Hogwarts Legacy | Release Date, Trailer, News, Gameplay & Story

Hogwarts Legacy is one of the most highly-anticipated games going into 2023. This is something many of us have wanted for years; an open-world, triple-A RPG set in the Harry Potter universe. Now we’ll have the opportunity to experience Hogwarts on the tech of 2022.

In this article we want to provide you with all the key information: the release date, the trailers we've seen so far, the platforms, price, and everything we've heard about the gameplay and the story. But before we kick off there's one thing we need to confirm first, because our readers keep asking about it. Yes, Hogwarts Legacy will have magical beasts for mounts, we won't be relying on brooms alone. Right, let's get into the deets.

Hogwarts Legacy | Release Date

Hogwarts Legacy will be released on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC on Friday, February 10, 2023. The PS4 and Xbox One versions are coming in April, the Nintendo Switch version even later in July. See more details on the Hogwarts Legacy old-gen versions here.

So to all the Harry Potter fans out there, take the day off work and treat yourself to a cozy 3-day weekend in Hogwarts, ideally with snowing fall just outside your window (because you're worth it).

If you pre-order the Deluxe Edition of Hogwarts Legacy , then you get 72-hour early-access, and you can begin playing the game on Tuesday, February 7, 2023 on one of the next-gen consoles or PC.

We haven't heard about a beta yet, and we're not convinced we'll get one. We'll let you know if we hear anything.

Hogwarts Legacy | Trailers

So far we've had a couple of trailers, one that's purely a cinematic and one that shows actual gameplay:

Hogwarts Legacy Reveal Trailer

This one came out over a year before release:

There's something so special about the Harry Potter universe.

Hogwarts Legacy Gameplay Trailer

This one was released at Gamescom 2022:

It confirms the game will have more combat than most were expecting. And we've been using it to confirm a ton of other stuff in the game, but we'll get to the later.

Hogwarts Legacy | Platforms & Price

Portkey Games have confirmed that Hogwarts Legacy will be released on the Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch and PC. There will be a download & disc-based option available to gamers.

Here is the game's current RRP:

Basically, the deluxe version is going to cost you 10 more of whatever currency you're using. In exchange, you get early-access to the game, some exclsuive clothes, and a Thestral mount.

Hogwarts Legacy | Gameplay

We know a lot about the gameplay so far, thankfully.

Character Customization, Companions, and Hogwarts Classes

Character Customization

Portkey Games are including a character customization system that allows us to alter our in-game appearance. However, they haven't identified any details regarding the level of customization in Hogwarts Legacy. We know that different facial scars and hairstyles can be chosen, but not much else has been revealed. We most likely won't see the full depth of this system until Hogwarts Legacy is released.

Once our characters are customized, the storyline will begin with us being sorted into a house (our character is joing Hogwarts late, in the fifth year, but we don't know why yet). We don't know how the sorting works, but we're guessing that the Sorting Hat will ask various questions that we need to answer and depending on the answers provided, we'll be introduced into one of the four houses, which include:

• Gryffindor
• Hufflepuff
• Ravenclaw
• Slytherin

Once we have a house, we can visit the respective common room. These common rooms play a significant role in Hogwarts Legacy, as it's where we'll be returning to sleep, and it's where we'll meet other students (many of whom will offer quests).

Companions

There are some students who we can become really close friends with, these characters become "companions". And companions will assist us with various missions in the open-world environment. But picking the perfect companion won't be an easy task, as each one will have a different personality, and a different set of skills. We know of three possible companions so far:

• Nankai Onia – An adventurous and brave student, she is driven to locate the dark forces at Hogwarts and bring them to justice.
• Poppy Sweeting – This Hufflepuff student has an incredible heart and kinship with magical animals. She connects more easily with magical animals than humans, making her the perfect companion for someone favoring Care of Magical Creatures.
• Sebastian Seller – This charismatic rule-breaker doesn't care about where he goes or who he upsets. He has a troubling family past that he can't seem to escape, and this creates a destructive personality. Because of this, you should be able to find items within the restricted area of Hogwarts with this companion. He sounds like the best companion available to min-maxers.

As you can see they're all stereotypical examples of their respective houses, but we wouldn't want it any other way. We don't know why there's no Ravenclaw companion though, which is a disappointment.

Hogwarts Classes

You will develop your magical skills by attending certain classes. Some classes will be a mandatory part of the story, but others can be attended at your own volition. You can see the available classes below:

• Defense Against the Dark Arts
• Herbology
• Potions
• Charms
• History of Magic
• Care of Magical Creatures
• Divination

Now a lot of you might be thinking: "all I care about is combat magic, so I'll focus on Defense Against the Dark Arts". And while there are dozens of great combat spells in Hogwarts Legacy, we've already seen plants that can be used like grenades, crucial potions that will be neccessary for boss fights, and dozens of magical creatures that will be worth taming. So even if you're combat-focused, you can still develop powerful magic by attening classes like Herbology, Potions and Care of Magical Creatures.

Locations and Exploration in Hogwarts Legacy

If you've got time for a deep-dive on Hogwarts Legacy, then read this article, which details every single location confirmed so far. But to put it briefly: the map of this game will include Hogwarts, and the surrounding area, including Hogsmeade. The surrounding area is massive and will include smaller wizarding villages and combat areas like dungeons. So Hogwarts Legacy should feel more like an open-world than any Harry Potter game we've seen before.

Of course, you will stay within Hogwarts for the first part of the game, but as soon as you know enough to defend yourself you should be free to leave as you see fit. Portkey Games have also confirmed that seasonal environments will affect these areas beyond Hogwarts. But we don't know how the weather changes will affect our spellcasting capabilities or exploration of the overall environment.

Enemies, Spells, and Talents in Hogwarts Legacy

Enemies

Hogwarts Legacy will have different enemies with their own offensive and defensive capabilities. For instance, dark wizards can intermix stunning spells with blasting curses to create brutal combinations for players to overcome. While Trolls will attack with you with brute force. Distinguishing these enemies and their strengths is an integral part of Hogwarts Legacy.

You can find a complete list of every enemy monster confirmed so far here.

Spells

The main weapon in your arsenal is, of course, your spells. Now, if you want to just nerd-out and take a look at every confirmed spell in Hogwarts Legacy, here's a list of all the spells we've seen so far. Don't worry if you don't have time right now, the important thing is that the GOATed Flipendo has made it into the game, phew).

Many of the spells will come naturally as you progress through the story. But we also know that other spells will be optional and up to you to learn. Once you've learned spells you can then choose to "equip" them, and then you can use these equipped spells in combat.

Also, Unforgivable Curses are in the game. But you have to choose to take your character down a dark path in the story if you want to learn these spells. We've seen the Cruciatus Curse (Crucio) and the Killing Curse (Avada Kedavra) with our own eyes, but we haven't seen the Imperius Curse (Imperio) yet.

Talents

Besides spells, you can upgrade your character mechanically by unlocking Talents. These are basically skills, and work like other skill trees do in RPGs. As you level up you can unlock more talents in the Room of Requirements (the Room of Requirement is basically your home base in Hogwarts Legacy, but more on that later). The Talents are divided into five categories in Hogwarts Legacy: Dark Arts, Spells, Core, Stealth, and Room of Requirement.

There will also be challenges that are located throughout the open-world environment of Hogwarts Legacy. You can complete these challenges to earn experience points and further upgrade your talents.

Equipment and Shops in Hogwarts Legacy

Portkey Games will include a looting system for magical weapons and armor. But you'll want to invest in much-needed backup as well. In the Room of Requirement players upgrade their magical gear, weapons, and appearance.

The Room of Requirement plays a significant role in Hogwarts Legacy, because as well as using the room for upgrading, magical potions and plants are created within this area too. These magic potions can aid players with temporary boosts in combat, while magical plants like the mandrake seedling can incapacitate your enemies.

But which magical potions and charms can be developed in the Room of Requirement? For now, I've noticed an invisibility potion that should allow us to avoid enemies for a short timeframe. Otherwise, there wasn't much information about the Room of Requirement.

Hogwarts Legacy | Story

Hogwarts Legacy is set in the 1800s, meaning the storyline of Harry Potter isn’t relevant in this game. We’ll be joining Hogwarts later than normal, in the fifth year, although we don't know why yet. The initial part of the game will focus on learning the basics and acquainting ourselves with Hogwarts, but things quickly change when we’re told that ancient magic runs through our veins. We’ll have to make story-based decisions to determine whether that ancient magic is used for good or evil, and those choices will have an effect on the students around you.

The main thing happening at the world at this time is a Goblin rebellion, led by a character called Ranrok, who is assisted by an evil human Wizard. We don't know exactly how this will work, but the same ancient magic that runs through our veins is somehow connected to this rebellion. Or at least, there's some threat that Ranrok will be able to use this magic to do evil.

If we're forced to compare Hogwarts Legacy to a Harry Potter novel, it will be most similar to the Chamber of Secrets. There's an ancient, evil magic in the world, and we're connected to it, but we can choose to reject it if we don't want to embrace it. At least, that's what we know so far.