Sequels are often difficult to pull off, and Hogwarts Legacy 2 will likely be no exception. The most important thing any sequel can do is give audiences more of what they loved in the first game, and what fans loved were the magical adventures set in Hogwarts Castle. While Avalanche Software hasn’t confirmed anything about the upcoming sequel, the news that Warner Bros. Games wants to heavily connect it to other Harry Potter projects is concerning.
For Hogwarts Legacy 2, rather than upping the stakes to world-ending events, the game should take a step back and re-focus on mystery and adventure within the school. Multiplayer, live-service, and apocalyptic stakes are totally unnecessary in the sequel, but with Warner Bros. Games’ history, they seem all too likely.
Hogwarts Legacy 2 Needs To Slim Down The Stakes
Scaled-Down Threats Lead To More Emotional Connection
With a fictional setting like the Wizarding World, it’s easy to be drawn into ever-increasing stakes. Threats like dark wizards – which all lead inevitably to the rise of Voldemort – and cataclysmic ancient magic are tempting story elements to use to make a story feel important. For Hogwarts Legacy 2, however, world-ending stakes like these need to be avoided. Bigger isn’t always better, as the true appeal of these games is the time players spend as students attending Hogwarts.
Hogwarts Legacy 2 doesn’t need to go full-blown cozy game, but at the same time, the sequel needs to stay grounded. Like the majority of Harry Potter books proved, there are plenty of interesting stories to tell within the confines of the magical castle.
While nothing has been confirmed regarding the story for the sequel, the news that the game will be tied into the upcoming HBO Harry Potter TV show is reason enough to believe the game might attempt to up the stakes and connect even more with the events of the main series.
We Don’t Need Hogwarts Legacy 2 Multiplayer
Live-Service Is Completely Unnecessary
At first glance, multiplayer seems very appealing for Hogwarts Legacy 2, especially since so many players want to play online together, either to team up in Quidditch matches or battle it out with spells in the dueling club. The recent history of Warner Bros. published games with multiplayer elements makes online play much less promising, with Mortal Kombat 1 as the prime example. The latest entry in the long-running MK series, MK1 was riddled with microtransactions and has remained moderately unpopular since its release in 2023.
With the massive success of Hogwarts Legacy, both critically and financially, it makes sense that Warner Bros. Games would want to capitalize on the upcoming sequel by Avalanche Software. The main problem with this approach is that WB is taking the wrong lesson from Hogwarts Legacy’s success and may just end up undermining everything that made the original game popular. The sequel does not need multiplayer; instead, it needs to bring players another engaging, single-player adventure at the wizarding school.
Hogwarts Legacy
- Released
-
February 10, 2023
