Once players have acquired enough Demiguise moons and turned them into Gladwin Moon himself for a Level 3 Alohomora upgrade, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Hogsmeade, and the Scottish Highlands become a treasure trove of loot and Field Guide pages inHogwarts Legacy. Hogwarts’ exploration is more linear with fewer secrets to discover, though, and while hamlets scattered throughout the open world are saturated with locked doors no region is more satisfying to purge of its rewards inHogwarts Legacythan the bustling commercial district nestled between Hogwarts and the Forbidden Forest.
Hogwarts Legacy’s Hogsmeadeis a relatively small slice of entertainment and commerce that players are free to explore for errant Field Guide pages flying overhead, Disillusionment chests tucked away in odd corners, or crafting recipes purchased from unique merchants. Like Hogwarts, though, it’s only truly sensible to take time searching every nook and cranny in Hogsmeade when Level 3 Alohomora is unlocked. Otherwise, Hogsmeade can stale quickly with superficial interactions in familiar haunts—an oversight that a sequel can hopefully rectify.
Hogwarts Legacy’s Hogsmeade Lacks Substance Below the Surface
Once its spellcrafts, broom upgrades, and Alohomora locks have all been tended to, there isn’t much to do in Hogsmeade. It can be fun to enterZonko’s, Ollivander’s, Honeydukes, or the Hog’s Head Innand see recognizable iconography, but only being able to interact with the same few items is a bit of a letdown and makes the area more of a theme park to ogle over rather than an immersive, lived-in district.
It’s phenomenal that each seasonHogwarts Legacy’s story progresses through is then represented in Hogsmeade’s decorations as it is in Hogwarts, and yet with not much else to experience or work toward there isn’t always a reason to visit unless players see to a new side quest that’s appeared there. Either way, if Hogsmeade is explorable inHogwarts Legacy’s sequel, it’d be imperative that more can be done to interact with its delights beyond merely walking its cobblestone paths and purchasing or selling items at merchants.
Perhaps one ofHogwarts Legacy’s most egregious choices to this day was not making Butterbeer an actual consumable—of course, Butterbeer as apotion equivalent to Wiggenwelds, Thunderbrews, or Maximaswouldn’t make much sense unless Avalanche had ascribed some sort of arbitrary status effect to it.
Hogwarts Legacy’s Hogsmeade is Hopefully a Work in Progress
Hogwarts Legacy’s Haunted Hogsmeade Shop side questis where Hogsmeade truly becomes compelling, though this rug is pulled out from under players’ feet. In it, players are trapped in a charmed chest and make their way through several simple environmental puzzles; meanwhile,Hogwarts Legacydangles the promise of players earning their own Hogsmeade shop like a carrot.
Unfortunately, the shop they receive behaves no differently than any merchant transaction players can have anywhere else and is therefore wholly redundant. If a sequel was to have players stroll Hogsmeade again, it would hopefully have them be able to take on work to earn Knuts, Sickles, and Galleons. Indeed,aPersona-like part-time job systemwhere players can take shifts at The Three Broomsticks, the Hog’s Head Pub, or any shop in need of employees might be a fantastic source of income, especially if a sequel also adoptedPersona’s calendar system.
This would also enhance replayability—a featureHogwarts Legacysorely lacks despite having four Hogwarts houses to choose from—as players could potentially take work at multiple establishments, even if it was only in cutscenes followed by players’ payment for a shift’s work. Looting in the open world is engaging, to be fair, and yet giving players a reason to revisit Hogsmeade often could recapture its magic.
