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[LaughingStock]

So, I'm doing the Richard Jackdaw quest again (this time on PC) and the beginning of the quest was completely different.

On Xbox, Slytherin, male: IIRC Professor Weasley told me to talk to the house elf, Deek who guided me to a grotto where I found Jack's ghost.
ON PC, Ravenclaw, female: Ollivander gave me the quest. I went to a tower, solved a puzzle and met Jack's ghost.

 

[Agent_Nobody]

I would say PS5 Deluxe. The controller on the PS5 does some neat stuff with the haptics and built in speaker. It also changes color depending on the house you are in.

Played it a bit on PS5 and the haptics are really really well done, but that color thing can go die in a fire lol.

 

[ABeezy1388]

I would say PS5 Deluxe. The controller on the PS5 does some neat stuff with the haptics and built in speaker. It also changes color depending on the house you are in.

Yeah the controller stuff does sound like a neat little added feature. Mind blowing the deluxe is $79.99. Holy cow!

 

[Krathoon]

So, I'm doing the Richard Jackdaw quest again (this time on PC) and the beginning of the quest was completely different.

On Xbox, Slytherin, male: IIRC Professor Weasley told me to talk to the house elf, Deek who guided me to a grotto where I found Jack's ghost.
ON PC, Ravenclaw, female: Ollivander gave me the quest. I went to a tower, solved a puzzle and met Jack's ghost.

It sounds like the game uses multiple quests givers. It wonder if it also has random encounters. They seem to have that in Hogwarts.

 

[Robbinhood]

I don't have the game yet but I usually lean toward Balanced (40fps) mode when given the choice.

Since Digital Cuckery isn't touching this game, does anyone know if Balanced is like for like with Quality mode in terms of res and graphics or does it compromise on something?

Can't seem to find the answer, with Quality its 1800p, I don't know what res Perf is but Balanced should be the way to go.

 

[Agent_Nobody]

So, I'm doing the Richard Jackdaw quest again (this time on PC) and the beginning of the quest was completely different.

On Xbox, Slytherin, male: IIRC Professor Weasley told me to talk to the house elf, Deek who guided me to a grotto where I found Jack's ghost.
ON PC, Ravenclaw, female: Ollivander gave me the quest. I went to a tower, solved a puzzle and met Jack's ghost.

It changes depending on the House, with mine in Hufflepuff:

Spoiler

it has a painting of a relative of Daggory that leads you to a woman who was investigating a murder, and yeah might as well not spoil it past that point since it is one of the better routes

 

[ANDS]

Well this is unfortunate. . .games a buggy mess now. Corrupted autosaves and now my games UI is all fucked up, including on older saves. Sure glad they've held off on this Day 1 patch.

 

[Agent_Nobody]

I don't have the game yet but I usually lean toward Balanced (40fps) mode when given the choice.

Since Digital Cuckery isn't touching this game, does anyone know if Balanced is like for like with Quality mode in terms of res and graphics or does it compromise on something?

Can't seem to find the answer, with Quality its 1800p, I don't know what res Perf is but Balanced should be the way to go.

To be clear Balanced mode (40fps) won’t show up unless you have a TV that supports VRR or 120hz mode.

 

[Mr Moose]

Come get your Merlin's Cloak.

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

ON PC, Ravenclaw, female: Ollivander gave me the quest. I went to a tower, solved a puzzle and met Jack's ghost.

It's based on the house you have
ON PC, Gryffindor, female: nearly headless nick asked to get him some rotten meat so we could participate in the headless hunt in hogsmeade, there you play a little game destroying pumpkins to find jackdaws head and then he tells you to meet him in the forest

 

[CortexVortex]

It’s 1:30am and I just wanna keep playing. I don’t even remember when I was so addicted to a game haha

 

[Deleted member 471617]

My impressions after 22+ hours of gameplay. Playing on Xbox Series X. Hard difficulty.

• Visually, game looks excellent. Hogwarts castle looks spectacular. So much detail everywhere. Feels alive from statues that talk and/or animate or most characters inside paintings animating while walking by them. So damn immersing.
• Audio is great thus far. Great music, solid voice acting and effects.
• Combat is good and challenging. I’m level 13 and it seems like enemies and even friendly duels level up to your level. The combinations with the spells is satisfying but I do wish I could have mapped a few of the spells to the directional pad myself instead of it all being preset.
• Gameplay outside of combat is far better than I was expecting. Fluid and responsive. The puzzles, mini games, etc. inside Hogwarts is a breath of fresh air in regards to open world games. I’m trying to open every locked door, solve every puzzle, collect every field guide, etc. Hogwarts castle is freaking huge. Even with the waypoint dots on the mini-map, im still getting lost from time to time mainly when trying to solve a puzzle.
• Outside of Hogwarts castle and Hogsmeade, I haven’t been anywhere yet. lol. The castle is just so immersing that im trying to do every side quest, puzzle, etc. Game has a lot of content in it but isn’t massive when looking at the overall world map. Compared to AC Valhalla for example, it’s probably 1/5th the size but is more packed with stuff to do instead of massive empty open spaces.
• Have only unlocked six spells thus far that you equip to the RT+face buttons. I love how when you get a new spell, you come across more puzzles that make use of the spell you just acquired. Easily gives you that feel and sense of progression.
• Side quests thus far have been enjoyable. Nothing really special but they just feel different. The entire game just hits different than your typical open world formulaic game. Granted, Hogwarts has a set amount of the same puzzles and whatnot but they’re not littered all over the map and it just feels different.
• Story and characters have been good thus far. I’m not that far into the main story. Maybe 5 or 6 quests. Been too busy doing everything else.
• Opening prologue was good. Starts slow but sets up the premise and whatnot.
• Haven’t gotten the Broom or any mounts yet.
• Character creation is fine. Took me 20 minutes to create my character and appears that you can for the most part, change your character’s appearance early on in the game once you get to Hogsmeade.
• Forgot the name of the spell but the one that’s set to the directional pad and highlights items and whatnot is probably my only major negative because you’re constantly having to use it. Reminds me of the vision in Dying Light 2. But at least in Hogwarts, it makes sense since you’re using magic so at least, it’s more believable than the vision crap in most games.
• Other than that, I wish the enemies health bar was just over their respective head instead of being on the middle top of the screen. It’s annoying for me but this is a pet peeve of mine.
• Playing on Performance Mode with the frame rate locked at 60FPS. There have been some minor drops while running around the castle but not major or serious. Game has run extremely smooth for me and outside of some flickering on the face of a main character I was talking to in one scene, no other issues at all. Had one enemy encounter where it was slowing down badly and Professor Fig always seems to have a visual glitch on his face every time in his room.

Overall, while still extremely early in what will probably be a 100+ hour game for me, im very impressed and enjoying the game a lot more than I was expecting to. Not being a Harry Potter fan whatsoever, never reading any of the books or watching any of movies or even having any interest in the franchise whatsoever has been a positive for me because I don’t know what to truly expect while in the world and whatnot where as with Sony or Ubisoft for example, I always know what im getting. I’m even reading all the field guides, notes, etc. that I collect which I rarely if ever do in games because I normally just don’t care. In this game and game world, it’s got me hooked. Will continue playing more every day for at least the next four or so days as im on vacation. Such a pleasant surprise, refreshing open world and just completely enjoying the game.

 

[phant0m]

Already posted before but I can’t freaking decide…

PS5 or PC (3090 FE & 5800x)

Standard or deluxe? Release is tomorrow is the premium price worth the few extra things? R probably not.

PC is also cheaper via key sites vs PS store hmmmmm.

(I’m rushing through Witcher 3 blood and wine cause I’m to excited lol)

there's no bad decision here. I went PC so I could also play on Deck when I didn't want to sit at my desk. But DualSense features are also pretty cool it sounds like.

 

[SegaSnatcher]

There is no disconnect between users and reviewers. Which reviews are you seeing that suggest the 8 or 9 the game was given should have been a 10? This isn't a 10 game.

. . .if anything, because it is a good game based on an existing media IP, it's getting more shine than it otherwise might have.

Umm, I think you misunderstand. I'm not saying the game deserved a 10 score. I'm saying clearly users aren't as scared to review the game how they truly feel. It seems professional reviewers feel like they are walking on egg shells reviewing that game.

 

[ComputerBlue]

No.issues on mine, completed some of them.

Ive played this so much since Monday, as far as atmosphere and the general feel of the game its one of the best gaming experiences I can remember. The vibe of everything having magic around it, the feel of going into the countryside then back to home, its just brilliant.

Cant praise the devs enough for this, they absolutely nailed it whilst also putting their own touches into it. Creative geniises as far as I'm concerned.

Check PSNprofiles, it’s definitely bugged.

 

[HotSauceEnema]

Come get your Merlin's Cloak.

over already

 

[Mr Moose]

over already

Lasted just long enough for the drop. I think they are doing a stream tomorrow.
Edit: I think they are still live but the stream is over so you might still be able to get it now.

 

[ChazGW7]

Man, the vibes the game gives when you are just out exploring are so good. I haven't felt this engrossed in a video games world since RDR2. I think the visuals are really good too. There is some LOD issues for in-the-distance stuff like the castle in this screenshot. But when I consider how nice the foliage is and the interior detail of basically the whole castle, it is extremely impressive IMO (performance issues aside, that is). Good job Avalanche.

 

[Agent_Nobody]

My impressions after 22+ hours of gameplay. Playing on Xbox Series X. Hard difficulty.

• Visually, game looks excellent. Hogwarts castle looks spectacular. So much detail everywhere. Feels alive from statues that talk and/or animate or most characters inside paintings animating while walking by them. So damn immersing.
• Audio is great thus far. Great music, solid voice acting and effects.
• Combat is good and challenging. I’m level 13 and it seems like enemies and even friendly duels level up to your level. The combinations with the spells is satisfying but I do wish I could have mapped a few of the spells to the directional pad myself instead of it all being preset.
• Gameplay outside of combat is far better than I was expecting. Fluid and responsive. The puzzles, mini games, etc. inside Hogwarts is a breath of fresh air in regards to open world games. I’m trying to open every locked door, solve every puzzle, collect every field guide, etc. Hogwarts castle is freaking huge. Even with the waypoint dots on the mini-map, im still getting lost from time to time mainly when trying to solve a puzzle.
• Outside of Hogwarts castle and Hogsmeade, I haven’t been anywhere yet. lol. The castle is just so immersing that im trying to do every side quest, puzzle, etc. Game has a lot of content in it but isn’t massive when looking at the overall world map. Compared to AC Valhalla for example, it’s probably 1/5th the size but is more packed with stuff to do instead of massive empty open spaces.
• Have only unlocked six spells thus far that you equip to the RT+face buttons. I love how when you get a new spell, you come across more puzzles that make use of the spell you just acquired. Easily gives you that feel and sense of progression.
• Side quests thus far have been enjoyable. Nothing really special but they just feel different. The entire game just hits different than your typical open world formulaic game. Granted, Hogwarts has a set amount of the same puzzles and whatnot but they’re not littered all over the map and it just feels different.
• Story and characters have been good thus far. I’m not that far into the main story. Maybe 5 or 6 quests. Been too busy doing everything else.
• Opening prologue was good. Starts slow but sets up the premise and whatnot.
• Haven’t gotten the Broom or any mounts yet.
• Character creation is fine. Took me 20 minutes to create my character and appears that you can for the most part, change your character’s appearance early on in the game once you get to Hogsmeade.
• Forgot the name of the spell but the one that’s set to the directional pad and highlights items and whatnot is probably my only major negative because you’re constantly having to use it. Reminds me of the vision in Dying Light 2. But at least in Hogwarts, it makes sense since you’re using magic so at least, it’s more believable than the vision crap in most games.
• Other than that, I wish the enemies health bar was just over their respective head instead of being on the middle top of the screen. It’s annoying for me but this is a pet peeve of mine.
• Playing on Performance Mode with the frame rate locked at 60FPS. There have been some minor drops while running around the castle but not major or serious. Game has run extremely smooth for me and outside of some flickering on the face of a main character I was talking to in one scene, no other issues at all. Had one enemy encounter where it was slowing down badly and Professor Fig always seems to have a visual glitch on his face every time in his room.

Overall, while still extremely early in what will probably be a 100+ hour game for me, im very impressed and enjoying the game a lot more than I was expecting to. Not being a Harry Potter fan whatsoever, never reading any of the books or watching any of movies or even having any interest in the franchise whatsoever has been a positive for me because I don’t know what to truly expect while in the world and whatnot where as with Sony or Ubisoft for example, I always know what im getting. I’m even reading all the field guides, notes, etc. that I collect which I rarely if ever do in games because I normally just don’t care. In this game and game world, it’s got me hooked. Will continue playing more every day for at least the next four or so days as im on vacation. Such a pleasant surprise, refreshing open world and just completely enjoying the game.

The only thing I’m wondering is how you went 22+ hours with no broom

 

[Robbinhood]

To be clear Balanced mode (40fps) won’t show up unless you have a TV that supports VRR or 120hz mode.

I have an lg oled. I always play in 40fps mode because it’s usually quality mode but with way better motion.

 

[Makoto-Yuki]

I'm in love with this game. I can't wait to come home from work today and just chill all weekend playing it.

The map, or at least what I've seen of it so far, is amazing and gorgeous. I've been reading these books since 1997. For a few years until the movies came out all I had was my imagination of what Hogwarts, the grounds, hogsmeade, etc look like. The movies done a great job of showing what everything looked like and made me see the world differently when I read the books.

While I also loved the movies they felt a bit disjointed and inconsistent in regards to the look and placement of everything. The first two movies are kinda their own thing but with the 3rd movie a lot changes and Hogwarts get a redesign. The grounds change significantly. We get to see Hogsmeade but not a lot of time is spent there and it doesn't really show you how the students get there. You don't really have a good sense of how far or close it is from the castle.

When I walked outside the castle to go to Hogsmeade the environment blew my mind. It's so well put together and feels so accurate, believable and alive. You can tell Avalanche paid close attention to the books and they've, in my opinion, made the best adaption of Hogwarts yet. Far better than the movies. Again I'm only talking about the map here and I know I'm still at the start of the game.

Walking through Hogwarts is like a dream come true. It's all well designed and put together. When reading the books and to some extent watching the movies Hogwarts feels like a basic castle that happens to a school. Playing the game you are seeing magical stuff everywhere. So many things catch your attention. Paintings moving, statues moving or talking, plants changing shapes, books flying around. It's breath taking. The castle is so well designed that you can tell this is an ancient school with lots of history and we are always told how Hogwarts is the greatest magical school in the world and I can really believe it.

I never expected the game to be this good. As a HP fan I'm seriously impressed how well they've brought Hogwarts alive.

 

[Rentahamster]

Those of you who have experience trying both mouse+KB controls and controller, which do you prefer?

 

[RoadHazard]

How is the difficulty? Is normal ridiculously easy like in most games these days? I like a rewarding challenge, but I don't like hard modes that simply make enemies bullet sponges.

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

Those of you who have experience trying both mouse+KB controls and controller, which do you prefer?

Which one are you used to the most? Go with what you're comfortable with is my recommendation.

I want someone to invent a left hand that is basically half an Elite 2 controller/PS5 Edge for movement and buttons/paddle(s) but then the right hand side is a mouse with some buttons/wheel goodness. I cannot stand the left hand clawing required with keyboard but a mouse is way better for look/aim control etc.

 

[LaughingStock]

How is the difficulty? Is normal ridiculously easy like in most games these days? I like a rewarding challenge, but I don't like hard modes that simply make enemies bullet sponges.

Things can go south pretty fast. Even on normal. I'm plying on hard.



To PC players, check this out. Read the sticky before doing anything.

 

[Rentahamster]

Which one are you used to the most? Go with what you're comfortable with is my recommendation.

Depends on the game, but generally speaking I'm fine with either. I'm just wondering if there's an obviously superior control scheme so that I don't have to bother testing both out extensively.

 

[ChazGW7]

Those of you who have experience trying both mouse+KB controls and controller, which do you prefer?

Controller. The only time I would recommend m+kb with this game is if you use an MMO mouse. The spells being bound to 1 - 4 is a little awkward given how often you cast them, adding in movement/parry/dodge roll etc. And even if you figure that out, you CANT rebind the 'switch between target' buttons when locked on to an enemy... which are bound to the left and right arrow keys. So for those reasons, I'd say controller is the best way to play this game.

 

[Rentahamster]

Controller. The only time I would recommend m+kb with this game is if you use an MMO mouse. The spells being bound to 1 - 4 is a little awkward given how often you cast them, adding in movement/parry/dodge roll etc. And even if you figure that out, you CANT rebind the 'switch between target' buttons when locked on to an enemy... which are bound to the left and right arrow keys. So for those reasons, I'd say controller is the best way to play this game.

Oh shit if I'm using directions via WASD and the switch target button is the arrow key... Lol


Might be awkward in tense combat.

 

[Makoto-Yuki]

How is the difficulty? Is normal ridiculously easy like in most games these days? I like a rewarding challenge, but I don't like hard modes that simply make enemies bullet sponges.

As you might guess from my username I am a fan of Bloodborne and From Software games. I generally think those games are not as difficult as many people make them out to be. Challenging yes but I'm experienced with them that I think they are somewhat easy/relaxing.

In Hogwarts, I'm on normal difficulty and I can tell I'm going to be dying quite a bit in this game lol. I've already died a few times.

Right now I'm still trying to get the timing down on casting the Protego (shield) spell. Enemies give you an obvious telegraph of when they are going to hit you but even then I can't always cast the spell properly. In the tutorial area you're fighting about 4-5 enemies at once. I didn't die but your health drops very quickly.

Later on there is a "mini boss" fight and I died three times to it. I had maybe 4 health potions and went through them real fast because again I couldn't cast the Protego at the right time.

The combat so far feels really good, maybe once I get the timing down I'll not be as bad but right now I get the feeling this isn't going to be an easy ride. There is a good amount of challenge. It's not too difficult but it's not too easy.

 

[VaultBoy101]

Anyone else get a weird graphical glitch on Professor Fig's face anytime you go talk to him?

Also, the game could really use a weapon (spell) wheel. Manually swapping them out every time is a pain.

Other than that, I'm enjoying every minute.

 

[RoadHazard]

As you might guess from my username I am a fan of Bloodborne and From Software games. I generally think those games are not as difficult as many people make them out to be. Challenging yes but I'm experienced with them that I think they are somewhat easy/relaxing.

In Hogwarts, I'm on normal difficulty and I can tell I'm going to be dying quite a bit in this game lol. I've already died a few times.

Right now I'm still trying to get the timing down on casting the Protego (shield) spell. Enemies give you an obvious telegraph of when they are going to hit you but even then I can't always cast the spell properly. In the tutorial area you're fighting about 4-5 enemies at once. I didn't die but your health drops very quickly.

Later on there is a "mini boss" fight and I died three times to it. I had maybe 4 health potions and went through them real fast because again I couldn't cast the Protego at the right time.

The combat so far feels really good, maybe once I get the timing down I'll not be as bad but right now I get the feeling this isn't going to be an easy ride. There is a good amount of challenge. It's not too difficult but it's not too easy.

Yeah, I'm also a big fan of those games and have beaten them all (well, I haven't played Sekiro). And that's precisely what I mean by rewarding challenge. I agree they're not actually that hard. They're certainly not unfair.

So you haven't tried Hard then? I usually go for that since most games made nowadays are insultingly easy on Normal, but maybe not this one?

 

[BadBurger]

Oh man, tried to do that Jackdaws quest at level 10. Not a good idea. I am at level 15 now and still not sure if I want to tackle it. Besides, these open world quests are fun.

For Hufflepuff

Spoiler

One has to fight a ton of level 20+ spiders

Man, the vibes the game gives when you are just out exploring are so good. I haven't felt this engrossed in a video games world since RDR2. I think the visuals are really good too. There is some LOD issues for in-the-distance stuff like the castle in this screenshot. But when I consider how nice the foliage is and the interior detail of basically the whole castle, it is extremely impressive IMO (performance issues aside, that is). Good job Avalanche.

Dude, goto Gear > Outfits. Put some clothes on

They give stats, too. Typically defense.

 

[Agent_Nobody]

It’s kinda bonkers what the developers likely had to go through into creating Hogwarts itself; the movies would go from an exterior castle shot, to interior cathedral shot, to an interior set, all within a one minute walking shot. This game takes all of that and ties it all together in to a straight seamless run of the castle. This game is basically the rough blueprint for Hogwarts.

 

[Moneal]

Setting it in the 1800s really helps the game. Cars were not first made until 1886.

I guess this is pre-industrial revolution. It is all old timey.

I am kinda annoyed that you can't buy candy or novelty stuff. They could have made the candy do weird effects to your character.

I ate some jelly beans once and my character floated in the air for a few seconds.

 

[ChazGW7]

Dude, goto Gear > Outfits. Put some clothes on

They give stats, too. Typically defense.

Oh I have gear on, I just transmogged it all off! Its pretty entertaining running around the halls of Hogwarts in your pyjamas. NPC's have even commented on the fact its pretty strange that I am in my 'night clothes during the day'. The attention to detail in this game is impressive!

 

[Agent_Nobody]

Oh I have gear on, I just transmogged it all off! Its pretty entertaining running around the halls of Hogwarts in your pyjamas. NPC's have even commented on the fact its pretty strange that I am in my 'night clothes during the day'. The attention to detail in this game is impressive!

There is always the ‘dissolution‘ spell, but I’m Hufflepuff…and I’m accepting…even of people that have pyjamas with buttons on their pyjama bottoms ….and that’s a lifestyle choice that I’m not comfortable with, but I will reluctantly accept it nonetheless.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

IS the open world closer to Elden Ring and BOTW than it is to Assassin's creed?

 

[Pasta la Vista]

This unlocks 9pm PST? PS5 store still says pre-order.

 

[HotSauceEnema]

This unlocks 9pm PST? PS5 store still says pre-order.

well its only 9pm EST right now check back in 3 hours

 

[BadBurger]

If you engage enemies when they're near trees, they can bug out like this. I've seen this happen about five times now. Actually helped with one fight by tying up one of their rangers.

IS the open world closer to Elden Ring and BOTW than it is to Assassin's creed?

Well, it's mostly hubs with a quest giver or two, maybe a shopkeep of some kind. There are enemy encampments which seem to respawn or be repurposed for different quests. But there's also secret locations and puzzles. Overall I think it's closer to Assassin's Creed open world, as there's a lot of guided content.

 

[Krathoon]

Bah. I missed the Merlin's Cloak giveaway on Twitch.

The game is huge. I found the train station. It may be as big as Skyrim, but stringy.

 

[HotSauceEnema]

Bah. I missed the Merlin's Cloak giveaway on Twitch.

itll be back tomorrow

 

[Krathoon]

itll be back tomorrow

At what time tomorrow? I don't see a time.

 

[Agent_Nobody]

IS the open world closer to Elden Ring and BOTW than it is to Assassin's creed?

I think it’s more Assassin’s Creed to be perfectly honest.

 

[ChazGW7]

IS the open world closer to Elden Ring and BOTW than it is to Assassin's creed?

I'd probably say it's a combination of all 3. It's not nearly as large those worlds, but its much larger than I expected it to be. There's lots of puzzles, hidden stuff and nooks and crannies to investigate that you may not necessarily discover unless you go out your way to explore because there isn't a ? on the map pointing you in that direction. But there is also lots of guided content akin to AC. It's a good balance.

 

[Jaybe]

Is this site accurate? Apparently it was almost half a million concurrent players earlier according to Benji-Sales tweeter

 

[ChazGW7]

Is this site accurate? Apparently it was almost half a million concurrent players earlier according to Benji-Sales tweeter

Yeah its accurate. This game is gonna do insane numbers this weekend.

 

[Agent_Nobody]

Is this site accurate? Apparently it was almost half a million concurrent players earlier according to Benji-Sales tweeter

It hit over 450,000 midday (Think it was around 11pm) on Steam Eastern time on Wednesday.

 

[Lunarorbit]

My impressions after 22+ hours of gameplay. Playing on Xbox Series X. Hard difficulty.

• Visually, game looks excellent. Hogwarts castle looks spectacular. So much detail everywhere. Feels alive from statues that talk and/or animate or most characters inside paintings animating while walking by them. So damn immersing.
• Audio is great thus far. Great music, solid voice acting and effects.
• Combat is good and challenging. I’m level 13 and it seems like enemies and even friendly duels level up to your level. The combinations with the spells is satisfying but I do wish I could have mapped a few of the spells to the directional pad myself instead of it all being preset.
• Gameplay outside of combat is far better than I was expecting. Fluid and responsive. The puzzles, mini games, etc. inside Hogwarts is a breath of fresh air in regards to open world games. I’m trying to open every locked door, solve every puzzle, collect every field guide, etc. Hogwarts castle is freaking huge. Even with the waypoint dots on the mini-map, im still getting lost from time to time mainly when trying to solve a puzzle.
• Outside of Hogwarts castle and Hogsmeade, I haven’t been anywhere yet. lol. The castle is just so immersing that im trying to do every side quest, puzzle, etc. Game has a lot of content in it but isn’t massive when looking at the overall world map. Compared to AC Valhalla for example, it’s probably 1/5th the size but is more packed with stuff to do instead of massive empty open spaces.
• Have only unlocked six spells thus far that you equip to the RT+face buttons. I love how when you get a new spell, you come across more puzzles that make use of the spell you just acquired. Easily gives you that feel and sense of progression.
• Side quests thus far have been enjoyable. Nothing really special but they just feel different. The entire game just hits different than your typical open world formulaic game. Granted, Hogwarts has a set amount of the same puzzles and whatnot but they’re not littered all over the map and it just feels different.
• Story and characters have been good thus far. I’m not that far into the main story. Maybe 5 or 6 quests. Been too busy doing everything else.
• Opening prologue was good. Starts slow but sets up the premise and whatnot.
• Haven’t gotten the Broom or any mounts yet.
• Character creation is fine. Took me 20 minutes to create my character and appears that you can for the most part, change your character’s appearance early on in the game once you get to Hogsmeade.
• Forgot the name of the spell but the one that’s set to the directional pad and highlights items and whatnot is probably my only major negative because you’re constantly having to use it. Reminds me of the vision in Dying Light 2. But at least in Hogwarts, it makes sense since you’re using magic so at least, it’s more believable than the vision crap in most games.
• Other than that, I wish the enemies health bar was just over their respective head instead of being on the middle top of the screen. It’s annoying for me but this is a pet peeve of mine.
• Playing on Performance Mode with the frame rate locked at 60FPS. There have been some minor drops while running around the castle but not major or serious. Game has run extremely smooth for me and outside of some flickering on the face of a main character I was talking to in one scene, no other issues at all. Had one enemy encounter where it was slowing down badly and Professor Fig always seems to have a visual glitch on his face every time in his room.

Overall, while still extremely early in what will probably be a 100+ hour game for me, im very impressed and enjoying the game a lot more than I was expecting to. Not being a Harry Potter fan whatsoever, never reading any of the books or watching any of movies or even having any interest in the franchise whatsoever has been a positive for me because I don’t know what to truly expect while in the world and whatnot where as with Sony or Ubisoft for example, I always know what im getting. I’m even reading all the field guides, notes, etc. that I collect which I rarely if ever do in games because I normally just don’t care. In this game and game world, it’s got me hooked. Will continue playing more every day for at least the next four or so days as im on vacation. Such a pleasant surprise, refreshing open world and just completely enjoying the game.

Oh shit. I'm level 20 and I'm only 11 hours in. How is that possible

 

[PapaEmeritus]

Excited to play this tomorrow. My wife will be watching, HUGE Harry Potter fan. Through osmosis I know the story, I fell on the other side, where I actually enjoyed Fantastic Beasts way more than the Harry Potter movies. So hearing the world itself is fantastic has me excited and my wife can point out any references or story beats I don't know about.