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Hogwarts Legacy has officially cleared Zelda as 2023's best-selling game worldwide (www.videogameschronicle.com)

submitted 7 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[-] [email protected] 172 points 7 months ago

It's honestly amazing how well this game sold considering how mid the gameplay actually is. Having a popular IP really helped.

[-] [email protected] 75 points 7 months ago

Eh, people don't buy for the gameplay mechanics most of the time, they buy for what they see in the trailers and read in the descriptions. Being the only videogame available for this IP, having the WB marketing juggernaut behind it, releasing at a time of the year without much competition, coming out on every single platform - it would have been weird if this game wasn't the best selling one in 2023.

[-] [email protected] 10 points 7 months ago

Exactly. You don't know what the gameplay is until after you buy the game, unless you are savvy and watch reviews or something, which hardly any consumers do.

[-] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago

Also, it's not like the gameplay was mind bogglingly terrible, just some bland questing and a serviceable combat system. The main thing the game had to do to sell well imo was sell the environment and vibe which I think it did decently.

[-] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago

Are you saying that marketing works?!

[-] [email protected] 58 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

My wife, whose entire history with video games is Sims 3, Animal Crossing: NH, and Pokémon Go, played through this game start to finish and loved it. It wasn't really made for "gamers", it was made for Harry Potter fans that wanted to play a Hogwarts game. It didn't succeed as a gaming revolution, it succeeded in bringing non-gamers to buy it.

Personally, I love that she got into it whether it's mid or not, because it introduced her to a lot of the mechanics necessary to play "real" games in the future. And she had a lot of fun.

[-] [email protected] 20 points 7 months ago

I'm both a gamer and HP fan.

I thought the game was great, and I didn't really realize the depths of people's distaste for it, I guess.

Was it crazy revolutionary? No, but it was fun.

[-] [email protected] 12 points 7 months ago

Fellow HP fan, I was kinda weirded out by the whole "free access to unforgivable curses" and "canonically killing people" and the honestly kinda disheartening stance on goblin personhood but man flying around the grounds is so fun

[-] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Oh yeah me too. There are a lot of moments in the writing that make me go "wait... what? are you sure about that?" and some of the game design was iffy here and there but the main attraction is just the fact that they've given us a "full-scale" Hogwarts and surroundings.

[-] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago

Oh no kidding, I loved how they handled the curses. For the most part at least. Like, I would’ve been pretty disappointed if they weren’t usable in-game at all, but was never sure how they could introduce them in a realistic way. So HL literally having entire side quests devoted to you discovering the curses and learning how to use them honestly blew away my expectations.

My only issue with them is being able to use them in front of others so casually. They should’ve just made them unusable if you had another character accompanying you.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

the last video game my mom played before hogwarts legacy was like...pac man in the arcades. it was amazing to share our progress together and bond

[-] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

Haha! That sounds like so much fun!

[-] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

I thought the gameplay was awesome. To me, a really impressive entry to a potential series. What did you feel were the weak points in the gameplay?

[-] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

I found the combat to be serviceable, and at some points I had fun with it. But it kind of got repetitive really quick. Like once you learn the core mechanics, they didn't really introduce a lot after that to keep you on your toes. But the main problem I had with the game came from the quests, they just felt so monotonous. I love exploring the castle, but finding every little collectible just felt tedious and didn't really seem to have any payoff.

All things I hope can be improved with an eventual sequel, I'm definitely glad I picked up the game. But it's not something I've ever considered revisiting once I beat it.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

Yeah, agree with these points. It had that first entry vibe to it, similar to the Outer Worlds. Lack of enemy variety was a pretty big one, once you were a few hours in.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

Just seen they've uploaded this pretty funny video 😂: https://youtu.be/gwyHqXMSkAw?si=7REw4Cgj2lEpbAc0

[-] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

The IP was my only interest. Games like this I get bored with so I generally avoid. But the views of the school looked great and I've always wanted to walk around it, like the fantasy version of it. I've been to the real set and walked around that which is cool. My only complaint is I bought it on PC so I didn't get to see Azkaban.