Hogwarts Legacy

The base game is the whole campaign, and the content around it is one paid pack and a handful of free extras rather than a wall of expansions. Here is what the current purchase covers.

What you are buying

The base game is the complete open-world campaign, and it includes the Haunted Hogsmeade Shop Quest: an additional dungeon, a Shopkeeper's Cosmetic Set and an in-game Hogsmeade shop. The quest began as a PlayStation extra and was opened up to every platform after launch, so it is part of the game now rather than a reason to pick a console.

The paid add-on is the Dark Arts Pack, which contains the Thestral Mount, the Dark Arts Cosmetic Set and the Dark Arts Battle Arena. The Digital Deluxe Edition bundles the base game with those extras and adds the Dark Arts Garrison Hat on top, which the standalone pack does not include, so compare the two if you want the arena and the cosmetic set in one purchase. There is also a free Astronomer's Hat.

The free items added since launch are The Glasses That Lived, the Azkaban Prisoner Uniform and Coat, the Onyx Hippogriff Mount, two Dark Wizard Brooms and a Felix Felicis potion recipe. One of those is a recipe rather than an outfit, so the set is extras rather than a single cosmetic bundle. There are no microtransactions: the Dark Arts Pack is the only in-game purchase, and standard-edition owners buy it separately.

The Haunted Hogsmeade Shop Quest

The quest adds a Hogsmeade shop with a dungeon beneath it. It is a side story with a location attached rather than an opening act, and it is included with the base game rather than sold separately, so there is nothing to buy and nothing to miss by following the main story first.

How a duel actually works

Combat is built out of spells, and mixing and matching dozens of them is how you define a combat style on the way to becoming a duelist. The school systems feed it: Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts are where spells are taught, Herbology and Potions are where the plants and brews come from, and the talents and skills you earn sit on top of the spells you can cast. Gear follows the same track, because it can be upgraded and specialised to push the build towards attack or defence.

Progression is not only the main quest. Challenges across the world award experience and levels, and a talent reset was added after launch, so a build you have outgrown can be re-spent rather than rebuilt from a new save.

Becoming the wizard you want to be

You choose your house at the start of the game, and linking a Harry Potter Fan Club account imports your own sorting and wand, which also unlocks a Beaked Skull Mask and house-coloured Fan-Atic Robes. The house is a starting choice: the story follows a journey through the 1800s in which you decide what you stand for, and the game has no morality system grading those decisions for you.

The Room of Requirement is where a lot of the side of the game you have invested in comes together. It provides space for potion brewing, growing plants and caring for rescued beasts. Companions matter as well: some students become friends who can travel with you and expand your abilities.

Platforms, mods and the versions

The game is on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4 Pro, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC, with a version also available on Nintendo Switch 2. It is a single-player game: there is no online play and no co-op.

Photo Mode and Talent Resets arrived after launch, and Photo Mode unlocks once you have the field guide in hand. Talent Resets let you re-spend talent points instead of starting a new character.

On PC there is also the Creator Kit, the official modding toolset, and mods can be discovered and installed directly in the game. It has kept receiving updates since launch, including a localisation editor, support for spell and spell-talent videos and minigames, custom loot in containers and the mod upload workflow.

Should you play it

Yes, if you want a long single-player adventure in the wizarding world with a large optional layer underneath it. The castle and the grounds carry the experience, and the spells, plants, potions and beasts give you something to shape between story beats.

Go in knowing the shape of the story. It is a main quest you follow rather than a life sim, the choices you make are not graded, Quidditch is not playable even though brooms and broom races are, and the collectible layer is big enough to ignore or to lose yourself in.