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 December 2020 Adversaries Event Review

In quite the bold move, Niantic debuted a new mechanic and a new event to Harry Potter: Wizards Unite all in one week. Adversaries adds a new kind of encounter to the game, which will task wizards and witches with battling a chain of foes that will lead to a boss battle. Adversaries Events, which will be monthly and will replace Wizarding Weekends, focus on certain Adversaries, boosting their availability and giving Special Assignments to players. The December 2020 Adversaries Event, the first one, focused on Draco Malfoy and Fenrir Greyback. Did it work?

What Worked For This Harry Potter: Wizards Unite Event

• The idea: Adversaries is a good idea. It needs work, though, because, as is, it feels like a way to drain resources. It's less fun than it is not not fun, at the moment, but it has potential, and that potential is enough to earn it a tick in the "What Worked" category. Unfortunately, that's about it.

What Didn't Work For This Harry Potter: Wizards Unite Event

• The Special Assignment: Niantic's promises to improve these Special Assignments was going well until this one. The Harry Potter: Wizards Unite community at large, from casual players to hardcore, is frustrated at the tasks involving Wit Sharpening gifts. This seems ill-planned by Niantic, as it's the least relevant task and is virtually impossible to complete. The lack of thought put into that aspect of the Special Assignment was disheartening after so much improvement in this respect for other events.
• Draco Malfoy: The design is… not good. Fenrir manages to look fierce, fluid, and exactly like in the movies. Draco looks like a wax statue. Oddly. Draco looks terrific on the event promo picture and registry page.
• The execution of Adversaries: Unfortunately, the good idea and the potential is all this event and feature has going for them. As is, Adversaries battles are tedious time- and resource-drains. To defeat Narcissa Malfoy, for example, clear your schedule. It's going to take more than ten minutes even with Potent Exstimulo. It would be fine if Adversaries hit harder and went down faster, but the sheer amount of time spent in one battle is excruciating. For this to work as a monthly feature, let alone a permanent aspect of the game, the format has to be reimagined.

Overall Thoughts

This is an unfortunate start to a promising feature that seems far better in concept than it does in execution. Hopefully, Niantic can see where they went wrong and adjust this feature because, if it's meant to stay in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, most players will find themselves wanting to sit out Adversaries Events.

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