Review: Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions Thrills Despite Lacking Content
Putting aside any personal thoughts about a certain Harry Potter creator for a moment, I surprisingly enjoyed Hogwarts Legacy as one of my favorite games in 2023. With fond memories of both that game and the classic Quidditch World Cup title from the original Xbox, I went to review Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions with a hopeful heart.
In the end, I find that Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions is a worthy rendition of the fictional magical sport. The star of the show is the gameplay, which translates the broomstick sport to video game form in a hilarious and incredibly fun way. In some aspects, it almost feels like my new obsession in how I shamefully played Blitzball for about 40 total hours alone in Final Fantasy X .
Screenshot by Siliconera
For those who might not be too familiar with the sport, Quidditch is essentially soccer or basketball but on broomsticks. Wizards and witches fly around on their broomsticks passing around the ball (known as a Quaffle) in hopes of scoring in one of the three enemy goals.
However, this basic idea has quite a few intriguing twists to shake everything up. For one, there are different roles in Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions . You have the three Chasers, which are the characters who try to score with the Quaffle. Then every team has a Beater that has their own ball they can throw at enemy players to try and knock them out.
Of course, there is also a Keeper who protects the goals from being scored on. Finally, there is the Seeker — my favorite role — that fans will remember well from the Harry Potter movies. This is the role that goes after the coveted Golden Snitch to score a healthy 30 points for the team.
All four of these roles come together to form a compelling and often complex gameplay style. There is so much to dive into from a gameplay perspective that it takes time to master each role. This is because, to developer Unbroken Studios’ credit, every role feels rightfully unique. The Chaser is the most standard, focusing on boosting, tackling, passing, and scoring.
Screenshot by Siliconera
But then the Beater takes that basic movement system and adds its offensive ball on top of that. It becomes even more of a skill-based experience with this role. It is all about eliminating other players, quite violently at times.
Keeper is quite simple but it has some intriguing hooks, too. Your movement is less free compared to the others, as you focus on shifting between the hoops. But there are layers to this defensive role, like intercepting and tackling others. In addition, you can lay down rings across the pitch for your team. These act as buffs that let your team gain extra boosts, providing a leader-like role.
While the Seeker is by far the most straightforward, it is also sometimes the funnest. Your entire goal is to locate the Snitch then chase it around the field. This is done through golden rings the Snitch drops for you to pass through. These let you boost indefinitely as you pass through them and get closer to it. Once you charge up a bar before your opponent does, you can snatch it. The challenge here comes from how fast the Snitch moves and the constant dodges you have to do to avoid other players, which makes it a blast to play.
I absolutely adore the gameplay of Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions to the point where I have been obsessing over it in my free time every day since I got it. However, the gameplay only gets you so far. Unfortunately, while the gameplay foundation is as solid as it gets, the content lets it down. At least at launch.
Screenshot by Siliconera
There is, thankfully, a singleplayer experience. It involves a training mode and four cups, ranging from the Weasleys’ backyard all the way to the iconic World Cup. However, you can absolutely go through all of these in a matter of two to three hours in total. And once you’re done, there isn’t much reason to go back to them outside of challenges.
This is certainly a game that runs its course with a couple of hours of game time. The real hook then comes from PvP, but even it lacks in the content department. There is only a single 3v3 game mode right now available, which feels underbaked. We know a full 6v6 mode is on the way in the future, but this game is built for that. Letting every player on the team play a dedicated role just makes sense. Not having that at launch is a shame.
It is also unfortunate because there are some neat systems at play outside of the modes. For one, there are plenty of skins and characters to unlock. Fortunately, you don’t need to pay a dime extra for any of these, either. There are no microtransactions available, which feels refreshing. The challenges, while basic, give some structure and slight reason to come back with cosmetic rewards.
Image via Warner Bros. Games
It is just a shame there aren’t more modes, both offline and online, to enjoy. Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions lays such a brilliant foundation with its impeccable gameplay execution of this fictional sport. Every role feels meaningful, unique, and worth playing. It starts out so simple but has enough complexity for only the most dedicated to master.
While this foundation is great, though, it only goes so far. Despite having the potential to be my next online gaming obsession, Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions will, unfortunately, take a backseat for now until more worthwhile content and modes arrive.
Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions is available right now for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC . It will also release for Nintendo Switch sometime in Holiday 2024.
The post Review: Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions Thrills Despite Lacking Content appeared first on Siliconera .
Popular Content
Explore Topic
