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I started this game up and I was blown away from the beginning, but the real “okay, this game is IT” moment was when I was running down a hallway and swung a door open, two “knights in shining armour” were goofing around on their stands in the corner, and when they saw me, they panicked and stood upright and acted as inanimate objects like they weren’t just animate.. That was basically it for me 😂 I love this game.

The opening sequence on the way to Hogwarts sealed the deal for me.

I need a Avatar the Last Airbender game like this. I’ve never seen a Harry Potter film but I’m glad that a fanbase is getting something that authentically captures why they love the IP. I’m definitely buying this once I watch the saga.

Greatest little “side” thing I’ve seen so far…I was running through the castle and saw 2 suits of armor. One turned to the other and just kicked its ass until it was laying in pieces on the ground. I just stared at it and laughed

I am one of those unfortunate nerds that lived and breathed the books and movies while growing up, and the game is honestly everything I've ever wanted as a fan. Which after so many years of modern remakes and adaptations actively ruining things I love, has me a bit emotional lmao. I just want expansions for year 6 and 7 so badly. And yeah, there are so many silly and amazing Easter eggs too. Like there's a dumb side quest called "follow the butterflies" and they lead you into the Forbidden Forest. And I was instantly transported back to Chamber of Secrets and Ron Weasley going "follow the Spiders- Follow the Spiders!!! Why couldn't it be Follow the Butterflies!? If Hagrid ever gets outta Azkaban, I'll kill him." 😂

The amount of love and passion put into this game is evident. The rich atrention to detail, the seemingly unending puzzles or secrets you come across, the great characters, a world that feels alive and lived in, a game that doesn’t hold your hand and has you figure out a lot yourself especially when it comes to puzzles or secrets. And it looks visually stunning. This is a great open world and it does a lot right. I was skeptical as the dev had never made a triple A game before, and they seem to have nailed it. I’m 6 to 8 hours in, feel like I have barely scratched the surface and am still encountering tutorial stuff, and I can’t get enough of the world. They actually pulled it off and the game has actually exceeded all expectations.

One of the things I really appreciate in the game is how they give narrative reasons for things like why you can't play quidditch or why the character can see thestrals. They could have just left it out as a no brainer but they actually included it

Best way I can explain it. Is that this is the Harry Potter game I have always dreamed of. And so, so much more. The little details add up, and the combat is so much more fun and challenging then I thought it would be.

I’ve been playing this since midnight on the early access release… it’s already one of my favourite titles EVER. I am absolutely in love and blown away. I feel so immersed

The fade to black is generally to hide them "popping" you into the right place without doing it naturally when it comes to interactables. Other games do it relatively often, depending on how intense the interaction is.

So pleased one of these big 2023 releases has lived up to the hype. Big congrats to Avalanche Soft and Portkey for their efforts 🙏

Agreed, this game is something special and I wasn't expecting it at all. The attention to detail is insane

"I simply want to play it NOW" There never was a better reason tbh.

It really is astounding how much they passed the bar. Genuinely one of the first games I’ve played in a while where I can’t wait to get back into it.

I’m buying this game thanks to you, out of all the reviewers I trusted you most because you were skeptical. When you said about it not having the Ubisoft affect, that really put me at ease

your take on this game was the one i was most interested to see, and i'm so happy that it's impressed you. i've only played a few hours so far but i feel like a little kid again reading the books for the first time. what a gift this game has turned out to be.

Yeah,it's the perfect start for a year with 3 great games (dead space remake,hifi rush,hogwarts legacy) and forspoken to make sure we don't get our hopes high!!!As i said perfect starting for the year!

I think the fade to black is not a big problem because it happens quickly, the problem with Forspoken was that during those fades to black the screen would stay dark for 1 to 2 seconds, it is too long and very frequent. While in Hogwarts Legacy it's as fast as the blink of an eye. It doesn't bother me here at all, actually,y a hadn't noticed it until you said it.

The entire first 40 minutes was immaculate. I was under the impression we would start either at diagon alley or already be in Hogwarts and get sorted RIGHT after the character customization. Having this new yet familiar story (as well as some dark stuff that I wasn’t expecting) makes this one of my all time favorite game intros.. probably up there with the introduction to rapture in the very first bioshock. I knew this would be good but not THIS good. Early GOTY contender for sure

I love the fact that this can now act as a base line they can build off and make many other stories in this world now that the world has been built ☺️

I'm just gonna say it. I was not expecting an immersive sim out of this experience. Colour me impressed.

Jacob's edit for when you pet the cat was the highlight of my morning 🤣

I really like this game so far. So much to explore. It may seem like an unimportant detail but it would be kinda cool to chill in a chair or sofa from time to time. You know, lounging in common rooms by the fire or sitting down within the library. It would be a fitting addition to the cozy atmosphere this lore provides. It's normal stuff within open world games nowadays and can't be that difficult to add. It's also kind of weird that you can place your own furniture within the room of requirements and can't sit on it afterwards. :D

It’s fantastic… I’m already on my way to hogsmede to get my supplies after completing the first 2 quests. Perfect opening, Hogwarts is beautiful the classrooms the hallways the attention to detail. So stunning. It’s so good.

2023 looks packed man. We got redfall and starfield coming this summer and two game of the year contenders already.

So on Nexusmods the most downloaded mod for HL is a paler skin tone as this game, set in 1890 in Scotland, the palest skin tone you can choose is tanned.

I love how downright inspired this game feels, with the emphasis on exploration in a detailed environment, the grandness of the world and the mechanics that you can use to interact with the world. I was fairly sceptical ever since the release of the first trailer but this seems like something I would play regardless of its affiliation to the Harry Potter Series.

I love the little attention to details this game has (Red Dead 2 spoiled me a lot on trying to catch every single insignificant detail as possible). Really makes the whole open world feel more lively.

Jacob absolutely killed it with that instant replay.

Really looking forward to what this studio does next. If they make a sequel and improve on some of the criticisms, it could be amazing.

i like how in the opening part you dont see the thestrals but later on immediately after someone dies then you can see them. They really put in so much detail

Having an absolute blast so far. Amazing dedication by Avalanche studios. This is a masterpiece.

As fun as so many rpg/open world games are (RDR2, Skyrim, AC, BOTW, Witcher 3), this is the first time in awhile I feel genuinely excited to experience an open world. All those games I mentioned are amazing and are some of my favorite games of all time but Hogwarts Legacy offers lore that I love and have loved for so many years. I really hope this game does well and incentivizes studios to adapt other book series and universes into video games. I'm largely thinking of Brandon Sanderson's fantasy universe the Cosmere which has many series (Stormlight, Mistborn) and it would be awesome to see a game adapted from a universe like that. Experiencing new worlds is fun but seeing a world that you already know and love and getting to walk around in it takes the cake for me.

It’s way better than I expected, I was worried we’d get the typical “looks great” until it comes out, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised, I’m loving it

I love the detail and the professors' unique characters. The dialogue and story can be a bit clunky, but the exploration is top notch. The first game in a long while I have actual relaxing fun with.

I never cared about harry potter, but as a gamer i love that this world was fully realized for the fans and i look forward to playing it myself soon.

Those landscape shots with Hogwarts shining in the background. My gosh, those visuals are amazing

The fade to black is a HUGE time/money saver for transitions. If you go for something as simple as petting a cat, you can approach the cat from any angle and at any moment of the cat animation loop. You'd need to blend and move both characters into alignment to play the petting animation. That's it's doable but it's tricky and expensive.

There is nothing wrong with being skeptical of a new game. Most often we are let down by games and it’s good to have some skepticism

I’m like 2 hours in and I’m loving it so far. My tiny critiques are just the animations and voice acting is slightly “eerie”, leaning towards uncanny valley but not terrible. Story wise, I think they missed out on having us start as a first year and playing through it fresh with the other first years, but they can always do that in another game and it’s definitely not bad the way they did it

The delays are worth it, it's a culmination of the HP franchise seeing the DNA from its predecessors from the activities, puzzle solving, and platforming from the OG PS1 and PS2 era to the 3rd person aspect of Death Hollows.

The intro was phenomenal but realistically it only has gotten better since then. After being sorted into your house (I got ravenclaw), and after a couple of missions to help set the tone of the game you get the reigns taken off you and I've already spent a good 6-7 hours just appreciating the work that the devs took into crafting hogwarts/hogsmeade and hogsmeade station alone. There's so many other locations I'm yet to dive into but it's a game I'm taking slow and that doesn't happen often, if ever for me anymore. I'm happy that there's so much to do. Now I have my broom! I'm now enjoying hogwarts externally as well as internally (and vertically!). In terms of a team making a game world based on the books and movies, this is a true and faithful addition to the franchise. honestly, until now the games i enjoyed was only order of the phoenix, half blood and prisoner of azkaban. I was growing up at that point and loved (and still do) the harry potter franchise. I liked those games at the time because of the exploring of the castle you could do... but this truly is next level. Even though it's set before harry potter, I'm falling in love with the whole open world here and honestly I'm not even thinking about harry potter. The games good enough as just an overall RPG that even if you weren't or aren't a fan of the potterverse you could pick this game up and have a damn fun time playing it. Combat is like arkham knight with wand combat. Exploration is magical and always encouraged (pun intended) Story is pleasantly well told and engaging Locations are fun, inventive and faithful to the lore Side missions and activities let you really take the atmosphere of the world in more Regardless of how you play- slow or fast. There's weeks worth of content to explore and no doubt there's some serious opportunities for great dlc. This game is as close to a masterpiece for someone whose been waiting for THE game set in this fantasy world. Of course there are things that you can't do and it does have its own limitations, but there's enough there for this to still be considered a 10/10 experience and that's why I'm sticking with my opinion on that. To me, it's everything I ever wanted, and now that I have it if they ever make a follow up this is the foundation for them to be even more creative!

Luke being a ravenclaw like me is the best thing, so many people picked slythrin but LAW OF THE CLAW 🦅🦅🦅will prevail

There’s an unlockable spell called transectus fobulus

I honestly didn't expect to see Peeves in this game. Nice to see it's full of details from the books as well as the movies.

Jacob is having loads of fun with the editing. That KO bit had me in stitches.

OMG I was gonna wait for more reviews and Steam Deck performance info but with how (rightfully so) skeptical you've been this positive view of the early game is VERY encouraging. I might just pay the extra ten damn dollars to start playing it today!

So far I am just blown away. Having the time of my life.

The fade to black from the editor after the cat bit was a nice touch.

Noticed 2 bugs, a kid was in the floor in the castle with his head sticking up, and two kids throwing a ball in hogsmeade were having the ball glitch and freeze mid air and they just kept playing their animation without a ball for a few seconds. Very pleased with the polish overall

One that gave me chills is the sound effects. When I cast “Lumus” and the sound came out of the controller, I gave my whole to this game. It’s one of the games where you have this rare connection with. It’s like the same reaction from the “Ratatouille” taste scene! That’s how powerful this game influenced me.

They really captured the feeling of the movies well

Hogwarts legacy is much more than i ever wouldve imagined the level of detail everywhere is very impressive, I'm absolutely loving it on PC. Havent had any bugs or performance issues its amazing. Thanks for your Impressions even tho i preordered its still nice to hear your impressions. Have fun u all in Hogwarts Legacy a true adventure.

I absolutely fell in love with this thing. Went in with no expectations, but was impressed by how many gameplay streams the team did. This game really needs a photomode. The world really deserves it. It's like living through a fairytale lens. The atmosphere is absolutely incredible. The lighting, the absolute attention to details on the architecture, the small assets scattered around in the right areas and the music is oh so epic, the common rooms and the clothing.. Such a beautiful creation! Hats off for all the love the creators poured into this!

Tbh I didn’t even notice the “fade to black” until you mentioned it😂

‘Because I simply want to play it now’ That line killed me 😂😂😂 Cannot wait to play this

This game is extremely packed with content I’m 10 hours in and still on level 6 quests and I’m level 15 and just acquired my broomstick for flying GAME OF THE YEAR MOST DEFINITELY

Yeah, the fade to black is to hide player animation and/or location changes. Hence why it fades when you start petting a cat, because if you're behind the cat or not in the right location, you would need to move to that location before the animation plays. They took the easy route and just teleport the player behind a black screen. It doesn't fade when you finish petting, because you're already in position. You just need to do the animation to stand up.

Really appreciate your quick review Luke!! Always trust your takes and can't wait to play!

I grew up with Harry Potter. My family and I went to midnight releases of every single book fully dressed up in costumes. We went to every single midnight first release for the films (also dressed up). The shitty sorcerer's stone pc game was the first video game I ever played, and the only one to date that my mom has ever played with me. No joke, Harry Potter was literally the only time that everyone in my family came together, ever. This game has fulfilled everything I could want and more. I could cry honestly, lol.

Beyond thrilled to see a lot of extremely critical youtubers enjoying the game. Helps me know the game is actually good, not just talked up by all the big companies

For me it totally delivered! I've been playing for like 8 hours now and it's easily one of my favorite games of all time. Well worth the money. I grew up with the HP books/movies and this did not dissapoint.

I’m really happy your channel is growing! You deserve it so much! Love your video’s and the vibe you give it ❤

I got to play this game for around 3 hours this morning before work and I have to say, it is SO nice to have a game come out that plays this smoothly and is this fun at the same time on day one. Not even Elden Ring was this smooth for me the first day. Its all just so refreshing.

The developers nailed it absolutely to implement the Ubisoft formula into a game,much better than Ubisoft ever did😂. I haven't been very deep into the "Potterverse" ever,I watched the first three movies and read the first two books,but this game is absolute fun to play and I'm literally laughing my ass off while I'm discovering crazy and funny things back to back to back😂👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

The fade to black is likely because the cutscene animation has your character in a certain position, and it's hiding the 'animation vacuum' that would pull your character into position.

The only real differences other than coming out of the "witch" or "wizard" section of the dorm are the houses. Each house has it's own experience and their own exclusive quest revolving around the name "Jackdaw".

Been a great start to the year. HGL, DS Remake and Hi-Fi Rush all delivering so far.

So far I am impressed. Hogwarts Castle is absolutley HUGE and exploring it makes my head spin but the attention to detail is astonishing. Loving the atmosphere and gameplay along with the music of course!

the fade to blacks are usually to hide any snapping/clipping/jittering in both the animations and the cloth physics, as two seperate characters have to suddenly be aligned without any hiccups, so fade to black is usually the only way they can properly cover it up

The immersion is insane, the dialogue changes depending on what you do in game. I captured a certain magical beast just off my own back exploring (not part of a quest) and NPCs I spoke to knew about it ahah

Love Love Love this game. A couple issues are that you don't have that same exciting competition between houses that you saw in HP and I feel like we're missing those deep partnerships/friendships HP had. But then again, I'm only ~7 hours in so that could definitely change. Runs amazingly on PS5 with some annoyances with pop-ins and 3-second loading when exiting the castle.

I've only played for a couple of hours on the PC and things are looking really good, I'm really into the story already and the atmosphere is great. It feels like Hogwarts and the art direction is 10/10 for me.

Iv probably done 15 hours now and iv barely scratched the surface. The attention to detail on this scale is mad

15:05 is highly reminiscent of the trails of ghostly studs in the Lego Harry Potter games.

When I saw the Daedalian keys side quest in the gameplay showcase I rolled my eyes a little ngl but actually playing it I love it. I love catching those keys 😂

Only channel I trust to do proper reviews so glad to hear it's not a flop

one of the greatest games i ever played, no-lifed it for 3 days, 30 hours, to beat the main story. will continue to play it until 100%, will probably take 100+ hours

This game is truly special. been seeing early gameplays and reviews about this game. so hyped

totally agree with you on the fade to black thing. Kinda breaks the immersion for me. Nevertheless I can’t wait to play this game on Friday. It looks incredible

Polar opposite to a game like Forspoken. It's actually a fun game and the open world activities doesnt just feel like a chore. AVALANCHE did an AMAZING job.

It definitely looks like a game of the year contender. Thank god someone finally released a game that is worth it. We needed this game to be good. To show other companies that releasing games broken on day one isnt the normal. This is how games should be released. Watch the sales go well over expectations.

It’s so relatable when he talks about making your way to a quest and getting side tracked that you forgot your objective was. Lol happens to me all the time.

As someone who has absolutely no interest in the HP universe, I'm actually pretty excited to jump into it. I'm generally a big fan of open world RPGs, and there is a lot I'm liking in regards to that aspect.

Was waiting for this. I ordered the game earlier. It looks awesome

Thanks for your objective thoughts on the game throughout the hype, can't wait to play it! I hope there will eventually be a first person pov mod for pc. Would use it just for exploring the castle! It's massive!

An awesome The Last of Us tv series adaptation and now an awesome Harry Potter game adaptation. Good times for games/gamers lately

This game is absolutely amazing so proud of Avalanche for delivering this making it a instant success for all of us harry potter fans, the atmosphere, gameplay, exploration everything is all I wished for.... enjoy everyone! 😃

Even with early access before the day 1 patch i have not been disappointed at all I’m glad I preordered

10:00 The pet cat replay was epic haha! 👏

They did more then great lives up too the hype and I’m beyond happy

Finally good AAA game worth preordering

Don't know where i've been all these years. I got to know Luke's channel a couple of weeks ago. It's one of my 3 favorite channels rn.

So glad this game is as good as it is, I'm not the biggest Potter fan by a long shot but the series has always been a major nostalgia/comfort thing for me despite not being heavily involved in the general fandom, so finally having a HP game of this quality is great to experience now just to order some more RAM so that I don't need to do my entire playthrough with heavy stutters as my laptop currently only has 8GB's and it's struggling!

Appreciate the perspective bud, keep up the solid work

The small thestral detail at the beginning really sold this game for me, I really thought at first it was a major bug and my man was driving the carriage with no horses with reigns, then George dies and the thestrals appeared holy shit I went nuts with hype like a giddy school girl

The thing I love the most about HL is that it's "just" a game. No live service, no rampant mtx, no scammy early access. Just a game.

You got a new subscriber my brotha!!! Amazing review and I can't wait to get this game as a day one HP fan 😎🧙‍♂️

Your comment about it being easy to play, is exactly right - everything feels very natural, very quickly. The control system, the feel of the world, the way you learn new spells/potions in a believable non-nannying way. Looked forward to this release ever since it was announced, and for once, the product delivered has lived up to expectations. Playing this between a desktop rig and my Steam Deck is a nice experience, and while the fast travel system works well, quite happy to just explore the world and take it all in at my own pace, which says everything you need to know about this game.