Hogwarts Legacy: Giving Old Rumors and Theories to the Sorting Hat
There’s been plenty of speculation circling Avalanche’s upcoming Wizarding World RPG, Hogwarts Legacy. Supposed leaks can be found from as early as 2018, while recent rumors have only added fuel to the fires of one of the genre's most anticipated upcoming titles.
After years of rumors, confirmed information about Hogwarts Legacy has risked becoming obscured among false theories and older, disproven “leaks.” It’s time to give old Hogwarts Legacy rumors and theories to the sorting hat to separate the fact from the fiction.
One of the earliest Hogwarts Legacy leaks came back in 2018, showing early-stage gameplay of characters in classes, interacting with various magical beasts, and casting spells. This leak has been largely confirmed – one of the creatures seen being petted by a student in the leak even appears in the Hogwarts Legacy trailer. This makes a few other aspects of the leak which have yet to be confirmed likely.
For example, this early leak also showed what appears to be Hogwarts Legacy's character customization. This includes some vital features – there appears to be a symbol representing player house, suggesting that players will be able to choose their Hogwarts house during character creation. The fact that much of the the rest of the 2018 footage proved to align with the gameplay later be shown in the trailer supports this leak's validity, but it is worth noting that the details about character creation have yet to be confirmed, and that all of the footage in the early leak is likely of gameplay in early stages and therefore is subject to change until Avalanche itself confirms some key details.
The gameplay leak also shows some spells like Expulso, Stupefy, and Depulso being used, though their inclusion in the game will come as no surprise to Harry Potter fans. Overall, the 2018 gameplay leak appears to be trustworthy, though it only represents the game at the stage of development it was in over two years ago, which means that some of the implications drawn from the gameplay may no longer be reliable.
In 2020 Reddit user u/notexpectedbut leaked Hogwarts Legacy “insider knowledge” while claiming to be a WB marketing employee. Their post claimed that the game would include character customization options which had the potential to affect the story – this is likely true if players can choose their house during character customization as the 2018 leaks suggest.
The Reddit user claimed the title of the upcoming game would be Hogwarts: A Dark Legacy, which, while not accurate, is close enough to Hogwarts Legacy to possibly be a discarded working title. What undermines a lot of u/notexpectedbut’s claims are those among them which are now provably false.
For example, the user claimed that the game would take place long after even Harry Potter’s children had left Hogwarts, but in fact the game’s announcement trailer revealed Hogwarts Legacy's setting to be in the late 1800s instead. The post also claimed that players cannot become dark wizards, would start as a fifth year transfer to Hogwarts before graduating and becoming Aurors, and that the game would include romance, companions, and will allow players to choose whether their character is half-blood, pure-blood, or muggle born.
Unfortunately there is no way to substantiate any of these claims one way or the other, though the fact that u/notexpectedbut’s post already includes some incorrect information makes it unlikely that all of their other claims will come true. The user’s claim that the RPG would have a darker tone seems to be substantiated by the visuals in the Hogwarts Legacy trailer, but whether or not this more adult approach will include romance or possible character deaths as the user stated has yet to be seen. Aside from the rough approximation of the game’s title, there’s little accurate information in the post which couldn’t also be inferred from the 2018 gameplay leaks, making this one of the less reliable Hogwarts Legacy leaks for specific details.
The original Hogwarts Legacy leak from 2018 claimed in its accompanying Reddit post that players would be able to pick from 8 different classes when making their character, a claim that the more recent Reddit leaks also put forward. While the 2018 leaks have proved to be generally reliable, it’s possible that the later leaks aren't corroborating but simply copying the 2018 leaks, so how classes or spells in Hogwarts Legacy will work mechanically is still unknown.
It’s also unknown which characters from this period of the Harry Potter timeline will show up in the game. Older characters like Dumbledore would be attending Hogwarts in the 1890s, but exactly when in the late 1800s the new game takes place in or which known characters will appear if any has yet to be confirmed.
Locations like Hogsmeade and the Forbidden Forest were suggested as part of the game’s world in earlier leaks, and appear to be confirmed by the gameplay trailer. Whether or not magical creatures like the Hippogriff shown in the trailer will be readily available modes of transportation remains to be seen, as well as whether or not travel beyond Hogwarts’ grounds to places like London will be included.
There’s still very little developer Avalanche has confirmed about Hogwarts Legacy in terms of story details and tone. It remains unclear what year players will start in, and the possibility that the protagonist will be a transfer student leaves that flexible. While RPG mechanics like character customization and skill trees are likely, it’s unclear how much influence the player will have over the story and what aspects of customization will factor into it, as well as whether the game’s tone will allow for darker aspects like the death of player companions.
To further complicate things, a recent delay means that Hogwarts Legacy is now set for a 2022 release. Harry Potter fans should keep an eye on gaming events this year, where it's likely that Avalanche will come forward and announce more specific details about a game shaping up to be among next year's most anticipated titles.
Hogwarts Legacy launches in 2022 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
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