Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery

When this game was first announced, I was so excited to finally have a game with an original approach to JK Rowling's Wizarding World. Up until that point, all I had seen was retellings of the movies or lame puzzle games. Hogwarts Mystery claimed that it would let me be my own wizard and give me a brand new story taking place before the boy wonder started hogging the spotlight. Although it technically delivered on both of those promises, the gameplay was a complete disappointment, and this game quickly fell off of my radar.

Hogwarts Mystery certainly managed to feel like the Wizarding World right out of the gate, taking me through the sorting ceremony and introducing me to the Hufflepuff dormitory and its hidden entrance in the kitchens. However, it quickly became apparent that the gameplay is not nearly as inspired as the story and characters. In order to progress through the game, you have to complete a variety of challenges. Some of these challenges are optional, earning you rewards like better relationships with your peers, higher stats that unlock new dialogue choices, and points towards the house cup. However, whether the challenges are optional or required, they all play out the same.

Challenges provide you with a lightly animated screen and a real-life timer. Before that timer runs out, you must tap enough highlighted things on the screen to earn the required amount of stars, which essentially represents your performance in the challenge. Although that is pretty boring already, the real trouble comes with the fact that you have limited energy, and when your energy runs out, you can't tap things anymore. Your only choice is to spend premium currency or wait for a few hours before you can keep tapping things. But don't worry, that premium currency (alongside a bunch of other premium currencies) can be spent on things that will make your time at Hogwarts a little easier. With this formula, it is technically possible to play the whole game for free, but it would take so long, and be so tedious, that I don't think I would ever be able to do it.

If Hogwarts Mystery chose to charge me for the chapters, rather than for energy refills, I might even be okay with the inclusion of premium currency. However, as it stands, I can hardly play the game without feeling pressured to bleed money. I wanted so badly to experience the rest of the story, and I honestly still kind of do, but the overtly unfriendly free-to-play mechanics led me to abandon ship in just my third year at the school. If the game was updated to support players like me, I might be tempted to revisit it, but everything I've seen related to updates seems to say that the opposite is happening, so I cannot see myself recommending this game anytime soon.

The game is available for Android here (as of 5/17/21): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tinyco.potter&hl=en_US&gl=US
The game is available for iOS here (as of 5/17/21): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/harry-potter-hogwarts-mystery/id1333256716

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