Nintendo Website Shares First Look At Hogwarts Legacy On Switch

I fired this one up on PC. It was kind of fun for a while, but I hit a point in the story mode where the game would not let me progress any further unless I completed ALL the side quests I'd been neglecting. So I stopped. But, if side quests are your thing, you'll have a grand time

That honestly for the Switch doesn't really look bad. It looks pretty decent to me imo. Just need to know how it runs tho.

I honestly didn't think this port was ever going to come out. I really enjoyed this game on PS5, and I curious to see how this port holds up. Definitely looking forward to the review.

is this running natively, or is it a cloud port?

@epicgamner Its a native port. Check the Eshop. Its running natively on Switch.

Screenshots tell you nothing...

80% of me is thinking 'YES! I can't wait to grab it for Switch, I had a great time with it on XBox Series S but would like a physical and portable copy'. The other 20% is still worried about the usual performance-related stuff. As long as the game isn't totally breaking I'm happy 😌 it wasn't a perfect game but it was amazing to see a fully realised Hogwarts and Hogsmeade in game form.

@Kirbysonic but can you go into the Chamber of Secrets?

How much you want to bet this runs like absolute CRAP on Switch?? Come on, throw out a number!!

I really enjoyed this game on PS5. I know it ran fine on last gen consoles so it might be okay on Switch. They certainly have taken their time with this port so there's hope it could be good.

if these screenshots are representative of the game in general then this game is in trouble.

Would rather Switch one of the two new Star Trek games...

@anoyonmus Fair point 🥲😂 but there is a very fun easter egg in the toilets...

@Kirbysonic is that so?

Getting it for my wife.

I’ve put about 25hrs into the PC version and I had a splendid time back in February / March. It’s not a revolutionary game and in some instances, it’s a bit outdated.

However, if you’re looking for an open world Harry Potter game, they nailed the atmosphere and you don’t need high end graphics to experience it.

Granted my system is very robust (7900 XTX, 5800X3D) and the visuals and performance were fantastic, the core gameplay, the environments, the music, and the mission structure make the game simply fun. As long as the game runs at 30fps on Switch, you’re in for a fun time.

There is obviously a huge market on Switch for this type of game and considering how long it’s been delayed, I hope they managed to get it running. Considering a Switch is basically a portable Xbox 360 in terms of raw power, it will be hella impressive if they’re successful.

Hopefully Digital Foundry does a deep dive 🤞.

@anoyonmus if it actually works, then that's damn impressive.

@epicgamner yeah it will. I pray that it works tbh. The screenshots here don't look bad actually imo. Looks pretty ok for what the Switch can manage.

If this is a locked 30fps my kids and I will be very happy... (Wife's been playing on PS5 since launch). My mother-in-law had been playing the PS4 version and I was quite impressed.

Aw man! This means we can wingardium leviosa on the toilet!

Hopefully it runs stable and smoothly.

Of all the Switch ports that got cancelled (Midnight Sun, Lord of the Rings Gollum, Pillars of Eternity 2, etc.) it's quite surprising that this one didn't especially when the Hogwart hype is already over.

It doesn't mean asssssss unless they show it moving.

We'll have to see how well the game performs, but I think these screenshots are like the best case scenario. The textures are definitely a lot muddier, but on the whole, this looks solid for an open-world Switch game. I know people were saying this was going to be another MK1 fiasco, but you don't delay a game for several months just to release a broken product. There's no reason not to have released it on the same day as other consoles unless they were really concerned with polishing it up and making sure Switch fans had a serviceable port. That's not to say the final product is guaranteed to be great, but my confidence has increased.

I never picked the game up when it came out on PS5 because I just had too many other games to play and kind of figured it would come to PS Plus eventually anyways. But if the game runs well enough, I may end up opting for the Switch version, as it's definitely my preferred console that I play the most. Being able to chip away at an open world game like this in a handheld form factor would be great. It would be especially nice if they pulled an Immortals Fenyx Rising and allow cross-saves to carry over across platforms so you can have the best of both worlds.

I've heard great things about the game, and while I don't know if I'm enough of a superfan to call myself a "Potterhead," I've seen all the movies at least a few times each and enjoy them. Part of me is kind of tired of all the games where you create your own character though; I understand the appeal of getting sorted into your own house and everything, but I kind of like just reliving the events of movies/shows as the established cast of characters I've come to love. I'm not necessarily that interested in the expanded lore. I'm sure I'll still enjoy the game, though.

It's funny, most of y'all probably know by now that I'm a person of deep faith and hold a number of Conservative values. My dad is a pastor and everything. But it honestly baffles me how many friends I had growing up who weren't allowed to watch Harry Potter because their parents believed it was blasphemous or something.

Harry Potter movies are like the least offensive PG-13 movies you can watch; language is pretty mild, and references to sex are almost nonexistent. Nobody seriously went on to practice Satanism because Harry is a wizard. Like, did their parents not allow their kids to watch Wizard of Oz growing up? There's literally a character called "the good witch," lol.

It's just paranoia and baseless fear mongering like those old "Pokémon is of the devil" TV sermons from back in the day. I have a cousin who wasn't even allowed to play Kirby because his parents thought that was a Pokémon, lol. Despite his parents' best efforts to raise their son to be a Christian, all their overzealous and superstitious efforts ironically only served to make him resent religion altogether. It's unfortunate, but I suppose these arbitrary rationalizations are what lead some to believe religion is a cult.

If Harry Potter makes someone feel spiritual conviction, I'm not gonna judge them as it's their prerogative. I don't want anybody to betray their conscience. I know some Christians who don't believe in celebrating Halloween, and while I don't agree, I respect their devotion, nonetheless. But I'd implore every religious person to not just take the word of their pastor at face value. The Bible itself warns you that many of them are full of it and are not to be trusted. Don't blindly follow, but use your own God-given ability to think critically and reason.

Eh, it doesn’t need to be there. Big-graphic games don’t need to be on it, pass.

As long as it runs decently on switch, I’m down.

@Smug43 I'm not anticipating actually playing this, but I do love seeing amazing ports to the Switch. The most I will probably get from this release is some embarrassing Digital Foundry dissection. It's WB, so could go the way of MK1 or it could go the way of The Witcher 3. I'm also not sure Avalanche Software is doing the port themselves, but I think they are. Funny that they are based in Salt Lake City, and developed a HP game.

It sure will look muddy. Not interested anyway, it's a extremelly boring game.

@Not_Soos faith: strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof.
"blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." Hebrews 11:1
Faith is blind by definition, and that blindness is praised. So puuuuhhhhlease with your "blindly following."

@LikelySatan

Not sure why you're being confrontational when there was nothing hostile about my comment. It's not that hard to just show a little respect, even if you don't understand a person's perspective. I don't understand how anyone can be an atheist, but I can still respect them as a person and not look down on or condescend them. Atheists have a right to exist, but so do religious people.

It's kinda funny how the point of my comment was that not every pastor should be trusted as there is much corruption in religious high places, which is something that I imagine you would agree with. And also that superstition as a replacement for logic and reason can be dangerous. But because I'm one of the approximately 5.8 billion people in the world who adhere to a religion, you look down on me.

Everybody on this planet has faith; you don't have to believe in a god for that. Maybe you have faith that you're going to find true love someday, or that someday the human race will be able to achieve world peace or invent a cure for cancer. You can't prove that--at least not in this present moment--so one could just as easily call you a "blind follower." You aren't a human if you have no beliefs.

I'm not trying to cram my religion down your throat or take away your rights or whatever, so what's your beef? I know religion is popular to dunk on right now, but don't be guilty of the same things you probably accuse religious people of doing--i.e., acting better than everyone else, judging those who think differently, and telling other people they're wrong.

@Not_Soos because you ended your statement with "don't blindly follow," after talking about your faith. I don't need the standard apologetic missives and mental gymnastics, to be redundant.
I don't look down on you. I look down on people who weaponize that faith to bomb eachother because they care more about their faith then the lives of their children. People that care more about "the unborn" and about where we go when we die while making people's LIVES miserable. Or people who make laws against me and my family. Those people make everyone's lives worse due to what a whole lot of us see as a system of beliefs that puts us under their thumbs. Because we are skeptical of their claimss. Pretty unfair. So there are some of my beliefs.
All I did was call out your "blindly follow" statement.

@LikelySatan I don't know if DF will do a video. EG took the stance of not providing any coverage for the game over some of the author's social/political views.

@sleepinglion Haha. Mandatory side content.

@Indielink ah. I respect that. I'm a conscientious consumer and above reproach.
-sent from my iphone

Originally I was just going to get the PS4 version of this if it goes on sale over the holidays, but I'll consider this version too if it turns out good or at least decent enough. Even though I mostly play docked, the portability is great when I go that route.

Wait for reviews before you order, it may be a disaster like MK1, ok it's not a fighting game and can get away with some occasional drops but I'm really skeptical if the hardware can handle this

@LikelySatan Yet you chose to be aggressive to someone who was taking a fairly balanced and moderate position to speak from. I read your first response to @Not_Soos and [insert “escalated quickly” gif]. You are free to think how you want, but if you want people to actually listen to you and respond reasonably to you, don’t just start firing guns every time you get a whiff of something you disagree with.

It sounds like you had religion hurt you in the past, and maybe even until today. I feel you. But Not_Soos does not seem to be the same kind of religious person you have known prior.

@Vexx234 Exactly! I just got so bored trying to figure out which side-quests were needed to progress because the game didn't tell me

This is not the heated political or philosophical dicussion I thought I'd experience under this article, but I'm impressed with below the line's ability to still surprise after all these years.

The comment section works in mysterious ways.

"sent from my iphone" 😂 I solemly swear that its up to no good.

@TotalHenshin all i did was call out the obvious about "blindly following."
Oh, but I forgot, its also funny to me that people of faith were slamming HP for being of the devil and all occult back when it was in the cultural zeitgeist, and only defended HP after JK outed herself as a bigot.

@LikelySatan

I think your original comment could have been phrased in a way that left the door open to respectful conversation rather than condescension, but I appreciate the clarification. If I said something egregious and out of line, then maybe "calling out" my behavior would be an appropriate response, but to call someone out insinuates that the other person is objectively in the wrong and is acting completely out of pocket. I think you know my comment was intended with respect to all persons.

I agree with you that religion can be--and often has been--weaponized against other people, and I am equally opposed to it. I also don't think there's anything wrong with having a degree of skepticism. This is what I mean about not being a blind follower. I believe in Christianity, but I've made efforts to not only study the Bible, but have at least a base understanding of other world religions, question things I didn't understand, and research the philosophical subjects further. I form my own opinion and don't base my faith on what other people try to pass off as the objective moral truth.

I won't go into a big thing about abortion because I'm sure the NL mods won't care for that. All I'll say is that my beliefs on the subject have very little to do with religion (if anything, that should give me solace since I believe the unborn have a place in Heaven), but rather the observable, scientific evidence on when the human fetus has developed nerve receptors that can feel pain and displays personality traits such as sucking the thumb and smiling or frowning based on whether the baby likes or dislikes the food that passes through the umbilical cord. These are all real, legitimate studies that have been conducted, and although I am what you might call "pro-life," I hope you can respect that my reasoning is drawn largely from scientific data and not some misogynistic religious belief that women are inferior and less deserving of agency.

These are heavy subjects, but I see no reason why they can't be discussed with mutual respect and, as @TotalHenshin said, a genuine effort to listen to the other party; it's the best way to get them to listen in return, as hostility is usually met with def ears or the other person doubling down in their beliefs. There's real progress that can be made here with the right approach. At least, that's what I believe.

@samuelvictor I've been known to derail a comment section or two in my time. The mods probably hate me, but I swear it's never meant to be malicious!

@LikelySatan I also found it funny how JK Rowling's political perception completely flipped, although my mind always went to when people got mad about her retconning characters like Dumbledore and Neville being gay. She went from the poster child of "woke" to "anti-woke," which is pretty comical. So that's another thing we share. I think most people have a lot more in common than they think, but it takes a willingness of both parties to have an open discussion to reach that understanding.

@TotalHenshin Hey, I really appreciate the defence; your kind words mean a lot.

@Not_Soos you are right, we shouldn't go into abortion (lol???).
I work with the faith community all the time at the shelter I work at. I don't care if they do good because they think they're the star of a cosmic reality show. That they do good is good enough. I am very frustrated with people killing children and innocents over their religion, and it's seeping through, so my apologies for my tone.
...but the faith and blindly follow thing is still hilarious.

@TotalHenshin Too be honest, I don't know why Not_Soos started with a comment about the game then went off into religion.

I mean yeah, they are free to do so, but this isn't correct forum to do so. All that does is lead to arguments and steering the topic away. The old saying is "There's a time and place." This is not the place for such heavy topics or debates.

Not_Soos, could have totally left out the last half of his comment. Even now, people like you and I, are jumping into an argument that has nothing to do with the topic.

@Not_Soos she came out as a bigot, that's why she's been embraced.

@Not_Soos Again, the topic of your last one wasn't on my bingo card either! 😬 Its crazy what Harry Potter has come to be in this day and age, and what extreme topics suddenly jump up when young millenials just want to relive their childhoods, put on a pointy hat and pretend to be magic for a bit. You and I probably disagree on many things but you seem like we'd get on irl despite that. I am also very prone to disrailing comments sections accidentally by giving a personal annecdote that is tangeantally related to the topic, so I understand 😂

To attempt bring things back on topic, although I want to be clear I'm not trying to start a left vs right flame war and am posting this because I personally think its an amusing piece of writing regardless of your opinion one way or another, I literally randomly stumbled into this article about Hogwarts Legacy yesterday when searching google for something Sonic Superstars related. Its quite witty if you, like me, are a leftie liberal who can can take a joke at yourself: https://www.thegamer.com/hogwarts-legaxy-throw-people-under-the-bus-childhood-harry-potter-jk-rowling/

And again, to be clear, without wanting to start a war. I am a leftie liberal. Loud and proud. So its mildly poking fun at myself and my friend group, not trying to point score by dunking on the other side. For me, there is no "other side" we are all human beings deserving of respect and capable of calm, measured conversation.

@samuelvictor All it takes is one to totally derail an entire topic. On topic, I know little about Harry Potter, but I do a have friend with kids who will probably love the switch port.

@LikelySatan Apology accepted. I understand--I'm just as sickened as you are over the horrible world events going on right now. But in a world where people are increasingly buying into the belief that "religion is the start of every war" and political tensions are at their highest since probably the civil war, I just want to do my part in bridging the gap and reminding people that there are good people in all walks of life. And that bigotry is bigotry. Throughout the course of human history, we've seen people of all religions, ethnicities, and sexual orientations persecuted by incomprehensibly inhumane means. No one is immune to being discriminated against, so we have to be careful about lumping entire groups of people under one umbrella.

That was the point of my original comment, @Frailbay30, but I know this is a fan site for gaming at the end of the day. And my attempts at interjecting political commentary into whatever game is being discussed in the article often have mixed results and don't always bridge the gap like I intended. I think this one has come to a peaceful resolution, though, and serves as a reminder of why I think it's important. You're right that people don't come here for that, though, so I should probably find a new venue to convey my thoughts.

@LikelySatan You are correct. The right pandering media is very very willing to suddenly get into bed with people they usually would usually be extremely hostile towards, as soon as they express just one opinion that they can jump on and say "SEE even the lefties agree with us!" or "This person we used to hate is now on our side!" Its just a circus.

However, the left pandering media does exactly the same just as blatantly. Its transparent, non-sensical, hypocritical and it shows that they all believe the general public to be stupid and manipulatable. I personally hate what all "news" media has become, regardless of the political agenda of the people and corporations funding it. I won't plug it here but I quite litearlly just "wrote the book on this". Its a subject I know depressingly well.

No-one is 100% right or left everyone will have different degrees of agreement or disagreement with individual topics. Turning the entire world into us vs them is never a good idea and as someone in the media msyelf I'm very, very careful about not fanning the flames of backing both the extreme right and extreme left into a corner, as all it does is create tribalism, extremism, and hatred. With that said... I love Harry Potter. But Rowling is absolutely a bigot. Screw her! 😂 I'm a hypocrite too! Grab the ukelele! All aboard the toxic gossip train!

@samuelvictor

Totally--I like to think I can get along with people from all walks of life, so long as they're willing to pay me the same respect I extend to them, so I'm sure we would! I gotta be honest though, I'm always aware when my comment is getting into controversial territory that very well could start a flame war, but that's the furthest thing from my intent. I try to keep them at least somewhat relevant, and I do genuinely think it's a fascinating phenomenon that so many people came to associate Harry Potter with being demonic. If I ever started a YouTube channel, I'd love to do a video where I delve deep into the origins of this idea.

I come from a very Conservative region, and I'm not kidding when I say that pretty much all of my childhood friends were never allowed to watch Harry Potter growing up, and many of them still feel apprehensive about it to this day because of their parents' beliefs that resonate with them even unto adulthood. Harry Potter was a box office hit, and while it's hard to believe how it could be any more of a financial success, the sheer number of people I know personally who weren't allowed to see it tell me that a significant amount of money was left on the table due to an untapped evangelical market who bought into the controversy. It's genuinely very interesting to me.

Also, I think it's great you have a willingness to laugh at your own political party! I want to go on the record and say that I don't consider myself a Conservative at all and am very much an Independent who thinks there is a lot of lunacy on both extreme ends of the political spectrum. (But also a lot of good, tolerant people like yourself who accept different viewpoints!)

@samuelvictor I left FB because of my right wing friends, and twitter because of my leftwing friends, lol. Not kidding. Everyone went crazy around ohhhhhhhhh November of 2016, or so?

@Not_Soos "sides" would be the two that are currently slaughtering eachother in Israel and Gaza. We don't bomb or kill people for their religious beliefs. We are collateral damage to the people who are doing that.

@LikelySatan @samuelvictor As you can both well imagine, my views on gender transitioning are probably different than yours, but just like anything else, this is an issue that can be discussed with diplomacy. My issue with Rowling is that even if there are some views of hers I can get behind, her method of conveying those views is inflammatory. The feelings of women who believe they have a disadvantage against biological males in sports are valid, but they can be communicated in a way that doesn't demonize trans people. I don't think most trans people are making a conscious effort to erase women as some media outlets would have you believe, but I also don't think that the voices of biological women should be silenced or deemed hate speech for raising concerns. It's a difficult balancing act for sure, but instead of talking things out, both sides just want to fan the flames and make the other group out to be groomers. (Which is disgusting that we use child abuse as a political weapon, but that's a whole conversation in and of itself.)

@LikelySatan It's been interesting to see the evolution of Twitter/X since the Musk acquisition. It went from being what I would describe as a toxic Liberal wasteland to, well... the exact opposite. It was refreshing to see more Conservative voices on the platform, but many of them were just as radical. Lots of insane and baseless conspiracy theories about Michelle Obama being trans and something to do with Oprah and a secret Jewish space laser... I dunno, man. At least the Liberal conspiracy theories usually have some sort of basis in reality. I do feel like X currently has a much more balanced mix of Left and Right voices now, but it's a shame no progress has been made as far as I can see in getting those two groups to converge.

@Fangleman32 I hope your kids enjoy it! I've not played it yet, yes, for political reasons, but I definitely will at some point and I do not even remotely judge anyone who bought the game. The people who worked hard on it deserved to get paid and have it be a success. I wish someone would 100% buy out Rowling so she no longer profits from teh sale of merch etc, like Disney buying Lucasfim.

@Not_Soos I don't think this is the place to discuss that kind of stuff, but I completely agree with what you said about the real problem not being Rowling's original beliefs or concerns, but the way she's slowly morphed into someone spreading actual inflamatory and dangerous statements and poetntially inciting huge amounts hate or violence. Discussing nuanced points, finding the places we agree and disagree, trying to understand the concerns of the other side, and trying to find solutions so we can all live together peacefully and happily should be the first priority. Not "they diasgree with us, we should shun and stone them!" Both the right and left do this far too much, creating both echo chambers, and actual dangerous hatred.

Both my kids and my partner and many of my close friends are HP obsessives and for the longest time, even up until as recently as 2021 I was buying copius amounts of HP merch for them, taking them to the theme parks etc. Recently though, Rowling went from "someone who's opinions on one subject I strongly disagree with, but otherwise respect and at least understand why she believes what she is saying even if I think she's wrong" to "Oh no, she's actually leaned further into it and become someone I can't even think about supporting". Its sad. People should be able to disagree with someone without hating them. I don't hate Rowling, I just wish she didn't hate a significant portion of my friends and family.

That said, I still love Harry Potter and while I personally didn't feel comfortable to buy the game, I will one day pick up a second hand copy and play through it to cosplay as a teenage witch in a world that I and many people I love have enjoyed to the point its a part of their identity. They shouldn't feel ashamed about that, and for those of them that chose to by the game, all power to them. It doesn't really make them any more of a hypocrite than any of us are in one way or another. He who is without sin, cast the first stone... says the aethist who lives in a glass house.

@LikelySatan Haha thats the second time one of your posts has made me laugh far more than it should do! Thats been my exact same experience. I've not logged into either FB or Twitter for probably a year now. Both are equally awful but for completely opposite politically toxic reasons. 😅

2016 certainly was a year that things started to fall apart both in USA and Britain, but I actually kinda think both Trump and Brexit were made possible by the existing conditions that allowed discourse around polarisation and "us vs them" mentalities that started before that. I'm NO fan of Trump, however part of me is very glad Hilary Clinton didn't gain any more power than she currently has, given the corporations funding her. Ugh the world is a messy place. Again, as per my above post, I can see the appeal in cosplaying as a teenage witch, fighting evil and creating unlimited abundance through magic that harnesses the power of the good in the universe that ultimately connects us all, once we get past petty differences, or ego and selfishness.

@samuelvictor I'd get your witchy autograph, friend, lol.

Would be pretty cool if it could utilize those motion sensors in joycons for wand swinging...that'd be at least one Switch exclusive feature

...Too late, I bought the Steam version a while back anyways. I tried to stay into it, but it gets boring very quickly...also not a fan of the combat...

As for the Switch version, of course they delayed it, and then decide to release it a couple of days before the Super Mario RPG remake. lol

...Yeah it's not gonna do well.

@LikelySatan Haha thank you my lycanthropic brother in the craft. So mote it be.

@samuelvictor My thought process is that if I refused to do business with every corporation whose practices I didn't agree with, I would probably have to live as a hermit without any basic necessities, lol. But, that's just me. I totally respect your right to not purchase a product, and I really appreciate that you don't try to shame others who do buy it. I hate to use the term "virtue-signaling," but that's honestly what it feels like when people try to police others from purchasing a product and vilify them if they do. Like, surely they can find a more productive use of their time that actually makes a positive impact, instead of just making more people buy the product just to spite them, lol.

Personally, I don't attach any guilt to buying such products. It sorta makes me think of the biblical verse where someone asks Jesus about whether or not they should pay taxes and he tells them, "Render therefore unto Caesar's the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's." I'm not the most well versed in ancient Roman history, but I'm sure the emperor probably committed some pretty awful atrocities. But I don't think that just because his subjects had to pay taxes, that made them complicit. My personal belief is that we are not responsible for the actions of another person or entity who is in some way profiting vicariously off of us if that is not our intention; what I think is important is how we treat those around us and the example we try to be.

A college professor once presented us with the ethical dilemma of saving a person who was drowning, only to later find out they were a serial killer. Does that make you complicit in his crimes or are you absolved of guilt? I think the latter, because you have no way of knowing what the person is going to do after you rescue them, nor is it your responsibility. I do think, however, the person would be guilty if they ignored their moral compass and let the person drown. Because at that point, how would they be any better than the murderer? So, I dunno.

I think that's a heavy burden you shouldn't have to bear, especially considering you don't know how much of a cut Rowling is even going to get from a single copy of a $70 game; it's insignificant in the grand scheme of things, and it's probably not gonna be enough to help her further her political agendas. Twitter is free to use, so it's not like no income means she loses her platform. Realistically, she might be able to buy herself a cup of coffee with whatever royalties she gets from her purchase, but that's probably the extent of it lol. On the other hand, if you view financially supporting someone like her (no matter how negligible the amount) as a violation of your moral compass like the metaphor of not saving someone who is drowning, who am I to tell you to go against your conscience?

As you said, there is a lot of nuance to these issues. I don't condone the death threats Rowling received; it's never okay to resort to that kind of behavior, no matter how much you disagree. But, as I've said, I also don't condone the way she presents her side of the argument. The solution to hatred is never more hatred.

One good thing that has come from Twitter is that I've witnessed the emergence of a third political party, the Forward Party, whose aim is to move America "not left or right, but forward" through open communication and respect for diverse viewpoints. Whether they catch on, and whether they become as corrupt as other political entities, has yet to be seen. But it's a movement I'm hopeful in and would love to see something similar occur in other countries around the world, provided it is successful.

@tseliot if they didn't, people wouldn't question SNAFUs like some publishers packing a game's eShop page with ones from a different platform like PC.

I really hope this doesn’t run as terribly as I’m expecting it to. No way I’m picking it up without reviews, but even if they’re great I probably won’t get it😅

Always amazes me how people consider double dipping on new games. Your poor neglected backlogs is all I have to say!

Ahhhh religious arguments. More entertaining than the actual article. You know those not of faith kind of see religious wars as an argument over whose imaginary friend is better. Always cracks me up to think of that perspective.

Ooof that’s bad.

@samuelvictor @Not_Soos I’d just like to say that I have enjoyed reading your discussion, so eloquently, politely and tolerantly debating the way that so much of internet debate is not so eloquent, polite and tolerant. Both of your comments have been thought-provoking and interesting, and I appreciate the attitudes shown even if I do not necessarily agree with all of your political stances (though by and large and I suspect a fair bit of mutual ground may be found).

I have nothing of real merit to add to the subject, but if you have indeed “written the book on this”, I for one would be interested in reading that book.

Some seem to forget it’s a comment section not a blog section.
Surely there’s a better place for a long winded discussion?

@PtM And religious discourse is reflective of the article?

@PtM Yeah, but it stopped being about the thing above and delve into a debate.

Please be be decent on Switch.

Hopefully it's a playable port and the extra time was worth it.

I think it looks really good and will definitely be picking it up

Look decent but we have to see gameplay video.

@sleepinglion You also have to read all the OWL mail messages to progress. I didn't realize that and was stuck for a while too lol.

@veesonic Oh, wow. Good tip, thank you! I hadn't even considered trying that

@timp29

Yes, we're well aware. I've heard the "imaginary friend," "book of fairytales" thing more times than I can count. I've even seen people go so far as to call is "schizophrenics," which is frankly offensive to people who have to deal with such a debilitating mental health issue whose condition gets thrown around as an insult. If you read my comments in full, you'd see that I'm likewise in opposition of so-called "holy wars" like what is happening right now in Israel.

Let me put it to you this way: for many people, myself included, religion is as integral a part of our identity as, let's say, another person's pronouns are to them. My views may be more traditional in regard to gender, but I would never tell someone who is trans/non-binary/what have you that their self image is delusional. They deserve the same basic respect as everyone else.

If you can understand that it's not okay to discriminate against someone on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, why is it that religious folk have become free game to insult? Is it not a double standard? Many of us mean no harm and are just trying to exist like everyone else. I don't condone fear mongering in the media that tries to make out all LGBTQ+ people out to be the enemy, but generalizing all religious people in such a way should be equally condemned.

"Imaginary friend" carries the connotation that we are unintelligent, infantile, and incapable of thinking rationally. It's the sort of "I'm better than you are" mentality you probably fault religious people for displaying toward nonbelievers. And in many cases, you'd be right; but don't be guilty of the same behavior you loathe. I was the class Valedictorian at the university I attended. (And no, it wasn't one of those Christian schools; far from it. The curriculum was very Liberal.) We're no all a bunch of uneducated sheep, even if that's how you perceive us. We have feelings just like everybody else, and our feelings are no less valid.

This game not getting any dlc is a huge missed opportunity. No it’s not a “why are you not satisfied about a ‘complete ‘ game” scenario.

The game badly needed more QoL like more enemy types, house exclusive quests, and just things to do in general. The common gripe for this game was the first few hours feels great, but once the new game charm wears off the gameplay tempo gets stale fast

I played the first 20 hours on PS4 and fell off it for whatever reason. I’ll probably get back to it next year.

@gaga64 Thank you for your kind words--they are very much appreciated!

I really enjoyed this game a lot on the Xbox, wish they made dlc or gave us a new game plus mode. Need an excuse to play this again with so many games releasing.

If it runs well and it’s al on one cartridge with no download? Count me in! But I want to see video first.

I’ll wait for gameplay footage. Im not expecting anything extraordinary , but I don’t trust that this game will port well.

Yeah, screenshots don't mean a thing — Remember when there was a smattering of shiny screenshots, and some VERY carefully-curated clips of GTA Definitive edition surfacing? Oh how naive and innocent we were...

This is hilarious! I for one am super intrigued to see how hogwarts legacy turns out on switch. And am in awe of how the creations of JK Rowling were originally lauded and have now somehow become a trigger for division.

People are people and they should be respected and celebrated for who they are. Not their pronouns, not their beliefs bla bla bla. All of you are amazing, don’t ever change for someone else.

Okay, seeing that picture whit how good it looks, can never run smooth on switch.
Please proof me wrong.

I hope this runs well enough for me to play on the commute. Not much of a TV gamer nowadays, so I rely on the Switch for 95% of what I play — especially the long games like this. Hoping we have another Witcher on our hands here, but not confident enough to preorder!

I came here to see how HL runs on switch and got a few stills and this comment section...
Let's see a gameplay video instead.

Screenshots look serviceable, but I'm very concerned about draw distance, pop-in, lighting or lack thereof, and frame rate.

More importantly, I told myself I would wait for the Switch 2 next year and the inevitable Hogwarts Legacy port, but that Onix Hippogriff is triggering my nostalgic love for Buckbeak

On this article: came for the screenshots, stayed for the comments section belief debate.

@Not_Soos Well stated. That other guy's remarks were typical of someone who only cares for proliferating ignorance and misinformation.

Has that guy ever taken a History lesson and recalled an event that happened just before 1940?? Was that anything to do with 'faiths'? Not to mention all the horrible petty crime that goes on between faithless gangs on the streets nearly every hour. Lol.

Anyhow, back to the game! I regret to say that, although I really wanted to push myself to buy this game (as I do think it is excellent) - sadly the graphics do serve to make up a lot of the wholesomeness and immersion of the Open world experience and the poor Switch (my only console) appears to have really been given a baptism of Fire here. It's literally, fall upon your face, potato pancake party mode graphics here. Vaseline all over my screen.

Sigh. I mean, I will likely still by it as my PC cannot hope to run it at anywhere near Max settings; but it'll have to be only from 3rd party bargain bins now.

I mean, I did expect a 'Performance/visual hit' but , damn! We desperately need the Switch 2.

If any game needed to convey that message in the most powerful manner; this is the one. A well known, very popular AAA title that had years of love & craft poured into it to help it shake off the bad stigma (deserved of course) of an otherwise totally redundant franchise in 1 fell swoop and bring the 'Potter' name right to the top tables in gaming.

I mean look: it doesn't look totally horrific but why accept this and say ''I love Nintendo''? Don't you want Our system to be a tad more powerful to cope with new-age games like this? And it's only going to get more demanding as the Unreal 5 engine games really start to trickle down.

Tears was fantastic. But ,, only 2D titles & re-Makes this holiday Nintendo, are We serious?

This game really did mean a lot but as much as so called 'Nintendo fans' want to cover it up or deflect with remarks like ''I don't care for power, nor this game'' or ''Still images show nothing!1'' , it highlights Nintendo's biggest shortcomings over the years all in one showcase.

Sales - honestly, here I really don't care; why are people bringing up 'sales' now in favour of the Switch? And sales ''don't matter'' suddenly when it comes to Quality in a ''are the new Pokémon games good'' debate?? Yea, pull me the other one lol.

Does nVidia need to be selling like the Wii U to release their next line of Performance graphics cards?? No!

Nvidia were making mega $$'s off their 3xxx series RTX models but released the RTX 4xxx series anyway. Even though the performance gains were minimal this time!

There's little/no excuse for the Switch 2 being delayed and honestly, I'm not sure why some people are so 'anti' or cynical towards the whole notion of Nintendo upgrading in power. For me, I have to say most of the comments are very coy and dismissive: the game looks totally potato and laughable and has honestly brought the 260 core system finally to it's knees for all to see.

I love Nintendo as much as any fan wishes to proclaim, but they don't need to embarrass themselves like this when it comes to 3rd partys. They are important Nintendo: please release your next System asap.

Sorry that I dipped out of this conversion earlier, it was like 8am and I hadn't gone to bed. Eventually I somewhat passed out! The below post does eventually come back round to having a point about Harry Potter, I promise. I also don't intend on continuing that particular subject as its far to explosive for a gaming website. But I think its important to state.

@Lilligant562 Well... without wanting to delve down that road too deeply, I think history would tell us a large proportion of that time was centered around one person's obsessive dislike for a certain religion... and those exact same sentiments still exist and within left v right discourse to this day, even being "debates" on "news" television channels at the moment, and are causing huge problems in the West and literal religious wars and terrorist oversees right now, which are bleeding heavily into my two dearly loved homes of London and Paris.

I wouldn't rise to Godwin's law to even mention this other than to say that the very issues of "us vs them" and polarisation of groups whether around religion, race, gender, political stance, idealogical views on any particular stance being made to feel like teams battling against the other side of "enemies" who are "not one of us" that has been rapidlily increasing in recent years is exactly the reason we are seeing the very same sentiments of the 1940s rearing their ugly heads right now throughout the world. I find it all so sad, and very scary. I'm in the media, and the media are complicit. Many of my colleagues have, or will have blood on their hands. It needs to stop. They don't even believe in half of what they say, its just that hate and outrage drives clicks, views and advertising revenue.

As for religion itself, rather than "religious devotion" sticking to a particular political or social belief... "Religious wars" aren't only between rival religion, they can just as easily be between people who dislike a certain faith or belief system through hatred, or who feel driven to wars by the extreme beliefs and actions of one religious group. What I'm saying is that hating someone because they are different to you is the problem, not religion itself. BUT many religions at least encourage distain towards non-believers. And that is dangerous. But being an atheist who calls out fundemental problems in religions is also dangerous. Argh.

The best thing to do, as many of us have repeatedly said is to work together to co exist, tolerate, and preferably even understand and help each other, despite our differences.

Ironically, the Harry Poter books are quite good at pushing this exact message. Are the Slytherin bad? No, they just think and act in very different ways to the others. In fact, each of the four houses represents different types of people vey well, and the overall balance bewteen the four is always even, for a reason. Slytherine are often suspected as being the "bad guys" but they are a vital part of the wizarding world and often turn out to be the secret good guys who save the day at the last minute. Harry and friends initially hate the Slytherin in the first book because they are different and they have a bad experience with one member of teh clan being a bit of a rude bully, and a Slytherin teacher is strict and "mean". When they think something evil and bad is afoot, they instantly blame the Slytherines. Of course its them. Its obvious. But it wasn't and infact the very person they acuse of doing harm was actually trying to protect them.

These ideas are delved into heavily as the books progress, as well as ideas of fairness, pushing ones own beliefs on other people, the dangers of assuming whats best for others and stepping in where you aren't invited and causing problems. Much of it reads like a centre left warning the left of not demonising the right, and even also as far as for the west not starting "freedom wars" that they don't understand the long term ramifications of. The fact Rowling went from understanding and expressing these nuances to slowly devolving into the very things she warned about is fascinating, but sad.

@samuelvictor Alright. My post did veer much into what I hope people will see as 'gaming territory' as I really didn't want to push ''current affairs'' any further. I understand what you are mentioning and much of it is indeed true; but it's also very obvious and well known most religions do heavily disdain upon any mode of violence - in fact, that's much of why religion was even formed: as a set of rules & even laws, as a matter of fact! It's people who take mattersinto their own hands and step out of line , many in 'the name' of religion that pose big issues. And the people who purposely or accidently blur the lines with lack of or misinformation only add to the swirling fire sadly.

That's why I also pointed towards gang violence; which has very little or nothing to do with religion (at least in the immediacy) and that has claimed and affected countless lives.

And, what about a certain conflict that stemmed from a certain, ahem, Russian? Has that fallen silent all of a sudden and the 2 opposing parties cuddling up?

The sad thing is, people just like mentioning what's in the news now these days - because, well, people like 'gossip' - but also that the Media is simply too powerful now.

Facts are; Gang crime, organised or isolated (down to single thugs) pose the most immediate threats to people.

Anyhow - I have read over some comments that do acknowledge that Hogwart's Legacy is likely the straw that broke the camel's back in terms of Our dear Switch holding some semblance of face; but the reality is, games that are heavy on CPU processing power & memory (especially VRAM) really have it in for the Switch 1.

Bayontetta 3 and Monster Hunter Rise are the only games that show Switch in its best light. Xenoblade 3 looks great but is stylised. The reality is; beyond 2nd parties: Nintendo are still struggling to show an ace card.

It was acceptable maybe 10 years ago: but since 2014, the HD era has been more or less in full swing and Nintendo has had over 10 years to acclimatise. Of course, I don't want and do not expect a powerhouse: Nintendo prize their Software 1st clearly, so the Switch's R&D ate into a ton of their development time and so the lack of power is totally acceptable.

What is not, is the fanbases' mindset (not all of Us of course!) that the ''Switch 1 is enough and all I need''. Sorry to say it to the point & bluntly , but that's frankly selfish. It's certainly not all that Nintendo needs as a Company; however well you're doing you still need to account for the future to grow and be more sustainable.

Switch Potter does not look pretty and it's a simple fact We just have to face.

Nintendo finally found it's feet after a shaky few years during the Wii / U era - and the Switch (at least in concept) is a Formidable development that I love and will stand the test of time better than the Gameboy.

But they need to start addressing the power bar just a bit more now.

Yes, hugging 2D Mario will probably always serve them well but games like Harry Potter serve as hefty a reminder as ever that it's time to put the power-shyness since the post-Gamecube days away and go back to embracing the Cores a bit.

3rd partys do matter.

The Gamecube was a fantastic console, and Iconic classics like Metroid Prime that started out as N64 titles owe much of their Success to the power that the Gamecube brought them.

It's time to revisit that mode of development now.

@Ulysses Agreed!

@Not_Soos Thank you for your highly considered post, I agree with much of the sentiment. Sorry for taking so long to reply, my above post explains that!

As for choosing who or what to support to fit our own moral compass and/or chosen belief system. I agree that in a Western capitalist society we can never really live entirely ethically to our highest standards... unless we go off the grid and start our own comunes I suppose. And because these almost always either fail, or grow to the point where "some animals are more equal than others" and you get insular cults that grow to become dangerous for those within them. There are no easy / quick fix answers.

The reason I tend to take very strong hard line stances on certain things while letting others slide is because for 25+ years now I've been in the entertainment industry, right from the start dealing with some of the largest corporations, and richest individuals in the world. I have seen SO. MUCH. DARKNESS. Money and power corrupt absolutely, and the people who are the most drawn to it are often the most prone to low moral standards. And yes, this absolutely also applies in large religious organisations, especially the ones that get a lot of media attention or even run their own tv channels or buy out "news" groups etc. To me, thats not really a problem with religion per se, as it happens just as much with non-religious people. Its more a universal problem with elevating any one individual in society above a certain level of power and status, and also allowing any one particular corporation to gather too much power and influence.

As someone in the media, who works with large corporations, who has strong political and social beliefs, I'm absolutely disgusted by the current state of democracy, politics, religious discourse, social movements, and how all facets of the entertainment industry have allowed themselves to be used as pawns in this game of polaristaion, us vs them, turn the masses against each other, splinter them into little rival groups so that they won't realise whats causing the the actual problems, and even if they do, won't be strong enough to fight back. Bluergh.

Quite famously, I've turned down literally tens of millions of dollars in recent years either refusing to work on projects or change the nature of my own projects because I wouldn't feed into this ideology. I'm in the media because I love being creative, and I love collaborating with other creative people. But I'm not going to work on a film or make money for a company thats actively profiting from making the world a worse place for my children's children. No thanks. Sadly, even the people around me that I trust are slowly falling in numbers when its revealed they have dark secrets or have misused their power, and I become damaged by association. Its like a bingo card of which of my friends and colleagues will turn out to be a secret monster next. Its very painful. Perhaps I'm too trusting, but I also think its that they were good people that rose to a position of power and were tempted / believed their own hype. This is why I'm very happy to turn down huge monetary contracts that I feel would damage my personal integrity, I don't want to slip down that slope.

And when I said I "wrote the book on it" ( @gaga64 Thank you for your kind comment! ) I literally have written a book about this very subject, part autobiography, part whistleblowing every single little corruption and nasty systematic problems in the current media landscape, part manifesto of how I am trying to use my own power to change things and how I suggest others can do so as well, should they value the longterm future over short term dirty cash. It was meant to come out in August but I delayed it on purpose because of the ongoing Hollywood strikes and media revelations about another of my long term colleagues... to have released the book without going into these in depth would have been farcical. Should be out before the end of the year, and you'll see me promoting it a lot. Its called "Just Let the Girl Speak" - the line that I wrote for Rogue One which gave a voice to the underdog and saved the entire galaxy in the Star Wars universe. I am but a small voice in a massive hollywood machine. But by giving a voice to the under represented, minority groups, disempowered masses and equalling the playing fields of art rather than creating false idols of a handful, I believe we in the media can turn things around and actually have a net positive impact, rather than negative. [edit] I should note also that I'm not profiting a cent from the book, its all going to good causes and projects that I know are doing good. I never accept profit from anything Star Wars related, even my pay on Rogue One was donated.

And yes. "posted from my smartphone" 😂 my compromise there is that I always buy last year's model second hand, refurbished from a mom and pop shop.

And doubly... yes I did just go on a rant about why overly large corporations are the problem, whilst stating that I worked on a Disney movie. As I said above, we are all hypocrits... you just have to pick your battles. I also worked on the last 2 Harry Potter movies in a very minor capacity.

Wow, I managed to bring us back on topic! I'll try not to go on any more big political rants now, I feel somewhat of a sense of closure on what was previously said.

@Lilligant562 Oh trust me the R/U conflict is another area where I'm disgusted in the conduct of both left and right media. I have vast first hand knowledge of gang violence in America (I first started off my career as a ghost writer for some really big American hiphop artists) but again I think we are both now trying to stop political discourse in this videogame thread, so I won't give my 2 cents. or 50 cents. Badumtish.

I agree the Switch is on its last legs. Most 3d third party games severely struggle to the point of farce. This was why I've been so delighted and outspoken about the Switch port of Sonic Superstars - sure it doesn't look QUITE as nice as the PS5 version but its beautiful and importantly runs at 60fps and a locked 720p resolution (the max res of the portable mode anyway) with no dymnamic resolution changes.

For Hogwarts Legacy, I feel that it could run ok, being the PC version has many detail options that can be lowered etc, assuming they do a good job of optimising it and don't rush. I actually fear that the load times may be the biggest issue. It will quite obviously be the "worst" version but for people who only own a Switch, or prioritise portability, I hope its as good as it can possibly be. Again, prioritising a fixed resolution and framerate would be the ideal goal rather than making it extra pretty for screenshots but a dog in the hand.

Of course, these problems are short term. We know that the follow up to the Switch is coming soon and is bound to be more powerful. My sincere wish is that its backwards compatible, and that the mirriad of games that have framerate and dynamic resolution problems will be able to use the extra power to run better, without needing "new versions" to be programmed and sold. Even some first party Nintendo games have trouble running on the Switch. Thats just a sad state of affairs. Its a good console with a great library, but the hardware refresh is long overdue.

@samuelvictor (thumbs up)
I mean, yea well put.

I have my fair share of moans too (don't remind me of the near countless online fights I've had between critiquing Breath of the Wild and on 'the other hand' , defending Scarlet & Violet & Other M) lol!

I mean, I guess I should be happy: I was really scared Tears would wind me the same disappointment as I felt toward Breath (long story as suggested just previous) - but no; while not the Best Zelda I've ever played still, I truly loved Tears of the kingdom. In Zelda terms; I'm a simple gamer: I see Dungeons, I like and more likely, Buy.

While I admit Tears' Temples could have been better fleshed out to 1:1 match the complexity of the Best dungeons of older Zelda games, when I actually tried them out, I actually really enjoyed them for what they were. The Unique Bosses (not all perfect but hey) added a ton for me into what Zelda is all about, and that for me mattered the most.

The Open World also , despite all the (quite fierce) backlash of it being ''exactly like Breaths and no real surprise'', feels almost totally different to me. In Breath, it's just one land - but adding the Sky Islands up top, combined with what you know lurks below (as repetitive as some section can get) but nonetheless there; the whole deal took on a vibe I much liken to the OG A Link to the Past. The swirling mists and landscape just took on a more 'interesting look', not to mention the literal gaping potholes of brooding goop and slimy (Gloom) darkness dotting the map, adding a really neat twist to proceedings.

That made all the difference. The real drawback was the lack of Zonai lore and Sky gameplay. And yes, I'm greedy and would have liked even more Dungeons and enemy variety - but eh,, I'm happy lol.

I loved the 'good Chaos' of all of the Zonai mechanic stuff lumped and layered on top of the now grouped up grunts (Moblins) and yiga. And the Brooding, nightmarish Gloom Hands are just what the series needed for so long, and after the concerning serenity of Breath's almost carefreeness and emptiness. I mean, Breath guardians were there but I don't mean to sound a combat snob (I'm nowhere near) but they were pretty easy after barely a couple of shrines of upgrading. But the Gloom Hands ,, oh no, noo. Lol. I needed to wait to at least mid game before properly taking those head on! Phew!

The re-Makes are a bit of an onslaught but even I can't help but feel a little charmed by some of them, especially in the face of FF16 & Starfield.

Loved FF16, maybe not as much as Zelda (bias admittance lol) but Starfield only showed why Nintendo is so strong when it really matters. Starfield could have been Epic, but invisible walls, sparse planets, lack of Free-flight and diluted gameplay in general was a humble lesson I feel (that shockingly for once many of the big media Publications went with on their harshness and critique for once, many awarding 7/10s!)

So yea, sorry for the side-ramble! But that aside, I do think Nintendo did well overall this Year; as you say, We hope they can follow up with the next System sooner than later as it will only help them with such a Successful and massive library and fanbase they built up over the past 5 years.

I already played through this (twice) on my Steamdeck, but I'm definitely going to pick up a Switch copy. The game is fantastic and I'm extremely happy it was a success.

@timp29 Thank you, timp. You sound like a reasonable guy, so I apologize for my long-winded reply from before. I take it you were just trying to make a lighthearted joke to bring some levity and I shouldn't have assumed ill intent. I'm just so used to hearing expressions like "imaginary sky daddy" used in mockery. You're amazing too, friend.

@Lilligant562 "Starfield could have been Epic, but invisible walls, sparse planets, lack of Free-flight and diluted gameplay in general was a humble lesson I feel" I definitely feel the same way. The emphasis on fast travel ruined any feeling of "epic space exploration" for me, and the vastness was ruined by blandness in the same way the launch version of No Mans Sky was. However, that game has massively improved in recent years, I don't feel Starfield will/can change much. Maybe I'll be proved wrong, we'll see.

I try and stay away from BOTW and TOTK discourse as I'm not sure I can confidently state an opinion - I bought both, they are obviously high qualiy products, but neither was really "for me" and I'm nowhere near finishing either of them. For me, the most fun Zelda games are the more linear puzzle/dungeon based games. Links Awakening is actually my favourite but I like all the 2d ones, and only about half of the 3d ones. Its all a matter of taste of course though, and I totally understand why to some people BOTW or TOTK are "the best game ever". With a few notable exceptions, I tend to gravitate more to smaller but more clearly focused games that I can replay many times.

That said, certain open world games that are set in areas that I actually want to cosplay as living in do appeal to me - such as what I wanted Starfield to be, and how I hope I will find Hogwarts Legacy when I eventually play it.

@Indielink

DF has been covering the game'soriginal release, I dont think they're bound by the left-extremist stands of EG

I just want to say I find the whole Harry Potter thing well boring xx