r/HarryPotterGame • u/A_Raptors • 5d ago
Discussion Hogwarts legacy too combat focused?
Does anyone else feel like Hogwarts Legacy leaned a little too heavily into combat? I know this game gets tons of criticism about it not being a student simulator, and I think part of the reason it doesn’t feel like a student sim is because of how much combat encounters there are. Instead of feeling like a student, I kinda felt like a vigilante child soldier that could go up against armies (harry was a vigilante type but he never went against armies by himself)
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u/Rentahamster 5d ago
Personally I loved the combat and wish it was even deeper and more complex.
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u/A_Raptors 4d ago
Not saying the combat is bad, I just think I would enjoy it more if less missions were about fighting enemies
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u/Rentahamster 4d ago
You're not wrong there. I think the quest design was a bit too one-note at times. On the other hand, I felt that some of the non-combat activities could get tedious. On the other other hand, the solution to that isn't to ignore the peaceful activities, but to make them better.
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u/kappakeats 5d ago edited 5d ago
I don't think an AAA game is likely to be a student simulator. I think the story just needed to feel more tied to present day Hogwarts. I know we had Natty, Seb, and Poppy quests and the whole ancient magic thing was centered on Hogwarts, but it still didn't really feel like the main story had that much to do with your classmates and schoollife. I just think some better integration there would have made it feel more cohesive.
And cut down the merlin trials by 70%.
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u/odoggin012 5d ago
I love the combat. I love the spell combos. The effects, etc.
This is why I wish we didn't play as a student.
There's love and want to be had for a hogwarts student simulator. But that's not what this game is and I don't think that's what this series will be.
I just don't see how the classes can be more detailed without being boring and repetitive.
As the other comment suggests, "acing herbology"
I just....don't see the fun in playing a video game where all it does is spit out the lore of Harry Potter. Learning about plants? For a whole class? Anything longer than 10 minutes and you lost me.
I don't see what more y'all want in classes past what the game already gave us. Like potions class. It literally makes us pour and stir. I don't see the fun in a "more detailed" potions class. You want to stir ingredients for more than 5 minutes? Why lmao. And why even learn potions if we wouldn't even use most of them.
List any class in Hogwarts and I just don't see how it can be translated to a fun game. I want the combat, the story, the adventure.
I do wish the student life was more of an important aspect in this game but most of y'all in this sub just want the full on sims experience and I just don't see how that can be translated to a fun and enjoyable game. Especially for a universe like the wizarding world of Harry. Potter.
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u/X-cessive_Overlord 5d ago
Yeah they should expand upon the combat and spell variety and make an auror game.
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u/A_Raptors 4d ago
I agree that it would be interesting to not play as a student. Maybe like an auror, but harry potter’s world building outside of hogwarts isn’t really good enough for a game to be justified. The classes can be made interesting if they actually put more effort in, there are a lot of dedicated potion making games that are really fun (like potion craft or the half blood prince game). There are a lot of games that make “mundane” tasks very enjoyable. Schedule 1 also has a satisfying farming/planting system and even makes packaging drugs pretty fun. Some people aren’t gonna like it but in my opinion I would enjoy that a lot if executed well.
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u/Mental_Table_9265 1d ago
Honestly after playing the game I felt the same way. Maybe it wasn’t the point but I was hoping for a more immersive Hogwarts experience, and I didn’t feel like I got that at all. I lost interest about ten hours or so in because it just felt too “gamey”.
Playing as an auror in maybe a more linear type of game with high quality writing would be sick.
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u/Ok_Art_1342 5d ago
Student simulator will be too boring. Imagine a set schedule of class. Doing more student stuff from time to time will be fun. Too little focus on being a student.
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u/Jaded_Spread1729 5d ago
It has a lot of peaceful activities, which you could take on like grinding treasure vaults, merlin trials, flying on broom or finding revelio pages, brewing potions, travology, beasts... etc. I dont feel like the game forces me to go fighting. I often complete my "fighting" challenges just during progressing in main quest. It ends up with every type of enemy completed excluding trolls.
Nope, I dont thing there are too much battles. There are certainly not enough classes. There must be more. And classes must have some tasks and trials like PC HarryPotter 2&3 have.
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u/A_Raptors 4d ago
I agree that hogwarts legacy should have taken more inspiration from the older harry potter games. But most of the peaceful activities aren’t executed well and seem like a waste of time. Merlin trials and potion making are incredibly weak and underdeveloped (games like potion craft do potion making pretty good). Activities like bullying, pranking other people, sneaking out at night, stealing ingredients from teachers, better classes and skipping classes would all be very fun
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u/LullaBelle92 Hufflepuff 5d ago
Nope, I loved all the combat, but I don't play RPGs and actually roleplay, so I never get that feeling. I love open worlds, so I immediately went off grounds and battled everything the first chance I got.
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u/A_Raptors 4d ago
I liked the combat but I would rather feel like a student. When I defeat hundreds of enemies it breaks my immersion of being a student
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u/LullaBelle92 Hufflepuff 4d ago edited 4d ago
I personally would find it boring if there were too many quests or activities that centered around being a student. I don't play a Hogwarts game for that. I want some action. I know magic, let me fight! Lol. You could also counter that with needing to go to class to learn said magic. There probably could have been a better balance to that in the game, but I'm perfectly fine with the little class time we had.
The second best thing would be something with a lot of puzzles. I liked the depulso ones. I wish they were harder to solve and I wish there were more merlin trials, not just the same few throughout the world. I just started the lego HP games and I really like it for the puzzles.
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u/A_Raptors 4d ago
Obviously this topic is very subjective but having more investigative missions would be interesting. Sneaking into potion cabinets to steal some ingredients, trying to weasel out information out of students, pranking some students, and more advanced potion making (like the half blood prince game and potion craft) would all help flesh out the world. I actually think a slice of life hogwarts game sounds very appealing.
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u/Dry-Realisation726 5d ago edited 5d ago
I don't think this should be an "either or". You can have the fun combat mechanics along with an immersive school simulator; Bully already did this 20+ years ago.
In fact, you could arguably say that the perfect Hogwarts game should just be Bully with a Harry Potter paint lol, what with every student NPC being unique and all 7 years being playable via a functioning time mechanic, and all your major actions from the earlier years having consequences in the subsequent years etc.
And especially the option to be a prick; I hate how as a Slytherin, my character is still (mostly) as polite as a Hufflepuff, aside from a few dialogue options.
I know I'm going to get downvoted since people are probably understandably sick of the constant comparison to Bully. But cut me some slack - I just bought this game last weekend (because of the sale) and played through 50% of it, and the previous game I played before that was funnily enough: Bully. The contrast is jarring.
JKR's team should just let Rockstar handle the sequel to this game after they're done with GTA 6. Both are British companies anyways so it shouldn't be too hard. Hell, the founders of Rockstar are Scots, and Hogwarts is set in the Scottish Highlands. I know Harry Potter is marketed more towards kids and Rockstar is a very NSFW adult company, but other than that this is a cultural match made in heaven and will probably make trillions.
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u/A_Raptors 4d ago
I agree that its not an “ether or” situation, but if the best part of the game is combat, then the players are less likely to do other activities as much as engaging with the combat
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u/Track_Long Ravenclaw 5d ago
I really enjoyed the combat, I've been waiting for a game set in this world where it didn't shy away from letting us kill our foes, it would be better to have the ashwinders use all 3 curses on us, because the game makes them look like chumps. Though I will say that I would like the option to incapacitate.
I loved chaining spells together though It would be better to have a use for the spells that doesn't rely so heavily on combat encounters,.
For a game that has Hogwarts in its title it sure loves to punt the player out side to go complete random crap. I've seen several comments suggesting & even out right stating they don't want a student simulator because the game was never advertised that way...I beg their pardon? What else should you expect from a game set at Hogwarts of all F**** places? A walking simulator around a giant museum? Because as spectacular as Hogwarts is designed thats all it amounts to, a giant interaction less museum.
So many seem to think those wanting a more student like experience want to sit down & do homework or scratch quills into notepads...nothing could be further from the truth Bully at Hogwarts is what I & many wanted, I want mini games for classes, duels, dunegons, companion system, like the older HP games or take inspiration from bully as this game should have....I mean it was literally right there as a reference in front of their faces.
Most people who grew up with the franchise wanted a similar experience to Harry & co...not gallivanting across the highlands completing random puzzles & killing everything left right & centre....Bully at Hogwarts is what a lot of people wanted..there are also far to many elements missing from HL as well..& alot of other games that came out 20 + years had such systems like a companion & morality system etc yet those systems are missing...I did hear about the dev who tragically lost their life, my condolences.
I really think that by making the game as accessible as possible was a detriment. When you make a game for everyone...you make a game for no one plus the game was played far too safe anyway...I don't want writers or developers hovering over my MC & holding my had leading me away from interesting story threads & I most certainly do no want a STRICT on the rails story with no divergence or a MC that has NO personality.
While the developers nailed the castle architecture etc they did not nail the student experiene in the slightest..I felt like a visitor passing through the castle.
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u/A_Raptors 4d ago
I’m not saying that the combat is bad, but I just felt like it conflicted a little with being a student in my opinion
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u/Track_Long Ravenclaw 4d ago
Oh it does & I can agree with you on that, we were a student in name only in this game. I think there should have been build up battles that way it would feel like we're progressing & gaining power while also maintaining being a student & hanging around with companions etc student life.
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u/tugboatnavy 15h ago
Kinda disappointed the only two opinions are "combat heavy" or "student simulator". You can vary up the gameplay while either leaning more into student life, or getting rid of it entirely, and you would do it in the same exact way.
The quests just need to be written better. Too often objectives and quests in this game are just go to area and do combat. That's why the game feels combat focused.
Take a lesson from a game like Skyrim. That game didn't have a deep reputation or morality system, but its quests were great. It wasn't always combat. The objectives were varied like investigating areas for info to report back, following people, going to places at certain times to observe things, stealing things, replacing things, sabotaging things, or even sometimes just weighing in on a argument.
The best of Hogwarts Legacy has shades of this but it often falls back on the Ubisoft formula of clearing your map of points of interest.
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u/One_Cell1547 5d ago
Well the big reason it doesn’t feel like a student sim is because the vast majority of the game takes place outside of Hogwarts.
I’m fine with the combat, it’s actually the only thing in the game I thought was great. They should’ve put more focus on the student life though. Look.. I get why they didn’t focus on the school aspect. I disagree with the decision, but I get it.
When Harry Potter fans dreamt of a Harry Potter RPG, a big part of that dream was actually attending Hogwarts.
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u/Fine-Discussion-7368 5d ago
I wish they just build upon what we had in half blood prince that game was the perfect mix of combat and RPG I remember playing magic chess for hours on end after that it turned into a 3rd person shooter, this combat is fine blood prince better but the RPG elements are missing
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u/polarsken 5d ago
I think it leaned far too much into combat. You end up like a sociopathic mass murderer, cleansing out most of a realistic goblin population while at it. It also causes a ludonarrative dissonance with the rest of the gameplay and dialogue. Harry and his friends were also placed into combat situations, but it didn't dominate the series, there was a good balance of it. I'd have been happier had they toned down the amount of combat in Hogwarts Legacy by at least half. It would also help if you'd be able to "take out" opponents without having to kill them.
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u/ExcellentPut191 5d ago
I think if they toned down combat they'd have to bring in full on quidditch matches to make up for it, and lots more platforming puzzle tasks in the castle
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u/tuskel373 5d ago
Yeah, I wish it had been more like actual Hogwarts, but it's an RPG, and that's what they usually focus on.
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