Beyond the Illusion: Uncovering the Reality of Hogwarts Legacy’s Promised Tolerance!

One of 2023’s most contentious releases, the new Harry Potter game Hogwarts Legacy, is already causing a stir. Several issues must be resolved before the game can be released, including J. K. Rowling’s political beliefs, the main story’s flaws, and the former lead designer’s ties to Gamergate. Hogwarts Legacy is a game with a seemingly illogical “judgment-free” mechanism.

During Sony’s 2020 PlayStation 5 showcase, Hogwarts Legacy (Controversy) was first shown. The game was advertised as a role-playing experience (RPG) set in the Harry Potter Wizarding World following a character established by the player in the late 1800s.

Unfortunately, the game’s official reveal came shortly after J.K. Rowling began making statements generally viewed as transphobic. Because of this lack of a morality system, the developers made questionable choices about the game’s main story and the player’s skills.

History of Morality Before the Hogwarts Effect

Games’ morality systems have been around for a long time and come in numerous shapes and sizes. Although the idea had appeared in several games during the 1980s and 1990s, it was not until Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic in 2003 that it became widely known.

The fate of a new Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic game is unclear, but the previous game gave players meaningful agency over the tale by letting them choose between the Jedi and the Sith. BioWare, the studio responsible for the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series, kept tinkering with these mechanics over the years, while another RPG studio tried something new.

When it opened its doors in 2003, Obsidian Entertainment focused on making follow-ups to games that BioWare had abandoned. In its later works, the company introduced a novel morality system that changed how the world treated the player character and how the world treated the surface.

In Fallout: New Vegas, you’ll find that the game’s numerous endings hinge on this kind of mechanism, in which you pick a side. This approach is expanded upon in both Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire and The Outer Worlds, with cities, islands, and even planets either welcoming the player’s character as a savior or attempting to exorcise them as a demon.

Most of these games were also astute enough in narrative and design to avoid providing a single “right” solution to their worlds’ issues. Even though the location and plot seem tailor-made for either BioWare’s or Obsidian’s brand of morality, Hogwarts Legacy appears to be going differently.

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A Controversial Core Storyline in Hogwarts Legacy

Hogwarts Legacy has drawn some criticism for its central plot and main antagonist. The Harry Potter universe was analyzed for numerous reasons before J.K. Rowling started being more vocal about her political views.

The most prominent of these is the representation of goblins within the cosmos, which has been roundly panned for its allegedly anti-Semitic overtones and imagery. Even in later volumes, characters will still say that goblins are “not like us” regarding how they value possessions and how untrustworthy they seem.

The events in Hogwarts Legacy occurred during the Goblin Rebellion of 1890, partially sparked by the Ministry of Magic’s repressive policies toward the Goblin people. The chief antagonist plans to abduct the player character and sacrifice them so that he and his network of dark wizard allies may cast a spell that will destroy all of the heroes’ foes.

Despite the story’s flaws, the player is allowed to make choices that could have an impact on the planet. It is unclear whether or not the world will respond to the player’s actions, but if it does not, it is a huge missed opportunity.

Hogwarts Legacy has a total playtime of 70 hours, so if you’re faced with handling the Goblin Rebellion, it stands to reason that the universe will hold you accountable for your choices. Especially when it comes to non-human creatures, the Wizarding World frequently reveals itself to be exceedingly classist and racist; this was likely far worse in the 1890s than in the 1990s.

If the player successfully ends Ranrok’s insurrection, it makes sense for the world to view the protagonist in a heroic light. However, even if they are correct, siding with the wrong guy will be perceived as a betrayal and bring widespread social disapproval for the player character.

Unfortunately, the developer’s statements and the game’s absence of a morality system both work against the possibility of such nuance in society. More so when you consider the horrifying freedoms players will have in the future game.

Hogwarts’ Inheritance: The Unforgivable Curses

It was announced in March 2022 that the three unforgivable curses would be available to cast in Hogwarts Legacy. Barty Crouch Jr., posing as Mad-Eye Moody, first introduced the spells to the principal protagonists in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

The Killing Curse (Avada Kedava), Imperius Curse, and Cruciatus Curse are all examples of such a curse. Any witch or wizard found guilty of using one of these curses would spend the rest of eternity in Azkaban, the most dreaded jail in the entire multiverse.

Exactly when these restrictions were put in place is unclear, but it’s safe to infer that the 1890s already saw a significant social stigma associated with spells. Herein lies the rub, as the developer has been a bit vague about how exactly these powers will manifest in the real world.

A representative from the team recently spoke with GamesRadar, where they emphasized that the game’s design was based on a philosophy of acceptance and not condemnation. The creator of Hogwarts Legacy has explicitly indicated that players can choose to be wicked.

They will respond if they observe the player cast an Unforgivable Curse, and the environment will seem to recognize it. They further assured us that there is no code of conduct or morality in the game that would hold them accountable.

Uncertainty remains as to whether or not this will have any discernible impact on the game itself. A common tactic in this situation is for non-playable characters to comment about the player’s character or even ban them from a given area completely.

According to the developer’s statements, doing so won’t significantly alter the gameplay. Given the historical weight of these curses in the Harry Potter canon, this is a strange decision. Next month, when the game finally launches, players will see how everything fits together.

Many have speculated that Hogwarts Legacy’s absence of a morality system could work for and against the game, but it’s still too soon to know. Given how deeply the story’s ideas, subtext, and politics are entwined with the world, a morality system and a judgemental universe appear not only apparent but essential.

The player can commit murder and plays a crucial role in the uprising of a group of outcasts. Nonetheless, the developer concluded for some reason that they wouldn’t face any global condemnation or repercussions for their conduct. This is a choice that ultimately doesn’t make any sense at this moment.

Hogwarts Legacy is set to launch on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on February 10, 2023; on PS4 and Xbox One on April 4, 2023; and on Nintendo Switch on July 25, 2023.

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