Finally! I’ve been waiting for the first game to come from Portkey Games to finally release and here it is: Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery. After playing the first few chapters, I wanted to give my initial thoughts on this highly anticipated mobile game.
It all starts off in Diagon Alley, where you have to purchase your supplies to go to your first year at Hogwarts! It’s real, we finally got our letters! You get your school books, meet a fellow first year, and of course get your wand in a magical moment in Ollivanders.
Of course, when you get to Hogwarts as a first year, you need to be sorted. You’re given an option to “give your opinion” of what house you want, which is essentially just getting to pick what house you’re in and not a true sorting. I chose Ravenclaw, of course.
What I found most interesting is that this game isn’t just about running around Hogwarts and learning magic, but it has a story. There are secrets to learn about, parts of your past you need to figure out, and relationships to foster among your classmates. You have an enemy waiting, and your choices define who you are as a person. This already intrigues me greatly.
The timeline of where this takes place is before Harry ever gets a letter himself, and actually right after that fateful night where Harry as a baby defeats Voldemort. This means there are certain characters you can expect to see as students during this era.
The graphics of the game are beautiful and it runs super well. There are some loading moments that can take a minute, and the game does recommend you play on wifi which I wasn’t doing when I started. And although this game includes my least favorite part of mobile games (having to either pay money to restore resources like energy or having to wait for them to refill based on time) the story is what makes me want to keep playing. And hopefully, I won’t spend too much money on gems in order to keep playing in certain moments.
Have you started playing Hogwarts Mystery? What do you think so far?
I’ve really enjoyed it so far! I love the backstories and I’m excited to get to year two and beyond where characters like Charlie and Tonks show up. I want someone to do a round-up of what all the common rooms look like as that’s been one of the neatest parts – seeing the ones that aren’t Gryffindor all illustrated.