John Paul M. Joaquin Games 01.27.2023 00:Jan AM EST

Hogwarts Legacy Players Can Be a Dark Witch or Wizard Without Being Judged

Hogwarts Legacy's freedom to roleplay just became much better.

Kelly Murphy, the lead designer for Hogwarts Legacy, mentioned that the game's players could practice the dark arts as much as they want without affecting their character's morality.

Hogwarts Legacy will soon be playable for the PC and current-gen consoles like the PlayStation 5, last-gen consoles on April 4, and the Nintendo Switch on July 25, per the official Hogwarts Legacy website.

Hogwarts Legacy Roleplaying Freedom Details

Murphy mentioned in an interview with Gamesradar that players can learn and use the dark arts at will whenever they want, including the so-called "unforgivable curses," the three spells that are considered the strongest known Dark spells in the Wizarding World.

Should a wizard or witch cast any of the three spells on a human, regardless if they are a muggle or a fellow wizard, they will be sent on a one-way trip to Azkaban without parole, according to the Harry Potter Fandom.

Thankfully the game does not have a morality system that punishes players for casting these curses. However, the NPCs around the player character will react visually and audibly when they see them cast an unforgivable curse.

Interestingly, should players continuously and frequently use unforgivable curses, Hogwarts Legacy's world would reflect back knowledge of them.

Murphy mentioned that adding a morality system will be "too judgemental" on Avalanche Software's part and that giving players the choice of using these unforgivable curses without repercussion is "the ultimate embodiment of role-playing."

"If you want to be evil, be evil," Murphy added.

Learning and using the unforgivable curses is optional. They are not taught within the walls of Hogwarts (obviously), and as such, are just there for roleplaying purposes.

Aside from access and use of unforgivable curses, Hogwarts Legacy will be giving the freedom to do their side quests in whatever order they want. According to Hogwarts Legacy Narrative Director Moira Squier, the order in which players complete these sidequests can impact the game's story.

Squier explained that the sidequests of the game are interconnected to each other and the main storyline, allowing the player to "manipulate" the latter through the experiences they had while completing them. NPCs that appear in sidequests and the main storyline will react accordingly to the player's actions during the sidequest they were in.

Controversy About Hogwarts Legacy

Despite being the most wishlisted game on Steam to date, according to PC Gamer, the game has its fair share of controversy due to "Harry Potter" author JK Rowling's persistent transphobia.

Although Rowling isn't involved in the game's development, Hogwarts Legacy is still being bombarded with backlash and hate due to its association with her, per Dexerto. After all, the Wizarding World and the "Harry Potter" series is her creation, and with Hogwarts Legacy being in the Wizarding World, it's no surprise that people think Rowling is involved in the game.

The official Hogwarts Legacy site states that Rowling is not involved in the game's creation. Alan Tew, in an interview with IGN, mentioned that the game is for everyone without discrimination.