Hogwarts Legacy’s Lack Of Quidditch Is A Blight
Indeed, Hogwarts Legacy does not feature Quidditch. This was largely a disappointment, as Quidditch minigames would have strengthened the role-playing game’s immersion, where players get to attend classes at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and basically live the life of a student enrolled in either Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, or Ravenclaw.
That said, being a student at Hogwarts is more or less a tangential role for Hogwarts Legacy’s protagonist, who is truly there to discover the secrets of ancient magic under the tutelage of Professor Eleazar Fig and thwart the goblin Ranrok’s schemes. For the protagonist to be participating in a bunch of extracurricular, recreational activities throughout the year, such as competitive Quidditch matches, may have been a stretch.
Unbroken’s stylistic multiplayer Quidditch game, Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions, failed to fill the gulf left by Hogwarts Legacy, but it is proof that Warner Bros. Games understands there is popular demand for Quidditch as a sports game niche.
A silver lining to not having Quidditch in Hogwarts Legacy is that the game at least provides players with an in-universe, story-related explanation as to why it is not playable. Plus, players are occupied as is when collecting Revelio-revealed lore pages in the Wizard’s Field Guide, furnishing the Room of Requirement and its several Vivariums, and achieving 100% completion across Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, and the Scottish Highlands.
Quidditch Will Be Spectacular In HBO Max’s Harry Potter
HBO Max’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is set to be a highly anticipated streaming service series when it premieres this holiday season. Like any reimagining or ‘remake,’ many fans may simply tune in to see how it will fare in comparison to the beloved and iconic Harry Potter movie franchise.
Whatever is new or adapted from the book that the movie neglected will be distinct, and whatever is influenced by or replicating what the movie accomplished will be oddly familiar. As for Quidditch, it would be exciting if audiences got to spend more time on the pitch.
Every Quidditch team plays three matches each school year for Hogwarts’ Inter-House Quidditch Cup, for example, with Harry playing against Slytherin and Hufflepuff in the Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone novel. Harry misses Gryffindor’s third match of the year due to being incapacitated after his battle with Quirrell/Voldemort, but it would be terrific to have at least three Quidditch matches to play, one against each of the other Harry Potter Hogwarts houses that players themselves are not enrolled in, in the span of Hogwarts Legacy 2.
Quidditch has not yet been revealed in the HBO Max TV show, but the first official image we received before the arrival of HBO Max’s first Harry Potter trailer was a shot of Harry in Quidditch robes, Nimbus 2001 in hand. Aside from magical spellcasting and the sheer nostalgia of the franchise’s enduring iconography, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’s Gryffindor versus Slytherin Quidditch match will probably have its own dedicated episode as a major spectacle set piece, especially with the additional conflict playing out between Quirrell and Snape.
If Quidditch plays a special role in this series, it will be all the more paramount that a new Harry Potter game gives it a similar pedestal. It would be thrilling to follow along with the Harry Potter TV show and have Quidditch to play in Hogwarts Legacy 2, for example.
Hogwarts Legacy 2 Must Know It Needs Quidditch
Broomstick and magical creature mount flight are terrific in Hogwarts Legacy, with timed courses being the culmination of player skill. Still, flying is exclusively a means of traversal and exploration in Hogwarts Legacy, and that is a low ceiling that Hogwarts Legacy 2 can easily shatter if it introduces a questline and optional minigames for Quidditch.
On paper, reserving Quidditch for a Harry Potter game with multiplayer functionality seems like it would be the logical choice, as it would allow gamers to compete with and against other players in legitimate leaderboards. Hogwarts Legacy 2 might turn out to feature multiplayer after all, but Quidditch wouldn't be wasted on a single-player game.
Playing with NPC teammates and against NPC opponents could be equally gratifying, all while also implementing fun cosmetic customizations, possible in-game rewards for practices and matches won, and player choice regarding what position they play on the pitch.
Other factors will be important in determining whether Hogwarts Legacy 2 will live up to its hype, including how the sequel tackles its protagonist and what other gameplay options there will be. No morality system exists in Hogwarts Legacy, giving players the freedom to cast Harry Potter’s Unforgivable Curses as flippantly as they would like, and one in Hogwarts Legacy 2 could give choices actual weight.
Meanwhile, a Hogwarts Legacy sequel that wields Quidditch as a centerpiece could not only make up for the first game not having it, but perhaps also make for a protagonist whose primary ambition in the game is to become a Quidditch champion. This would weave Quidditch into the fabric of Hogwarts Legacy 2’s story refreshingly and do away with the need to make the protagonist a high-stakes character who saves the school or averts a crisis in the Wizarding World (assuming that Hogwarts Legacy 2 is not sneakily a tie-in adaptation of HBO Max’s Harry Potter TV show, that is)
Systems
Released
February 10, 2023
ESRB
T For Teen Due To Blood, Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, Use of Alcohol
Developer(s)
Avalanche Software
Publisher(s)
Warner Bros. Interactive
Engine
Unreal Engine 4
Cross-Platform Play
Hogwarts Legacy doesn't have crossplay or crossplatform support
Cross Save
you can freely use your saved data between each console as long as you are connected to the internet and signed into the same account where the saved data was created
Number of Players
Single-player
English (US) ·