As such, it’s important to revisit these classics from time to time and try to view those games from an unbiased lens and see if they stack up to modern standards. With this feature, we will be taking a look at Rocksteady’s Batman: Arkham City. Released in 2011, the game won countless awards and was showered with immense love from fans and critics alike, and it continues to be brought up in discussions as a shining example of how superhero games should be made.

But we have had more than a couple of great superhero games since then, so how does Arkham City stack up? With this feature, we will be taking a look at the game from the perspective of it being released right now – and try to decipher how it would hold up in 2024.

So, to start things off, let’s take a look at the story, which starts off with Bruce Wayne walking down a criminal-infested prison after he is imprisoned against certain false charges, and that kickstarts a chain of events that quickly morphs into a greater conflict that takes you all across Arkham City fighting different manner of evil. Arkham City manages to strike a careful balance in terms of the narrative, and what we get is a plot that’s not overly simplistic but isn’t filled with a ton of revelations to be too obtuse or difficult to follow.

But of course, any superhero story is defined by the villains that we get to fight throughout the story. Arkham City takes good advantage of the narrative to include more than a couple of iconic characters from Gotham’s Rogues Gallery, including but not limited to the Joker, and crafts a story that’s cohesive and consistently engaging. It’s a timeless blueprint that games like Spider-Man 2 continue to follow to this date, so it stands to reason that it would be more than a feasible story if Arkham City had been released in the current gaming landscape.

Moving over to the gameplay side of things, Arkham City felt like a literal breath of fresh air after Arkham Asylum since it transports players from the claustrophobic corridors of the original to the open skies of Gotham City. The shift from Metroidvania to a full-blown open-world action adventure was a radical one, but the game does an expert job of managing that transition in a beautiful way that retains the core tenets of what made it work in the first place.

You get a much bigger playground to move around in, and the movement system has been adapted to make going from point A to point B a fun activity in and of itself. Batman gracefully glides from high vantage points and is able to cover great distances, and you can chain that movement with the plentiful grapple points to zoom around the city in absolute style. It might not match its contemporaries in terms of the flexibility in terms of the moves that you can make, but that largely falls down on the character not being as acrobatic as say, Spider-Man.

Switching gears over to the combat, Batman: Arkham City builds upon the excellent foundations laid down in Arkham Asylum. Rocksteady’s combat system switches seamlessly from a stealth action game to a full-blown action brawler within moments. Encounters generally take place in large arenas lined with multiple gargoyles and other vantage points, and you must first thin the herd by making use of quick takedowns and other tools in your arsenal to hunt from the shadows.

Things would obviously go downhill at some point, and when that happens – you can switch to a more aggressive stance and pummel down your opponents with a flurry of kicks and bashes all while countering attacks in a rhythmic fashion. It’s a simple system that gives you the power fantasy of being a superhero without putting much effort. Still, there’s quite a bit to master as you try to string together 2 or 3-digit combos or execute specific kinds of finishing moves.

And who can forget the memorable boss fights that are generously peppered throughout the experience. They are definitely one of the biggest highlights of the game, and the boss fights against the likes of Mr. Freeze are spectacular sequences that challenge the player in new ways or provide a sense of spectacle to spice things up, and it’s safe to say that these fights are just as fun and memorable as they were back in 2011.

Despite its age, Arkham City’s combat system is one that continues to be extremely fun to engage with even after all these years. The parry timings are generous, attacks have a certain weight to them, and while it can feel a bit weird to see a bulky superhero dancing around the screen – those issues rarely come in the way of the innate fun that comes from punching down baddies as Gotham’s superhero.

One thing that has perhaps not aged as well as others is the open world itself, more specifically the content distributed throughout the open world. Arkham City’s suite of side quest offerings fit the game in a thematic sense, but the content itself isn’t all that engaging. There are a couple of side quests that feature interesting objectives, but more often than not – these quests are pretty simplistic and mostly serve the purpose of padding out the game. To be fair, such acts were extremely common in open worlds of the time – but judging by modern standards, the open-world activities in Arkham City could definitely use a bit of polishing.

Batman: Arkham City was a looker when it was released in 2011, and it was a game that pioneered the use of computationally taxing effects such as Nvidia PhysX, which made it one of the most graphically impressive games on the market. It doesn’t look all that impressive today, but it doesn’t look too bad either. Playing it on a PC with graphics turned too high can still make it palatable to this day, but it wouldn’t be much of a looker even with those alterations applied.

But looking at Batman: Arkham City as a whole, it’s a game that continues to be a fun open-world game that really understands the character of Batman and knows exactly how to provide the feeling of being the multi-millionaire detective hiding behind a black mask and punching dudes all night long. Everything from its effective storytelling to the rhythmic combat and stealth gameplay works perfectly in sync with one another, and what we get is a game that’s a worthy sequel in more ways than one.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

As it stands, Hogwarts Legacy is only available for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC which means that the game is yet to be released for PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. Initially, the developer planned to release all versions of the game simultaneously but those plans were scrapped and last gen versions were initially pushed to April 2023 instead. As of now, these versions have once again been pushed to May, but we are confident that Hogwarts Legacy on PS4 and Xbox One platforms could be a much bigger deal than anyone would have anticipated – and there’s plenty of reasons as to why that’s the case.

As mentioned previously, Hogwarts Legacy has become a sales behemoth in a very short time. It was recently reported that Hogwarts Legacy’s launch week sales were almost double of what Elden Ring did in its launch week, and that the game is en route to crossing Elden Ring’s lifetime sales. Taking this information at face value, Hogwarts Legacy has already sold around 20 million units in just about a month.

However, it’s also important to consider that these sales figures are talking about an install base of around 40 to 50 million current gen console owners and PCs. For context, the PS4 has an install base of well over 117 million at this point and Xbox One has an estimated install base of over 51 million. So, it’s fair to assume that a good chunk of those users would be fans of the Wizarding World and thus, would be interested in getting Hogwarts Legacy for that particular system when it launches later this year.

While the delay in delivering a last gen console version of Hogwarts Legacy may have been seen as a negative by many, it could end up being one of the better decisions from the developer in the long term instead. You see, trying to juggle different versions of the same game for hardware that varies wildly in terms of horsepower can take a toll on the development team as a whole – so focusing on one version at a time is best for both parties in the long term. For instance, Cyberpunk 2077 released simultaneously on all platforms, and we all know how badly it struggles on last gen systems even with all the updates and patches that were released in the months following the release.

With Avalanche Software having a good amount of time to polish the game for the older platforms, fans can be confident that most if not all of the issues will be ironed out in the final release and what we can get is the best possible version for the particular system. Sure, it’s almost foolish to expect these versions to have the same level of graphical fidelity or the snappy load times as the current gen versions – but we can at least hope that it ends up being a technically stable release of the same game without any unreasonable setbacks to the core experience.

Another strong factor as to why Hogwarts Legacy on PS4 and Xbox One will be a big deal has to do with the public reception to the game. When Hogwarts Legacy released for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X and S consoles – there was an air of cautious skepticism for the game along with all the excitement that comes along with a AAA release of such a scale. Despite the many promising signs and gameplay showings prior to release, Hogwarts Legacy needed to prove itself that it would deliver on the many lofty promises it made with its marketing and hype.

And the jury can only be out when the game is in the hands of the players themselves, and with a shining user Metacritic score of 80+ on all three platforms – it’s clear that fans have approved of the product. As such, a lot of that skepticism can get discounted when it comes to the release of Hogwarts Legacy on PS4 and Xbox One. Fans know exactly what the game is, and what to expect from this release – so a lot of the ambiguity that comes with such a purchase is eliminated which should theoretically further the sales for these versions by a significant margin.

Avalanche Software has also made some rather smart decisions when it comes to post launch support for Hogwarts Legacy. The developer has stated that any potential DLCs and expansions could be announced after the last gen versions of the game have been released, which has been done with an intention so as to not shortchange anyone who don’t have access to the game. While the decision to withhold any information on the DLC could be purely driven by the aforementioned reasons, it could also double as a clever move for generating more interest for these releases.

Announcing additional content for a game like Hogwarts Legacy is sure to reignite interest within the game after the launch hype has slowed down, and doing so at a time when new versions of the game are coming out will surely nudge new players to jump aboard the hype train with hopes of playing the base game before the DLC eventually drops in the near future.

All of this comes together to paint a very promising picture for Hogwarts Legacy on PS4 and Xbox One. All that Avalanche Software needs to do now is to deliver the same experience without any unreasonable compromises on these legacy platforms. While I am no game development expert, this shouldn’t be a big ordeal since Unreal Engine 4 is known for being a pretty flexible tool that scales well across different platforms. And if the developers manage to do just that and more, the launch of Hogwarts Legacy on PS4 and Xbox One is sure to be more eventful than what many might have anticipated.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

In the meantime, the developer is working on a new game, and it’s not big enough to also keep making content for Back 4 Blood. It won’t offer many details in the short term, but it promises to be “Back, bigger, bolder and better than ever!”

Released in 2021 for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5 and PC, Back 4 Blood was touted as a spiritual successor to Left 4 Dead. It features multiple playable characters, each with unique abilities, and cards which could activate different benefits in levels. Three paid expansions were released last year – Tunnels of Terror, Children of the Worm and River of Blood, adding new weapons, content and characters.

Reviews ranged from average to good, though some balancing updates drew criticism from fans. Check out our review here. Time will tell where the studio goes from here, especially since its parent company, Slamfire, was acquired by Tencent in 2021. Stay tuned for more updates in the future.

There is, of course, Simon Pegg, who’s voicing Headmaster Phineas Nigellus Black, for whom a dedicated new trailer was also recently released. Meanwhile, the game’s playable protagonist will be voiced Sebastian Croft or Amelia Gething, depending on if you’re playing as a wizard or witch respectively.

Lesley Nicol is voicing Professor Matilda Weasley, who is described as a “key character”. She’s a former Gryffindor and the current Deputy Headmistress, and will aid players in a number of ways, from giving you the Wizard’s Field Guide to showing you the Room of Requirement.

Then there’s Professor Onai, voiced by Kandace Caine, who used to be a gifted Divination professor at Uagadou, the largest wizarding school in the world, before her faith in her abilities was shaken due to not being able to foresee the death of her husband. Following that, she accepted an invitation from the aforementioned Professor Weasley to teach at Hogwarts to get away from her former life and its painful memories.

Meanwhile, Sohm Kapila voices Professor Satyavati Shah, a professor of Astronomy who was raised in the muggle world. She is “devoted to the sciences and tends to talk down to her students in winding and pretentious aphorisms.” Luke Youngblood voices Everett Clopton, a half-blood Ravenclaw student described as an “underachieving rule-breaker and prankster.” Interestingly, Youngblood played Lee Jordan in the Harry Potter films.

Mahendra Pehlwaan, meanwhile, is a muggle-born Ravenclaw student described as “an avid rule-keeper, whose aggressive adherence to rules and guidelines even the professors have grown a bit weary of.” He is voiced by Asif Ali. Finally, Jason Anthony voices both, Nearly Headless Nick and the Sorting Hat, both of whom fans of the books and movies will be very familiar with.

Hogwarts Legacy launches on February 10 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. It will release for PS4 and Xbox One on April 4, and for the Nintendo Switch on July 25.

British actor Simon Pegg is lending his voice to Phineas Nigellus Black, who is the Headmaster of Hogwarts at the time the game is set (which is roughly a century before the events of the first book). Described as the least popular Headmaster in Hogwarts history, Pegg says he doesn’t seem to be particularly good at being a teacher of a Headmaster, and mostly took the job because of the prestige attached to it.

“Phineas Nigellus Black is the least popular Headmaster in the history of Hogwarts,” Pegg says, laughing. “He is sort of pompous, disinterested. He’s not a good teacher of Headmaster in any way. I think he would have taken on the role of Headmaster because of the gig, you know? It’s a prestigious position.

“I don’t think he has any interest in children’s education, or being in any a role model. It’s not really his concern. What he wants is the kudos of being the Headmaster of the greatest wizarding school in the world. He’s just a bit of an idiot, really.”

As fans of the books and movies will likely known, Phineas Nigellus Black is also the grea-great-grandfather of Sirius Black. Pegg says Phineas will serve as “a hindrance” to players throughout the game, which should be an interesting dynamic (and quite different from what people might be used to seeing from Hogwarts Headmasters). Check out the video below for more details.

Hogwarts Legacy launches on February 10 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. It will release for PS4 and Xbox One on April 4, and for the Nintendo Switch on July 25. Recent reports have suggested that the game is on track to a massive launch in terms of early sales – read more on that through here.

Pre-orders have ranked in the top four selling games on the platform ahead of launch, and he also heard “VERY strong things about console pre-orders.” If the game’s quality is “good,” he predicts a “gargantuan launch” and “easily one of the biggest of 2023.”

While sales predictions are difficult, he noted that the tracking is “absolutely bananas”, and that positive reviews could result in five to six million sales in the first week. It wouldn’t be too far-fetched, considering the property’s worldwide popularity, even if it received middling reviews.

Hogwarts Legacy releases on February 10th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC, while the Xbox One and PS4 versions arrive on April 4th. The Nintendo Switch version launches on July 25th. For more details on the game, check out our feature here.

Hogwarts Legacy is the #1 Most Wishlisted game on Steam, preorders are ranking in the Top 4 Selling games on Steam 5 weeks before launch, and I'm hearing VERY strong things about console preorders

If quality is good gargantuan launch incoming, easily one of the biggest of 2023 pic.twitter.com/TNM93kPT3Z

— Benji-Sales (@BenjiSales) January 8, 2023

Hard to say without seeing how the quality / reviews are. I will say the tracking is absolutely bananas

If it reviews well something massive like 5m-6m Week 1 wouldn't surprise me

— Benji-Sales (@BenjiSales) January 8, 2023

Story

Set in the 1890s, about a century before the first Harry Potter book, Hogwarts Legacy focuses on the player character as they enter the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There’s something strange about them, and not just because they enter as a fifth-year student. In addition to holding the key to an “ancient secret that threatens to tear the wizarding world apart,” they can also use ancient magic. Harnessing this magic, and finding out why it suddenly appeared, is key.

Villains

Of course, they’ll also go up against opposing forces like Victor Rookwood, who leads a group of Dark Wizards, and Ranrok, leader of a Goblin Rebellion. The latter is sick of Goblins being mistreated by the Wizarding World, and you’ll often go up against them throughout the story. As for Rookwood, he might be related to Augustus Rookwood, a Death Eater and follower of Voldemort. The Dark Wizards and Goblins have an “uneasy alliance” of sorts, but we’ve yet to see how this influences the story’s direction. Other threats you’ll encounter include massive Trolls, giant spiders, and even dragons.

Setting and Locations

Hogwarts is a pretty large location, with various classrooms, dormitories, and even some dungeons to explore, with many of these new to the series. The areas surrounding the school are also pretty extensive, from the Forbidden Forest to the village of Hogsmeade. It’s massive in scope, from plains and rivers to mountains, and offers different activities and characters to interact with.

Character Creation

There is a suite of options for creating and customizing your character, starting with multiple presets. From there, you can adjust the face shape, skin color, glasses (and their type), hair color, hairstyle, complexion, scars and markings, eye color, eyebrow shape and color, voice, and even choose a dormitory. Finally, you can bring your Harry Potter OC to life (for better or worse).

Houses

Hogwarts consists of Four Houses – Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Slytherin and Gryffindor – and the player can choose theirs from the outset. Each House gets a unique dormitory and Common Room, from Slytherin being in the dungeons of Black Lake, Gryfindor in a high tower of the castle, and much more. It adds to the immersion when choosing a House, though earning points for it is out of the player’s control.

Activities

There is a lot to do in Hogwarts Legacy, from attending classes (which play a part in developing the plot) to completing quests, challenges, and the Wizards Field Guide. You can also brew potions, craft items and gear, grow plants, tame and ride beasts, find collectibles, and engage in Duels. Bonding with NPCs will see them accompanying you and lending a hand, besides offering unique dialogue.

Combat

Magic is pretty devastating in Hogwarts Legacy and forms the core of combat. You can equip up to four spells at a time, and they go on cooldown once used. In terms of spells, all the classics are here, like Accio and Levioso, with the latter suspending an enemy in mid-air. You can also deflect with Protego, counter with Stupefy, and more. Basic attacks are also available, helping to combo enemies.

As you progress, you’ll need to break through shields with spells corresponding to that color (like Force spells for purple shields). However, enemies can just as easily break your shield and levitate you for free damage.

Flying

It wouldn’t be a game about Hogwarts or wizards without flying. By using brooms, players can fly through the world, dipping through trees and adjusting altitude. There are other options, though. Creatures like the Hippogriff serve as mounts, traversing on the ground or taking to the skies. Certain race challenges and classes require your broom, so brush up on those skills.

No Playable Quidditch

Despite broom flying and the presence of each House, there’s no way to play Quidditch. There’s no reason for this, but that doesn’t mean the sport won’t make any appearances in-game. And who knows, it may be added down the line if there’s enough demand and development resources.

Dark Arts

As one plays through the story, they’ll unlock Dark Arts spells, aka the unforgivable curses. These include Imperio, Crucio, and the forbidden Avada Kedavra. You can even use certain Talents to commit to that path, perhaps hinting at an alternate story path. Perhaps there will be a Dark Arts path to follow and an ending for players to unlock.

Dark Arts Battle Arena

What if you don’t want to go all Voldemort on the general populace? The Dark Arts Battle Arena is for you. One is accessible in the Forbidden Forest and provides all the unforgivable curses in an arena where you battle various enemies and undertake challenges. You can also bring potions and tools from the Room of Requirement to provide a boost. During a recent livestream, the developer confirmed two combat arenas in the base game (which could hint at more coming later). Completing them grants new cosmetics for your character.

Room of Requirement

The Room of Requirement is famous in the Harry Potter series, appearing when the person has a great need for it and containing exactly what they need. In Hogwarts Legacy, it’s a customizable space for the player, which they can decorate with different objects, grow plants and brew potions (with their respective stations also customizable), and upgrade gear using the Loom. The Loom also helps add Traits to gear, like five percent reduced damage against certain enemies, with upgrades increasing its stats and rarity.

Vivarium

The Room of Requirement is also home to the Vivarium, where players can care for different beasts like the Graphorn, Niffler, Kneazle, and Mooncalf, which you can also name. Petting and feeding them provides ingredients for customizing and upgrading gear, but it also looks nice to hang out and play with them (with a chest full of toys available). Like the Room, the Vivarium is customizable, whether it’s different structures and vegetation like trees or statues.

PC Requirements

Based on everything we’ve seen thus far, it’s interesting how low the system requirements are on the PC. Minimum requirements include an Intel Core i5-8400 or AMD Ryzen 5 2600, 8 GB of RAM, and a GeForce GTX 1070 or AMD Radeon RX Vega 56. That is all you need to run the game at 1080p/60 FPS, though it’s Low Quality with the Upscale Performance setting.

The recommended requirements for playing at 1080p/60 FPS at High Quality and with the Upscale Quality setting include a Core i7-8700 or Ryzen 5 3600, 16 GB RAM, and a GTX 1080 Ti or Radeon RX 5700 XT. You’ll need 85 GB in both cases, with a solid-state drive preferred in the minimum requirements and mandatory for the recommended settings.

Graphics Modes

On PS5 and Xbox Series X, Hogwarts Legacy offers Fidelity and Performance modes. Avalanche Software and Portkey Games haven’t gone into full detail on the resolution and frame rate for each graphics mode, but there is support for 4K resolution and HDR10, along with faster loading times. Expect more details in the weeks leading up to release.

PlayStation-Exclusive Quest

PS4 and PS5 players rejoice – you get an exclusive quest. Set in Hogsmeade, it sees players meeting Madam Mason, who has a shop to sell. However, the shop is haunted (because, of course), and you’ll be fighting threats like animated dolls. The shop looks more like a dungeon in scale, and the quest has extensive cutscenes and dialogue.

DualSense Support

In addition to an exclusive quest, features on PS5 like Activity Cards and Game Help are supported. The DualSense’s adaptive triggers and haptic feedback also come into play, like the triggers providing some resistance based on the spells, or feedback on one side of the controller based on which hand is holding the wand. 3D audio is supported, and the controller’s speaker can play additional sound effects.

No Microtransactions

Yes, Hogwarts Legacy offers cosmetics as pre-order bonuses and in the Digital Deluxe Edition, along with the PlayStation-exclusive quest. But it doesn’t have any microtransactions. While DLC may be added at some point, you won’t have to pay additional money for cosmetics and whatnot.

And from what we know about the game and how it’s shaping up, we are confident that it will meet all the expectations – and be a quality experience at the end. But even more than that, we have a strong hunch that Hogwarts Legacy might even turn out to be one of the biggest hits of 2023 – and there are plenty of reasons as to why that could be the case.

Action adventure games were all the rage back in the fifth and sixth generation of consoles. While some are still fondly remembered to this date, others failed to meet expectations in one way or another – but either way, the popularity of games based on this property started to wane down as the movies that inspired them came to a close. Hogwarts Legacy is well, continuing that legacy after a fair few years – and that prospect alone has piqued the attention of hundreds of thousands of fans across the globe to know about what’s in store.

But Avalanche Software isn’t just banking on the popularity of action-adventure games for Hogwarts Legacy for it to be a grand success – Hogwarts Legacy actually features some great gameplay mechanics and ideas that should contribute to an amazing experience. But before jumping into those nitty gritty details, let’s briefly discuss the story. You see, some action-adventure games that came before were tie-in releases for movies – so the story in those games was pretty constrained and predictable which comes with its own set of advantages and disadvantages.

And when it comes to Hogwarts Legacy, it’s an original story that’s not bound to the events of an upcoming movie or TV show. As such, it really gives the developers some legroom to breathe and craft something that really appeals to the kind of gameplay experience that Avalanche is targeting for the final product.

And this is precisely what the developer is doing, and Hogwarts Legacy will be putting players into the shoes of a fifth-year student of this wizarding school as they embark on a larger journey to uncover the many secrets behind an ancient magic power. As you can already tell, this is a pretty simple framework that allows the narrative to be pretty open-ended and players would be incentivized to explore every nook and cranny of this wondrous palace that is Hogwarts as they dive deeper and deeper into the many conspiracies and other hidden secrets of this land. It’s a great setup for an open-world game like this one, and hopefully – it will be utilized to some great effect.

And then coming over to the gameplay, Hogwarts Legacy seems to be everything that one would expect from a game about being a student in the most prestigious school of wizardry. You will have the option to customize your player according to your liking with a character creator, and you will also have the option to select the desired House of your choice before starting with the narrative. Of course, these choices will probably hold some impact on how your starting hours will play out before you flesh out your character with new spells and abilities.

On that note, we should also mention that Hogwarts Legacy will lean more towards RPG elements unlike prior games based on this property. So naturally, progression will be one of the most important parts of the experience. As you get through the story, you will unlock new spells that should add more tools to your arsenal and by extension, expand upon the combat options. The most interesting part of it all is how your progression in your academics in Hogwarts will feed into your character build, so if you befriend a certain NPC or attend classes related to a particular field – you will unlock special spells and abilities that would help you in difficult combat situations. And it’s also worth mentioning that players will have different approaches when it comes to combat – so you could use everything in your might to stop an enemy in its tracks or you could use other creative options like disillusionment charms to stealthily dispatch them.

Hogwarts Legacy is an open-world game, and Avalanche Software seems to have brought their A-game to the field when it comes to crafting virtual spaces that are compelling to explore. The school of Hogwarts will be filled to the brim with interesting side activities and quests to pursue which will make you stronger, and if these side quests retain the same level of quality in writing and content as the main path – Hogwarts Legacy could certainly end up being a great game to really sink your teeth into.

But for an open world to succeed, it should be great in both function and form. And thankfully, Hogwarts Legacy has the latter covered with some astounding attention to detail. The artists over at Avalanche Software have a really deep appreciation for the source material, and it shows in the final product. The developers have previously put out a trailer showcasing a regular hot summer day at various places around the game map, and it looks absolutely wonderful with great lighting and spectacular draw distance being two instant highlights of this visual make-up. Finally, it’s all topped up with some great support for PS5’s DualSense controller and 3D Audio tech – and those who choose to experience Hogwarts Legacy on this platform are sure to have a great time – alongside the added benefit of a platform-exclusive quest in the form of The Haunted Hogsmeade Shop.

All these factors should theoretically come together to make Hogwarts Legacy one hell of a game, but how could it be one of the biggest hits of the year? Its release date could have been a big factor, but as of now – February 2023 is stacked with high-profile releases like Horizon: Call of the Mountain, Atomic Heart, and Like A Dragon: Ishin among others. But if it does right by the fans and delivers a memorable adventure, it will help the game’s case in morphing into a smash hit. So we can bank on the game being targeted towards a larger demographic comprising both gamers and non-gamers alike, and that alone could drive Hogwarts Legacy’s sales figures to new heights. We saw it happen to Stray last year, so if Hogwarts Legacy manages to stand on its promises – it could certainly be one of the biggest hits going forward.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

The Dark Arts Arena is showcased, which sees the player using various preset Dark Arts to combat enemies. You can unleash Avada Kedavra to instantly slay an enemy, though it has a long cooldown, and other curses allow for linking opponents together, so they share the damage inflicted. If nothing else, it’s a place to try out the Dark Arts in case you want to traverse that path.

The Room of Requirement is a major gameplay mechanic and serves as a customizable home for the player. They can place various structures to brew potions, tend to plants, identify different gear pieces, and use a loom to upgrade gear. You can also assign traits that provide an edge in combat.

Of course, you can also customize statues and decorations in the room. There’s even a massive field where creatures can be taken care of and fed as you reorganize massive structures, trees, and much more.

Hogwarts Legacy is out on February 10th, 2023, for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC, having recently gone gold. It launches on April 4th for PS4 and Xbox One, followed by the Nintendo Switch version on July 25th.

Titled River of Blood, the new chunk of content brings plenty for players to dive into. That includes the addition of Act 6 to the campaign, as well as a new playable Cleaner, the bow-wielding former Cultist Tala (who, interestingly, also comes with a sidekick in the friendly Tallboy named Jeff). In addition to that, the expansion also adds eight exclusive character skins, 12 exclusive weapon skins, new weapons, accessories, and cards.

Meanwhile, going along with the launch of the new paid expansion, Back 4 Blood’s latest update has also added new PvE mode Trial of the Worm for free.

Back 4 Blood is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC.