Hogwarts Legacy - Gameplay Showcase
Chandler: What's up everybody? Welcome to the first Hogwarts Legacy gameplay stream. Chandler: I'm Chandler Wood, Community Manager here at Avalanche Software, and we've got a lot of really exciting stuff to show you today. Chandler: But before we get into showing you the game and gameplay, I have a few wonderful guests that I need to introduce you to.
Chandler: First up we have our Community Guest host. Chandler: He brings you the latest and greatest in Hogwarts Legacy content. Chandler: He's the local merlin conspiracy theorist. James: Guilty as charged.
Chandler: One half of XpectoGO, James Whitehead. James: Thanks Chandler. James: Yes, I'm James Whitehead of XpectoGO bringing you guys the latest and greatest in Hogwarts Legacy content. James: And I am one half of XpectoGO. The better half, my wife Sue, represents that other half. James: So, I'm excited to be here! And thank you Avalanche Software for inviting me. I cannot wait to go over this game. I just got to say that.
Chandler: Welcome. Thank you for being here. Chandler: And we've got two people from the studio, just two of the many people bringing this thing together, the magic of Hogwarts Legacy: Game Director Alan Tew. Alan: Hello everyone. Chandler: And Senior Environment Artist and Hogwarts expert, Boston Madsen.
Chandler: So, thank you for taking time out of your very busy schedules right now to sit down with us to help us show everybody gameplay. Chandler: So, what we're going to be showing you today first, the character creator Chandler: because it's your legacy and you have to create yourself when you get into, to get into Hogwarts and bring your whole authentic self to Hogwarts. Chandler: So, we're going to show you that character creator. Chandler: Then we're going to dive into a tour of Hogwarts, and it is, it's just a small tour of Hogwarts right because Hogwarts is huge.
Chandler: Hogwarts is really big. So, we're going to be showing you a little bit, but it's still a lot, so. Chandler: And finally ending up with combat, a little taste of combat, a little taste of how all that works. James: Let's go, let's go. Chandler: Just a little taste. We're excited to get there. But again, first and foremost we need to get into this character creator. Chandler And James with you here we wanted to let you create this character. Chandler: So, Andrew who is going to be doing all of our gameplay capture today, Chandler: is going to be handing you the controller.
James: Oh my gosh. All right. I won't break anything. James: All right. So, what are we looking at right here on this screen? Alan: These are your presets. So, a lot like other games there's, there's, some initial settings that you can put up to choose for your character Alan: that just kind of get them into like the ballpark of what you want to be, who you want to be, and what you want to change. James: Oh man.
Alan: And then once you're in that ballpark all the other tabs let you dial that in. Just be exactly who you want to be. Alan: It's our goal with this is to make sure that for anyone that fantasized about bringing themselves to the school for the very first time Alan: that they feel like they have the options in order to represent who they are Alan: and essentially bring themselves to Hogwarts or whatever character they want to bring to Hogwarts. James: Oh my God. And options galore. James: Do you mind if I try to put myself in here right quick? Alan: It's all about you today. James: Okay, okay, okay. Okay. All right. All right. So. Oh okay. Yeah, that's me. That's me. We're here. We're here. That's me right there. All right so let's
Chandler: We're pretty close, but let's like, let's look at everything here. James: Alright so. Okay, okay. Let's go over here. Chandler: You know play around with some of these options. Like really.
James: Alright so what are we looking at with this option over here with the tab? I see face stuff. Alan: Yeah. So, a lot of different faces that you saw in the in the previous screen. All those faces are our choices that you have here. 47 00:04:30,26 --> 00:03:36,28 Alan: So, you can, now you're just kind of getting into the details. Your face shape and your skin colour. Alan: And then because we knew a lot of people going right in are going to want it right away, even though it's an option later in the game, Alan: you can collect different types of glasses put them on later. We give you some options right up front, if you want to have glasses for your character. James: Oh man. Oh my gosh. Look at the structure of the faces with this. Wow! You guys thought of everything.
James: I like that. I don't think my face is that skinny, but I think we go with that. I think we go that route. And down here, is this? Chandler: Those are your glasses there, yeah. James: Oh so we starting. You could go Harry Potter if you want.
James: Oh man. And this is just some of the options I'm assuming. Alan: Yeah. So through the course of the game there's a lot there's a lot of different options that you'll keep unlocking. James: Okay. Alan: So, it's part of kind of like gear for the character. There's lots of different glasses. There's even masks. There's all kinds of things over the course of the game. Boston: I like how it's all Victorian Era though. Alan: Yeah, and that's all up front.
Boston: It's very authentic James: It's such a good call. Such a good call. James: Oh my gosh. Alright so now. Oh, my oh we can go fleek on this one with the hair. Oh. Alan: I spend a lot of time here just like the dreaming about my different characters.
James: Oh my gosh the pony. The thing I'm always amazed by whenever I see any aspects of Hogwarts Legacy's character creator is just the texture James: and like- you even adding the bounce with the hair moving around. You know it kind of looks Hermione a little bit. James: Oh no you're totally good I'm not fronting, I'm not fronting. And we can just go can I go like Tonk's purple or green? A little bit. Alan: Absolutely. James: Yo, this is so cool. Oh, I like that. That is cute. James: Okay, so a little behind the scenes. I used to have this type of hair like way, way, way back but?
Alan: But was it purple James: I wanted silver tips so that was the closest I got to it in color. James: But oh my gosh this is so cool. So, you literally can bring yourself like this is a myriad of textures and different hairstyles here. James: Alright. So now getting over here to play around with some of the
Alan: These are more subtle options. James: Okay. Alan: Freckles, moles. Different things like when it comes to your complexion like darker eyes and like some shading on the cheeks. James: Oh man, you guys literally thought of everything with this.
Alan: I do have a bit of fun with that. And then the scars are one of those options where you know Harry had his own unique scars. James: Yeah. 80 00:07:57,01 --> 00:07:10,28 Alan: But you can come in with different scar options. James: Yours. Yeah. James: Oh. Oh wow. Look at that. I didn't even see that. Chandler: Oh, those are my favorite. The eyebrow scars. James: Yeah, yeah, yeah. You look kind of like. Chandler: It's a classic James: Yeah, you look kind of just like tough.
James: So now we're over here. Oh man. This you guys this is so sick. Chandler: Again. Getting more subtle, you know really like dialing in that face to really get in there. James: I don't know how revealing like I want to be with my facial features now. Just like James: yeah, I kind of have a big face. Yeah. My eyebrows got to sit kind of low. James: But I mean literally you have so many options just starting the game. I feel like I'm going to be here like forever. Alan: You and me both.
Chandler: And then this final tab here this is where you kind of bring your whole character together. You know this is where you finalize everything. You're not choosing your house here. That's not yet. James: That was a theory. Chandler: But, but, you know here is where you bring- you choose voice one or voice two, which is more kind of a masculine or feminine voice.
Chandler: And then even within that changing your pitch with the pitch slider. Alan: It's a subtle slider. James: Yeah. Alan: But you can hear it.
Avatar: I am indeed a student, but I could very well be able to help you. Alan: And so, you can kind of make out the differences. But yeah, you choose which kind of voice that you want. Alan: You'll be selecting a difficulty here. For today. We'll just go to normal. James: Okay. Alan: Andrew is going to be taking us through some of the experiences of combat later.
Chandler: And we can talk a little more about difficulty, yeah with combat and how that plays in. James: That is a big question. Chandler: But I think the important thing here is like if, if for people who aren't gamers especially James: Right. Chandler: Story mode is a way to get into this without being worried about like oh do I need to be good at games? Like no, just enjoy this game.
James: And I will put Xpecto and then GO right there and then we're good, we're good. Awesome. Chandler: And then whether you want to be a witch or wizard. James: Amazing. Chandler: What did do you think? Character creator? We're good? James: I'm good. I'm like, yo, let's explore Hogwarts and let's get into some combat. Chandler: Through the magic of using, using a dev kit, we're going to be loading up a save a little later in Chandler: so that we can show you more about Hogwarts and give you that taste of combat. Chandler: Alright. Andrew's got some gameplay pulled up for us here. We are starting out- James
Chandler: there, there you are. You're wearing the House Fan-atic robes from the account linking. James: Thank you. Thank you. I do look good. And this is our first look at the Hufflepuff common room I'm assuming. I mean dorm room. Yeah. Yeah, this is awesome. James: Alan, what are we seeing right here with the UI? Because this is our first look. Alan: Yeah. So right now, we know there's been a lot of questions about uh about, about the HUD because this is the first time we're showing it.
Alan: So, kind of going over it from right to left. On the bottom right is what we call our spell diamond. Alan: So those are everything that you see in it are slot-able spells. So, we have over 20 slot-able spells that you can earn over the course of the game. James: Okay. Alan: And that's where the player can place them and use them and access them very quickly. Alan: To the top left of that is you'll see the D-pad and on the left is an eyeball and on the right is a bit of a grid. Alan: So, the eyeball is an example of one of not a slot-able spell, but what we call an essential spell.
Alan: There's certain spells that are used in very specific contexts or that we just want on the controller at all times. Alan: And Revelio is one of those that's left on the D-pad on the right on the D-pad is that grid represents where you might slot spells. James: Okay. Alan: Right now today we're not going to be going into the spell slotting menu because we feel like there's a lot of spoilers there. You know, like... what are all the spells??
James: I would like spoilers, but I understand. Alan: But we do want to make sure there's still some goodies left to share with everyone. And then on the left side that thing that has the L1 button next to it. Alan: That's another thing where we don't want to spoil, but basically that's where you access your tool wheel. So, there's a lot of magical tools that you're going to be kind of brewing and growing over the course game. Alan: So, there's a lot of magical tools that you're going to be kind of brewing and growing over the course game. Alan: And so that's where you would access them rapidly, is our tool wheel.
James: Okay, cool. Alan: There are a few things that I left off the table on the right. Alan: The green bar is your health and basically there's a potion next to it. That's how you might heal. Alan: The bar above it. We're keeping a secret for now. I apologize.
Alan: And all the way on the left is our mini-map with a kind of overhead view of where you are Alan: currently in the common room that updates as you travel through Hogwarts and beyond out into the world. Alan: And for those, those fans out there that aren't a huge fan of mini-maps because we know they exist, there is also options to remove the mini-map James: Oh cool. Alan: and to turn on or off different elements of our HUD. Chandler: Immerse yourself.
James: Yeah, yeah. Alan: And we'll go more into the spells as we get into combat. But that's kind of that's, that's what you're seeing there this is our HUD. Chandler: Also Andrew is giving us a good look over here. I want I want to call out, I'm a big fan of the bedside tables in the dormitories. Chandler: Um, very nice bedside tables.
James: They are nice bedside tables. Boston: The honey-colored wood was mentioned in the writing; it's part of lore. Chandler: It's part of lore, there we go. Alright. James: So now we're walking out into? Boston: We really tried making these low ceiling dorms to give you that badger's den sort of feel. James: And the first thing I notice is the music, the score is amazing with this.
Boston: Gorgeous. Chandler: And I'm calling out here, this is unique music that you're hearing for the Hufflepuff Common Room. Chandler: Go back to those common room videos we released. You'll notice the music is a little bit different and that is entirely intentional. Alan: We just want to welcome you to your common room in every single house just a little bit differently customizing that experience right away. James: Oh my gosh, so awesome. Look at that. Chandler: So, I mean beautiful design we could spend like the entire rest of the stream just in the common room and talking about it.
Chandler: And I'm sure Boston and James can be like just geeking out over this. Boston: This all, this all the details come from J.K. Rowling's writings for this common room. Boston: The round doors, the hanging vines, even the dancing badgers on the fireplace. Alan: It's got a real earthy vibe. James: Yeah. Boston: It's very, very earthy.
Chandler: Which is like elements for each of the houses, right? Boston: Yeah, like Hufflepuff is Earth, Ravenclaw is air, Gryffindor is fire, and Slytherin is water. James: Wow. Boston: We really, really leaned into that for each common room. James: Wow.
Boston: It feels earthy, very earthen passageway. That's what we were hoping for, it should feel very familiar. James: Yeah, yeah it does it does. Chandler: But, I know you don't want to leave, but we're going to be leaving.
James: Thank you. I understand. James: Whoa. The sound effects though, like looking back at the past trailers it was just music, but kind of hearing how Hogwarts is now is so cool. Boston: It's tactile. Alan: Andrew's going to make use one of our spells, Revelio. Chandler: Use Revelio right here because there's a little magic going on. Alan: You notice a little something there.
Alan: So, um these are something that we kind of interchangeably call Revelio pages or lore pages and you'll notice a bunch of things pop up on the screen. James: Yeah. Alan: You see that we got some XP for it, and you can also see that we've advanced something called like a field guide challenge. James: Okay, okay. Alan: So, I want to talk about that a little bit. So, we had to ask ourselves - James: Continue, I'm sorry.
Alan: Yeah, there may or may not be something you may not be able to tickle there. Alan: But, in our game we had to answer the question you know we're a late fifth year. What does that mean? How do we catch up to the other students? James: Okay, Okay.
Alan: And so, we have an answer to that question, and it's given to you by the staff. Alan: So, there's something that we call the Wizard's Field Guide that's granted to you early on in the game. Alan: And the Wizard's Field Guide is how, how you actually work on catching up with the other students.
Alan: So, Andrew if you hit pause for me up here before we push forward a little bit, you can see in our pause menu it's got this book theme. James: Wow. Alan: That's your Wizard's Field Guide. And you can see your house kind of right over it. Alan: You can see that on your level as well so that the field guide has this magical property of looking out into the world around you.
Alan: And the reason why, it's on loan from the Ministry of Magic and the professors who granted it to you as a late fifth year student Alan: is because they want it to help you catch up to the other kids. Alan: And its magical property is to discover different opportunities to learn and grow all around you. Alan: So, the way it works is as you discover gameplay in the game it actually recognizes that as a challenge which is kind of James: On the bottom. Alan: locked into there. Alan: And Andrew if you go in there, you'll see different types of challenges that are combat challenges. Quest challenges.
Alan: Exploration challenges. And you can see field guide pages are on there as well. James: Yeah, yeah. Chandler: You got 1% from that one field guide page. Alan: That entire category is one of the ways that the book itself kind of fills out into the school and spills out into the school Alan: and kind of hides itself with different types of challenges and different things to do around the school Alan: that you're actually going to interact with to help you grow as a wizard and practice your spells. Alan: And so that thing that we just saw is not just a field guide challenge and a way to earn XP. Alan: It's also something that the players can use to learn about the school as are traveling around.
Alan: They spot these little secret facts that they can kind of play a little bit of a game discovering all of them and Alan: there are over 100 field guide pages just in Hogwarts alone. James: Oh my gosh. Chandler: Little glimpse of the Grand Staircase here. Boston: A circular staircase to match the tower. James: All the portraits. And I did notice the floo flame just ignite right there which is so cool. Oh man.
Chandler: Fast travel points right there. House hourglasses. We had to, how much fun was it designing those and putting all those in there Boston: Oh they're gorgeous Boston: But that they're just like in the books. Chandler: Yes Boston: Right next to the Great Hall. Alan: Yeah, it's a nod to lore. Chandler: It's a nod to lore house points is not a core mechanic or system in the game.
Alan: And we didn't turn it into like a gameplay system, but it's definitely present throughout our narrative. Alan: And there are lots of choices where we want to nod to things that aren't necessarily gameplay systems. James: Yeah. Alan: But we nod to them as part of the narrative. Chandler: Over to the right there Boston: Part of the Wizarding World.
Chandler: Andrew is teasing that's the Great Hall over through those doors. Again, we're not going there he's just kind of like eh, eh. James: Cool, Cool. Chandler: Here's another collectible page. You know just again showing you like just these things around Hogwarts that you can do and pick up. James: That's a shot straight from the trailer too, just that part right there. I recognize that. Chandler: We might be giving you a little fan service here with, uh with callbacks to those.
Boston: And this must be summertime because I know these are the summertime windows. Boston: These windows will change with the seasons. Alan: Yeah. The detail they put into this is - I kind of, I get surprised by it all the time. James: I didn't even know that was a thing. Boston: It's a sentient magic castle so. James: And we're going out. Look at that.
Alan: This is where the students would normally kind of congregate just to kind of chill out, play, meet each other outside of the Great Hall before and after meals. Chandler: And I love the way that when the castle interconnects too, that it interconnects outside, inside. Chandler: There are pathways on both sides of things. So, you really get a sense of scope of to how big this castle is. Alan: And when you see things like you'll notice a bridge over there that's a place you can go to across. Alan: Like everything is - everything that you see as a place that you can visit.
James: Wow Boston: We tried so, we put a lot of effort to make it feel really alive not just with student population but even just with the greenery and stuff. Boston: It's Scotland and this castle has been here hundreds of years. So, the moss and all the trees that have overgrown it. James: Oh my gosh. Boston: That landscape. That Scottish.
Chandler: This location might look a little familiar to you. James: Um I thought I recognized it. I believe this is from the spring ASMR. James: And yes, so that puzzle right there, that view. Andrew is taking us right back to that. Chandler: I am going to tell Andrew not to interact with that puzzle and to keep moving on.
Chandler: We can't spoil everything. We can't give you everything. Alan: Hogwarts contains a lot of secrets James: Oh my gosh. Chandler: But this is- this grand entry way right here coming down into really kind of central area. Alan: Yeah, we're coming up on the central hall and we pointed out the green house outside. Alan: And we'll notice when we get down there that it's on the right. Boston: And this is a big hub of the school. Like it's a big castle, but it is designed so you shouldn't get very lost. This is kind of a Grand Central Station.
James: I love that. I love that. Boston: Each direction you know, it's green over there- so the green house is over there. Boston: Transfiguration courtyard, and the library is straight ahead. So, it's kind of like a hub of a lot of the castle. James: Oh my God. Even the color visually you could just tell- Okay green, Green House. Library. Oh my gosh.
Boston: A lot of it'll be subconscious, but it'll help you really feel, learn the castle you feel like you know your way around. Chandler: That's, that's not to say that it's easy to learn. All of us here still get pretty lost in it on a daily basis. Alan: It is a castle. Chandler: It is a castle. James: A great point. Chandler: I love that Andrew is definitely teasing a lot of things here. I'm noticing he's swinging the camera this way and that. James: Yes.
Chandler: He's got this grin on his face over there that's just like, yeah I know what I'm doing. James: Because that statue is from the reveal trailer, that dragon right there. Oh my gosh. Alan: This is another location one of the students will gather you know and just kind of chill out and Chandler: And an opportunity to talk to somebody.
Alan: Yeah. Chandler: Get a quest giver here. Avatar: Is everything all right? Nellie: Yes! I'm sorry, I'm just... I'm Nellie, by the way. I'm just so excited that the Daedalian Keys are back. Avatar: The what keys? Nellie: The Daedalian Keys. Surely, you've seen them flying about. Nellie: Rumour is that a former headmistress, Professor Mole, conjured them to protect the contents of certain locked cabinets years ago.
Nellie: Professor Black couldn't be bothered to disenchant the keys and they appear every few years. Nellie: You should try to catch one. Avatar: Why would I do that? Nellie: Each key will lead you to a locked cabinet somewhere in the castle. Nellie: If you can manage to get the key into the cabinet lock, not an easy task, you may find a reward.
Avatar: Perhaps I'll give it a go. Nellie: I hope you do! Nellie: In fact, I think I heard one of the keys in the Astronomy Tower. You should listen for them. Chandler: So, those kind of side quests are really it's a cool way to interact with your fellow students with perhaps other teachers Chandler: with various things like that as well as teach you some more of the secrets of Hogwarts I think there's some of that there. Alan: In this case absolutely. So, the students are way to kind of like flesh out the school, opportunities around it, what we can do. Alan: And then those interactions, different interactions with different characters can also offer different choice points for the player.
Alan: And then some of those things can, can affect things game wide. Some of these affect characters' lives, the ending of the game. Chandler: And sometimes it's just about you being a nice guy or just being a jerk. Alan: Sometimes it's just about being a student.
Alan: So the scale really varies but those opportunities exist for the player. James: Wow, look at this. Chandler: This is the DADA, Defence Against the Dark Arts. Boston: Tower. Chandler: Tower, which this is one of my favorite locations in in the castle. Just visually you come in here and just the, the richness is -
Boston: It is very iconic very unique to anywhere else in the castle. Chandler: Here's somebody else that we can talk to; notably a younger student. Boston: Yeah, she looks like a first year. An 11-year-old. Avatar: Are you all right? Zenobia: Don't you know who I am? Zenobia Noke, the girl whom everyone at school hates for no reason. Avatar: Everyone hates you? Why? Zenobia: Because Hogwarts is full of bullies and spoilsports. Leander Prewett's one of the worst, that no-talent moonmind. Zenobia: I wanted to make some new friends and so I brought my collection down to the common room.
Zenobia: My Gobstone collection, that is. I was hoping someone would want to play. Zenobia: Are you familiar with Gobstones? Little balls, like marbles. Grand game, and if you lose, they spray you with a foul-smelling liquid. Avatar: I haven't much interest in a game that sprays you with odours. Zenobia: Only if you lose, which I never do. Or at least, not often. Zenobia: *sigh* People can be so cruel. Just because they're sprayed all over with smelly Gobstones spit. It's their own fault for losing!
Zenobia: Imelda is one of the worst losers. Everett and Astoria are terrible as well. Zenobia: And now those poor losers have taken my Gobstones and hidden them in very high places all over the school. Avatar: Sounds as if you caused a smelly situation and they responded accordingly. Zenobia: I didn't make the rules! Zenobia: Anyway, I can't work out how to get them back on my own.
Zenobia: I don't think I know the necessary spells yet. I need someone, perhaps a selfless and talented fifth-year, to help me. Avatar: I'll see what I can do. Zenobia: I'd appreciate the help. If you do find all of my Gobstones, do come and see me again.
Zenobia: I'll be back to playing Snake Pit and Jack Stone by myself in no time. Chandler: I love that interaction with her because there are so many ways that you can go with that and like- you can feel for her, Chandler: you can be a jerk to her, or you can be like Gobstones that sounds awful it sounds like you're just mean. Alan: And your opportunities to be mean they aren't over. Chandler: They continue but Alan: And that's a good example of. Chandler: Gobstones too. I know people are going to ask- Gobstones? Gobstones playable?! They mentioned it right?
Alan: So yeah, Gobstones is one of the things that is not playable in the game. Alan: I know we've- we've had to rip off the Band-Aid off on a few things. I honestly, it's both an, It's an amazing thing on the franchise. Alan: How many things about this like, like speak to us as fans and that we want to turn into gameplay. Alan: And there were calls that we had to make over the course of production of kind of like which things we will and won't include in the bucket. Chandler: Gobstones. Wizard's Chess. Alan: Those are things that aren't featured.
Chandler: They're featured within the world. Boston: I'm glad they're mentioned they're a part of the wizarding world, part of student's lives. Alan: Every single time there was something that we, we regretted because we couldn't include it. Alan: We also tried to figure out a way to make sure that was included in the narrative and include it in the stories. Alan: Make sure there's a way to kind of like acknowledge it, touch it, and you know make it feel like it's definitely part of the world.
Chandler: And I know too here we- Alan: I love to see the reaction. James: I was like we're in the Defence Against the Dark Arts class. I recognize that staircase to the left where we were just at Andrew was walking by. James: I also recognize the dragon at the very top. Oh my gosh.
Chandler: Being in a classroom, I think this is a good opportunity to talk about how classes work Chandler: because we've gotten a lot of questions about that. Is it a schedule-based system? So, to tell us how classes work. Alan: Yeah. So ultimately, we decide not to go the sim route. So, I think like one of the speculations was, is there time of day? Alan: And you know that kind of thing like can I miss classes this time of day? James: Yeah. Chandler: There is a Day-Night cycle. James: Yeah. Alan: Yeah, there is a Day-Night cycle but, but everything is very narrative based. And so, there's a big mystery going on in the world.
Alan: There's something happening in the narrative. And we and we essentially see it as kind of like chapters in that narrative Alan: each chapter of which has a set of missions that you can choose between as you're progressing through the game and classes fit within that structure. Alan: So, there are mainline things that the players have to do. And then classes also appear on the sides as well, as optional things that help you advance your spells. Alan: It's absolutely true that classes provide all of your major tools throughout the game play. Your spells. Your major abilities. You get to know the professors. Alan: Each one of them has these bespoke kind of- depends on the missions and then there are also additional opportunities outside of that. Alan: Through kind of like, side classroom missions essentially where you can learn additional spells, or things that you need in your adventure, and also get to know the professors better.
Chandler: And I just want to call out something that Andrew's been kind of showing off, ways to kind of interact with the environment and just Chandler: just engage with the world, and you know maybe down there you're sipping some tea. James: Yeah, I saw that. Boston: Victorian high, you know James: Yeah. Chandler: High Society Boston: High Society Alan: And it's no wonder you like this area because we built it for like the pure bloods and the Slytherins. Chandler: Oh, come on. James: And like speaking of lived in, like the sound effects again, the chatter of the communication that's happening, and the footsteps, like it just makes it feel more alive.
Chandler: And the little events like that. Brooms going by overhead. Boston: I just saw a broom go flying like swoosh. I love that. James: Oh my gosh. Boston: The DADA Tower was one example, but no two hallways should look the same at Hogwarts Boston: it's a- it has a lot of personality. Every hallway should be a little bit different. And that's mostly to help orient the player. James: Right, right.
Boston: Help you not get lost. But this is Hesperius Hall. That's a little nod from the Marauders. Boston: A name that came from the Marauders map. But every hallway will have a little bit of a different personality. Chandler: Personality. I like that. And it gives- it does Boston: A lot of character. Chandler: Hogwarts has character. Hogwarts is its own character, no matter where you go. James: Yeah Chandler: Feel just a little bit different.
Boston: It's a sentient castle full of magic for hundreds of years. It's going to kind of grow and develop. Chandler: And full of... Boston: Oh, I heard something. James: Yeah, speaking of characters. Boston: Speaking of magic, Mr. Magic himself. James: Peeves.
Alan: My future poltergeist. Chandler: You know we talked about building on lore too. Another statue over to the side, thats. Boston: Do you know who that is? Chandler: Lachlan the Lanky. Boston: Yeah, yeah. Chandler: And he's got his Bowtruckle friend. And I think if players don't know there's another Revelio page there. Boston: Yeah, there's a map of Argyllshire and we know the fat lady hides there.
James: Hides behind it, that's right. Boston: From the third book. Boston: But sometimes a hallway has personality by how it looks. Or we just passed a music hallway where the portraits have kind of taken it over Boston: and so the sound makes it really unique. Chandler: Alright I got to call this out here. I know there's been some criticism in the past that our trailers, and our gameplay, and what we've shown so far has not had enough owls. Chandler: Okay, so, here we are at the Owlery. We're looking directly at the Owlery to show you all of the owls.
Boston: It's a lot of owls. Chandler: It's a lot of owls, at The Owlery. All the owls. Boston: I love fog rolling down that mountain James: Great callback, great callback. Alan: I also, also love that as I one of my favorite things about just kind of going around on the outside of the school is that all those things that I see are places that I can go to, that I can visit.
Alan: I just love that sensation you know that is real. Boston: Love that Scottish Countryside. Chandler: We're kind of closing out our mini tour of Hogwarts and again, but a fraction of this enormous castle. James: I want it all.
Chandler: But we're closing it out here in the clock tower. So, another recognizable location. Chandler: But this is where Cross wands, which is the secret, not so secret, Duelling Club is that the students have put together. Chandler: Professors definitely know about it, but they think they're being clever. And it's run by this Lucan Brattleby here. Alan: Who's in a younger year. Alan: But, we kind of like that this, you know, that he's running things. Avatar: Hello, Lucan. May I use the training dummy?
Lucan: Of course! I'll fetch it and give you a list of combinations to practise. Lucan: Ready to have a try now? Avatar: That would be wonderful! Lucan: Be sure to cast all your spells before the dummy lands. Lucan: If you need to stop practicing before you finish all of them, let me know. Chandler: And this is a really good opportunity to now jump into combat because really in the game this is going to be Chandler: the first time where you yourself get to learn about combat and combos in a big way, and in a new way. Chandler: For me personally, this was where the game really starts to open up to the possibilities.
Alan: So, we've set up we've set up a training dummy and this is kind of an activity where you're supposed to execute according to, kind of, the iconography on the top. Alan: Now what we see on the top is the Accio spell, followed by for what we just kind of lovingly refer to as basic shots. Alan: There's certain spells what the wizard is kind of like use just kind of fling Alan: and you trigger that by tapping R2 on your controller. Alan: So, you can see in the corner R2. So, if you tap R2 that throws out a basic shot. That R2 is also your gateway to all of the spells that you might slot. Alan: So, if you hold R2 instead you can see how the diamond expands, and if we let go you see how it contracts.
Alan: So, if you hold it again it expands. And so, when it expands, and all the spells that you slotted while you're holding that button can now be tapped with your face button. James: Awesome. Alan: And not only that, but over the course of the game, you can gain additional spell diamonds, up to four additional ones, that you can slot up to 16 spells, you know pretty much instantly.
Alan: And then that helped us fulfill the fantasy of in combat- I need to build the access things very rapidly. Alan: And, and so you learn over the course of these events, you know, how to juggle not just the spell casting Alan: but also, it reinforces an understanding of another feature of the wheel which is their cooldowns. Alan: So, as you're casting spells, just to make sure that you're not just kind of like repeatedly using one thing over and over. James: Right, right.
Alan: You can see cooldowns on the spells that he's using on the wheel. Alan: And then as you progress through the game there are different things that can affect things like cooldowns through your talents Alan: different things to kind of like juggle, and adjust, and update those things. Alan: And so, if you hold down R2 and you tap the D-pad, it will switch between your other diamonds, if you've unlocked them and that's how you access all those spells. James: Oh man. Looks like you're about to see some action over here.
Chandler: Yeah. So, this is this is a great way to kind of learn how to pull things together so you can James: So, you use Leviosa right here Chandler: Pull those combos together. James: Ah, Accio. Tap, tap, tap, awesome.
James: Good job Andrew. Chandler: And that's just against the dummy, but I mean. Lucan: You looked good out there.
Avatar: Thank you, Lucan. Lucan: I say better to discover one's weaknesses during practise than during a duel. Lucan: You'll be a fearsome challenger now. Chandler: I think now we can, we can take on something a little more challenging. It's going to shoot back. Alan: Well, let's talk about some more features of combat. Avatar: Hello, Lucan. Is the next round of Crossed Wands all set?
Lucan: Why yes, it is. I've got a great match lined up. Lucan: Ready for another round? Chandler: We're on a PS5 dev kit here. So, we're going to be able to kind of pause the action. Avatar: And talk about what you're seeing on the screen, because there is about to be a lot going on. James: Okay. Okay. Okay. Avatar: I'm ready. Let's do it.
Lucan: Brilliant. Are you duelling with a partner? Chandler: Alright. Here you can select if you want to fight with somebody else, some of your classmates. Alan: One of the other students. Chandler: But, in this case we're not, we want we want that action to feel a little more frantic towards you, and really get you that sense of combat. Alan: So apparently, you've got quite the reputation because they've got you up against the three.
James: Three Yeah. Off the jump. Alan: So, I can, I can explain this just because I know people are going to go into it, but we can probably just kind of jump in. Alan: So, you're not the only one that has Protego and the ability to deflect, the enemies do too. And we actually play with that when it comes to the spell casting. Alan: So, you notice that there are different colored kind of shields with the different characters. And you also notice that your spells have different colors on them. Alan: So, to help players understand kind of like the function of their spells, we kind of put them into brackets. Alan: So, there are damage spells, there are force spells, there are Alan: I'm forgetting the other one all of a sudden. Control spells.
Alan: And so those things for the player, they wind up also being a color indicator for which, which actual spell to use to break the different shields that the enemies can use. Alan: That way it rewards kind of like that close attention you're paying to these things. Chandler: And we've got this paused here now, and you can kind of see all the elements on the screen, the halo around the avatar's head, Chandler: each of the different shields to kind of give us give us a breakdown of what's going on.
Alan: Give a breakdown of different things you are seeing. Alan: So, you'll notice- at the top that we're, we're kind of like calling out which enemy you currently have targeted at their level and health. Alan: And so, you know as you target different characters, you'll be able to get that breakdown.
Alan: The halo over your head; whenever an enemy is about to an attack it's almost like you have a little bit of a sixth sense for those things that are coming. Alan: If you see the halo, it means there's an incoming attack. And if you tap the triangle button by default, then that you'll be able to deflect that attack that comes in. James: Boom. Yeah okay. Alan: Defend it off with Protego. Chandler: I love that. That deflect when it goes off and like hits things up. And breaks things off walls too. Alan: But also, if you hold the button then it doesn't just doesn't just deflect, it also deflects and turns around with a counterattack Stupefy. It actually stuns the enemy.
Alan: And you can use that even in your combos and stuff. So, if you're focused on a character and you're, you're doing your thing and someone else attacks you. Alan: You can actually turn that attack into a direct attack on the person that your combo-ing. Chandler: Back into gameplay here. Andrew is going to pretty, pretty handily finish these, these other students off here and win this duel. James: I love how fast it is. James: It's like a dance.
Alan: Yeah, we really felt like the, um, we really felt like in the movies there's almost like a uh.. Our team would sometimes call it a long range kung fu? Alan: It's kind of like there's this element of kind of like fencing from a very great distance. James: That's such a good call. Alan: And there are a lot of a lot of things that we had to do with our controls and combat system in order to kind of capitalize on that idea, that's pretty unique to the wizarding world. James: Understandable.
Lucan: Yes, well perhaps you should try that next time. Lucan: The other duellists have already taken notice of you, but after that last round they'll really have it in for you. Lucan: You better keep practising if you want a chance at winning! Or at least surviving the next round.
Lucan: I'll let you know when we're ready. Hope to see you then. Chandler: And that is more or less going to wrap it up for us for now. For what we wanted to show you. Chandler: Character creator, tour of Hogwarts, and just that little taste of combat. Chandler: But we didn't want to leave you without, maybe a little taste of something that we're uh, we may show in the future, may show next time. Chandler: You know so leaving the castle. Going out here.
James: More and more owls confirmed. Chandler: The owl mail of it. There's the owlery again. Yes, all of the owls. Chandler: But yeah, just heading out here again to show you like, from Hogwarts to the world beyond Hogwarts. James: Oh man. Chandler: And that this is not somewhere where we're going today, but we will definitely be taking you in the future. James: Oh my gosh.
Chandler: A little glimpse at the scale of the castle back there. Chandler: Alright, so we're going to wrap things up here, but I hope you guys have enjoyed everything that you've seen, but I think James, you may have a few other questions here at the end of things. James: Yes.
Chandler: While we're done with what we're showing on the gameplay side. I know there's a few things that you want to pick Alan and Boston's brains about. James: I would love that because there's a lot. James: Alright. So, some of these questions we did pull from the community, secretly, but I did pull from the community so. Chandler: And also, from I mean going through this. Yeah, you've come up with some things you want to talk a bit more about. James: Elaborate on because we went through character customization, Hogwarts itself, and even combat. James: So, this would be for like for the both of you guys. Will we be able to go back and change our character creation if we don't like it?
Alan: Um, so not everything, but there are certain things with hairstyle, hair color, so kind of like core shapes. Alan: You know, like with body and face, not after the fact, but there are lots of things. There's kind of like a barber shop in Hogsmeade that you can go to Alan: and inside of there you can customize. Chandler: Of course there's a wizard barber. Boston: You could change your Hair color for holidays or something. James: Oh my gosh that would be so cool. Alan: And the game features a lot of appearance customization in it. So, there's, there's a ton of options there.
Alan: Um but that that's in terms of like your character and stuff that you have character creator. It's like a, it's like a smaller set of what you saw there. James: Okay. Oh my gosh. Awesome. Awesome. Next question. What kind of leisurely activity can we do? James: Can we study with our free time? I mean, what were we doing just hanging out in Hogwarts? Alan: Um, as you progress through the game there's a bunch of different missions that open up. James: Yeah. Alan: Most of them are driven by different characters' personalities. You know, some of them want help getting up to hi-jinks Alan: or they want some of them want to just explore secrets in the castle because there are new secrets in our castle to explore.
Alan: So, I think uh, there's a bunch of things to do and when it comes to class, as I mentioned earlier, it's not kind of just like the main line stuff. Alan: There are kind of like extracurricular assignments, some of which are optional, some of which are kind of like blockers for main mission. Alan: Kind of like, I can't go on this mission until you have the spell. And then the spell is open you know the assignments and how you complete it with your professor.
Alan: And so, there are opportunities to study so to speak with that. James: Right, right. Alan: But, they're really, they do all take the form of our mission structure. James: As you mentioned earlier. Wow. Um, let's get into some combat right quick. Do spells have different levels or are they all equal. Alan: Do spells have different levels or are they all equal? I'm trying to think of how to describe that.
Alan: So, each spell has kind of like its own core identity and what it does in the game with regards to both kind of like puzzling, world exploration, and enemy combat and all that kind of stuff. James: Right. Alan: And then it's through the talent system. James: Okay. Alan: Right. Alan: And when you go into that, it's kind of like each of those spells has ways to kind of like advance and grow and change.
James: Okay. Alan: And as you spend talents in some cases that even changes like the way you approach the battlefield and things like that. Alan: So, I'd say that's no more true than with like dark arts for example. James: Right. Alan: And as you go down that line and you kind of play around with those talents, it really does start to kind of like affect even how you approach combat and how you think about the battlefield.
James: I won't be touching the dark arts stuff, but I know many of you guys will be yeah. Alan: Maybe on your second gameplay. James: Yeah. Second play yes. Dark Hufflepuff coming #Soon. James: I want to close off with this question and this will be for everybody. And we will start with Boston.
James: With this game that you guys have been working on for however long and the excitement you guys have, what's one aspect of Hogwarts Legacy that you are excited for the fans to experience? Boston. Boston: I think I am just excited for the fans to play through the world, specifically the castle and maybe go read those books again. Boston: I hope that whether you're already a fan and you know love this game or this is your first introduction into the world, Boston: I hope they just point at each other in the best way possible, and I'm just excited for fans to get to finally go to Hogwarts and feel like they can own it. Boston: I've lived there for five years. It's a great place to live. 558 00:45:45,22 --> 00:43:13,05 Alan: Lucky.
Boston: Official fifth year. Alan: It's, it's really funny because. Because I might. I want to give a different answer and I will but, but I actually feel like the most honest answer is really similar. Alan: Because my favorite thing when you know when running around playing the game and getting to know you know Hogwarts the way Boston knows it. Alan: Because she knows the school and the lore better than I do and thank God.
Alan: Because you want the person architecting it to really know that. James: Yeah, yeah. Alan: When I, when I rewatch the films or, or I'm rereading passages from the books, there's a different relationship to those things having played the game. James: Right, right. Alan: And so, it's really looking over the edge, and seeing, seeing locations. I'm like, oh my god, I'm right there
Alan: and in the movies saying, I know what's around that corner in the film. Like if you go down this way, there's actually a thing over here and there's this person over here and this thing happened. Alan: And it just adds all this richness to everything that you already love. Boston: And I'll just add that you're going to have your own story. So, you know what happens around that corner because you did something. Alan: And in the quick answer just to have something different, is I just love being on a broom. I just love looking at the whole world and just being like, okay I can just go.
Boston: I can go there. James: That vantage point, yeah. Alan: It's, there's just something exhilarating about it that feels very different in that kind of open air. And on that thing, it just like it's kind of incredible. Yeah. Chandler: And, and wrapping it up you know for me it's just bringing the community together with it and sharing those stories, Chandler: because it is your story and you, you are going to be writing you know this is this is your unique experience within this Chandler: and even within the things that are the same, it's going to be your unique experience is different from mine, is different from we're all approaching it from different places. Chandler: And I think that's going to be really cool, the way that everybody brings those things together. Chandler: Alright. And that's everything that we have to show you today. I know maybe it wasn't everything you wanted to see but it was a whole lot of stuff.
Chandler: Character creator, little mini tour of Hogwarts. They are just a small part of it- a little bit of combat. Chandler: And we've we do have some more stuff coming up for you in the future. Chandler: Hogwarts Legacy releases on February 10th, 2023, and is available for preorder now. Chandler: But that's going to do it from us. We're going to leave you with a little something else, but for now, bye. Boston: Thank you! James: Bye! Alan: Thanks, everyone.
2022-11-14 20:56
