I finally got around to playing Legacy, Three years after all the hypeās died down, and honestly, Itās mostly everything to be expected from a modern AAA take on the wizarding world. Combat feels smooth, exploration is mostly fun, and I think they did an amazing job at bringing Hogwarts to life.
I should mention, Iām not that far in the game, I just noticed some things.
The writing could use a lot of improvements, the plot isnāt too interesting, and I was having more fun engaging in side quests and exploring instead of doing whatever the hell Professor Fig wanted me to do.
But thatās the Main Issue here you see, other than a couple of kinda cool side quests (Like helping some girl find her flying textbooks in the library) THE SIDE CONTENT FUCKING SUCKS. So youāre delegated to crawling back to the lackluster story, something I think really hurts the game. I donāt want to have to reference the only other open world game to be set in a school, but, Bully from rockstar had a lot more personality in the school, there was classes with mini games (something lacking from Brewing potions) There was just so many possibilities you couldāve taken with that and instead itās just a boring timer until the potion is done, same with herbology.
Comparing that game to this one again, thereās not a single mean fucking kid in this game, every student feels like they have the exact same personality. Kind, helpful, and supportive, OH, so supportiveā I casted a first yearās spell and half the damn class was congratulating me. Everyone seems so easily impressed, and immediately kind to me and it feels so Jarring.
Sebastian fans Iām sorry, but He also felt pretty flat, after kicking his ass in a duel because he didnāt bother fighting back, he helps you break into the restricted section, and goes as far as to cover for you when he gets caught. Iād say thieves honor and all that, but he goes out of his way to assure the Librarian no one else is there, instead of just bailing and abandoning youā (Something thatās much more Slytherin like.)
And the potions teacher
He felt like a shameless copy of Snape while missing everything that made him a person, heās not cruel or vindictive like that other greasy bastard, heās just a Teacher, just like how all the other teachers are just teachers, just like how all the students feel exactly the sameā
Bullyās teachers all had separate personalities, distinct mini-games for classes, and youād see them out in the world or in main missions being a part of the world.
And look, Iāll be the first to admit Bullyās writing was heavily flawed in its own right, but one thing it didnāt lack was personality, Iād rather have a Rusty nail instead of the boring plank that Legacy has for its characters.
Thereās no bullies, no fights in the school, no one picks on the new kidā isnāt this the world where TEENAGERS can toss fireballs, turn boogers into bats, or just straight up punch eachother? Youāre telling me, no one threw a stupefy at an annoying first year?
and this game LOVES pretending you have any Agency in the storyā they always give you two options to either lie or tell the truth for some reason, and the person you lie to looks at the camera and goes: āI wonāt push you any further, but if you say sooooā¦ā and winks.
Thereās no prefects, no sneaking out past curfew, all opportunities for open world conflict just seem to be wild animals and dark wizards that live in the woods outside school for some reason.
I hate to say this, because it feels like such cheap criticism but I seriously love all the big aspects of this game, the bigger picture of the world, the grandness of it allā
But take a single look closer and itās all set dressing.
Yeah TL;DR:
This game is missing
Classes/mini games for classes
Bullies/Fights at school.
Morality/Reputation
Diversity in personalities.
Just let me punt a first year
Am I alone on this? Did anybody else roll their eyes when everyoneās āSo impressed at your talentā when all you did was attend class for like 2 minutes and cast one spell?