Hogwarts Legacy review – wizarding wish-fulfilment whose magic wears off

PlayStation 5 (version tested), Xbox Series X, PC; Avalanche/Portkey Games
Being able to wield a wand in the hallowed halls is enchanting, but what's beneath the spell is competent but unspectacular

Given how merciless modern pop culture is in its exploitation of childhood nostalgia, it's remarkable there's been no credible attempt at a big-budget Harry Potter video game before now. Hogwarts Legacy has so much to work with: it is the product of millions of childhood dreams. Donning the Sorting Hat and setting foot inside the Gryffindor common room, manipulating the world effortlessly with a wand and fighting dark wizards are all fantasies that it can easily fulfil.

However, among a significant percentage of the millennial contingent that form Potter's original and most passionate fanbase, JK Rowling's interventions into the debate about transgender rights - she is against self-ID, or admitting trans women to some single-sex spaces such as women's prisons or rape crisis centres - have caused outrage, and this game is the subject of a boycott.