“DOES IT GET ANY MORE COZY than Hogsmeade?” The first time you hear this refrain in Hogwarts Legacy, the new blockbuster video game based on the Harry Potter franchise, you may find yourself agreeing with your character who has just said it. The higgledy-piggledy Hogsmeade Village is indeed cozy, a market town filled with a plethora of shops selling various wizarding wares. Then, as you hear the phrase for the fifth, tenth, and 15th time, you may begin to feel as if the long-in-development video game is trying too hard to convince you of this fact. Its repetition sums up almost the entire emotional register of Hogwarts Legacy—the wish-fulfillment fantasy of inhabiting the Potterverse it offers and the lack of confidence with which it does so. This is an insecure game, one you can tell is buckling under the weight of everything that accompanies it: the internet discourse, fan expectations, and J.K. Rowling herself.
When Hogwarts Legacy was announced in September 2020, it appeared that developer Avalanche Software was cooking up an open-world role-playing game to finally scratch the magical-boarding-school itch after years of subpar adaptations of this kind. The trailer spoke of players adding their “own story” to the “hallowed walls” of Hogwarts and “shaping the future” of the Wizarding World. For a generation of readers who grew up wishing they’d received a Hogwarts acceptance letter, it seemed like the next best thing. Warner Bros., the owner of the Harry Potter IP, clearly wanted this game to appeal to everyone and all playstyles, and that first preview tried to preemptively address the divided cultural waters into which it would be released. “Magic,” the trailer said, “binds together our long history.”
This story is from the February 27 - March 12, 2023 edition of New York magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the February 27 - March 12, 2023 edition of New York magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Our Campus.Our Crisis.
Inside the encampments and crackdowns that shook American politics.
Middle Management
A 40-something woman undergoes asexual awakening in Miranda July’s thrilling new work.
Return to Guantánamo
Serial dusts off American terror's old machinery.
Chekhov, Misfiring
An Uncle Vanya that’s all talk.
The Art World's Pot Stirrer Returns
Maurizio Cattelan’s first solo gallery show in more than 20 years is a provocative commentary on America’s ills.
On Normani's Time
Five years into her solo career, the pop star's debut album is finally imminent. She's not sorry for the wait.
French Quarter Seafood in Fort Greene
Lots of oysters and fillets of fish inspired by Nobu at Strange Delight.
Where Does the Wine Bar End and the Restaurant Begin?
Pét-nats, pan roasts, and a lobster on the loose at Penny and Demo.
Trial-and-Error Arcadia
Kitty Hawks and Larry Lederman's Chappaqua gardens have been a three-decade-long journey.
The Trash and Treasures of Temu
How are these headphones 4.98? And everything else you've wondered about the chaotic new Everything Store.