Hogwarts Legacy finally gave Harry Potter fans the beautiful open-world RPG they’ve been wanting since experiencing Hogwarts exploration in the original Philosopher’s Stone video game. Exploring the school’s huge interior and shopping in Hogsmeade just never gets old. The open world, or at least part of it, is what makes it Hogwarts Legacy such a compelling RPG in the first place.
Of course, with the sequel now in production and on the way, fans are speculating about what kind of changes it could bring to the formula and world established in the first game. While many may want to see its open world expanded, there’s a good reason why the opposite is true. Avalanche software needs to scale back its ambitions presented in the first game to not only deliver a more engaging experience, but also ensure that Hogwarts Legacy 2 it’s not rushed and ends up feeling like a more empty game overall.
Hogwarts Legacy 2 should abandon the open world
It should be a more linear experience
Often, Hogwarts Legacy the open world can feel more like intense work than a genuinely enjoyable place to explore. There are many things to do or mysteries to discover in Hogwarts Legacy world, but it never feels as immersive as exploring the castle or Hogsmeade. This is mainly because, apart from a few aspects, it never feels particularly magical or unique, just being a beautiful representation of the Scottish Highlands. It’s beautiful to see, but often difficult to explore.
It also adopts many gaming philosophies that were popular in the 2010s but have since fallen out of fashion thanks to the likes of Breath of Nature and Elden Ring revolutionizing open world design. The incessant map markers, basic quests and stupid activities, like the terrible Merlin Trials, detract from what would otherwise be a magical RPG. Of course, one could easily ignore many of these aspects, but a lot of Hogwarts Legacy The main story takes place in the open world, forcing the player to visit these areas anyway.
As bizarre as it may seem, Hogwarts Legacy 2 needs to almost entirely abandon this open-world model, while also introducing a number of much-needed features and mechanics.
As bizarre as it may seem, Hogwarts Legacy 2 needs to almost completely abandon this open world modelwhile also introducing a number of much-needed features and mechanics. The vastness of the open world can make the overall experience feel bloated without adding much value. It takes players away from the most notable areas while offering little in return. A handful of villages outside of Hogsmeade, Hogwarts, and the Forbidden Forest would have been nice, but there are too many of them scattered throughout the countless goblin camps.
Hogwarts Legacy 2 needs to add more unique locations
Players must explore famous locations in the magical world
Ditching the open-world design would benefit significantly Hogwarts Legacy 2 as well as simply removing bloat and enhancing the overall experience. Could allow more instanced areas to be addedthus helping to flesh out the magical world and all its most interesting places. There are many great places that can help you expand Hogwarts Legacy 2 setting, including Azkaban, Diagon Alley, and even the Ministry of Magic.
Hogwarts Legacy 2 Reducing its open world to simply the school, Hogsmeade, and surrounding areas and then adding a handful of handcrafted story locations would not only make the experience tighter and more narratively focused, but also allow Avalanche’s talented developers to Software showed off them Harry Potter knowledge and expand the attractive tradition. There is a lot that Hogwarts Legacy 2 should borrow from other games, but the main thing is a more nuanced open world, genuinely full of captivating things to do, like in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
This would be much more viable if the scale of Hogwarts Legacy 2 was stripped down rather than expanded as many sequels traditionally do. It seems counterintuitive, but it would Hogwarts Legacy a much better RPG experience, as the developer could spend more time detailing the more complex and important locations, rather than trying to create unique content across a much larger area.
Hogwarts Legacy 2 should be a celebration of the wizarding world
It shouldn’t just be an empty field
While Hogwarts Legacy It’s a great game, sometimes it can lack the immersion that a magical RPG promises. In retrospect, it seems Hogwarts Legacy it should never have been a truly open world, at least not in the traditional sense. While it’s awesome that players can stroll through the hallowed halls of Hogwarts before heading out onto the jovial streets of Hogsmeade, the rest of the luxurious empty field doesn’t fit the fantasy fans have fallen in love with.
What Hogwarts Legacy 2 needs to be more than anything is a celebration of the wonderful world that has inspired so many people to fall deeply in love with Harry Potter series first.
Frankly, the expanded area south of the castle often feels completely unnecessary and only exists to facilitate boring side activities that, if removed, wouldn’t be lost. Hogwarts Legacy 2 no need to worry about unnecessary secondary contentlike what makes a Harry Potter Such a special game is the feeling of being a student. The first Hogwarts Legacy the game sacrificed this in favor of more open-world activities, when in reality, including famous locations from books and films and placing greater emphasis on a student’s life would have been a much more faithful experience.
What Hogwarts Legacy 2 needs to be more than anything is a celebration of the wonderful world that has inspired so many people to fall deeply in love with Harry Potter series in the first place. What it absolutely doesn’t need to be is yet another open world filled with meaningless content. Including fun minigames from the franchise – like Wizards Chess or Gobstones – or allowing players to visit iconic locations without it being a small quest tied to a specific house is absolutely a step in the right direction.
Hogwarts Legacy 2 we can achieve all this and more by reducing the parts that don’t matter, and frankly, the admittedly beautiful Scottish Highlands fall into that category. The only part of the game that really benefits from the open world is the creature collection aspect, which, while fun, never felt as developed as it could have been. Of course, this could still be included, even on a smaller map. Ultimately, Hogwarts Legacy 2 It will likely follow in its predecessor’s footsteps, but we hope it does so after learning many open-world design lessons in the process.
Source: PlayStation/YouTube