There are few movie franchises as fervently supported as those of Harry Potter and related universe, and even fewer book series. You just have to visit Warner's Harry Potter Studio Tour in the UK to know just how much these stories and characters mean to children and adults alike, as they stream from the location bedecked in expensive replica cloaks waving their newly acquired wands.

So it seems odd, perhaps, that the Potterverse has been relatively passed over in gaming terms. We've had a few mobile titles (of varying success), some so-so movie tie-ins and a smattering of Lego platformers, but few that expand on the lore and theme. In comparison to Star Wars, say, it has been hugely underserved.

That's why Hogwarts Legacy is so important for both Warner Bros Games and the enormous fan base. It's the first game to put you into the shoes of a fresh student attending the most famous of schools for witchcraft and wizardry. And, it tells an all-new story, to boot.

Thankfully, it's also rather good. Here's why.

Role with it

Hogwarts Legacy is a full-fledged action role-playing game, with stats, loot, combat and an immersive, lengthy story that plays out across around 40 hours - 70 if you also partake in the many side quests. It is set in the late 1800s, approximately 100 years before Harry Potter first steps into Hogwarts' Great Hall and 30 before Newt Scamander writes his book on magical beasts. That allows developer Avalache and Portkey Games somewhat free licence to present a story that's otherwise previously untold.

You play a brand-new attendee of Hogwarts, who has the largely rare honour of starting school as a fifth year student, and so is around 15 years old. This enables the game to feature more mature themes and offer a robust combat system that includes the sort of peril that wouldn't feel right if the protagonist was 11.

You create a character from scratch, choosing your gender and look, even the pitch of your voice, although talents and spells come later - so everyone essentially starts with the same basic set of skills and abilities. It soon becomes apparent that you are no mere witch or wizard though, as your past and connection to the world of "ancient magic" are part of the mystery tour you'll undertake.

Along the way, you'll learn of a large array of defensive, offensive and useful spells from the teachers and professors at the school, plus acquire countless items of clothing from chests and fallen enemies that'll boost your character's ability to dish out and take damage. So far so RPG. Later into the 10-hour tutorial period of the game, you'll also get to assign talent points that will power-up your spells and skills, and unlock other handy tools - such as the option to select additional spells through an on-screen directional menu.

In many respects, Hogwarts Legacy feels like the Potterverse's Knights of the Old Republic - an in-depth, lore-filled role-player that is unrestricted by previosly unknown characters and plots. And, like that classic Star Wars game, it grounds everything in familiar locations that, it must be said, will have Potter fans squealing like uprooted Mandrakes.

Back to school

The game is based in a pretty massive open-world setting featuring Hogwarts itself and a decent-sized surrounding area. The village of Hogsmeade and the Forbidden Forest are included, but so too are a number of smaller hamlets and caves to explore. Indeed, everything about the game world is set up for exactly that - exploration. It is crammed with secrets, puzzles, NPC encounters and general points of interest that a Harry Potter fan will happily spend hours visiting.

This includes the multiple shops in the aforementioned village, which even has its own branch of Olivander's where you'll acquire your wand of choice. Even they have Easter Eggs and interactive elements that won't necessarily progress the storyline, but will sate your sense of discovery. There are plenty of other merchants around the lands to find, talk to and buy from too.

The main star though is Hogwarts. It is huge and fully realised, allowing you to visit pretty much every nook and cranny mentioned in the books, movies and much more besides. It looks incredible, has moving portraits on every wall, and is bursting with interactivity - from minor animations to puzzles that extol plentiful rewards. It's a thrill to just travel around its hallways and grounds, even when not on a mission, as there is so much to find and do. You'll be given side and main quests that will encourage it, but an inquiring mind will discover so much more. We spent a good hour or two just running around, taking it all in.

In terms of the story, once you've been assigned to a House by the Sorting Hat (which asks you some questions and makes a suggestion that you can take or ignore), you'll mainly find yourself zipping from class to class, learning spells, how to brew potions, and growing your own plants in Herbology. These are all a means to an end, as everything taught will undoubtedly become useful as the plot thickens.

This becomes especially true once you are freed of having to visit classrooms each time you need to brew a new concoction or produce resources. Around 10 hours into the game (if you also do the side missions to that point), you get your own area in the Room of Requirement to do pretty much everything you need. It also means you don't need to travel around as much, although the game offers fast travel anyway through a Floo Network of points dotted around the map - once you've visited one, you can jump to it again any time you like.

Perhaps the most important uses of the skills, potions and spells you learn come during combat - which is where the gameplay perhaps excels most.

Sparks of joy

Combat in Hogwarts Legacy is, perhaps surprisingly, deep and involving considering the subject matter. It is based on combos and quick-fire ranged attacks, with main spells and rapid, basic casts switched between for the best results. There's a targeting system, to allow you to switch between foes, and defensive blocking through a Protego spell that erects a short-lived magical ball around you.

These can also be further exploited for the likes of well-timed blocks, which stupefy opponents, and a dodge mechanic that enables you to roll out of the way. Later-on, you also get the chance to transport over short distances to further evade attacks and get around enemies. In fact, the amount of different moves on offer are reminiscent of more complex action RPGs, asking for strategy and dexterity that belies the sort of button mashing we expected.

It can also present a decent challenge at the highest difficulty level, and with four to choose from - story to hard - there should be enough there for all ages.

Where the youngest might struggle though is in the puzzles. Most are optional and there to reward you with extra items or in-game cash, but some can be a little tricky to solve, while others require quite a bit of controller manipulation. There are Merlin challenges scattered around outside the walls of Hogwarts that are solvable using different spells, some require you to dash between columns though that lower into the ground and rest if you're not fast enough. We can imagine these being a bit tough for smaller children.

The school itself also house many puzzles, including brain-teasers and those that are timing-based. There are also collectibles just about everywhere, including pages for the field guide you carry around with you, that serves as an encyclopedia on all things Hogwarts. Collecting them also gifts you different customisation skins for clothing and the like. Rarely is there anything in the game that isn't useful, and that's its main charm. In many ways, it reminds us of the Fable series of RPGs for Xbox and PC - there's something to behold everywhere you go.

Talking heads

The game is thick with dialogue too. Almost everyone you meet has plenty to say for themselves - sometimes to give you a story or side mission, sometimes just a comment that adds to the ambiance.

Unfortunately, this is one area that is less polished than others. While much of the talking is important and well-written, it is not always well acted. The main characters and your in-game friends are fine, but many of the extras you meet either have pretty poor accents or a strange tone to their voice that suggests adults were often cast to play classmates. On top of this, the sound mix for voices seems off - it feels detached from the game itself. The lip sync is reasonable enough, but the voices kind of float in the air rather than feeling integrated with any background noises.

It's reminiscent of listening to an audiobook or radio play, whereby different actors voice different parts but without the impression that they are in a specific location. Games today are generally excellent at getting the voice acting spot on, so it seems odd this doesn't. However, it's a relatively minor quibble when everything else is taken into context.

It's a foible that's certainly not mirrored by the truly excellent Potter movie-esque score and the visuals, which are superb throughout. Hogwarts and its grounds are beautifully rendered and exploration of the world is rewarded by some excellent vistas. Interiors are wonderfully crafted too, with detail packed into every crevice. There are some missions outside the school that are especially fantastical - so much so, you can be forgiven for just standing around and taking in the view, forgetting that a legion of huge spiders are lurking right behind you.

Avalanche Software has provided five graphics modes to choose from too, with a fidelity mode providing the best resolution at the sacrifice of frame rate (it's 30fps), while performance mode drops the sharpness a touch for a seemingly stable 60fps.

There are also balanced, high frame rate and ray tracing modes too. The latter wasn't working fully during our review period sadly (it will be up and running from day one through a patch), while you need a VRR-enabled TV to get the most from HFR mode.

In all honesty, we found performance mode to be an excellent compromise and the 60 frames per second made everything move much better. It's great to have different options, though.

Verdict

You might have gathered by now that we're Harry Potter fans ourselves and, to that end, this game was always going to appeal to us at some level. However, it is better than we could have hoped. The gameplay isn't particularly innovative, but it takes some of the best bits from plenty of our favourite RPGs and puts them in a setting that delights at every turn.

Admittedly, someone who hasn't already been gripped by Potter fever in the past will feel like they've been hit by a Confundus charm, as the plot and entire game presumes at least some knowledge of the franchise. You'll certainly struggle to get the most from it, anyway.

But those who have been known to wave around a stick in front of the bedroom mirror will adore Hogwarts Legacy, even with the often detached voice acting. Combat is especially impressive, and the sheer weight of lore is enough to keep you more than happy to plow hours on end into the journey. Some things really are worth waiting for.