Hogwarts Legacy Review - A Potion Well-Brewed

Reviewed on: PlayStation 5
Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive
Developer: Avalanche

Capturing the essence of an established fiction is tricky business, especially when translating into a new medium. It’s a big reason licensed games frequently miss the mark, sometimes failing to find the tone and nuance that made the original version shine. Avalanche Software navigates those challenges with a deft eye and an evident appreciation for the source books and films. Hogwarts Legacy is a remarkable adventure into the wizarding world of Harry Potter, offering a clever mix of gameplay styles and experiences that keep things fresh for dozens of hours while always maintaining the magical touches that captivate fans.

By setting the game in the 1800s, the developer is able to borrow story elements and locations from later in the timeline, but otherwise tell a new story free of canon constraints. Adopting the role of a witch or wizard of your creation, players arrive at Hogwarts as a new student joining the fifth-year class. Circumstances rapidly develop that challenge you to balance your matriculation with a grand extra-curricular adventure involving dark wizards, dangerous goblins, and an ancient form of lost magic. The storytelling sometimes serves as an excuse to hit big beats players expect, like a triumphant ride on a hippogriff or an amusing excursion through the castle while shapeshifted into a humorous character. If the overarching narrative sometimes feels a little flimsy as a result, it’s buoyed by uniformly excellent dialogue and voice acting that carries the action forward, as well as a standout musical score.

From the armor suits that come to attention as you pass to books that fly around like birds waiting to be snatched from the air, Hogwarts is a delightful environment to explore. It’s not hard to understand why characters in the books were always getting into trouble outside class; it’s nearly impossible not to get distracted from your path to education by a side quest, collectible chase, or other activity. Secret doors and discoveries are everywhere, as are plentiful relationships with the young students and eccentric faculty. That dynamic extends beyond the labyrinthine corridors of the castle to the large open world beyond its grounds. The outdoor environs are filled with beasts to tame, dungeons to tackle, and chances to hop on your broom to zip across the countryside.

 

A wealth of unique systems and mechanics govern the game’s advancement, leading to a mix of exploration, puzzle, and combat gameplay and a satisfying progression of leveling and upgrades. The vast majority of those systems are well-designed and fun, but it means you’re still getting tutorials in new game processes, even dozens of hours into play. That works within the fictional framework to some degree; after all, you are a student at a school. But it can make you feel like you’re waiting for the full suite of options to open up for far too long.

Combat is exciting, filled with flashy spell effects and fun ways to exploit individual enemy weaknesses. Battle animations are entertaining, making it feel like you’re in that life-or-death magic duel or a terrifying confrontation with a troll. Too little enemy variety begins to dim the excitement after a time. Still, I always enjoyed the fights and even the optional stealth routes that sometimes let me avoid the scuffle with a bit of invisibility potion on my side.

I encountered several minor technical issues over the course of my lengthy playthrough, such as pop-in while moving fast or long door-opening loads. And some of the game systems are more successful than others; a flood of useless low-quality gear rewards is one notable, if minor problem that sometimes stalls the fun. But for those who have long wished for a rich interactive playground to live out your own Harry Potter fantasy, Hogwarts Legacy casts an incredibly mesmerizing spell.

A Bigger Picture

Like all our reviews, Game Informer’s critical evaluation and scoring of Hogwarts Legacy is based on the game itself, not external factors. However, potential players should be aware of an ongoing conversation around the game’s release, stemming from recent inflammatory statements about the trans community by the franchise’s original author, J.K. Rowling. Those stances have led to a complex and ongoing debate about the merits of supporting any work derived from the author’s original creations, even if she was not directly involved in this game’s development. Your buying decisions are your own, and we encourage consideration of the complete picture when determining where you spend your time and money.

Score: 9

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Deliver Us Mars Review – Rocky Terrain

Reviewed on: PlayStation 5
Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Publisher: Frontier Foundry
Developer: KeokeN Interactive

Deliver Us Mars follows in the footsteps of hidden gem Deliver Us The Moon, a game with enjoyable puzzle-solving and storytelling that mostly overcame its technical and presentational shortcomings. The same is nearly true of this sequel set on the Red Planet, though its larger scope magnifies its problems. Thankfully, a captivating narrative does its best to keep this flawed mission on track.   

Despite being a direct sequel, you don’t need to play Deliver Us The Moon to grasp Mars’ plot. Earth has spiraled into an irreversible environmental collapse thanks to decades of man-made abuse. Soon it will become an uninhabitable rock, but hope arises when a transmission from Mars pinpoints the location of advanced life-giving ships called Arks. Years prior, a group of humanity’s best and brightest stole these vessels to abandon Earth to its fate and establish a new colony elsewhere. As Kathy, a bold and prodigious young astronaut, you join a small team tasked with bringing the Arks back to Earth, but Kathy has a compelling personal stake as well.

Kathy’s father, Issac, a brilliant scientist, was among the leaders of this rogue group that stole Earth’s best chance at recovery. In the process, he left Kathy to grow up on a dying Earth without him. The game’s well-executed exploration of the pair’s loving-yet-complex relationship hooked me, especially how Kathy copes with wanting to reunite with the man who effectively helped doom humankind – a goal that causes a tense conflict with her crewmates. The engaging mystery regarding the fate of the Mars colony once Kathy arrives also kept me glued to see what’s next, thanks to its compelling twists and revelations. The plot also presents well-worn but compelling arguments regarding the morality of starting anew elsewhere in the face of humanity’s self-destructive nature. 

Deliver Us Mars’ narrative is so good that its sub-par presentation doesn’t do it justice. The ugly, stilted character models sour the exceptional performances; it’s like watching lousy animatronics perform Macbeth. Mars itself would be a more awe-inspiring sight if not for numerous instances of texture and environmental pop-in. Deliver Us Mars doesn’t look awful, but these constant blemishes distract from the immersion. 

Gameplay primarily focuses on puzzle-solving and platforming, which only cross into “acceptable” territory. As in the first game, players switch between controlling Kathy and her robotic drone companion to solve environmental tasks, often revolving around aligning power-giving light beams to open doors. The drone can access small openings and carry objects, though it doesn’t feel as well-utilized as in Deliver Us The Moon. The puzzles offer decently fun obstacles. However, Deliver Us Mars lacks the gameplay variety of its predecessor, so beam alignment lost its luster by the end. Outside of that, a sometimes disorienting though enjoyable hologram decryption minigame, where you rotate the drone’s camera to place nodes into slots, serves as the only other big recurring puzzle. 

 

Platforming plays a more significant role now that Kathy can scale particular walls using climbing axes. This mechanic leans on the realism side, with players using the left and right triggers to aim and strike with each arm. Like other mechanics, this action is just good enough to work, but climbing becomes tiresome in longer segments and unresponsive in some instances. Jumping from one climbing patch to another feels especially rough, and I fell to my death several times when my strikes didn’t register. The game sporadically throws in some hazards, such as spinning blades or collapsing wall panels, but the climbing isn’t tuned enough to handle them confidently. 

Deliver Us Mars’ protagonists quickly cobble together a space shuttle that barely manages to get them to their destination. A similar story feels true of this game. A gripping narrative fuels gameplay that otherwise feels functional but underbaked, making my time on the planet a mixed bag. Deliver Us Mars shines best when it lets you absorb its story, but expect to stumble over several design craters along the way. 

Score: 6.75

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Hi-Fi Rush Review - Riff City

Reviewed on: PC
Platform: Xbox Series X/S, PC
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Developer: Tango Gameworks
Rating: Teen

Hi-Fi Rush occupies an increasingly rare space in the big-budget video game industry: that of colorful, goofy, and light-hearted titles. For its 10 or 11-hour runtime, it has more in common with a Saturday morning cartoon than a thin attempt at gritty, prestige television, like most triple-A games these days, and that's easily its biggest strength. That its gameplay and combat are a unique melding of rhythm and stylish action games is merely the cherry on top. 

Main character Chai has big dreams of being a rockstar. To achieve this dream, he signs up for Project Armstrong, a program run by the megalithic tech organization Vandelay Technologies. Ideally, this would have replaced Chai's disabled arm, but he has to fight his way out of the facility when he's labeled a defect. While doing so, he meets Peppermint, who's working to take down Vandelay. The two team up, bringing various people disgruntled with the tech behemoth aboard to form a ragtag group of misfits hellbent on ending Vandelay's monopoly. 

Each core cast member is charming and funny in their own right, and I consistently enjoyed the banter, arguing, and various dynamics. Hi-Fi Rush is a surprisingly well-written game that manages to be intentionally corny and, more often than not, pulls it off in a non-grating way. In fact, I was surprised that the story was my favorite part of the game, and I genuinely enjoyed every character and how they integrated into the wider group. By the end, Chai and his merry band work together in harmony, and the story and gameplay match this in satisfying ways.

At the heart of Hi-Fi Rush is a story about the ills of big tech – and, more specifically, the game industry. It's not the most radical corporate protest in the world. But levels that poke fun at the lopsided budgets between marketing and development teams and tyrannical managers who seize control over a product against quality or worker safety certainly get their points across. Tango Gameworks is owned by mega-publisher Bethesda Softworks. Maybe something to keep in mind.

All of this plays out across Vandelay's massive corporate campus. The bright cel-shaded world is constantly in motion, even when you're standing still. Everything in Hi-Fi Rush moves to the beat of the game's soundtrack – Chai's run animation, the rotation of industrial gears, cutscenes, all of it to the game's internal metronome. It was always fun seeing how the game integrated Chai's love of music into the world, even in small touches, such as how a swing of your weapon belts guitar squeals in the same key as any level's soundtrack. 

 

Combat is where Hi-Fi Rush's rhythm backbone really comes into play. On its surface, the game plays like any number of stylish action games: you hack, slash, and build combos and high scores. You know the drill if you've played Bayonetta or Devil May Cry. The unique twist, however, is that doing so on the beat with the game's songs nets you better scores and more effective attacks. 

Fighting in time to the rhythm, landing heavy hits with the snare of a drum, and seeing your flashy animations perfectly timed to any number of Hi-Fi Rush's songs feels as good as it looks; there's a literal weight as you slam buttons in time. All of the surrounding aspects of gameplay lean into the same gimmick – puzzles, platforming, the whole nine yards. While it has an original score, the licensed soundtrack does a lot of the game's heavy lifting – especially during tense and dramatic moments. Aside from one The Black Keys song, all the additions from Fiona Apple, Nine Inch Nails, and especially The Joy Formidable are fantastic inclusions. 

The combat is so good that the early portions of the game's noticeable lack thereof suffer compared to the back half of Hi-Fi Rush. It has a slow start, and for the first few levels, I found myself desperately trying to get to the next enemy encounter. Luckily, after a few hours, Hi-Fi Rush really hits its stride. By the time credits roll, it's crescendoing into a mess of colors and riffs completely over-the-top and alive in the spectacle. 

Hi-Fi Rush doesn't require you to fight on the beat; animations will still land in time even if you're off time, allowing for that same visual impact as a player in perfect sync. Additionally, you can display a visual metronome on the screen to help you keep time. And the game maintains a relatively slow tempo across all its songs, never requiring to have to keep up with hyper-fast rhythms. All of this goes a long way in helping less rhythmic players enjoy the game's conceit, and they're all fantastic additions. 

Considering the game was announced and released on the same day, Hi-Fi Rush is easily one of the most surprising games of 2023. Part of that is literal. The other, more important part, is just how good the game is. Hi-Fi Rush finds a magical sweet spot between rhythm games, stylish action, and lighthearted, character-driven platformers we don't see very often anymore, and by every measure, it comes out on top. 

Score: 8.75

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