The report also mentions being able to change body type, but will that mean a standard male or female silhouette, or more in-depth customisations of height and weight too? Where Cyberpunk 2077 included a brilliant trans character in Claire, most of the world felt incredibly binary, and I also fear that in Hogwarts Legacy, the only trans character featured will be you. This way, they get trans inclusion for those that want it, and neatly trim it out for those who don’t, which sits quite firmly on the fe

Going back to Persona , that initial thought may not be far off from how this game works. The trailer talks about students managing bonds with others, showing players go through various activities from classrooms to just sitting around. It is a great premise to emulate for a game based on the Harry Potter universe. No one has really copied Atlus in this way yet so it’s about t

I know the devs are working hard. I know a lot of them are very good people. But this is true of literally every game. All devs work hard. Unless you buy every video game released each year to show how much you love video game developers, sympathy for the devs just doesn’t wash as a rea

Hogwarts Legacy will feature a character creation tool for players to customize their witch or wizard. Avalanche is yet to reveal more information regarding what level of customization the character creation tool will have. However, we do know that the players will be able to choose their character's voice, gender, and body type, and it is likely that different outfits and uniforms will also be available. The characters featured in the reveal trailer can be seen sporting different versions of Hogwarts uniforms which include the classic, dark robe-and-cloak, but also a new brown waistcoat suit alteration with the house's emblem embroidered on the side, which plays nicely into the era the story takes place

Even if the story won't be in any way linked to the characters fans remember from the books and films, it may possess tonal similarities. We know that Hogwarts Legacy will focus on ancient magic that only your character is able to understand and use, and that player choices will be one of the main pillars of the game's mechanics. Knowing this, it is only logical to assume that the same fight between good and evil that fans will remember from the books will play a significant role in the game's narrative, and will likely represent a more internal struggle in the player's character decisions when it comes to giving in to the temptation of evil, or doing the right th

While there might be something worth saying about the possibility of having the game choose randomly, no one wants to play under a banner they haven't associated with for years. Competing for house points should reach new heights in Hogwarts Legacy, and it's something to look forward to (or fight ov

Cyberpunk 2077 is easily the biggest game to push a transgender character creator to the forefront, and I’ll be returning to that in time, but first I think there’s a big question to be asked: does Hogwarts Legacy’s trans inclusive character creator make any difference? My answer is a rather blunt ‘no

Hogwarts Legacy was heavily leaked up to two years before the reveal trailer was published. These leaks featured screenshots of an intricate character creation tool and gameplay footage that turned out to be very similar to the gameplay that was unveiled in the official trailer in 2020. However, further details surrounding character customization and gameplay are still forthcoming, meaning players know fairly little about Hogwarts Legacy's most intricate deta

The game should make the place similarly deadly. Students should be able to explore but keep their wits about them in case something scary comes their way, while entry could also lead to punishments like house points being docked or even detention. Adding consequence would up the risk and, therefore, excitement

I’m not sure Hogwarts Legacy’s trans character creator makes that big of a difference to the game’s place in the industry, what it represents, or whether it absolves the game of any of JK Rowling’s baked-in guilt. It certainly doesn’t change how I feel about it. Hopefully, though, it can at least be a helpful stepping stone for a triple-A game to one day get trans representation right from start to finish. Until then, yet again the game industry is moving two steps forward, one step b

Yet, while that’s the case, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Many of Harry’s teachers are just as intriguing as the Boy Who Lived himself, and it would be great for Hogwarts Legacy to include a similar bunch of characters with questionable approaches to the education sector. If not, then things could get rather bland and make the world less interesting as a res

This is where Cyberpunk 2077 comes back in. That too had no non-binary option - presumably non-binary folk went extinct in approximately 2056 - although unlike Hogwarts Legacy beginner guide Legacy, it linked voice to pronoun choice, so at least Hogwarts Legacy appears to be going one better. I suppose while it doesn’t change my thoughts on the game, I am happy that it exists, if only so other games can learn from it. Cyberpunk’s trans representation wasn’t great, but the character creator - flawed as it was - broke an important boundary. Now Hogwarts Legacy is following in its footsteps, though it remains to be seen just how far it will improve upon