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!