Hogwarts Legacy (2023) Review

One of the biggest games to be released this year is the Harry Potter spinoff Hogwarts Legacy. It came out to some positive reviews and as a fan of the franchise, I thought I would give it a playthrough and even though it took a long time, I have finally finished the game. The premise of the game set in the late 1800, sees a new student join Hogwarts where they have access to ancient magic and must learn to harness it and stop the dark forces. 

Characters

This game has a main character that the gamer gets to create. I created a male wizard and used him throughout the game, I mostly played as a heroic wizard and chose the dialogue to meet with that. The character is okay, there are a few interesting things about them but I always feel with your own protagonist there isn't enough depth put into them. I never really cared that much about the lead character and the voice acting didn't help at all. 

There are so many characters in this game but one in particular stands out and that is Sebastian Swallow. A member of Slytherin, he is easily the best character in this game. His story is fascinating and the voice acting is great, I wanted to spend as much time as possible with this character instead the main story. 

Professor Fig is a decent mentor for the main character, he kind of drifts in and out of the game but I thought he had a fun dynamic with the main protagonist and was a nice part of the game. 

But the majority of the rest of the cast aren't great, the villain Ranarok is one of the most dull that you will ever see in a video game and is barely given anything to work with. Other class mates and teachers are just pretty dull and I can't really remember any of them or their personalities. I mean they waste the great Simon Pegg who plays the headmaster but is a small part of the game and doesn't really add anything. 

Main Story 

The main story is average at best. It sees the Goblins basically try to take over Hogwarts and steal magic. It is interesting how it looks through the past of the wizarding world and what the characters motivations are but the rest of it is dull. The main character is not interesting enough and the villain is incredibly mediocre with this being a pretty big let down that had potential to be so much better. 

Side Content

As I mentioned above, the Side Content involving Sebastian is the best part of the game and I really enjoyed it, it had emotion and depth to it. There were a couple of other side activities that worked as well with other students. But there was also others that were a waste of time, the usual fetch quests that seem to be in every RPG are overwhelming here and I skipped the majority of them. Plus why was there no Quidditch, it is one of the most popular thing in Harry Potter but the game creators didn't put it in the game. 

Gameplay 

The strength of the game is that the gameplay is fantastic. It flows incredibly well and allows the player to use plenty of spells that are from the books and films. The battles are a lot of fun and taking advantage of the spells that you learn and develop over the game is really fun. It is where the game thrives and I am happy that they really invested time into making this part a real highlight. 

Graphics

The game looks really good, it represents the Wizarding World really well. Hogwarts looks just how I imagined that it would, it nails its atmosphere very well and I really liked how the use of spells and design of characters feel natural to this universe that the game is set it. 

Overall

Overall, Hogwarts Legacy is a good game that does plenty of things right, especially its gameplay and graphics. But it it also fumbles on things too, I think when a game links to a film or book series it needs to have strong characters and story and for the most part this game doesn't have that. I still think it is an enjoyable game worth buying but definitely more of a desire for big fans of Harry Potter. 

Rating - 7/10

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022) Review

After a long break, I am back reviewing films and last night I watched the newest release in The Wizarding World, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore and here is my review for it. The premise of the film sees Dumbledore and Newt Scamander attempt to rally and stop Grindelwald and his plan to start a war between Muggles and Magic Users. 

Main Character

Eddie Redmayne has been the showpiece of the Fantastic Beasts franchise as Newt Scamander and he is good in the film. He is just a pretty likeable character and he is very charming in the role. He shares more of the screen time this time around and it means we maybe don't get as much development with his character but I still think Redmayne does enough in the role. Jude Law's role as Dumbledore is more expanded in this film and I thought he was really good here, he was charming and charismatic. There was depth added to his character and it does feel like eventually he would become the character that we would see in the Harry Potter franchise. 

Supporting Characters

Dan Fogler as Jacob for me has been the best part of the Fantastic Beasts films and he is another great standout here. He is the comic relief and he is just fantastic at it, he is so funny and charming but this film adds some character there and develops him well. After the controversy involving Johnny Depp, Grindewald was recast as Mads Mikkelsen and he does a good job. He is more controlled then the previous iteration and feels less over the top which I personally preferred out of the villain. Jessica Williams makes her debut as Lally and I thought she was a really fun addition to the group, she is just entertaining to watch and has good chemistry with the rest of the cast but especially with Fogler. The rest of the cast didn't quite work for me, Ezra Miller is back as Credence and if you take the off screen issues out of it, I feel like he was underutilised. It felt like he was going to be a huge part of this film but he ends up being a side plot and Miller's stoic and dull performance does nothing to help. Another character wasted was Queenie, she was a big part of the previous films but it feels like she only does a little here and her character could have been more in the forefront especially where she was left in the previous film. There are some other characters here such as Newt's brother that doesn't add to much to the film and I feel like there was probably a few too many characters here. 

Story   

The story is okay, it is fun seeing the group of wizards and Jacob going after Grindewald and seeing the interesting things they have to do mixed with the fun personalities on screen. But the issue is in the overall grand plan of the film. like the Credence/Dumbledore plot line doesn't get enough depth or screen time and Grindewald's grand plan doesn't quite work for me with an ending that doesn't quite feel earnt enough to me. 

Script

The writing is actually one of the highlights of the film. This film does a good job in both the humour and drama. Fogler in particular is hilarious but other characters also have their moments of being funny. The drama was good enough too, it continues the relationships and dynamics from the previous films and does enough to make it interesting and feel like a continuation. 

Style 

The film looks pretty good, the action scenes are exciting and shows how wizard powers manage to work. It is a pretty fast paced film which for me made it a more enjoyable film. But I felt like the film had a tone issue, despite having some good writing it confuses when to use humour and drama which made it feel strange to me on whether I was meant to care emotionally or laugh. Also some of the background CGI isn't very good and occasional action scenes were filmed poorly despite the excitement. 

Overall

Overall, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is a good film that is probably the best of the franchise. It still has issues that hold it back but overall I had a fun time with it. 

Rating - 7/10 

Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone (2001) Review 

So Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is set to hit cinemas next month and I thought this would be the time to go back and watch the films in The Harry Potter franchise, starting with the Philosophers Stone. So I watched it today and here is my review for it. The premise of the film sees a young child find out he is a wizard and he is enrolled in a school for magic where he tries to learn more about himself. 

Main Character

A young Daniel Radcliffe plays Harry Potter and he does about as well as a child actor would do in the role. You care about Harry and there is that innocence about him that makes him easy to root for and support in his journey. But there is no denying that his acting ability isn't great, some of the delivery of his lines is cringe and I think this would have always been the case and at least with this film the youth of the character was a hinderance in terms of performance quality. 

Supporting Characters

The same could be said for Rupert Grint and Emma Watson's first performances as Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. They have clear characters and they do the best they can, Ron is quite funny and Hermione is smart but sometimes it can't be conveyed well enough because of the inexperience of the performers. The seasoned actors all do great jobs, Maggie Smith is really fun as Professor McGonagall and I like how she is as the teacher and her dynamic with the three kids is handled and Smith seems to be having plenty of fun. Robbie Coltrane as Hagrid is also really entertaining to watch, he is such a jolly character and he is kind of a mentor to Harry, which is one of my favourite parts of the film. The late Alan Rickman plays Severus Snape and he is just brilliant in the role, he has become iconic and this is the start of his run as the character. Richard Harris plays Dumbledore and honestly he doesn't have lots of screen time but when he does, he is a presence and I really like how they treat him as this ultimate wizard despite having a smaller presence in this film. 

Story 

The story does a really effective job of introducing us to the Wizarding world and getting us to instantly care about our main character and this new world that was created. I really enjoyed seeing the different lessons of Hogwarts and things like Quidditch. But this film does feel a little bit unbalanced, the last act has a reveal that doesn't quite work and I think it just meanders a bit in its storytelling. It has so much to tell us that it sometimes feels like exposition dumps even if it is entertaining. 

Script

The script is good, there are some pretty funny moments in the film and as I have said a few times I did care about the characters and when they were actually in peril. Don't get me wrong it isn't perfect but I think it does an effective enough job of introducing us to this franchise and the story that will not only be told in this film but plenty of sequels. 

Style 

For a film that came out over 20 years ago the effects are still pretty good and seeing the wizarding on screen is always fun. Also, despite the story being a bit passive, I actually thought it was paced quite well and something interesting was happening on screen. 

Overall

Overall, Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone is a good start to the franchise that does the job well of starting this franchise and getting the young actors off to a start. 

Rating - 7/10