The Quidditch Game

 

If you cast your mind back just a little ways, it might surprise you to learn that the single best selling game of 2023 was actually Hogwarts Legacy- despite all the supposed discourse drummed up around the game, it seems that people just really want to live in the world of Harry Potter- despite what it's crackpot inventor has to say on really any matter. And why wouldn't they flock to that game? It had it all, from a real-to-fiction recreation of the grand Hogwarts castle that we've all dreamed about visiting, a really fun and simple combat system, (Which of course has since drawn smug side eye from the same crowd obsessed with equating 'simple' to 'bad'. Assassin's Creed 2 says hi.) and a somewhat endearing cast of characters, all of whom were overshadowed by Professor Garlick because of course.

But do you know what the game didn't have? Well, it seems the team just couldn't find the time to sit down and make a proper quidditch game to squeeze in there, which in hindsight is decently understandable considering literally everything else that the game covers. (It is humungous.) But still... not even a Quidditch DLC? Of the vast lore that makes up the Harry Potter universe not all of it is created equal. The makeup of the wizarding world verges on mathematically unsustainable at points, career options after school are laughably underexplored, the Ministry of Magic verge so widely across the franchise in their capability that they shift from utter footnotes to INGSOC-grade surveillance state. But through all of that- we just want to play Quidditch.

Made passingly interesting within the books in what felt like a passing attempt to be obfuscatingly quirky before giving up and devising an actual football-esque game with one giant drawback which arguably renders the entire sport pointless- (Enough shade has been thrown at the golden snitch summon a Babadook) only to be made into a visually arresting and memorable set piece of the films. Flying around on brooms always looks cool, doing it whilst following a vaguely coherent sport is exhilarating! Then there's the prospects of leagues and broom comparing and metagames. There is potential, is what I'm saying, in there being a real knock out Quidditch minigame to the scale of a 'Like A Dragon' addition! Shame they didn't go that direction, then.

Instead we're getting a standalone video game and that inherently gets my heckles up. Hogwarts Legacy did such a good job being a straight-up game utterly devoid of nickel and diming and all the other swarmy crap which certain companies, particularly Warner Bros, think they can sneak under us without anyone noticing. We all know they killed Suicide Squad kill the Justice League on the planning room floor by allowing it to be made as dollar signs shot through their eyes. Can't they just stop trying to rock the boat and make that Shadow of War sequel they teased? (I'm ranting.) I just know exactly what's coming in a standalone game of a competitive sport. We've been through decades of Sports games at this point, the 'prestige' is inevitable and awful.

First off I think it's worth saying that those who were jumped on the visual fidelity of Hogwarts Legacy will need to dial back those expectations quite a bit. The game looks as plastic and cartoon-stylised as a half decent mobile title- it far collapses before the standards that Legacy set. The trailer did not even do all that good of a job making the gameplay look... well... dynamic. Honestly the game looked about as 'on the rails' as the old Quidditch Minigames used to in the bad Harry Potter tie-in-games. They've even borrowed the 'fly through hoops' thing from the famously bad Superman game. I'll be honest- this doesn't appear to be what we were hopping for at first glance. But looks can be deceiving and first impressions are not everything.

First off this does appear to be a game receiving the honour of the sports game treatment- namely, a competitive Multiplayer, necessitating some form of dynamic gameplay, and a single player career mode! Now, one simply has to wonder what other stables of this genre they had adopted? I mean, this does take place within the 'Harry Potter attending Hogwarts' period of school, which means despite the fact we have customisable characters there have been shown to be series staple characters too. Will they be freely available? Is there some sort of 'Ultimate Team' system in the works, as there exists for Fifa? You might scoff at such an idea and call it ridiculous. "There's not enough characters in all of Harry Potter Lore to constitute such a mode. Let alone Quidditch players!" To which I would simply say- we got an XCOM mobile game with loot boxes- I wouldn't put it past Warner Bros., of all companies, to do something similar. 

The promise of what a Qudditch game could provide if everything is done well is truly immense. I mean, if I was being an absolute delusional crank with this I might theorise an entire 'My Journey' style campaign where players get to follow the whole journey of a player from being part of the School team to actually playing professionally at the Tri-Wizard Tournament or something. What a really cool way to provide some of that outside-of-school world building the J.K Weirdo absolutely refused to do during her tenure with the franchise! Give us a look at international wizarding communities, lets see what organised sports festivals look like for a secretive society- go outside the comfort zone of this franchise for once!

But at the end of the day what we're looking at is a 40$ fantasy sports game, so who knows what's going to wind up in the game. A complete package is rare for that price tag and I'll get that insider money people are already putting out feelers trying to gauge how much people are willing to pay for cosmetic microtransactions. Bet you they'll be a battle pass. Bet you they'll be a roadmap. Bet you that roadmap never makes it to term. Bet you that Warner Bros learned absolutely nothing from 'Suicide Squad Killed the franchise' and will make all the same mistakes over again. Meet back here in a few months when all that comes true? Sounds fair.