Clash Royale meets Hogwarts Legacy in a magical new game - Harry Potter: Magic Awakened Quick Review

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PLAY IT OR SKIP IT?

Play it. Harry Potter: Magic Awakened explores the Harry Potter universe in a new and refreshing light. It merges roguelike deckbuilding with some familiar RPG elements like questing and exploration, while also offering an entirely new and charming storyline filled with easter eggs and memorable characters.

TIME PLAYED

I played Harry Potter: Magic Awakened for four hours. I managed to get pretty far in the storyline, completing twenty-some quests and unlocking more than thirty cards. I’ve also passed bronze rank in the game’s solo dueling feature and reached the top three hundred on the Australian server leaderboard.

WHAT’S AWESOME

• Combat. Combat in Harry Potter: Magic Awakened functions similarly to Clash Royale’s gameplay where characters use randomized cards from their deck to place troops on the battlefield or cast spells at enemies. The only difference is that I could move around the arena, but only on my side of the battlefield. Every match I played against other players felt different because everyone had their own unique decks. This roguelike deck-building experience felt exhilarating and refreshing to the point where I spent nearly half my time in Magic Awakened dueling other players.

• Building decks. Half of Harry Potter: Magic Awakened’s combat focuses on the cards I brought to battles. I could customize my deck however I wanted, choose cards that synergized with my personal play style, and even upgrade those cards. I acquired new cards by using currency earned in-game or real money to buy and open packs, which bolstered my deck with new strategic options. Customizing my deck was a blast, and I enjoyed experimenting with all the different builds I could pull off.

• Narrative. From what I’ve played so far, the story in Harry Potter: Magic Awakened isn’t as dark as the story in the Harry Potter movies and books or the storyline in Hogwarts Legacy. Magic Awakened takes a more lighthearted and fun perspective on the Wizarding World, with a narrative primarily focused on the education of young wizards in the aftermath of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It’s a refreshing direction compared to all the death curses and evil wizards across the franchise.

• Quests. Like Hogwarts Legacy, Magic Awakened features an abundance of quests that all slowly unravel the storyline in the game. These quests are filled with all sorts of mini-games and tasks I needed to complete. I loved that there was always something I needed to do that kept me entertained, and I was impressed by the dialogue and cutscenes that came with these quests.

• Exploration. Despite Harry Potter: Magic Awakened settling for a smaller world compared to Hogwarts Legacy, it didn’t disappoint when it came to a good adventure. The world itself is accurate to the books and movies, with recognizable classrooms and other areas of Hogwarts that fans will be familiar with. There were also hidden treasure chests littered across the map and characters I could interact with whenever I wanted to learn more about my classmates. Exploring this campus felt really fun and exciting, especially knowing that I could uncover new mysteries and navigate the treasured halls of Hogwarts once again.

• Lore. I admire the attention to detail in Harry Potter: Magic Awakened. The game is packed with enough lore to make any Potterhead giddy. Despite being set after the books and movies have wrapped up, Magic Awakened features many notable characters from the franchise, such as Rubeus Hagrid and Minerva McGonagall. I was over the moon to get to spend more time in this fantastic world and with these enduring characters. It even has easter eggs from the Fantastic Beasts spin-off series!

• Character customization. I really liked that I could customize my character at the start of the game and give them more personality. Creating my own look for my wizard helped immerse me deeper into the game.

• Art style. Harry Potter: Magic Awakened features a beautiful cartoonish art style that closely resembles something out of the 2009 film Coraline, but with a wizarding twist. The visuals are vibrant and outlined with a lot of blacks and browns to make both the characters and environment pop.

WHAT SUCKS

• Animation. Sometimes characters would jitter or move unnaturally, almost like robots. Although the visuals in Harry Potter: Magic Awakened look pretty, the animation falls short.

💬 Will you play Harry Potter: Magic Awakened or are you going to pass on it? Let me know in the comments!