Hogwarts Legacy review roundup: 'the Harry Potter RPG I've always wanted to play'

Hype for Hogwarts Legacy has reached fever pitch, but how do critics feel about the new Harry Potter game?

(Credit: Warner Bros. Games)

Hogwarts Legacy is one of the most anticipated games of this year, but have critics fallen under its spell?

The game has already become a permanent fixture atop Steam’s best-selling games list and is on course to be a commercial success. However, with all the controversy surrounding Harry Potter’s creator JK Rowling, the critical reception was bound to be divisive.

Hogwarts Legacy is currently sitting on an Opencritic score of 86 after 52 critic reviews, and 92% of critics would recommend the Wizarding World. The score means Hogwarts Legacy could end up on our best PS5 games and best Xbox Series X games list in the future, but we’ll have to play it ourselves first.

➡️ The Shortcut Skinny: Hogwarts Legacy reviews

• 🧙‍♀️ Hogwarts Legacy has an Opencritic score of 86 after 52 critic reviews

• 👍 That means 92% of critics would recommend the game

• 💰 Hogwarts Legacy costs $69.99 and a Deluxe Edition is available for $79.99

• 📆 It’s coming to PS4, Xbox One and Switch at a later date

IGN said Hogwarts Legacy is “the Harry Potter RPG I’ve always wanted to play”, awarding the game a 9 out of 10. “Its open-world adventure captures all the excitement and wonder of the Wizarding World with its memorable new characters, challenging and nuanced combat, and a wonderfully executed Hogwarts student fantasy that kept me glued to my controller for dozens of hours.”

Press Start felt the same as IGN and gave Hogwarts Legacy a 9 out of 10. “Hogwarts Legacy is the Wizarding World game that fans have dreamt of for years. It offers a dense and rich open-world to explore complemented perfectly by a surprisingly robust and engaging combat system unlike anything else. While the story does live in the shadow of its predecessors, and managing gear can be repetitive, Hogwarts Legacy is a truly magical experience and utterly bewitching from beginning to end.”

VGC also enjoyed the game, awarding it a 4 out of 5, saying: “Hogwarts Legacy brilliantly captures the magic of the world of Harry Potter with its beautiful open world, engaging characters and exciting combat. While the open-world elements of the game make it feel more dated than we'd have liked, it's otherwise the best the Wizarding World has been in a video game.”

GamesRadar wasn’t quite as charmed as other outlets by Hogwarts Legacy but still gave the game 3.5 out of 5. “Hogwarts Legacy is a solid first attempt. If Avalanche can be accused of anything, it's that the studio has tried to do too much all at once. Something was always going to give – between the massive open world, the messy RPG economy, exciting action combat, and adventure story that wants to cast you as a hero with homework due on Monday. But you can see a world in which a sequel sands down some of the rougher edges, and settles into a finer balance between the demands of an interactive experience and the lore of the wizarding world.”

Hogwarts Legacy launches on February 10 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. A PS4 and Xbox One version will release on April 4, followed by a Nintendo Switch port on July 25.