With the Nintendo Switch 2 finally in my hands, naturally the first thing I set out to do was play the stuff that didn’t run great on the original Switch, just to see how much of an improvement the new console is. One at the top of the list was Hogwarts Legacy: an ambitious open-world game that really struggled on Switch. First, let's look back at why I loved it the first time around, when I reviewed it on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC.
Hogwarts Legacy is Close to Unplayable on the Switch 1
Before booting up Hogwarts Legacy on the Switch 2, I replayed through the first hours on the original Switch to see how it ran, and the result was pretty awful. This thing runs like a wounded animal, with extremely low-rez characters and environments, unstable framerates, and extremely long load times every time you fast travel. Exploring the Hogwarts campus, which is one of the best parts of this adventure on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, or PC, is especially irritating anytime you try to walk through a door and find it locked while it takes a couple seconds to load, sometimes even showing a little loading icon after a while. It got to the point where I’d sometimes think a door wasn’t interactable, until it suddenly swung open after I’d started to walk away.
The gap in performance between this version and the versions available on other platforms is so huge that I honestly can’t even recommend playing it, even if you’ve got no other recourse. There’s just no way to experience all the things Hogwarts Legacy does really well when it’s chugging along like this.
The Switch 2 is a Massive Step Up, Even If It Still Lags Way Behind the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Modern PCs
Thankfully the Switch 2’s significantly more powerful hardware fixes a whole heck of a lot of this. It’s still not at parity with the Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5, or high-end PCs, but at least feels akin to what I remember the Xbox Series S feeling like – not 4K or anything, but more than good enough, especially considering that it all runs on a mobile device. (That’s pretty shocking.) I still noticed some pop-in and had a bug at one point that required me to reset, which are all the kinds of issues I saw in other versions, but it’s an absolutely massive improvement over the Switch 1 and plays great in docked and handheld mode.
There Are Some Neat Updates Since the Last Time I Played
There are also just a bunch of things added to Hogwarts Legacy since the last time I played, including a photo mode, which feels very important in what is essentially a Harry Potter Isekai life sim, and the ability to reset your skill tree selections so you don’t lock yourself into some rookie build. Plus, my personal favorite upgrade: they removed all the annoying platform-exclusive stuff, like the side quest that was only available on PS5, and added some new cosmetics to collect.
For the Switch 2 specifically, Hogwarts Legacy also supports the new mouse mode, which allows you to swap between traditional joystick controls and using one of the Joy-Cons like a mouse if you prefer to aim that way. The mouse controls work surprisingly well, and I was able to aim in combat without issue. Still, I can’t really see myself using this over the standard joystick mode, just because it’s sorta uncomfortable to hold the Joy-Con on its side for extended periods of time and there’s really nothing wrong with just doing it the old way. But it’s definitely a neat option to have!
I Still Really Like This Game
It really stood out to me how much I still enjoyed playing this after over two years. Hogwarts remains one of the most detailed settings I’ve ever seen in a game, and I could lose hours exploring the grounds and practicing my spellcraft. Combat is also surprisingly interesting considering how lame it looks in the movies. They actually made whipping around a stick a lot of fun, as you juggle enemies in the air, parry and counter enemy attacks, and consider whether or not to just murder people with very illegal curses.
The main story is definitely still a weak point, with a pretty generic and uninteresting goblin villain and lots of vague talk about ancient magic. However, the characters you spend the journey with, from your fellow classmates to the professors who lecture you each day, more than make up for that shortcoming.
I’m still bothered by all the stuff that bothered me about it two years ago, especially enemy variety, which somehow feels worse than I remember it being (boy, oh boy, does this thing make you fight spiders a lot). And some technical issues are still alive and well after all this time, which isn’t great. But this is still an incredibly good game that gave me almost everything I wanted as a Harry Potter fan. The fact that it’s now available on a device you can play on the subway without major sacrifices is just insane, and it makes me want to play through it all again the next time I get on a plane.
