The release date for the open-world RPG Hogwarts Legacy is drawing near and the official cinematic trailer has provided another expansive look into what players can expect to see from the wizarding game.
Hogwarts Legacy’s cinematic trailer follows a Hogwarts owl on a mission to deliver a letter to a mysterious recipient. The trailer opens with this letter being tied to the owl before someone tells the owl that it must find someone.
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The owl then sets off on an epic and winding adventure in search of the individual and finds quite a bit of chaos along the way. This owl begins its journey by flying out of the Hogwarts Owlery which is a location many players are looking forward to seeing since it is the home of all owls and is a location that is barely featured in the Harry Potter films.
After soaring over Hogwarts and providing a look at the expansive castle from above, the owl on a mission then swoops into the Great Hall. This is perhaps one of the most iconic locations in all of Hogwarts due to its immense importance in the Harry Potter films as a place of gathering and its stunning appearance with enchanted floating candles, a bewitched ceiling that looks like the sky, and distinctive tables for all four Hogwarts houses.
Some students are seen performing magic before the owl then exits the Great Hall only to fly right through Nearly Headless Nick. This character is the Gryffindor house ghost and is prominently featured throughout all of the Harry Potter films and is even more important in the books.
The appearance of Nearly Headless Nick is an exciting reminder for players that although Hogwarts Legacy’s gameplay takes place long before the events of the Harry Potter films, there will still be many features that are familiar to them. Hogwarts will look different from how it did during Harry Potter’s time there, but it will also still retain the heart and soul of the wizarding school that fans know and love.
After spooking Nearly Headless Nick, the owl then flies through what appears to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom where Professor Weasley is attempting to calm a group of students down. The Weasley family are some of the most important and beloved characters in the Harry Potter franchise, with Ron Weasley being one of the main characters, so knowing that players will get to meet another Weasley family member certainly makes this Hogwarts feel much more welcoming.
Professor Matilda Weasley was first unveiled as a key character in Hogwarts Legacy when the voice actors for the game were shared. She was first announced as the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts but was also later revealed to be the Transfiguration teacher as well. In addition to fulfilling both of these roles, Professor Weasley will also serve as an important guide for players as she teaches them about their Wizard’s Field Guide and the Room of Requirement.
After exiting the classroom, the owl in the cinematic trailer then exits the castle and ventures out into the Forbidden Forest. An intense battle is taking place as the owl flies by where two students seem to be in a battle for their lives against Acromantulas.
Fans who have seen or read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets will likely recall the famous scene where Harry and Ron venture into the forest and come face to face with the massive king of the Acromantulas named Aragog. This spider-filled teaser in the cinematic trailer seems to hint that players will also have to face the dangerous spiders when they too venture into the Forbidden Forest.
After passing the students in peril, the owl finally leaves Hogwarts and seems to venture into what the Hogwarts Legacy team has promised are the surrounding grounds never seen before in other Harry Potter material. The owl flies past a dark wizard that is yelling at a Hippogriff, the flying eagle-horse hybrid featured in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and what is perhaps the most shocking moment of the trailer then occurs.
The dark wizard sees the owl and immediately shouts out “Avada Kedavra” and casts the unforgivable killing curse at it. While the unforgivable curses were very taboo within the world of Harry Potter, Hogwarts Legacy seems to be taking a very different approach with them.
Previous gameplay showcases had already confirmed that players themselves will be allowed to cast the unforgivable curses, but this quick moment in the trailer seems to be indicative of just how much they will play a role in the wizarding game. The Harry Potter films may have heavily shied away from the unforgivable curses, but Hogwarts Legacy is ready to give players an expansive look at the darker side of the wizarding world.
After safely escaping the dark wizard and his friends, the owl comes across a few characters trying to protect themselves from a dragon. The dragon briefly turns its attention to the owl but it successfully gets away before the massive creature can attack it.
The owl’s long and winding journey finally comes to a close as it then finds the individual it was seeking all along. This individual turns out to be the player of Hogwarts Legacy as the trailer comes to a close with the character opening the letter in what appears to be London.
Cinematic trailers can sometimes be misleading, but everything featured in the Hogwarts Legacy trailer seems to line up with the gameplay that has already been unveiled for the game. Thus, players can expect that everything featured in the trailer is a fairly accurate teaser for what they can expect to see when the game launches.
Players can begin their wizarding journey on Feb. 10 when Hogwarts Legacy launches for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Any players planning to embark on their journey to Hogwarts on the Xbox One or PlayStation 4 will have to wait until April 4, while Nintendo Switch players have the longest wait of all and won’t be able to attend Hogwarts until July 25.
