Hogwarts Legacymay have a long, drawn-out introduction with tutorials on new features being introduced all the time, but it is worthwhile once players are finally given the freedom to fully explore at their leisure. There are a ton of mechanics that players would be remiss to overlook, such as all the different spells, potions, and flora that they can meld together in an enemy encounter.Hogwarts Legacyfeatures stealth gameplayas a means of a sneakier approach to enemy encounters, but its applications are a little more convoluted.
In a game where magical wand-based spells are so satisfying to cast once learned, it would not be surprising to hear if stealth was less popular than head-on duels. Enemy encounters can be sprung upon the player at a moment’s notice anyhow, and the player needs to have decent practice with parries, counterattacks, and dodges in order to get through a lot ofHogwarts Legacy’s combat challengesunscathed. But while there are a number of options for players to engage in stealth if they wish, a sequel could help distill them by only having a single means of making players invisible.
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Hogwarts Legacy’s Invisibility is Neither Simple Nor Efficient
Hogwarts Legacy’s stealth revolves almost exclusively around the player being able to render themselves temporarily invisible. Instead of having one way to have this effect become active, though, there are two: players can either cast the Disillusionment Charm or drinkHogwarts Legacy’s invisibility potion. Both options only allow the player to be invisible for a brief period of time; however, the player can still be spotted if they are close enough to an enemy without slowly approaching them from behind, and larger actions such as spell-casting remove the invisibility effect.
This is fair in the case of the Disillusionment Charm, which is not technically an invisibility spell, but therefore it makes less sense to rely upon it when invisibility potions become easily craftable inHogwarts Legacy’s Room of Requirement. Stealth is largely helpful since players can get a couple of quick ‘kills’ on enemies patrolling an area, but it pales in comparison to ordinary combat and invisibility is too scatterbrained in design to make it feel truly efficient otherwise.
Hogwarts Legacy’s Sequel Needs to Stick to One Invisibility Option
It would probably be best if stealth continued to include invisibility inthe nextHogwarts Legacygamesince that is a big part of how stealth is depicted inHarry Potterlore. But to make it much more palatable and inviting as a mechanic,Hogwarts Legacyshould narrow its invisibility down to one option.
Having invisibility potions is great gameplay-wise because it requires the player to formulaically collect ingredients and craft with those resources, tying it into other gameplay mechanics. On the other hand, an invisibility cloak would be a wonderful punch of fan service and could be rewarded to players as a key item needed for narrative progression. The difficult part of facilitating an invisibility cloak would be how to balance it since the player could seemingly wear it for an infinite amount of time.
Putting restrictions on the cloak would feel limiting as a result, but making it so that larger actions pull it off the player would likely be a decent compromise. Being able to cast Petrificus Totalus or Alohomora would be crucial while cloaked, but any sort of leap, sprint, or another spell could strip it away. Either way,Hogwarts Legacy’s sequel could easily break down stealth and alter it to be more efficient and nostalgic.
Hogwarts Legacyis out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, with a Switch version coming July 25.
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