don’t have any effect on larger foes and bosses - something that makes the back third of the game sag considerably. Depulso pushes enemies back to help players from getting overrun, while a transformation spell can turn smaller enemies into exploding barrels. Combat widens out as players learn new spells, some of which help to mask that thin core. Early on, battles simply had me pulling my right trigger over and over again with no strategy or nuance. The core combat system, for instance, revolves around a single-button magic strike that essentially fires like a peashooter pistol. Magic in Hogwarts Legacy offers a bit of a mixed bag. Strictly coming in from that perspective, I was left cold. I was curious to see how developer Avalanche Software could reinvent the open-world genre by replacing guns and swords with spells.

Whether I’m personally connected to an IP or not, I come to every video game looking for a mechanically engaging experience. I’ve never read the books or seen the films, but that shouldn’t have influenced my thoughts on it much. When I played Hogwarts Legacy, I wasn’t coming at it as a Harry Potter fan. Forspoken pulled from packed fall lineup, delayed till January 2023

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