Summary
Hogwarts Legacygives players free rein of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, fulfilling dreams thatHarry Potterfans have had since the release of the iconic book series. The open-world nature of the game has garnered considerable praise, but it has also left players wanting more. Aspiring witches and wizards hope that future games set in the Wizarding World will explore more famous (or infamous) locales. One such location, which is very briefly explored inHogwarts Legacy, is none other than the wizard prison Azkaban.
Technically, Azkaban is available for a quick visit toHogwarts Legacy. This terrifying place is only accessible toHogwarts Legacy’s Hufflepuff studentswho take on a quest called “Prisoner of Love” as a favor to the portrait of the late Minister of Magic Eldritch Diggory. The trip to Azkaban is extremely quick, but the long hallway of jeering, sneering prisoners leaves an impression. A future game set in the Wizarding World would do well to take advantage of Azkaban’s reputation and haunting atmosphere.
Hogwarts Legacy’s Azkaban was Arguably a Waste of the Setting’s Potential
It makes sense that this initialHogwarts Legacytitle focused on Hogwarts. It’s right there in the title, after all. That said, this blink-and-you’ll-miss-itquest set inHogwarts Legacy’s Azkabanbeing available exclusively to Hufflepuff students seems like an unfair tease. This was an ideal chance to actually show what the wizard prison is like while the books and films that proceeded the game are equally vague about the details surrounding Azkaban.
Eldritch Diggory, after visiting Azkaban in the early 1700s, was horrified by the way the prison drove people mad. He formed a committee to create a more humane Azkaban and to abolish the Dementors but ultimately died of Dragon Pox before any reforms could be implemented.
Instead of a deep dive, the Azkaban trip only involves a single hallway of prison cells. Inside the prison cells, prisoners either reach desperately through the bars or rock back and forth on the floor in a catatonic state. This matches withprevious descriptions and lore forHarry Potter’s Azkaban: a dismal, hopeless place that drives prisoners mad. Its gloom is reminiscent of survival horror games likeAmnesia: The Dark DescentandResident Evil Village.
Future Games Could Lean Into The Horror Elements of Harry Potter
The originalHarry Potterseries was written for children, but that doesn’t mean that the video games based on the Wizarding World have to follow suit.Hogwarts Legacyhas a slightly more mature bend, and future games could lean toward the adult audience who grew up readingHarry Potter. The potential for a horror game set in Azkaban is obvious; as has been proven byHogwarts LegacyandHarry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, innocent people are sent to Azkaban all the time. It’s easy to imagine a narrative involving a wrongfully framed witch or wizard trying to escape from their unfair fate.
The prison is already populated with horrifying creatures that rivalAmnesia’s monsters:Harry Potter’s Dementors. These soul-sucking, happiness-draining wraiths are determined to keep prisoners in place and can only be defeated with the Patronus Charm. Players could stealth their way through the prison in search of their confiscated wand so that they can protect themselves from the Dementors. Then comes the not-so-insignificant matter of escaping a magical prison that sits on an island somewhere in the stormy North Sea.
A playable escape from Azkaban would make for a thrilling survival horror game.FutureHogwarts Legacygames, if they ever come to fruition, will hopefully explore new places in the Wizarding World rather than just return to the now-familiar Hogwarts.
Hogwarts Legacy
WHERE TO PLAY
Hogwarts Legacy is an immersive, open-world action RPG set in the world first introduced in the Harry Potter books. For the first time, experience Hogwarts in the 1800s. Your character is a student who holds the key to an ancient secret that threatens to tear the wizarding world apart. Now you’re able to take control of the action and be at the center of your own adventure in the wizarding world. Your legacy is what you make of it.Explore an Open WorldThe wizarding world awaits you. Freely roam Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, the Forbidden Forest, and the surrounding Overland area.Be the Witch or Wizard You Want to beLearn spells, brew potions, grow plants, and tend to magical beasts along your journey. Get sorted into your house, forge relationships, and master skills to become the witch or wizard you want to be Experience a New Wizarding World AdventureExperience the wizarding world in an unexplored era to uncover a hidden truth from its past. Battle against trolls, Dark Wizards, goblins, and more as you face a dangerous villain threatening the fate of the wizarding world.
