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Cant believe people think Hogwarts Legacy is GOTY material

Mossybrew

Member
Yeah, game was good but not great. Which is fine, I got my money's worth of enjoyment, but not GOTY material. Then again, I don't think the latest Zelda is GOTY material either. Opinions.
 

Hugare

Gold Member
It nailed almost everything it should in order to be good

But the story and characters, man ... So boring

HP fans are now adults. Make a game with a more mature story, ffs.

The movies (and books) understood the passage of time so they got more and more mature

This game with better characters/story/writting could be easily better than Spider-man 2, for example

But instead we got a game that was barely better than any other Ubisoft open world

EDIT: Just saw someone saying that it was better than Witcher 3. Wild.
 
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StueyDuck

Member
How was it any worse than any other game this year?

I personally would not say it is the game of this year but nothing this year was all that special or doing anything interesting or new.

Literally anything is as good as anything else, just depends on what your preference is.

If something was so genre defining or impressive that it was unanimous then I'd understand.
 

Cashon

Banned
I've played a few hours of it and can see that it is a well-made game that had a lot of love put into it. There's plenty of variation in things to do, a fun combat system (stealth or wands blazing), RPG elements, a huge amount of places to explore and lore to find, open-world flying at pretty much any time as long as you're not inside, mostly good graphics, great voice-acting, and a fun story.

If it were nominated as a Game of the Year contender, I wouldn't bat an eye, because what other game that came out this year does all of this and at least feels a little new? One could say Spider-Man 2 (maybe not so much on the exploration), but as I've been seeing and hearing more and more since release, that game seems to really feel like more of the same. I'd say Hogwarts Legacy, if nothing else, should replace Spider-Man 2 in those lists.

As something of an aside, Hogwarts Legacy has one of my all-time favorite openings in a game. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but the scene where the Thestrals appear was completely unexpected and thoroughly enjoyed.
 

xrnzaaas

Member
It's not a goty for me, but it definitely deserved to be featured in several smaller categories. Even a mediocre game like Starfield got a nomination. ;)
 
There's a lot of great games this year that weren't nominated. That's just the reality of having a banger year like 2023. Trying to bury it because of association though is a shit thing to do. No noms for anything sure as hell makes it seem political rather than that it doesn't deserve any after watching groups trying to bury the game all year.
 

MacReady13

Member
i agree.

People who believe Hogwart should be GOTY, dont play alot of games.

I said many times in this forum, game is super repetitive (side quest, loots, speels....), im not sure how these people can even complete the game.

If Hogwart considered as GOTY material, i guess any ubisoft games should be consider GOTD
Let's be brutally honest- Hogwarts is about as good as Spiderman 2 is. I finished Hogwarts, yet I cannot fathom how I could get through Spiderman 2 it is so boring! Bland characters. Terrible dialogue. Awful shit. And if I'm being even more honest- Alan Wake 2 is a bog average horror game with great aspects to it (the meta narrative and weird characters) but damn, as a video game, not very good at all. I had more FUN playing Hogwarts than both of them, and isn't having fun playing games what it's all about???
 

3liteDragon

Member
May have been a dream come true for HP fans but definitely doesn't belong on that list with the competition it has, still a great game for the most part.
 

ungalo

Member
I personally stated that Hogwarts should have been nominated in several categories, mainly the art direction (just like Atomic Heart).

But i didn't play the game myself, seems pretty generic, not interested. Definitely not a GOTY. But again there are so many games that i think are overrated it's not really different than Hogwarts.
 

phant0m

Member
Depends on what your “GOTY” criteria is. Traditionally, it’s been a game that somehow pushes the medium forward/does something genuinely innovative from a gameplay perspective, and executes its vision really well.

However, you could also argue GOTY could be the game that overdelivered on expectations, reached the widest audience and was one the best-selling/most played games of the year. By that metric, HL would 100% in the conversation and deservedly so.

Hogwarts really impressed me with how polished it was and how accessible and fun they made for players of all skill levels. Does it push the medium forward? Nah. Incredible story/acting? Nah. But it’s a really great immersive open-world game adaptation of an existing IP. I wish Star Wars games were this good.

Jedi Survivor was solid but tbh I had more fun playing Hogwarts (and I like SW waaaaaay more than HP)
 

Ev1L AuRoN

Member
As a Harry Potter fan, I loved the game, I can agree that it's not game of the year material, but it really enjoyed my time with it. I think your criticism is a bit too harsh on the game, It's nowhere near as bad as you make it sound.
 

Kamina

Golden Boy
You mean pro-women legislation, right?
IMG-0070.jpg
 

Saber

Member
First of all i dont consider GOTY title as a standard for absolute masterpieces , the only year in which the game that won GOTY was also my personal GOTY was 2015 with witcher 3

But i see people being upset that Hogwarts Legacy isnt considered for GOTY , like seriously ? , the game is super mediocre , if it wasnt based on harry potter it would be called trash , it has nothing special , mediocre story , lack of progression , no choice and consequence , the loot is useless , level design is trash except for the castle , open world is boring and lifeless with nothing to do , lack of character development

The only good things about it are the graphics and the castle , the castle is amazing to explore but thats it , has the standard dropped so low ?

1 - Hogwarts Legacy admitelly is not the best RPG experience(let alone a good one), have loot problems and some of above you said its quite right to some extent. But its a superb Harry Potter experience, just exploring the game and using spells and you can notice the similarities with the movies and books, so its immersive as fuck. It's like going to Hogwarts or something. For that I would say for its total attention to details and immersion it deserves a GOTY or category nomination, even if didn't win at all(just like I said in the other thread, my vote goes to either TotK or Mario Wonder).

2 - Because both Starfield and Goodbye Volcano are there. If you ever think those deserve but not Hogwarts than I'm sorry your argument sounds really terrible. More like an opinion.
 
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3liteDragon

Member
Which aspects make Spider-Man 2 contender, but not Hogwarts Legacy?
MUCH better story, amazing traversal, sick gameplay/combat, side content that's much better than SM1 for the most part that are actually fun to do, easily high up there with the best PS first-parties & for sure the best superhero game ever. I gave Hogwarts an 8.5 cause I still enjoyed the game & the biggest positives for that game I would say are the combat, world-building & traversal, like the opening hours of the game felt so MAGICAL & then it felt like the most generic Ubisoft open-world game as I progressed more & more with repetitive side content that wasn't even fun to do & has way too many map icons that was off-putting to me, and the UI navigation on console was a pain in the ass. There were some great side quests but there were just as many fetch quests in there as well, and I know this is the developer's FIRST AAA game & in that sense, what they pulled off here is phenomenal. I know people are more concerned with the fact that it didn't get nominated for anything & I 100% agree with that, I'm only talking about the GOTY list here just to be clear.

That's also why I think the sequel to HL has so much potential to become one of the best open-world games ever.
 
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Jigsaah

Gold Member
I lost most enthusiam to complete the game after being about 70% done. I just didn't feel like there was anything else to really experience. The side content just made it worse. The puzzles were too simple, I absolutely despise collect-a-thons and try to ignore them in every game. When they make it mandatory for certain upgrades I just gave up. Didn't wanna have to do all that padded content.

To me, a GOTY contender shouldn't make you feel that way. It why I don't mind that Starfield wasn't nominated...I still can't bring myself to finish it. I've even modded the hell out of the game and I feel it's a solid 8/10...but it's gotten to the point to where I basically have to finish the main story and it's just...uninviting, boring and badly written. Love the ship building, love the base building...but what am I to do with this other than build more bases and bigger and better ships?

By contrast, I could not put down Baldur's Gate 3. The stories are so good, character development is excellent. Combat remains fresh throughout the entire playthrough. Replaying the game seems almost mandatory to get the full experience.
 

Whitecrow

Banned
Everyone having an opinion doesnt mean that all opinions are equally correct.

World is full of wrong opinions. Dont use them as a shield for ignorance.
 
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MagiusNecros

Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
I liked the game and it had a bunch of content and was well worth the price of entry. It was a fun ride. Plus it's the only game that makes everyone's CPU get on the treadmill from hell when it compiles shaders when you launch the game.
 

Cashon

Banned
Depends on what your “GOTY” criteria is. Traditionally, it’s been a game that somehow pushes the medium forward/does something genuinely innovative from a gameplay perspective, and executes its vision really well.
I strongly disagree with this method. Innovative games are often the ones that age the worst, because other games come along and refine everything to be an actual better game. I wish "Game of the Year" votes would have more of a holistic view, taking into account the game that is not only actually the best of that year, but likely to continue holding up as one of the best games of all time. There's a short-sightedness that is inherent to focusing on innovation. There should be a Most Innovative category for that.
 
game of the year nominees:

alan wake 2
balder's gate 3
marvel's spider-man 2
resident evil 4
super mario bros wonder
legend of zelda: tears of the kingdom

2 of these games make excessive re-use of the gameplay & assets of the games that preceded them
1 of these games is a souped-up, relatively faithful 're-imagining' of a game released almost 20 years ago

there's nothing whatsoever that disqualifies hogwarts legacy from consideration, & several things, including it's insane popularity & financial success, & the fact that it's not a sequel, that are actually in its favor...
 
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So obviously opinions are going to be different. For my daughters Hogwarts was certainly their game of the year, the only thing they played more than Minecraft this year. I also really enjoyed it because it really nailed the world of Harry Potter and made you feel like you were part of it. My GOTY is Starfield, which a bunch of people on this site think is utter shit, so it just goes to show you that people can have different opinions on things. If you are talking about the Game Awards then yeah, neither Hogwarts or Starfield probably deserve to be on the short list, but when places like the golden Joysticks have 20 GOTY nominees including games like Cocoon, Diablo IV, Assassin's Creed Mirage, and Lords of the Fallen then it seems pretty silly to leave off Hogwarts.
 

MMaRsu

Member
"if it wasnt based on harry potter it would be called trash , it has nothing special , mediocre story , lack of progression , no choice and consequence , the loot is useless , level design is trash except for the castle , open world is boring and lifeless with nothing to do , lack of character development"

This is just hilariously wrong but ok.

A bug free, large single player game, without microtransactions, bullshit passes etc is to be applauded.
I'd give it an 8.5

Which is great
 
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Muffdraul

Member
I finally played it a couple months ago and had a fantastic time with it. But I can also agree I would never in a million years vote it GotY in this year's lineup.

That said, lol fuck Baldur's Gate 3, what a POS!
 

Dutchy

Member
Out of all the GOTY candidates, Hogwarts is the only name I heard a lot among my non-gamer friends. And also just generally among people outside of the internet. I even know two guys who bought their first console since the late 90's for it. I can't recall any new IP's having that sort of impact.

For that reason alone I was ''surprised'' that it wasn't nominated.
 

ResurrectedContrarian

Suffers with mild autism
Rowling is fine, and it's amazing how much people hate her for barely deviating from the party line on one topic. She's incredibly moderate, measured by any standard that takes into account the reality of most people's actual views. But in the celebrity class you aren't allowed to hold normal-person views, even halfway as she does.

Anyhow, she's the only good part about Harry Potter. I find the whole franchise to be mind-numbingly boring and unoriginal in every incarnation I've encountered, from films to games to the small parts of the actual books I've seen.
 
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lh032

I cry about Xbox and hate PlayStation.
Let's be brutally honest- Hogwarts is about as good as Spiderman 2 is. I finished Hogwarts, yet I cannot fathom how I could get through Spiderman 2 it is so boring! Bland characters. Terrible dialogue. Awful shit. And if I'm being even more honest- Alan Wake 2 is a bog average horror game with great aspects to it (the meta narrative and weird characters) but damn, as a video game, not very good at all. I had more FUN playing Hogwarts than both of them, and isn't having fun playing games what it's all about???
Well you have shitty standard in gaming then.

Game is collecting dust on my shelf now, i could not continue the game with the repetitive side quest and the spells (same spells combo again and again)

And the color palette "level numbering" equipment LOL
 
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MacReady13

Member
Well you have shitty standard in gaming then.

Game is collecting dust on my shelf now, i could not continue the game with the repetitive side quest and the spells (same spells combo again and again)

And the color palette "level numbering" equipment LOL
OK so we disagree on games. Doesn't mean that Hogwarts didn't deserve to get 1 single nomination in ANY category... Not that I really give any credence whatsoever to the games awards (or any awards in media for that matter) but the recognition for the devs would've been nice.

We all know exactly why no one voted for it anyway.
 

EverydayBeast

ChatGPT 0.1
Wouldn’t play Hogwarts if it were free I feel like games like assassins creed, mass effect, horizon etc. out muscle hogwarts
 
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