Hogwarts Legacy Review (PC): The Magic Your Inner Child Craves – SlashGear

A hundred isn’t an exaggeration here. The “Hogwarts Legacy” map may not look like a sprawl that could rival the map of, for example, “Breath of the Wild,” but the regions to explore are densely and complexly layered over one another. There are quite literally side quest opportunities around every corner you turn, and along the way, you’ll encounter many fellow students, villagers, and others that you can talk to. I found the dialogue of all the NPCs to be remarkably well thought-out, with a good depth in humor and personality — although the NPC animations were a bit repetitive and uncreative, outside of some laughable outlier situations, like this peer of mine having a bad day.

I also wished there was a stronger focus on the “collaborate with your pals” element of the game at times — a Ron and Hermione to my Harry, so to speak. You’re accompanied by a friend a few times, but it’s pretty brief compared to how long the game spans. It’s a very solitary gameplay, which I see as bad and good.

Most side missions involve being of service to a peer or passerby in need and will reward you with gear, useful items, money, or even new skills. I accepted almost every request presented to me by an NPC, but there was one or two that I declined, mostly out of curiosity about how it would impact the events in the near future. You must decide which NPCs to trust — some of your peer’s requests seem nefarious, but could be well-intentioned, while other side excursions may land you in hot water. 

However, any potentially-negative outcomes from a side quest, be it declining it or choosing a suspect dialogue path, seem to dissipate pretty quickly, meaning they don’t swing a moral compass that impacts your main narrative. Declining a side quest may trigger a unique scene, or nothing may happen at all, but either way, things proceed as usual shortly after. Some side quests can be accepted after they were denied if you change your mind, but others are altered forever after your first decision. I recommend exploring how charitable you should be to all these NPCs in need — because you do have the option to demand compensation for your assistance or, in at least a couple instances, even decide to keep what the NPC had you retrieve for yourself… the immediate consequences of which could be quite interesting.