Hogwarts Legacy opens with a dragon, a Portkey, and a goblin named Ranrok. Avalanche Software’s action RPG puts you in the boots of a fifth-year student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The game came out in 2023 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch 2, PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. It is a single-player, third-person adventure.
Trailer, via Hogwarts Legacy.
A Fifth-Year With Ancient Magic
You arrive late. A letter from Professor Matilda Weasley confirms your enrollment, and Professor Eleazar Fig becomes your mentor. Fig escorts you from London by flying coach, a dragon attacks, and the two of you grab a Portkey hidden inside an artefact. That lands you in the Scottish Highlands, then in a Gringotts vault, where you learn you can see traces of ancient magic. Ranrok, a hostile goblin, confronts you before you escape to Hogwarts.
The setup does real work. You are not an established hero from the novels. The story takes place in the 1890s, a century before the Harry Potter books, in a period largely untouched by established Wizarding World characters. Avalanche designed it that way on purpose. Your student holds the key to a secret that threatens to tear the wizarding world apart, and only you decide whether to protect it or reach for something darker.
The Map Chamber and the Keepers
The plot moves through familiar beats. You sneak into the library, find a book with missing pages, and locate a secret room below Hogwarts called the Map Chamber. There you meet the portraits of four deceased professors who call themselves the Keepers. Their goal is to keep ancient magic hidden from the wizarding world. To uncover it, you complete four trials, each leading to a Pensieve, the device used to store and review memories.
Those memories introduce Isidora Morganach, a former student and later professor with abilities like yours. She clashed with the Keepers. The companion characters get their own arcs. Natsai Onai, Poppy Sweeting, Sebastian Sallow, and Ominis Gaunt each get real screen time, and the antagonists Ranrok and Victor Rookwood give the back half a spine.
Classes, Brooms, and a Talent Tree
Attending classes is not optional. It unlocks mechanics, including broom flight. You learn spells, brew potions, and build a combat style that becomes yours by the end. Experience points come from quests and challenges, and a separate talent tree lets you shape what kind of wizard you become.
The four houses matter. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin each get a unique common room open only to members, plus exclusive quests. The Sorting Hat guides your choice, and you pick whether to live in a witch or wizard dormitory. Character creation covers appearance, voice, and complexion.
A Castle That Earns the Name
Hogwarts Castle is the star. You explore it and the surrounding areas, including the village of Hogsmeade and the Scottish Highlands. You discover fantastic beasts, craft potions, and upgrade talents. The open-world structure gives you room to wander, and the third-person camera keeps you close to the action.
The production is not small. Warner Bros. acquired Avalanche Software in 2017, and Hogwarts Legacy became the studio’s first project unrelated to Disney Interactive Studios since 2005. It was officially announced in 2020 and cost an estimated $150 million to produce. That money shows in the castle’s detail and the scale of the Highlands.
The cast is deep. Simon Pegg voices Headmaster Phineas Nigellus Black. Lesley Nicol plays Professor Matilda Weasley. Nicholas Guy Smith plays Professor Eleazar Fig. Sebastian Croft and Amelia Gething voice the protagonist. Asif Ali, Luke Youngblood, Kandace Caine, and Sohm Kapila round out the students and professors.
The Controversy Around the Game
Hogwarts Legacy arrived with a fight attached. It drew controversy over Harry Potter creator J. K. Rowling’s views on transgender people and accusations of antisemitic tropes, leading to calls for a boycott. That context is part of the game’s story, and any review that skips it is leaving something out.
What matters is that the game does not dodge its source material. Avalanche emphasised that the game should resemble the Harry Potter novels while expanding beyond known locations. It does both. The result is a world that feels like the books without being trapped by them.
The elements that carry the experience:
- Hogwarts Castle and the surrounding Highlands.
- The companion quests tied to Natsai Onai, Poppy Sweeting, Sebastian Sallow, and Ominis Gaunt.
- The combat and talent systems.
- The main ancient-magic plot.
- The villain thread with Ranrok and Victor Rookwood.
Hogwarts Legacy is not a perfect game. The castle, the classes, and the companions do the heavy lifting. The production budget is visible in every corridor, and the 1890s setting gives Avalanche room the novels never had. The game proves that a Wizarding World title can stand on its own without leaning on the established heroes of the novels. Avalanche built a place, not a tribute act. That is the part worth watching.
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