For fans of theHarry Potterseries, 2022 can’t come soon enough as the release of the highly anticipatedHogwarts Legacydraws ever closer. The game sees players take control of a Hogwarts student in the 1800s, far before the events of the mainHarry Potterseries. Not much is currently known about what the gameplay forHogwarts Legacywill actually be like, however, that hasn’t stopped fans from speculating. Based on the limited public knowledge about the game’s systems, it’s clear thatLegacywill have players exploring the halls and grounds of the titular castle, but fans are hoping that there’s more to it than simply trying not to be late for potions class.
Recently, fans on the game’s official sub-Reddit suggested thatHogwarts Legacyshould take inspiration fromPersona 5and include social systems similar to those in the game. No such system has been confirmed by Avalance Software, but that hasn’t stopped speculation and desire for a social bond system in the game. After all, friendship and love are at the core of theHarry Potterstory, so a social system likePersona 5’s wouldn’t feel out of place in the upcoming fantasy RPG.
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Raising Social Stats to Hang With Friends in Hogwarts Legacy
One element fromPersona 5that seems to be a perfect fit forHogwarts Legacyis the system that locks players out of bonding with certain confidants if their social skills aren’t high enough. Characters likeMakoto, Futaba, and Ann all require Joker to be proficient in skillssuch as charm, kindness, and knowledge to progress their relationships, both platonic and romantic. Once Joker raises his social stats high enough, he’s able to meet each character where they’re at and engage with them on a more personal level.
With the way thattheHarry Potterseries handles its personality-defining Houses, barring the player from progressing their relationships with people in opposing Houses until they can master a skill might be an engaging way to bring characters together. TheHarry Potterbooks and films celebrate plenty of characters who all have diverse likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses. By forcing players inHogwarts Legacyto engage with those varying interests before progressing with a relationship, the game could similarly celebrate the differences in everyone just the same as the source material does.
Confidant-Style Hogwarts Power Boosts
Once a player has the proper social stats to be hanging out with members of opposing Houses, they’d be able to advance their relationships. Like inPersona 5, there should be tangible rewards for getting to know different people in different houses. Once their relationship reaches a high enough level, maybea Slytherin could teach the player a cursethat’s not technically allowed on school grounds, or a Ravenclaw could use their book smarts to teach the player how to brew stronger potions. LikePersona 5’s confidants, each different character might bring something new to the table, incentivizing the player to meet as many new people as possible.
Because this is simply all speculation, there’s nothing that’s been said by Avalance Softworks that suggests social systems like these will be included in the game, however, theHarry Potterseries is a great franchise to include social links in. A system like that included in the game could help furtherHogwarts Legacy’s reputation as an RPG. By allowing the player to choose what sorts of friends to make, just like Harry did in the original series, the game could be allowing itself to be full of unique experiences for each individual player. At the end of the day, that seems to be the experience thatHogwarts Legacyis trying to give to its players.
Hogwarts Legacyis currently in development for the PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
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