Posted in: Games, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, Mobile Games, Niantic | Tagged: harry potter, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, hpwu, Niantic, Wizards Unite

Harry Potter: Wizards Unite Darkness Rising – Part 1 Review

Harry Potter: Wizards Unite event titles are always a mouthful. Here we go. The Darkness Rising Brilliant Event Part 1 is about to end in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite and it has left both casual and hardcore players concerned with the structure of these events. Here's what October's first Brilliant Event got right as well as what has the community so frustrated.

First, the problems. Like last week's October Wizarding Weekend, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite has an ongoing habit of making the research too difficult. Personally, I am a far more experienced Pokémon GO player, but I can hold my own in this game. Pokémon GO research, no matter how long, I can generally complete in a day of casual gameplay. Often less. With both the October Wizarding Weekend and the Darkness Rising Brilliant Event, the amount of time and effort I had to put in was a major problem. The tasks involving earning Family XP are egregiously difficult. The amount of spell energy needed to take down enough Foundables to complete the research seems purposely created to ward off casual players. I completed the event by the skin of my teeth and was left wondering if it was even worth it.

The narrative-driven aspect of Harry Potter: Wizards Unite remains strong. It feels as if we're inside of a story, unlocking pieces of it by doing work that has a true impact on the wizarding world. That, and along with creating the beautiful images on the Registry pages, makes this game, at its best, charming and fun. If Niantic made the Special Assignments about thirty-percent as difficult as they currently are, there would be little to nothing to complain about in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite.

Challenging events are rewarding, but those that verge on tedious can ward players off. The Darkness Rising Brilliant Event Part 1 verged. Man, did it verge. It's a good thing that Niantic is listening to feedback because the structure of these events and the way they refer back to the Harry Potter books is terrific. Wizards Unite needs some major course correction, though, and addressing players' concerns can only improve the game.

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