Game Review: Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble in Hogwarts Mystery Year 2

It’s no secret (Chamber or otherwise) that Hogwarts Mystery, although fun and escapist entertainment, left me less than thrilled when I first started it. Yes, there were things about it that made me go all heart-eyed emoji but there were also things that irked me more than being forced to listen to a Caterwauling charm on repeat. I’ve been actively playing Hogwarts Mystery since it first launched at the end of April, and now that I’m in Year 2 some of my opinions, like the many moving staircases in Hogwarts, have changed!

So how did I go from this:

from giphy

To this:

from giphy

Like Ron presented with a bowl of pudding at the annual Hogwarts welcoming feast, let’s tuck into the review, shall we?!

#1. “Are you a witch or aren’t you?!”

Year 2 of Hogwarts Mystery expands the universe of the game and gives us more freedom and options as a player. Finally, we’re able to speak to some of the background characters. It’s a small step, but a super appreciated one at that, to making the game more interactive than it was in Year 1 when we could only exclusively talk to characters that moved the chapters along.

Accordingly, the friend menu has grown. Not only has Charlie Weasley joined the lineup but so has a purple scarf wearing Ravenclaw named Andre Egwu. Not gonna lie, I’m getting young! Kingsley Shacklebolt vibes from him! We meet both blokes in either or fourth year or later-- the description by their grinning faces teases, ‘It’s not yet clear how to get closer to this person...’

There's more than just friendship added in Year 2, though. More parts of the castle have also opened for us to explore. Now we can go to lower levels where the Transfiguration Classroom and the Herbology greenhouses are located. Down in this section, there’s also a spot to grab free energy: tapping books scattered on a bench magically zaps them into a neat pile and awards us +1 point of energy. Yaaaaas.

Beyond that the Hospital Wing and some secret corridors also open up to us here. Side-quest win: you even get an opportunity to try your hands at healing and take on a brief stint as Madam Pomfrey’s apprentice. I mean yeah sure, your gig is mostly just talking to the hospitalized students on the mend but it’s still a break from the monotonous routine of mindless tapping lesson after mindless tapping lesson. It’s these shiny and new moments that keep me coming back to the game!

50 points to Hogwarts Mystery for adding Hogsmeade to the map! The iconic wizarding village in keeping with the series canon, unlocks in the middle of our third year. Who’s up for a tankard of butterbeer?

#2. The Curses, Unbroken. The Plot? Thickens!

A chill is in the air and enchanted ice is spreading throughout hidden corridors. Even though it’s unseen by the students, everyone feels its ominous presence. ESPECIALLY our character and Rowan. No there aren’t White Walkers on the horizon, but it’s undeniable, winter is coming to Hogwarts. These cursed vaults are Sirius serious business.

There’s also more rule breaking and boundary-pushing this go around. Turns out like Harry we don’t go searching for trouble, trouble finds us. Merula tries to frame us for stealing potion ingredients from Professor Snappy’s Snape’s storeroom and we end up dueling Merula again. She’s still butthurt over being beaten by us in front of the entire first year and is determined to grind our face into the dirt and make us lose everything, ‘nach. #nbd Merula, #nbd.

A replication spell has been cast on side quests because in Year 2 there are more of them than ever! Besides the Merula shenanigans, we also get to engage with Hagrid -- there’s erm. . . a situation with a puppy in peril and some more Devil's Snare. Our friends play more of a role in the gameplay too. A large chunk of the early chapters is dedicated to discovering the whereabouts of Ben Copper (ugh did we have to find him? Really?).

Bill Weasley is finally introduced and we get to spend plenty of time with his character. He’s in his fourth year and already has a reputation around Hogwarts as one of the most popular blokes in the castle. He’s a talented spellcaster in his own right and teaches our hero Incendio before he goes along with us on another attempt to break into the cursed vaults. Alas, the spell, handy and fiery as it is, is no match for the icy wrath of the bewitched door.  

#3. More Classes Means More *Magic*!

Transfiguration is now a class, and it makes a nice change from Potions, Flying, and Charms. McGongall added to Hogwarts Mystery makes it feel so much more like the Hogwarts we all love!

We also get to use more of our spells during the game outside of just learning them in the classrooms. Sidequests and main chapter quests encourage us to use our magic, and we even get to learn new spells along the way. Some of the best moments like these in Year 2 are the mission to infiltrate the Slytherin Common Room in search of a mysterious quill with ties to Ben's disappearance; getting Snape to teach us how to brew a fire breathing potion and then later on poking around the icy forbidden corridors with Bill and Rowan and the rest of our Hogwarts #squad.

However, what’s annoying is how lessons often need 7 stars to unlock. That means we need to do a 5-star earning class and a 3-star earning class just to UNLOCK THE LESSON to learn the ACTUAL spell. (See: Spongify lesson, and my growly face as I recollect it)

So all that time we spend tapping and waiting for energy to refill and tapping some more is basically for nothing. By the time we get the 7 stars necessary to actually learn whatever charm or spell it’s hard to not be grumpy like Fluffy rudely awakened from a nap. The Hogwarts Mystery cash grab continues. Which is super uncool. Like, Percy Weasley disowning his family uncool.

#4. House Pride . . . Unless You’re a Slytherin. . .

In Year 1 being in Hufflepuff* just meant wearing the signature canary yellow** tie and robes. But in Year 2 it means we’re able to not only talk to our housemates more but we also interact with them more. There’s a Hufflepuff*** ‘hang out’ where plopped on an overstuffed couch we shoot the breeze as part of a chapter task. There’s also a moment where we hit up the courtyard and cast Flipendo on some unsuspecting Slytherins, as a warning to not mess with Hufflepuff and to quit losing us house points and bullying other students.

But again I can’t help but wonder…. How in the name of Merlin does this work if Slytherin house is your affiliation of choice?! You erm… cast spells on your housemates? Just because?

The Slytherin hate and one-sided ‘badness’ is still an issue in this year and it makes *this* badger more than a little befuddled. Yes! Hufflepuffs can actually be invested in the happiness and reputation, smeared as they often are, of Slytherins!

*or Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, or ….dare I say it… Slytherin?!

**or blue or crimson or emerald

***please, don’t ask me to say it again….

Some of the complaints I had are resolved this go around. But others, unfortunately, still endure a *cough* energy *cough*. Let's count 'em.

#1. The microtransactions are just as aggressive as before.

No this time our hero isn’t actually being strangled before our eyes (way to get players to pay up, eh?) but lessons take a frustratingly long time to complete if you’re set on playing Hogwarts Mystery free, like I, and many others, are. I’m talking sitting through one of Professor Binn’s History of Magic lectures LONG. 9 stars just to unlock a potion lesson that we’ll actually have to complete with MORE of our energy? 

Just because energy is the fuel of choice to keep Hogwarts Mystery in motion doesn’t mean Jam City and Portkey Games should be so thirsty about making us pay real money to get said energy.

That crackling sound you’re hearing now? That’s the sound of a Hufflepuff’s patience being tried and pushed nearly to breaking point.

There’s absolutely no reason to have such a heavy reliance on the energy and gems system other than Portkey Games and Jam City selfishly profiting from younger players and other players who get so frustrated by the wait times and never ending classes that they just pay to placate the game, like a parent giving a screaming toddler in a grocery store a juice pouch just to make them quit their wailing.

In fact, almost every major story arc moment-- whether it’s official chapter progression OR side-quests are reduced to energy depleting activities to propel the story onwards instead of talking or challenge activities. Sometimes it makes sense, like searching for potions ingredients in the Great Hall. 

Other times it’s senseless, like chatting up Rowan in the Hospital Wing.Why did we need to tap tap tap the glowing blue objects instead of having a talking challenge where we try to "console" Rowan? Wouldn’t that be more appropriate? It’d sure as hell be less time-consuming. Not to mention more fun!

The same goes for seeking out fire seeds for a potion in the courtyard despite Penny telling us she has them in one of her pockets the entire time. Wouldn’t it be a brighter idea to have us try to beat her at a game of Gobstones to ‘win’ the ingredients from her? Instead of us having to tap and wait and tap and wait, only to have her tell us, HERE’S THE INGREDIENT LOL. Penny, way to be a witch with a B.

This energy and gem controversy has led Jam City and Portkey Games to run specials where they slash the prices to buy gems and in-game currency, and at one point they even automatically bequeathed players gems as a means of apology but it’s still far too little. It’s just a dodgy move on their part to keep us quiet. Reality is they’re not making any progress towards phasing out energy use and the need to burn through muggle money for uninterrupted gameplay.This, along with excessively long ‘wait’ periods to continue quests is Hogwarts Mystery’s greatest flaw.

#2. Canon, What Canon?
More than once Hogwarts Mystery has decided to go off book. There's a moment where Dolores Umbridge's name comes up in a question about a professor, obvi as one of the wrong answers, but why is she there to begin with?! At this point in time she'd still be full-time at the Ministry of Magic, not trying to tear down Hogwarts with her tyrannical toady little self on Fudge's behalf.

There's also that whole thing with the Firebolt being mentioned by Madam Hooch in one of her lectures - after she reminds us again surely we will fall to our death- ever the cheerful one, ol' Hoochy. That model broom doesn't come out until the tail (LOL) end of Harry's third year so the fact it's being said many many many years prior is like a low key Trelawney level prediction.

And gamers, friends, Potterhead brethren and sisteren 😂 I gotta address the elephant potion's master in the room. Why in the seven hells is Snape still a middle-aged man?! He looks exactly the same as he does during Harry's third or fourth year. Alan Rickman, bless him, didn't even look this this OLD in the Sorcerers Stone or Chamber of Secrets film. According to Jo's timeline wouldn't he be in his twenties around the events of this game? Considering he was youngish when Lily and James were killed and left Harry orphaned? This confuses me greatly.

That being said, I’m still going to continue playing Hogwarts Mystery. The original story is just way too complex and compelling to drop the game based off of issues with in-game spending alone. The graphics are still quite impressive and the plot continues to become more intricate with plenty of side quests to break up the monotony of unlocking and playing out Potions, Flying and Charms lessons.

I’m continually surprised and excited by unraveling the mystery and seeing how my choices impact the non-playable characters around me and the climate of Hogwarts itself. The script has improved and the characters are beginning to get more depth to them although several of them *cough* Ben and Merula *cough* are still annoying AF there’s a lot to like.

Hogwarts Mystery, although incomplete, also knows how to entice us to keep playing as they slowly unveil new content- like letting us know we’ll meet Tonks, Tulip and Barnaby in Year 3 and how in Year 4 we’ll finally be able to take Care of Magical Creatures with. . . Professor Kettleburn perhaps?! Before he decides to retire to spend time with his remaining limbs?! Will he have a peg leg? Or a hook hand? Omg. Do I sense a dragon wrangling pirate-wizard?

Yup. I’m definitely going to keep playing Hogwarts Mystery. But without having to throw down my muggle money to do it! 

How about you? Are you still playing Hogwarts Mystery? What year are you in? Drop a comment below!

gifs from giphy and tenor 

screenshots from Hogwarts Mystery taken by me 

first photo from IMDB