Enchanting game...for those who don't expect too much.
The good:
Huge hogwarts to roam-Lots of lovely detail-revisit most of the locations seen in previous Potter films-great arsenal of spells-great interaction with magical objects-excellent score & sound effects
The bad:
Zombie like AI- All NPCs look the same- Lots of bugs/glitches- Wobbly textures- character detail is poor
After reading a dozen reviews of this game i got the idea that it would not be fun at all because every review i read said that it was bad in so many aspects and others said it was unplayable.
When i got the chance i decided to see for myself.
So, the first level i already got a bad impression from the mediocre graphics and the speech which is out of sync from the subtitles. Next, i noticed that the camera view is kinda dodgy. It was jerky and jolty. For example i crossed one side of the room and it suddenly jerked to another angle.
And then i was trying to learn spells from the brief description which Sirius gave me. And after many failed attempts i got rather frustrated.
It was later than i realised that to cast a spell you must press the button combination and hold it and then release. It felt so good when i finally mastered it.
It almost feels like you are harry potter. (i said ALMOST).
As i got further through the game i began to adjust to the camera. Yes it happens to be a bit jerky but apart from that it is quite cinematic and even more dramatic than a regular camera but i would personally prefer a camera which is placed behind Harry...perhaps even an adjustable camera. It's not asking a lot!
If you want to get an idea of what the camera is like: it's similar to that of Grim fandango.
I saw complaints about the save game feature. "you cannot save your game whenever you like, you must complete a mission in order to save". This is untrue. You just need to "EXIT" the game, then you are taken to the main menu. You can save your game from there and then if you want to carry on playing...you just press "RESUME".
Well when i got to hogwarts it was then things began to get a bit more interesting.
There is a lot of detail put into the textures and objects and it really brings a whole new feel to the game.
I cannot begin to expllain how large hogwarts is!
Seriously! Apart from the quidditch field, hogsmeade, slytherin common room, chamber of secrets and divination class...EVERYTHING you have seen (of hogwarts) in the films are there! Hospital wing, potions class, your common room, the clock tower, classrooms, hagrids hut...etc!
You will get lost in hogwarts and one point or another. But you are (luckily?) given this extra where you mark your destination on the map and some footsteps will appear on the floor and lead you to your destination.
They do occasionally get annoying and so sometimes the game doesn't feel like free roam because those darn little footsteps are pressurising you to go somewhere. Thankfully, sometimes the footsteps will just disappear for no apparent reason (some strange bug) and it's then when you must save your game so you can roam hogwarts much more freely.
Hogwarts for once feels quite alive! Moving portraits, ghosts, moving staircase...it's all there!
Of course there are a lot of portraits so expect them to look like animated gifs and expect repetition.
The game has cutscenes taken from the Next gen versions of the game. They are quite a nice extra but they give the game a rushed feeling because lots have been taken out and they are quite short and skip between scenes without transition.
Hogwarts has it's nice features but is a bit quiet and lacks people. There are some people here and there but all they do is stand around, perhaps scratch their head, look around or check their shoes.
They are a bit dull and if they aren't slytherin you can't hurt them unfortunately.
The wonderful soundtrack and many realistic sound effects make up for this emptiness.
The music is lovely and brings the game to a whole new level but it rarely plays. The sound effects, though, are also great. They play a crucial part in this game. When you walk on metal it will have an echoey sound which rings out, when you destroy a water pipe you will hear the splashes of water and on the whole the sound effects are just brilliant.
Some of the voice actors aren't very good and also there is occasionally no speech...only subtitles.
The missions. I have seen lots of complaints about these.
Alright, yes they are mostly fetch quests. You roam around hogwarts looking for kids that need help and you help them out. Some tasks include: Going to a girl and ask her if she's interested in someone, collecting recourses for someones' homework etc. But also there are people around hogwarts being attacked or teased by slitherins and you can use your surroundings or your large new arsenal of spells against them.
Such as: you could pour a bucket of water over them, stick a pumpkin on their head or DUEL them.
The game gives you the chance to duel whenever you see someone in need and a kid who needs to be taught a lesson.
It's enjoyable and for once, requires a bit of skill in order to win.
It can even be challenging at times.
I'm not sure if i have covered everything, but let me just tell you now.
I was pleased with this game! I think it's great that you can roam all of hogwarts and interact with so many objects!
I don't like having to hold onto X to sprint and there are some other little annoyances but on the whole the game is good.
You need to be quite a tolerant person to play this game because there are some frequent bugs in the game that can interfere with gameplay.
I give it 7.5. I wish i could give it more but there isn't that much to the game. It's basically just Hogwarts to explore, yes a lot of detail, a lot of spells (15), duelling ,etc but some annoyances just bring the quality of the game down.
Thank you for reading my review.
Please check out my other reviews! :D
If you have any queries or require any information, don't hesitate to ask.