God of War Ragnarok may now be available, but there’s no shortage of titles to look forward to. One release that remains enticing on the horizon is Hogwarts Legacy, and developer Avalanche decided to feed our excitement with over 40 minutes of PS5 gameplay footage, covering the character creator to a brief tour of Hogwarts. In short, it looks incredible. The team did an amazing job making every single hallway of the famous wizarding school feel unique, and while it might not be as interactive as you’d hoped, it’s bursting with activity as students congregate outside classrooms and teachers go about their business. As open world games go, this is certainly a very unique setting. The video confirms that there will be no programming system, so unlike titles like Bully, your classes will be part of the main mission structure. The loop is clearly inspired by most modern sandbox games, as you quickly discover travel spots, collectibles, and quests from fellow students. The discussions seem a generation behind something like Horizon Forbidden West, but to be fair, Guerrilla has set a high bar to beat. The gameplay wraps up with some combat, which seems quite complex, but refreshingly original. Essentially, you can assign different spells to four spots on the HUD, and then you’ll need to use different colored attacks to break your opponents shields. You can also fight back by guarding at the last minute, like for example in Marvel’s Spider-Man games. Overall, we are impressed. We’ve waited almost a lifetime for a game like this, and while it’s clear the developer had to make compromises – no playable Gobstones, for example – you can already tell it’s going to be an amazing open world to explore. What do you think of the showcase?
