Did I just beat Hogwarts Legacy? I think I did?

 So, readers of the Friendly Necromancer, I beat this game, but apparently I didn't really beat this game?

You did it . . . but wait . . . there's more!

The final couple of fights were pretty fun! I think I failed each fight maybe once before beating it on the second go around. That's some pretty great balance, and my hat's off to the designers! I couldn't have been happier with the challenge level and boss mechanics.

IT BURNS!

I have to say that my time so far in Hogwart's Legacy has been charming and fun. It scratched all the right itches: a little exploration itch, a little storyline itch, a little combat itch, a little collecting itch, a little decorating itch, a little gardening itch, and a lot of questing itches. It's everything you'd expect from an AAA itch and scratch experience!

smash spacebar NOW!

I guess my only complaint is that they waited so long to give me this amazing graphorn mount! I was only a couple quests away from beating the game when finally they gave me this gigantic mind-flayer-dinosaur-thing to rampage the countryside with.

I know I just cast Crucio on you and almost burned you to death, but . . . friends?!

Apparently, all that's left for me to do now is prepare for my O.W.L.s, which means I need to finish out my entire field guide, and I don't know how fun that actually is. I've only filled out 39% of it so far, so it'll be a lot of running around casting REVELIO! everywhere trying to find the magic hidden quill and paper in front of interesting locations.

As a bonus, you get cool fashions for collecting all those pages!

I am glad I had the time to play this game and write a little bit about it. Thank you so much for reading along with my Hogwarts Legacy series. I had a great time with it.

Happy Dueling!

Baggage-Claimed Beasts and Haunted Shops in Hogwarts Legacy

Hogwarts Legacy continues to be my go-to game lately.  Since the last time I posted, I've grown several levels and completed a ton of content, including a lot of surprising amount of side content that could be completely skippable, which is amazing to me.

I mean, yes, the mainline quest is full of great moments as you complete challenges from your four ancient magic predecessors. I was completely awe-struck by the Aha-Take-On-Me-Storybook-Art-Filter during the challenge to find the dead body of an old headmaster inside a book.

Seeing the world in sketchy black and white was such a treat and completely unexpected. 

Anyway, at this point I'm 37 hours in and my main quest is titled "Prepare for your search for the final keeper." So, I might be close to mid-end game?  I'm almost level 26, and I know level 40 is the game's level cap, so I'm not there yet, but getting there.

As far as the "building your wizard skills" metagame goes, I've been focusing a lot on bagging beasts and taking them back to my player housing.  At some point, Deek, my house-elf friend, asked me if I could take pity on some beasts since I'd been learning a bit of beast care in school. This led to me getting my own magic handbag for nabbing and taming animals and also a special room or three in my player housing to keep them stored and happy.

Great for nabbing beasts, not so great as a fashion accessory.

There's a nice loop for capturing beasts where you feed them and groom them, and then they offer up a crafting reagent that you can use for improving your gear.  So far I've caught unicorns, griffons, giant toads, little random fur babies that I don't know what they're called, a couple birds, and even the mythical thestral!

gotta catch 'em all! Hogwartsmon!

Kind of bummed though because it appears you have to buy the DLC to actually ride a thestral. Ahh well. I'm currently on a quest to capture a phoenix. OH!  I almost failed to mention that as a part of these beast quests you actually give a dragon back her dragon egg that was poached from a dragon fighting arena.  You can't make this stuff up!

I'm shocked we weren't swallowed first tbh.

It is surprising how much this game really feels like solo playing an MMO. I've got player housing, mounts, levels, quests, and I've even got my own bazaar-style shop now in Hogsmeade, which I chose to be called Vesters &  Venum. Sounded pretty good for a Slytherin shop.

Surprisingly, we don't sell Venum.

That one actually surprised me. I couldn't believe the attention to detail with this easy-to-miss sidequest in Hogsmeade. I was wandering around Hogsmeade when suddenly I saw a female house elf standing outside a run-down shop. She directed me to a questionable witch who gave me the shop. I then went about cleaning up the shop until I found a trunk. 

After opening the trunk, I found a ladder leading down into the most diabolical haunted maze filled with evil mannequins and mind-bending maze pathways.

Wigging out over the specter

As it turns out, the place is haunted by a specter that just LOVES to play games with people . . . the types of games that kill people that is. After besting him and his giant junk monster, you head back up and give some clothing to your house elf and free her. THAT'S RIGHT!! YOU GET TO FREE AN ELF!  But, really, all she wants to do is be your shopkeeper. Thus, Vespers and Venum was born!

Wish granted!

So there you have it. I'm still playing Hogwarts Legacy and having a really great time doing so. Now, can someone please come up with a Wizard101 mod for the game? Thanks.

Me and the witches playing a Wizard101 card game in Hogwarts.

Happy Dueling!

Racing in / Quidditch out -- Flying High in Hogwarts Legacy

I've been playing more Hogwarts Legacy, and I'm actually having a really good time. Last time I posted, I had a couple of comments about flying and Quidditch, so I kind of focused in on that feature of the game the past few play sessions.  As it turns out,. . . Hey! I'm not terrible at flying in this game! . . . And in a way it all reminds me a bit of all my time spent flying around in DC Universe Online.

Mastering the Basics of Broom Flying

In fact, in my small circle of friends, I used to be the go-to guy to help people earn their racing skill points in DCUO. Because of that background experience, I hereby declare that the mouse and keyboard controls for flying around in Hogwarts Legacy ain't too horrible . . . for me at least. *ducks behind podium* Did someone throw something at me? Anyway, yeah, I could see how this would be easier with a controller for sure.

First adhere your glasses to your face with sticky magic

The racing courses in this game are exactly what you'd expect: a timed trial where you ride your broom through rings in the sky, where you can grab power-up bubbles to make you go faster. It appears as if at the end of the course, you'll have either made the leaderboards or not at all.  I came in second both times on my first attempt.

Down the river and through the rings to grandmother's house we go

Between visiting racing courses, you'll also be doing quests for your professor to pop-the-ballon that have been placed around the map for you at various locations. Now, I don't know whose job it is to fill these balloons with helium and confetti and place them perfectly in the sky, but if it's a poor house elf, then I feel really bad.  (It's probably just conjuring magic though . . .) 

Playing pop-the-balloon after midnight

During the midst of it all, I did go buy my own broom, however.  I opted for the most expensive broom I could buy and bankrupted myself for a bit, but the purple lightning coming out of it was pretty sweet.  The proprietor, one Albie Weekes, even gave me some side quests to open up a special speed boost I could buy.  From what I can tell, there are two more boosts I could open up.

. . . and worth every gold piece! 

I asked my friend at work who plays the game (and to be honest, was the tipping point for me purchasing the game) if there was any actual Quidditch I could play eventually . . . and the answer was no.  Well great.  She did drop a pretty tasty rumor, though, and said (and I quote) "There are rumors that the game people are making a separate game just for Quidditch, but idk."  I'll take it!

Sorry Quidditch, you've been cancelled

She also noted that I really needed to work up my animal taming skills because I could end up riding a hippogriff or a thestral instead of a broom if I played my cards right. I don't know though . . . I don't have to brush and feed my broom . . . it just works. A thestral would be pretty cool to ride as a Slytherin, just sayin.

Happy Dueling!

Hogwarts Legacy -- 6 hours in with Thomas Lionblood

I've had Hogwarts Legacy on my Steam wishlist for a long time, and last week, I suddenly saw that the price had dropped dramatically with a 75% sale (it should still be 24 hours from the time of posting to pick it up if you're interested). 

Everyone I talked to about the game had high praise, so I sprang because . . . $75 quality game for $15 bucks AND a game with actual "happy dueling" in it? Yes please!

You're a Wizard, Thomas!

Yes, Thomas Lionblood has once more been reborn into this new world!  A couple problems there . . . one, I hadn't been sorted yet and, two . . . DUDE, I forgot to give him blue hair!  Why do I do this all the time when making a new Thomas Lionblood character?!

Weeeeee!

After surviving an amazing dragon attack on my way to Hogwarts with my new buddy Professor Fig (and a quick jaunt to the bank and a magical tutorial island), I was finally at the sorting ceremony. From there I was able to suss out the most necromancer-y school of them all, Slytherin.

I'll show you how snake-like I can be!

A couple of hours into it, I was off to the Hogsmeade Village so I could rectify problem number two with my Thomas Lionblood character. Just a quick trip to the magical salon and, voila, I had my blue hair. NOW we could get down to business.

I hear there's a mod that would REALLY make the blue hair pop . . . hmm

. . . and then the troll attacked and life got extra awesome.  They tried to play it off like Ranrock, the evil bad guy goblin of the story, had set up the whole attack, but let's face it, it had to have been the Medieval Times guard sicced on me by the fashion police.

He's clearly targeting my new blue hair

After managing to dodge the fashion police attack, I was sold on the game. That battle with the troll was the first big boss battle, and it felt great! I loved every minute of it and somehow just scraped by. You have to love that moment when a game solidly hooks you. This was it for me.

I'm now a mere six hours in and have taken several classes and explored a good chunk of the winding maze that is Hogwarts. My book of challenges says I've only done about 10% of what's available. I'll be playing this one for a bit it seems.

Overall, this game is just full of that old-world, English wizard charm. I can't really even begin to explain how cool it is just to walk around in this game. It feels like there's some new artistic touch around every corner: a painting that moves and breathes, a suit of armor that snaps to attention, a new side-quest that opens up for you to explore, and on and on. The devil is in the details.

. . . and yes, you CAN pet the cat.

Currently, I've just finished up exploring a huge cavern full of giant spiders to get to a map room that a ghost had guided me to. It's every bit as exciting and fun as it sounds. Inside, there was a ton of loot, and I'm slowly building my Thomas Lionblood wardrobe.  I love these glasses so much I can't even explain it.

Dueling tournament winner? More like dueling fashion winner!

So there it is, I've yet another fantastic game to play and write about. I couldn't be happier with the purchase. 

Happy Dueling!

VR Platforming on a Pogo Stick -- Welcome to Stilt

 A few weeks ago, someone noted you could pick up a normally $20 game for $2 called Stilt. I'm a fan of picking up VR games for $2 . . . especially when they turn out to be pretty good games!

I've talked a fair amount about VR platforming games here on TFN. Astrobot during the COVID era was what initially made me fall in love with VR. Back in November 2023, I boldly declared that No More Rainbows was the evolution of VR platforming because it lived in the era post-Gorilla Tag and used arm movement to get around.

Stilt firmly resides in that same category as No More Rainbows. In this game, your arms are basically pogo sticks, and you use them to bounce around classic platforming puzzles to collect stamps and gift boxes. 

Feels straight outta Mario

I say classic platforming puzzles intentionally because that's part of what differentiates this game from No More Rainbows. The platforms, obstacles, and enemies feel more like something out of an old-school NES Super Mario game more than anything, and it's every bit as difficult in many ways.  

Stamps!  GOTTA GET THOSE STAMPS!

Stamps are pretty much like your standard classic Mario coin or Sonic ring. Much like Sonic, your stamps are also your key to staying alive.  If you lose three hearts during a level, you can start over from a checkpoint for the cost of 10 stamps. Gift Boxes are what you're trying to earn throughout the levels. Each level can cough up to 5 gift boxes: 3 for completing objectives in the levels, 1 for surviving to the end of a level with a lot of stamps, and 1 for racing to the finish quickly.

I do like how you climb into these mailboxes to start a level

As you progress through the levels, you'll find pogo leg power-ups that convert your regular pogo legs into awesome pogo legs. They feel a bit like gadgets that Inspector Gadget might have used (Could you imagine if this was an Inspector Gadget platformer instead of what it is?):

- Fireball pogo leg -- you can shoot three shots at enemies in rapid succession before entering a cooldown for the gun.

- Slow pogo leg -- you can slow down time to help you dodge better or freeze puzzles for a few seconds for a better view.

- Magnet pogo leg -- you can suck stamps toward you for collection.  

- Swing pogo leg -- you can shoot out a vine and swing from it, giving you extra height or distance.

- Glider pogo leg -- you can use it like a helicopter blade for a short time to carry you far across the map or toward a goal quickly.

- Rocket pogo leg -- you can blast in any direction quickly for an extra boost

- etc. (I don't know if I've found all the legs yet)

As you progress from world to world, you eventually hit walls where you have to deposit gift boxes into a mailbox to open the wall and let you through. The first levels use Green boxes, which can only be inserted into the green mailbox. The next set of levels uses Purple boxes, etc.

My current wall I can't pogo past

So far, I'm through the first two walls of gameplay as I'm making my way up to what appears to be some kind of tentacular type of monster, which certainly is the end boss.

Pointing my pogos in the general direction of the big bad boss!

I've heard some mixed reviews on this game, and I get it.  The "classic" platforming vibe feels a bit dated, and your pogo-sticking self doesn't really have a lot of charm.  If there is a complaint from me, it's that . . . compare this game to No More Rainbows, and you're missing charm, and THAT is what I wish I had more of.  Max Mustard had charm. Astrobot had charm. Lucky's Tale was oozing in charm. In comparison, Stilt is, well, stilted in its lack of charm. Then again, I haven't played multiplayer yet, which is where I imagine I'd maybe find a bit more of what I'm looking for.

THAT SAID. YAY VR PLATFORMING FUN! I don't want you to think that I'm not having fun with this game. I am, and for the crazy price of $2, I'm getting more fun than I bargained for.

Don't fall into the quicksand!

I'll be reporting more on this game, and hopefully, when I soon beat the end boss. Until then . . .

Happy Dueling!

Rolling the Credits on Asgard's Wrath

Ok, I've finished Asgard's Wrath. whew. That was a workout, a crazy grind fest, and also pretty amazing. What a fun game!

It's so much fun to see all the main cast dancing at the very end of the game.

So when last we left our hero, I was taking on the second half of Stikkan's story. It took a bunch of work, but eventually I leveled up Stikkan's gear enough that he could survive till the end fight, which was pretty epic.  Hel sucks you up into a vortex and then starts flying around you and trying to chuck giant iceballs at you. It's all about shooting her with your God bow at the right times.

A couple of Superstars about to go WWE in Aegir's Hall!

When you do defeat her, you get the Greed Stone and give it to Loki, and Hel busts into the tavern. After a heated exchange, she's banished. End of problem. All that was left after that was to travel to Jotunheim and take on the final arc of Risi's story. 

Risi, as it turns out, while technically is a half-giant, he's an absolute dwarf compared to the actual giants. Once you free the giant chieftains from Thor, they grant you a big club and tell you that you have to be the one to take down Thor. It's chill though, because you have a God helping you out.

The chiefens are HUGE when they are finally freed and get to stand up.

After a bunch of complex battles, you topple Thor's tower with SCIENCE!  Risi's artificial arm turns out to be a fantastic lightning conduit that ends up dropping Thor's tower on his own head. The end.

Thor is about to get a headache!

Back at the tavern, Thor threatens you a bunch, and after Loki gets his final stone, he goes insane with power and turns on you. The final fight with Loki isn't even the hardest part of this experience though. No, that tower defense game you play with Thor's army is wayyyy harder. I failed on that a number of times.

How you like that beat down, Loki?! Come at me, bro!

While you do get to beat Loki up pretty good, his ultimate trick is to trap you in Asgard as he makes his escape, leaving you with a pretty cool hint at what's coming next -- an ankh, which basically fortold Asgard's Wrath 2.

I can't remember, there wasn't a hint like this in Asgard's Wrath 2 was there?

So even though I've finished the main quest and rolled the credits, I still haven't seen everything in the game. Basically there's about seven areas or so that I still haven't seen, and if you really wanted to, you could level all your heroes and companions up to legendary status.  There's a lot more to do.

I love my little frog companion so much! He deserves to be leveled up to Legendary.

Even as I'm typing this, I'm feeling pulled back into the game, like I may actually want to 100 percent this one. I actually felt the same way back when I finished Asgard's Wrath 2.  Both of these were such great games. If you're looking for the best the Oculus has to offer, you can't go wrong with these two games, especially if you love action RPGs.

I can't recommend them enough.

Happy Dueling!

Asgard's Wrath -- Rivers of Blood and Ripped out Eyeballs

I got a bit caught up in releasing UNSVR lately, but that doesn't mean I haven't been playing a lot of the OG Asgard's Wrath! It's been a lot of fun to be honest. I could only play it in short bursts lately because I haven't had the time and stamina to do otherwise, but I've made a lot of progress doing just that.

So, first off, I finished Part 1 of Stikkan's journey, and it ended with solving a God Puzzle where you filled up the channels of a canal his boat was stuck in. It was a river full of blood mind you . . . I guess it was kind of like the Nephilim version of working the locks of the Panama Canal. Kind of weird, but I'm rolling with it.

Filling the river with blood!

The main challenge in this puzzle came from a couple of fights with a bloated, poison spitting garbage-heap of a woman. I was kind of reminded of an uglier version of Grummus from Everquest. That may be too esoteric of a reference for the kids. Anyway, at the end of the fight, you rip out her stomach. Don't ask me why, but that seemed to be the only way to kill a bloated, poison-spitting garbage-heap of a woman.

The Draugar Queen, otherwise known as a bloated, poison-spitting garbage heap of a woman.

After this, you royally piss off the Norse royalty, and Odin throws you in Asgard's jail.  It's ok though, because you can possess a half-giant whose missing an arm and restore him to his former glory and free yourself from Odin's bondage. (You can't make this stuff up . . . unless you're Sanzaru, then, ok, nice imagination Sanzaru! I like it!)

Half giant / Half machine!

The half-giant's name is Risi, and he's your fourth hero you can play as.  While escaping Asgard's Jail (it's name is escaping my brain right now), you find Risi's mechanical arm and unlock a super cool raven character named Runa that helps you sneak past these evil statues that one-shot you with a death ray.

By the end, you free yourself from the prison and have an epic fight with the Warden. So, reader, if you rip out the heart of the first boss and you rip out the stomach of the second boss, just guess what you rip out of the Warden? I SAID GUESS!! Well, I gave it away in this post's title, but if you guessed eyes, you guessed right! You just grab on to those suckers and rip 'em right out of his skull. Fatality!

They're glowy eyes too!

After all this, the game did something really unexpected, and I say this as a game designer. Check it out . . . the game splits into three paths and unhooks you from the main quest line!  It feels really risky to me to do this, but I can respect the decision. 

Your paths are as follows:

1- You can play as a champion running around in Asgard's Bar, the Aegir Hall. This is incredibly fun, btw. You get to see the bar from a totally different perspective and arm yourself with sewing needles and acorn shell shields.

2- You can play part 2 of Stikkan's journey.

or 3- You can play part 2 of Risi's journey.

For me, I finished up option 1 as much as I could (some fun battles there) and then started on option 2, Stikkan's journey. I'm not sure what my decision did or did not do for me since surely I'll be playing Risi's journey as well, but they gave me an interesting choice.

The "safe" designer in me wonders why you would ever detach someone from the main quest line, even for a moment.  The "creative" designer in me loves the "surprise and delight" moment of even being offered a choice.  You definitely don't see this same type of choice being offered in AW2 (as far as I remember correctly).  Part of me wonders if the metrics showed them that people stopped playing at this area when they did that?  It's something I'd love to know just to answer my own curiosity.

So far in Stikkan's follow-on quest, I've unlocked a new wolf companion.  He's a brutal dual wielder that can howl at magical ice crystals and break them so you can proceed. In this quest, I'm finding myself swapping back and forth between companions a lot to solve puzzles and break through blocking mechanics. This feels really good in late game. I like re-using companions in this way.

All in all, I'm having a great time playing Asgard's Wrath. I feel like I'm getting close to beating it and I'm even wondering if I'll have it done over the weekend here.

I'll be sure to let you know.

Happy Dueling!