Hogwarts Legacy: The Official Game Guide (Companion Book) (Portkey Games)

I am a huge HP fan, and was looking for a new game. I have never really played open world games, ( i am old and still have the original NES console that i bought when they came out) so I did struggle a bit at first, and thats why i got this book. I was very lost. Again, not my jam, so I didn't have the basics. My son who has been playing these types of games for 20 years, comes in, and is like, oh, boom, felt silly, but he gave me some tips. I enjoyed the learning process, have played it through twice now, and still enjoy going in and hanging at Hogwarts. the book was a big help. ITs also really well illustrated, and just kind of cool to have around

Let me start by saying this is more of a companion book and not so much a game guide. I feel as though there's enough information to loosely guide you through every quest, but do not expect a step-by-step guide that will walk you through the entire game. I would have loved for there to be more information on spell combinations, the merlin trials, maps, collectibles and even enemy stats, but I did enjoy looking at the artwork, reading the brief quest overviews and perusing the pages just to read them. So, if you're looking for a really in depth step-by-step guide book with lots of cool artwork, bonus features and just anything to enhance your game playing experience, then keep looking, it's not here. But, if you're like me and absolutely love playing Legacy, are ok with just a companion book, or just want something to display with your HP collection, then this is for you!

I'm a guide collector with pretty much any game I like to play whether or not it's useful to some degree or not. When this was announced and it's paperback only - I know then it's going to be OK. Useful to me? Probably not for everything I find in a detailed hardcover guide but maybe one or two things here and there. When I got this in the mail and opened it, its the size of a coloring book you'd buy for kids on Amazon.. It's not even a full length paperback guide. OK... fine as long as the contents matter. Contents? What contents? In an easy to describe way for the contents of this book (I'm not calling it a guide anymore) - go watch the announcement trailer for this game where they show you doing a couple quests and the wizarding classes. Now imagine someone told the person who wrote this guide to make that trailer video into a 174 page book. There is literally no substance of use in this book it's just 20 pages of "You get to do potions class with Professor Sharp!" - No actual mention of the potions you can learn or their abilities. Correction, I reopened the book to double check, it the first two potions but doesn't give you any actual details on what they do, it's just flavor text. No maps, no tips, no tricks, nothing. The tutorials in the game give you a better guide than this. Will I return it? For $13, if I find myself near a return center maybe. Is it completely useless? 99% of it is, but on page 174 you get a "Notes" section to write how bad this book is and that's the 1%. I would only recommend getting this for someone who never watched the trailer video of the game, is curious about the Hogwarts Legacy world, and what you can do in it.

Were to begin? This game is absolutely amazing. For anyone who is a Potter head it is a must have. The environment is so submersive and there's so many things to do and learn. The storyline makes you feel like your part of Hogwarts. I highly recommend this to everyone.

The book is nicely made and organized, however, do not buy this book of you're looking for an actual game guide. The content you will find is very shallow and definitely not guiding you through anything. That being said, for around $10, if you're looking for a little extra lore about the game characters and areas, then it is worth it.

Note: I got PLATINUM on this game before the book arrived so I feel like I have a solid understanding of the games offerings and thus I can review this book well based on that information. IN SUMMERY: The book has beautiful images. It has good but basic information on most of the main gameplay, certainly not all. And in my opinion it SORELY lacks all kinds of details. LOOK AND FEEL: It's a paperback, which is a bit disappointing compared to some other heftier, sturdier guide books. Take the Skyrim hardcover - that was outstanding with amazing build quality and chock full of information. This Hogwarts Legacy book has glossy semi-thick pages. It's like a Marvel graphic novel (as in, the book form which includes multiple issues, usually made to look much nicer than any single issue). It feels nice enough. Sharp images, deep colors. Lots and lots (and LOTS) of pictures. Easy to look at. But it can start to warp easily. Already the cover is bending/curling outwards and the very bottom right corner is a bit creased from being shipped in a paper envelope with no real protection other than a thin bubble wall on one side, not the other. THE INFORMATION OFFERED: It's organized mostly in order of how the story missions are given. There isn't too much information though. Each mission is a summarized walk-through and there can be tips on which spells to bring with you and once i saw suggestions on which direction to enter a camp. But that's about it. Each page has a paragraph or two on the mission. Some main missions have a column or two of walkthrough information. The rest are pictures with an occasional small bio on a character. There is a small glossary on enemies, but not terribly detailed. For instance with the Inferi, all it says is "A reanimated corpse now under the control of a dark wizard. Drops stench of the dead." No information on where to find them or tips on how to beat them. I thought there would be a detailed rundown on where every collectable is and how to get them, and how to 100% all the challenges. Sadly I don't see that here. There isn't even an Index at the end. If there is a word or name or location you want to find in the book - you can not look it up in the back of the book to find a page number where it's talked about. I don't see any answers on how to solve the puzzles in the castle that require you to move blocks around to find your way through the room. IN FAR MORE DETAIL AS AN EXAMPLE: - Merlin Trials! I'm not sure there is detailed info on how to solve all the Merlin trials (and different treasure cave puzzles either). There is a page on Merlin trials that goes over the types of trials but it doesn't tell you step by step how to do them. "Light things on fire" is basically what is says about one - but where are the things? They're on timers and all go away at different times, which do you do first? Where is the best place to stand so you can light each on in order and in time? - It says you need Mallowsweet to activate them and says where you can buy some but doesn't tell you places you can pick it yourself. - There's also no mention of if you can grow it yourself (PS: you can!) or HOW to grow it. There is no glossary on plants/flowers. There's no section I can find in the book that shows you how to brew potions and grow plants at all. Let alone tips on which brewing/potting tables you should get and where to place then and when best to get them. And I don't see much information on the Room of Requirement Talents. There are only 2 pages dedicated to the Room of Requirement. I count 7 short paragraphs that are 2-3 sentence each. It really just covers Interior decorating- the spells you use to build things and the Moonstone needed. The rest of the pages are filled with artwork. - For instance, did you know you can grow your own Chomping Cabbages and you can pair that with a Room of Requirement Talent that gives you one extra chomping cabbage free for each one you throw AND among the many TRAITS for your gear, there is one that makes the cabbage even more powerful? That's just one deadly build you could make for your character. I don't think this book covers any builds at all, actually. - There IS a page that talks about talent points, but again it's very short. It basically tells you when they unlock and that you'll want to tailor them to your style of play. Sadly, I don't even see the book tell you that you do NOT get as many talent points as there are talents - so spend your talent points wisely! (Out of 48 possible talents, you get 36 talent points. So won't be able to get 12 talents. Which ones you don't get is up to you - BUT THE BOOK DOESN'T SEEM TO SAY ANY OF THIS!) MORE: There is no map that I see where it lists the location of everything. There is no information on how to connect you Wizarding World account to the game so your character already has the house you were sorted into and the want you were given from that website. There is nothing about any trophies/challenges if you are a completionist like me. CONCLUSION: I suppose in this day in age where it's all online, they don't feel it necessary to provide ALL of that information? But then why provide this at all when this basic information is online too? I thought people were like me and not only wanted to have a collectors item but to be able to have all the game information at my fingertips without the need for an internet connection.

I personally like that it doesn't tell you every single detail of a quest. It's a game guide, not a strategy guide. Downvoting something, because you can't read isn't really fair. If you want typical/basic knowledge of enemies, beasts and the general quest line, get this wonderful looking thing. It isn't a full sized book, it's about as large as a Diablo II Ultimate Guide (if you have it). Full colored and wonderful art within it's 170+ pages. The Internet changed things, you got walkthroughs and guides on websites and YouTube. This is more of a companion guide. It does a great job and the artwork is top notch. It's in between an art (making of) book and a strategy guide. I'm more of a fan of the game than the source material. I really like how this guide flows. You're not going to be jumping to page 120 to find where a particular secret chest is, you might actually have to use your brain for that.

Just basically a list of various quests in the game, but no maps, no solutions or answers, and definitely not a single hidden answer in this book. It sheds no more light on any answers than the in game map does. Example, the demiguies statues for Moon. Just the description of the quest and not a single hint for resolution. I give 2 stars because it is visually pleasing and well printed. But far from an official seeming game guide. More like a game compendium...but lacking anything truly useful if you are stuck on anything at all. Which is ashamed, because there are a few things I and my son are stuck on that we had hope this could answer.