Thursday, May 3, 2018

Finally Got My Letter from Hogwarts... Sort of



Some people wanted to be a doctor when they were kids. Some wanted to be a teacher. Well, others just wanted to receive a letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery is a role-playing video game that is based on the Harry Potter book series by J.K. Rowling. It was developed by Jam City and was published by Portkey Games. It was released on April 25 for the Android and iOS devices.

The game will let you create your own avatar, choose the gender and customize the appearance. At Hogwarts, you’ll choose which house you would like to be sorted into. You’ll have to attend classes, learn spells and potions, interact with other students, earn house points, and explore Hogwarts.



The story of the game takes place between the birth of Harry Potter and his years at Hogwarts, and it focuses on a Hogwarts student that is troubled by the mysteries involving his/her older brother and the infamous Cursed Vaults.


The gameplay is very simple, just wait for the energy meter to fill up and then click. Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery reminds me of other mobile games such as Kim Kardashian: Hollywood and Zombies Ate My Friends. They’re similar due to having to wait for some minutes or hours just to refill the energy meter to complete a task.



It lacks action in its gameplay, which I think could have made the game a bit better. It does have a duel system though, which is basically a variation of rock-paper-scissor. But I did enjoy the trivia questions and making choices based on how you would respond in certain situations and conversations.

The game is a bit too linear. Not enough side quests or mini-games outside the main storyline. The developers could have added more to it such as collecting special items, or improving the friendship system, maybe they could have let the players interact with other students outside a task to improve their relationship. They could have also added mini-games like taking care of your pet owl or wizard chess.



I do think that the game doesn’t have enough items and choices for the appearance and clothes. Customizing isn’t as fun for me because the clothes are very limited. There aren’t enough variations of Hogwarts wizard robes, plus the items are a bit too expensive.



The story is quite intriguing, but the main plot feels unoriginal, an older family member linked to a dark past, an egotistic rival, a nerdy best friend, and a protagonist looking to clear his/her family name. But I did like that there are familiar students we’ll get to interact with, Nymphadora Tonks and Bill Weasley, and seeing and learning from professors such as Professor Snape, Professor Hooch, and Professor Dumbledore.



At some extent, I still enjoy the game due to my curiosity for the story, but due to very limited energy, I only play it for about five minutes and wait for an hour or until my energy meter fills up until I open the app again. I don’t think everyone would appreciate the game or have enough patience for it, but if you’re already a fan of the Harry Potter franchise, I would recommend you to give this game a try.

Rating: 6.5 / 10

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