Highlights
- Hogwarts Legacy adds captivating side quests that rival main quests, enhancing world-building and lore for invested fans.
- "Minding Your Own Business" quest stands out for its stellar writing, spooky setting, and challenging combat, appealing to players.
- Hogwarts Legacy 2 should prioritize more quests like "Haunted Hogsmeade" without the exclusivity, focusing on impactful storytelling.
Avalanche Software added a number of fascinating side quests in Hogwarts Legacy, with many being well-written enough to hold their own against some main quests. Fleshing out Harry Potter's Wizarding world in this manner is but one aspect that the Hogwarts Legacy sequel needs to implement. Being steadfast in this will ensure fans remain as invested in exploration and background lore as they are in progressing the campaign.
One particular quest garnered a lot of popularity - Minding Your Own Business. Not only is it well-written, but it also takes players to a "Haunted Hogsmeade" where there's space-bending magic, eerie environmental design, fast-paced combat, and much more. Another reason for its popularity, albeit a bit sad, is that it remained exclusive to the PlayStation 5 for more than a year post-launch. Given the Haunted Hogsmeade quest's production quality, it is clear that Hogwarts Legacy 2 needs more like it, only without the glaring flaw on hand - console exclusivity.
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Hogwarts Legacy 2 Should Shed the Shadow of Console-Exclusivity for Must-Play Quests Like Haunted Hogsmeade
The Minding Your Own Business quest, or Haunted Hogsmeade as it is primarily called, revolves around Penny, a house-elf, Cassandra Mason, a landlady, and Fastidio, another poltergeist in Hogwarts Legacy. The dialogue writing and voice acting are too stellar to skip on as well. With Cassandra playing the perfect helpless landlady-turned-scammer, Penny as the forced accomplice, and Fastidio as a mirthful but powerful spirit, there are flavors of deception, compassion, anger, and much more present. Further, during its run, the protagonist is also put through their paces solving various riddles. All this while, they're trying to make sense of the space-bending magic and eerie lighting. There's also surprisingly challenging combat present.
Hogwarts Legacy has plenty of must-play side quests, and Haunted Hogsmeade is but one of them. Naturally, Hogwarts Legacy 2 will need to have more fleshed-out world-building, impactful writing, and an even more impressive take on the Wizarding World's magical possibilities. Players have seen much of Hogwarts already, though it is understandable if all the castle's secrets haven't been explored yet. Salazar Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets, for one, comes to mind here. Further, the title can easily do with a higher number of NPCs, especially those that are interactive and offer a spade of side quests. A rumored Morality system was also removed in development, based on datamined cut content. As a result, side quests that have a far-reaching impact will do very well.
Given these points, Avalanche Software could do much worse than taking reference from Haunted Hogsmeade for long quests in Hogwarts Legacy 2. The shop may not be really valuable in the long run and being an owner doesn't come with other benefits, but it's the principle that counts. After all, working on just the main quests isn't enough anymore.
Why Hogwarts Legacy 2 Needs to Move Away From Console-Exclusivity
The Minding Your Own Business quest, or Haunted Hogsmeade as it is primarily called, became available to all platforms via Hogwarts Legacy's June 2024 content update. The update also brought along various other cosmetic packs, Felix Felicis potion recipe, Onyx Hippogriff mount, and other earlier-exclusive material. Additionally, the Photo mode was a surprise and drew a lot of attention,
Fans had a lot of mixed opinions about this Hogwarts Legacy side quest being exclusive to the PS5, especially when they paid top dollar for the Deluxe Edition. The biggest among these was the Haunted Hogsmeade quest. Not only does it offer an experience quite different than other side quests, but it also allows players to own their shop in the Hogsmeade village - one that gives that a slightly better trade value for their Galleons. It doesn't make a significant difference in the gameplay, but it's the ability to own their own shop that many players felt they deserved.
There's another event that drew much flak. At the game's launch, fans had been informed that the PS5-exclusive material would make its way to all platforms a year after launch. However, there was a not-so-insignificant delay of four months. As such, it becomes important that Hogwarts Legacy 2 avoid such occurrences in the first place by doing away with console exclusivity. While it is highly unlikely that a significant location like Salazar Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets would face this issue, making most material available to all platforms seems like the best move that Avalanche Software and Portkey Games can make.
Harry Potter: Hogwarts Legacy
Hogwarts Legacy is an immersive, open-world action RPG set in the world first introduced in the Harry Potter books. For the first time, experience Hogwarts in the 1800s. Your character is a student who holds the key to an ancient secret that threatens to tear the wizarding world apart. Now you can take control of the action and be at the center of your own adventure in the wizarding world. Your legacy is what you make of it.
Explore an Open World
The wizarding world awaits you. Freely roam Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, the Forbidden Forest, and the surrounding Overland area.
Be the Witch or Wizard You Want to be
Learn spells, brew potions, grow plants, and tend to magical beasts along your journey. Get sorted into your house, forge relationships, and master skills to become the witch or wizard you want to be
Experience a New Wizarding World Adventure
Experience the wizarding world in an unexplored era to uncover a hidden truth from its past. Battle against trolls, Dark Wizards, goblins, and more as you face a dangerous villain threatening the fate of the wizarding world.
Action
RPG
Systems
- Top Critic Rating:84/100 Critics Recommend:89%
- Franchise
- Harry Potter
- Platform(s)
- PC , Switch , PS4 , PS5 , Xbox One , Xbox Series S , Xbox Series X
- Released
- February 10, 2023
- Developer(s)
- Avalanche Software
- Publisher(s)
- Warner Bros. Interactive
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Blood, Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, Use of Alcohol
- How Long To Beat
- 26 Hours
- PS Plus Availability
- N/A
- Video Games
- Hogwarts Legacy
- PC Gaming
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