Enemy variety inHogwarts Legacyis no doubt emboldened by the fact that Avalanche’s wizarding world action-RPG explores a late-1800s setting. Here, it’s interesting to come across so many diverse threats, such as magical beasts, ghoulish fiends, deplorable humans, and antagonistic goblins. Ashwinders and poachers are particularly compelling due to them essentially substituting who would likely be Death Eaters ifHogwarts Legacywas set nearer toHarry Potter, and the Forbidden Forest is made doubly terrifying for anyone who has arachnophobia.
Hogwarts Legacy’s Forbidden Forestis glorious and enchanting. Players can fly in from above on a broomstick through its entangling tree branches and suddenly be immersed in its uniquely dark, melancholy atmosphere. Countless signs warn students and passersby that it is incredibly dangerous, though players are free to explore it and perhaps find themselves lucky enough to rescue a male unicorn or share the same path as a herd of centaurs. Players will inevitably run into spiders in the forest, too, andHogwarts Legacy’s excess of this enemy type overall parallelsIndiana Jones and the Great Circle’s arguably needless profusion of snakes.
Hogwarts Legacy Weaves a Tangled Web
Harry Potter’s spider motifnever amounts to more beyondthe Chamber of Secretsaside from some students’ boggarts naturally being spiders in Defence Against the Dark Arts and yet it has endured due to how remarkable it was. Having an Acromantula and a seemingly endless horde of giant spiders afforded captivating set-piece imagery in the Forbidden Forest with an anxiety-inducing escape sequence that is arguably more frightening than Tom Riddle’s basilisk ever was.
Harry Potter and Ron Weasley entering into Aragog’s hollow—a foolish suggestion of Rubeus Hagrid’s that nearly gets them killed—is one of the more memorable scenes inHarry Potterand is a more effective deterrent against entering Hogwarts’ neighboring den than Voldemort or any other magical beast could be. That said,Hogwarts Legacy’s use of spiders is abundant to a fault. Not only are spiders rampant in the forest but they also make their way into several side quests and dungeons.
Moreover, becauseHogwarts LegacypredatesHarry Potter, the former’s infestation suggests that spiders inhabited the forest and remote areas in the Scottish Highlands long before Aragog was cast out to reside there—not that all lore and continuities are airtight throughoutHarry Potter, anyhow. Either way,Hogwarts Legacy’s spiders seem to far outweigh any other enemy type and can grow stale.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Abuses Indy’s Biggest Fear
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle’s first snake appearance is a clandestine Easter egg, which is odd considering how the game then proceeds to have snake imagery quadrupled down on later. Indeed, Indy is tasked with feeding a pet snake in Gizeh before being pranked with intestines meant to emulate a snake in Sukhothai thereafter.
The relatively tiny snake dropping onto Indy’s shoulder in Sukhothai would’ve been the last straw if not for the mythically gargantuan serpent immediately making its debut, and to surprise the audience with such a wild twist on Indy’s fear is perfectly unprecedented and subversive due to how many snake jokes have already been made in the game leading up to it.
This way,Indiana Jones’ multiple snake gimmicksare merited, though it is a slow crawl getting there. Still, the serpent boss fight is a necessary culmination ofthe Great Circle’s breadcrumbs because each subsequent snake gimmick would’ve soured the last if no greater payoff had followed them.
