Hogwarts Legacy releases this holiday on a still undetermined date, but myriad magical activities have already been teased and depicted that players will be able to engage with at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. For example, players now know that broomstick flying will be available in some capacity, but it is still unclear whether they will be able to take their flying skills to a Quidditch pitch or not.
Players have also been made aware who a few key characters will be, such as Hogwarts Legacy’s Ranrok and Victor Rookwood. Indeed, its 1800s era has many benefits for the Harry Potter IP since WB Games Avalanche is able to separate it further from established lore centered around the Boy Who Lived, and hopefully create its own unique narrative. However, one of the most pressing interests in Hogwarts Legacy is the mystery that envelops its protagonist, whom players can customize entirely. That said, less may be more in this particular instance with Hogwarts Legacy as an action-RPG.
Hogwarts Legacy’s Role-Playing Could Be Spoiled by a Scripted Backstory
Having a predetermined backstory for Hogwarts Legacy is not necessarily a bad thing, nor would it be entirely avoidable. Because they are already scripted to have some sort of connection to ancient magic, and thus earn Professor Eleazar Fig’s attention, there are certain explanations that WB Games Avalanche may be unable to obscure.
However, for the sake of Hogwarts Legacy being an action-RPG with an emphasis on the player’s choice and customization, it seems strange that Hogwarts Legacy would insist on making the character’s backstory so fleshed out. The custom character players decide to create might not have anything to do with what the character’s backstory may be, but players are also able to select their name and Hogwarts house, which seem like important signifiers that would have some repercussion if backstory information or contextual lore creates any continuity discrepancies.
For example, if the protagonist is revealed to be related to another character who also exhibits a connection to ancient magic, it will create a much more confusing pedigree for fans to discern. Harry Potter’s own backstory as a child is imperative to why the Sorting Hat wanted to place him in Slytherin, for example, but those kinds of narrative implications on the protagonist in Hogwarts Legacy would be redundant because players have the freedom to choose whichever house they like. If Hogwarts Legacy had a scripted character as its protagonist who players could not customize, their backstory could be wholly written and predetermined, but if Hogwarts Legacy wants to offer players an immersive witch or wizard sim, it should resist the urge to confirm too many things in their protagonist’s backstory and simply allow players to attend Hogwarts.
Hogwarts Legacy’s Protagonist Should Not Raise More Questions Than They Answer
Instead, it is possible that Hogwarts Legacy’s protagonist is only described as having ancient magic abilities in passing without explanation as to how, because more answers would inevitably lead to more questions. This would be ideal, such as if the protagonist themselves did not know about their ancient magic inclination until arriving at Hogwarts.
However, there is also the likely chance that a proper lineage or bloodline will illustrate why this protagonist has these abilities, but that also raises another apparent concern, being that the protagonist in Hogwarts Legacy is a late-entry fifth-year student. There are multiple reasons why this could be the case, many stemming from long-winded backstory reasons that could flesh out the character. Again, because of its nature as an action-RPG, the urge to create predetermined character developments should be avoided. WB Games Avalanche likely decided upon a fifth-year student due to the fifth year at Hogwarts being a formative one that would not make the student so young as to not be able to deal with heavier subject matter, but also not so old as to have them already nearing the end of their Hogwarts education.
This is ideal for any fans who take a particular liking to the darker or more sinister content in Harry Potter lore, as it means Hogwarts Legacy will be more open to material across a diverse scale. The only thing Hogwarts Legacy needs to say in order to rationalize the choice of making the protagonist a fifth-year student is that they were a late-bloomer, having not previously demonstrated any magical ability beforehand. This plainly explains why they had not been enrolled earlier, and nothing more needs to be clarified about it, nor should it need to be in an action-RPG.
Why Hogwarts Legacy Sequels May Not Feature the Same Protagonists
Hogwarts Legacy’s protagonist may have abilities that are pertinent to the game’s narrative, and they would be significant to the story as a result. However, because Hogwarts Legacy allows players to customize each detail about the protagonist, it's likely that this particular protagonist will not return if a sequel is ever announced. Games that include a custom character creator offer fans the opportunity to express themselves through that character, instead of simply role-playing as a scripted character who players may or may not be able to see themselves through. This makes it much more difficult to adapt the same protagonist from one title to another due to the specificity of customization.
Put into perspective, Hogwarts Legacy seems to behave no differently as an action-RPG than Dark Souls, where the protagonist has an enigmatic background that is loosely defined in order to establish their purpose in a fantastical landscape. This is all players need to comprehend to be able to move onward and continue expressing themselves through that character, rather than seeing the character as disassociated from them and belonging exclusively to the game’s world.
Unless a future sequel supports the carry-over of save files with their custom characters intact, it is almost certain that Hogwarts Legacy sequels will feature another character creator and thus a new protagonist that fans can once again role-play through. Protagonists in action-RPGs with character creators do not have to resemble the player, but that is ultimately a choice that fans have and may continue to have if there is the leniency of not having a scripted character be the game’s protagonist.
Hogwarts Legacy is scheduled to be released in the holiday of 2022 for PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.