Posted in: Games, Hogwarts Legacy, Video Game Publishers, Video Games, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment | Tagged: Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, Hogwarts, Hogwarts Legacy, Portkey Games, WB Games

Will Hogwarts Legacy Be A Replacement For Harry Potter: Wizards Unite?

It has been almost two months since Niantic performed the Killing Curse on Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. Their mobile game invited players to enter into a narrative that took place after J. K. Rowlings' beloved book series and featured characters such as Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley. Together, the player collaborated with the fan-favorite case as well as new characters to fight back against the Calamity, which was a powerful spell that saw magical memories coming to life in the real world, threatening to expose the Wizarding World. The game struggled to find an audience and, thus, Niantic and WB Games ended it. It has been rendered unplayable. Many players of this game have hope that the next Harry Potter game, the upcoming Hogwarts Legacy, will be a replacement for Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. Now, I'm a big HP fan myself and covered HP:WU in-depth… so let's take a look at the first gameplay trailer for Hogwarts Legacy which came out this past Thursday (check out Bleeding Cool's coverage here) from the lens of someone who is looking for a game to fill the hole left by Wizards Unite.

• Narrative: The story seems compelling and lets the player fulfill the fantasy of going to Hogwarts in a more customizable way than any previous game. It has a huge leg up on HP:WU in this respect. The one thing that we don't get is the joy of interacting with Harry and his friends, as the timeline of this is simply different than HP:WU.
• Differences: The big difference is that, of course, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite was a real-world AR game. This is an immersive video game. That's obvious, but there's part of that which actually worked in HP:WU's favor besides the adventure of going outside. HP:WU felt more like the books because the narrative was text-based. It was very much a reader's game. The appeal of this feels broader, which will likely help it be a much, much bigger hit than the mobile HP:WU, but the fun of reading new Harry Potter stories won't be a bit part of this. This is a difference and neither a terrific nor damning one.
• Verdict: While it lacks some of the aspects that made Harry Potter: Wizards Unite charming, this game looks like it will take the Wizarding World's video game offerings to the next level. It won't mend that broken heart, but it will show you that there's excitement to be had in this universe in a way that seemed unimaginable in the past. HP:WU felt small and personal, while Hogwarts Legacy seems boundless in scope. The game looks incredible and is, frankly, everything that many Harry Potter fans have wanted. Time will tell if it'll live up to the hype but as someone excited for the franchise even beyond HP:WU which I also loved, this feels like it's going to exceed expectations.

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