With the rampant, nigh on unhinged, levels of success that the original Hogwarts Legacy received, it seems all but confirmed that we'll be getting our hands on a sequel at some point in the near-to-distant future. (But just to be clear- it has not actually been confirmed yet- despite what some outlets might like you to believe with the way they word their titles.) As of yet the team behind the game have been suspiciously hands-off when it comes to supporting the game's player base. All we've had is a Beta for a Quidditch game which is more than likely going to be standalone and the recent delivery of the PS exclusive quest which some people are calling the game's "Best Quest" but which I cannot be bothered to redownload the game in order to verify. (Smells like the same 'smoke blowing' the game has been privy to every month since launch.)
But just because we haven't seen the game yet, that doesn't mean we can't form healthy expectations and wishes for what we want to see out of it when the title actually does descend from the heavens! I, for one, wish for greater scope of role playing because Legacy offered a pretty curated and straight forward path down it's narrative with very few mostly minor choices for deviation. Dataminers have claimed to have uncovered the remnants of canned relationship meters and even a house points systems, which (if true) would indicate that the team at least dreamt big once upon a time, but maybe with the added momentum of being 2023's best selling game they'll have the resources to put the time and effort into making Legacy 2's narrative feel better tailored to us as individuals. Which would necessitate more complex quests, a more consistent and relevant core cast and tangible, gameplay affecting, consequence- I cannot stress that last point enough!
Secondly, and this is a point I bring up with practically every open world game these days- we need more minigames in order to make the gameworld feel alive. I'm not just talking about Quidditch- in fact that would sound more like a giant meta-game rather than a brief distraction. But give us Wizard chess, a trading card top trumps style game utilising a chocolate frog collectable hunt, a wizardry tree cutting game- anything to bring the casual aspect of this world alive and into better focus. Like a Dragon will always be my metric of measurement in this case- wherein their playspaces come to life thanks to the plethora of side content they stuff every corner of their worlds with, typically with rewards that tie back to the main progression paths in some abstract way. To be clear, I'm not talking about exploration objectives- Hogwarts actually was really strong in that regard- I mean in universe pastimes and hobbies. That is how an open world goes that extra step beyond!
And thirdly, I want more of a Hogwarts simulation. Living the day to day is fine, but going through the 'classes' motions should be as simple as following Bully's formula. Optional attendance lessons that you get in trouble for ditching which reinforce your skills if you complete, and become entirely legal to skip once you 'complete' the class. That seems entirely reasonable where I'm standing. Again, this is about building the fiction of being a Hogwarts Student and better combing the nature of power growth with student studies in an inherently diegetic manner. It's better than just mastering a spell seconds after being taught it such as in the original! Make me feel like I earnt my power as a competent duelling wizard!
Also, this is admittedly more of a personal desire but I would really like there to only be a totally new narrative for a follow-up game, not just shoving us into Year 6 following this same cast. I desperately wanted the original to tell the story of a freshman to Hogwarts, total wizarding world fantasy, living throughout the years through the RPG choices of the player. Of course, such a game would demand unreal scope, so I expect we'd instead get two years or so with every subsequent game, but that would still allow us to mould a narrative across the next ten years of Harry Potter games- the best of all worlds as far as I'm concerned! Imagine a series regularly improving upon itself like the 'Like a Dragon' games do- building upon the fundamentals but sometimes featuring a different world space for a few chapters to spruce things up, or a wild new meta-game where the protagonist gets really into running a confectionary business or an island resort- the ideal money printing franchise, right there!
But do you know what we're actually going to end up with? Because with David Zaslav's recent interest in Live Services- I can pretty much foresee the future of the 'Legacy' franchise right here. We could very well get the 'Year 1' game that I'm shooting for, but it will be delivered as a platform for recurrent content, with every new season relating to a season of the year of your character's school life in Hogwarts. Which sounds decently diegetic until you think of how they will reinforce that- spreading a narrative for each year across 4 content releases stretched out with bitch-tasks in order to feel more substantive. Battle passes that keep you hooked to the one game. Buyable cosmetics instead of finding them out in the world. We're basically going to see the erasure of all the original's best loved features and their dissolution into petty crap.
I fully expect David to squeeze this franchise for everything it's worth and loose the interest of the fandom world in doing so. Nostalgia baiting only works up to a point and the team are going to find that out once they screw up a release so badly that people don't come back. Just look at the embarrassing underperformance of the 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' franchise for evidence. (Still searching for those 'Secrets' Dumbledore has reportedly got tucked away somewhere...) Because the man is a blunt instrument in an art studio- crashing haphazardly into the instruments as he drunkenly pretends to know what he's doing, ruining the canvass with his flailing in the process.
Which is my very long winded way of saying that my biggest wish for Hogwarts Legacy 2 is for it to retain the ultimate spirit which made the first so lovable. Not because it was particularly innovative or ground breaking, but because it achieved everything in a well to a decent degree. It was a game believably made by a team who cared enough about the property to not only do a good job, but to make a game that they want to play. How many big studio developers honestly make games that they themselves want to play in their spare time? I honestly think most of them don't play games in their spare time at all. As long as Hogwarts 2 can keep that backbone alive, that's all they need in order to bring me and many others back next time around.
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