Thanks to the immense success of the Harry Potter books, ever since the franchise's earliest, almost scrappy beginnings, Harry Potter games have been many gamers' bread and butter. Now, while it's technically not a Harry Potter, Hogwarts Legacy PC is still set in the same magical universe and the same wonderful setting so many of us know and love from the Harry Potter books.

All cheekiness aside, then, it's easy enough to see why people are so excited about this game. For over two decades, there have been attempts at capturing the joy and mystery of a true Harry Potter adventure, magical beasts and all. Arguably, no game has outright succeded in doing so. Could Hogwarts Legacy be the one, then?

Well, it's our belief that this immersive open-world action game in which you get to freely roam Hogwarts will be! And today, we'd like to present you with an argument as to why that is the case. The wizarding world awaits. This is your chance to create your own adventure. Have fun!

Stay tuned for Hogwarts Legacy PC pre-order - available right here at 2Game!

The Legacy That Brought Us Harry Potter Hogwarts Legacy PC

Over the past several decades, there have been two types of mainline Harry Potter game releases, full of Harry Potter characters. The first was that of the downright phenomenal LEGO Harry Potter titles. These games - developed by the lovely people at TT Games, who are now working on The Skywalker Saga - are verifiable classics. Must-play titles that, over the course of two separate games, basically retread all seven years' worth of Harry Potter narratives in classic LEGO TT fashion.

The second lineup was that of Electronic Arts Harry Potter games. These vary in quality and execution, and most of them fall under the 'mostly meh' category, for what that's worth. The pattern between all these releases, however, is clearly visible even at a glance: Harry Potter himself was all that mattered back then.

Old Harry Potter Games: Where They Any Good?

So, the thing about old Harry Potter games is that they didn't go into much depth about the rest of the universe. Harry himself was the be-all, end-all, and for better or for worse, that worked for the 2000s. Would it work today, though? We reckon that it wouldn't.

Back when Harry Potter was all the rage, video games that touched upon movie and book IPs served as semi-interactive drivers for stories that had already been told. We mentioned a pattern in the previous section: it's the fact that the games never really went off to do their own thing. Instead, it was all about this one character and his motley crew of wizards-and-witches-in-making.

Thankfully, this sort of thing doesn't really fly anymore. We're all but positive that Hogwarts Legacy would've never been pitched back in the day, simply because the franchise hadn't outgrown this one narrative thread. Now that it has, though, the IP can live on through new stories. Best of all, those stories are now open-ended and player-driven, in an open-world adventure for the first time. We are ready for a truly immersive open-world action-adventure set in the Wizarding world, and it looks very much like Hogwarts Legacy could be exactly what we have been waiting for! Your chance to freely roam Hogwarts, and to create your own adventure!

Harry Potter - Hogwarts Legacy PC and Setting the Right Expectations

The only reason we're using the 'Harry Potter' moniker for Hogwarts Legacy is for recognition's sake. Even the fact that Harry's name is nowhere to be found in the official game materials is a victory in and of itself, showing that the franchise, the publisher, the estate, and the developers - Avalanche Software - are finally ready to present something genuinely new and exciting. Indeed, Hogwarts Legacy is set way before the birth of many of the Harry Potter characters we know and love. This truly is something new and different.

And that is precisely what makes Hogwarts Legacy as thrilling as it is. This is the opportunity for both fans new and old to jump right into the open-world universe of Harry Potter, full of its magical beasts, and do something for themselves. Maybe even leave a legacy, hmmm.

As some are bound to know, the Harry Potter IP has been moving past its original hero for some time now, and it's even been rebilled as The Wizarding World. It's hard to sing enough praise for this accomplishment because to waste all of this IP's attained goodwill on just one character would be a mistake. So, Avalanche is doing precisely that - telling us a new story.

Or, rather, with immersive open-world action, letting us tell it ourselves.

What the game will do, and what it won't do

Launching across the board on almost every modern gaming platform - but most importantly PC itself - Hogwarts Legacy is a new sort of Harry Potter game. In fact, it's hardly a Harry Potter game in the first place. Set in the early 19th century Wizarding World, players will get to make their own wizards and witches to adventure with. Yes, this is for you to live your own adventure.

Hogwarts Legacy PC is set to launch sometime during the Holiday season of 2022. A long road ahead, but not overly so.

Instead of adapting existing narratives and materials, this open-world action RPG is all about letting players do their own thing. Naturally, there's a structured story in place, but the game goes far and beyond anything that had been done with this IP in the past.

What's most important, though, is that Hogwarts Legacy takes the parts of Harry Potter that fans treasure the most, and makes a game out of them. This is a unique opportunity to truly experience the Sorting Hat, the potion-making, the exploration of Hogwarts, the magical beasts, and everything else that fans know and love.

In more ways than not, it's a love letter to the IP's true potential, really.

Avalanche Software: Can They Pull Hogwarts Legacy PC Off?

Now, there's a lot of information missing still. No word on system requirements or a proper release date, even. We don't know the scope of the game, and we don't have the exact feature spec just yet. We do know that this will be an attempt at telling the story of going through one's paces at Hogwarts. Nothing more, nothing less.

The question that one might ask, then, is whether the developers can pull this off. Avalanche Software has historically been a Disney-centric AA game studio with few major releases under its belt. All the promotional materials we've seen so far look incredibly promising in most ways that matter, so this may well be Avalanche's ticket into the big leagues.

Naturally, you're going to want to wait and see until there's more info available on the game. At this time, however, it's hard not to recommend careful optimism. If for no other reason, than because this is the "Harry Potter" immersive open-world action game we've been waiting for all these years. And, hell, that's worth a fair bit, we think. The Wizarding World awaits, and let's face it, if you're a fan of the Harry Potter books, you'll want to give Hogwarts Legacy a go! Have fu creating your own adventure!

Stay tuned for Hogwarts Legacy PC pre-order - available right here at 2Game!