By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Gaming Discussion - Digital Foundry: Hogwarts Legacy on Last Gen

IcaroRibeiro on 14 May 2023
curl-6 said:
IcaroRibeiro said:

I don't even see the point of this game releasing on Switch. It's a game that benefits a lot of having a big screen with good resolution to display Hogwarts on its fully glory. The biggest quality of the game is the immersion and absolutely gorgeous scenarios, both external and internal (the amount of details in classrooms, stores, etc are superior to anything I've ever seen in gaming) and having to deal with huge graphical compromises will really impact the quality of immersion. Without immersion everything else on this game just falls apart

The gameplay is very mid, absolutely do not stand out without the Wirzading World background to help selling it. The battles are fine, but will be an absolutely mess on Switch if they cannot keep framerate stable (which I'm 100% sure they can't btw)

Story is also mid, to not say outright boring. Remove Hogwarts and all giggles that comes with it and nobody would give a damn about the writing

Hope it just gets canceled. It's not good to have a instalbase of millions of people thinking a good game is awful because the system cannot run it in a acceptable state. Wait for Switch 2 and release it, can't be that far away

Switch is a massively popular system and Hogwarts Legacy is a massively popular game.

It's the same reason that saw Call of Duty get ports to the Wii, despite them having to be extensively downgraded to run on it.

Japan is also a factor; they love Harry Potter, but they do not love Playstation or Xbox.

Their CEO of games commented on this a few days ago: “We see the Switch version as a huge success due to its installed base and its fan base, with the Harry Potter franchise obviously attracting a really large audience globally. With markets like Japan where Nintendo is largely widespread and where Harry Potter is very strong in terms of popularity, we expect big results from the Switch version."

https://www.aroged.com/2023/05/05/hogwarts-legacy-warner-bros-believes-in-the-nintendo-switch-version-we-look-to-japan/

As for the game not being worth it if it's downgraded, it's worth bearing in mind that casual gamers don't care as much about graphics as more enthusiast gamers. Look at how popular Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are despite them looking and running like crap.

Canceling the Switch version and going for Switch 2 instead is certainly a possibility, but we have no clue when Switch 2 will come; Nintendo just confirmed it's not happening this Financial Year, so it could be as far off as end of 2024 or even 2025.

Pokemon has a literal cult of fans who are not even gamers, just Pokemon fans.  It's a game where a mainline entry never sold less than 15 million regardless of which was the system it gets releases, does it have Pokemon in the title? They will buy it. Although HP fandom is huge they are book fans, or movie fans, not gamers. They could buy any new book with JK Rowlling  name in the cover, or be present to any new movie with Harry Potter in the title and that's how I know their next HBO show will be huge 

However when it comes down to gaming things are much less certain. Will the name alone be enough to make the game compelling to buy it even if you know the game is severely compromised?

I don't think so. I indeed think even if this game gets released on Switch I believe it won't outsell PS4+PS5 versions in Japan despite of how huge the franchise is and how big the system is.



Around the Network
curl-6 on 14 May 2023
IcaroRibeiro said:
curl-6 said:

Switch is a massively popular system and Hogwarts Legacy is a massively popular game.

It's the same reason that saw Call of Duty get ports to the Wii, despite them having to be extensively downgraded to run on it.

Japan is also a factor; they love Harry Potter, but they do not love Playstation or Xbox.

Their CEO of games commented on this a few days ago: “We see the Switch version as a huge success due to its installed base and its fan base, with the Harry Potter franchise obviously attracting a really large audience globally. With markets like Japan where Nintendo is largely widespread and where Harry Potter is very strong in terms of popularity, we expect big results from the Switch version."

https://www.aroged.com/2023/05/05/hogwarts-legacy-warner-bros-believes-in-the-nintendo-switch-version-we-look-to-japan/

As for the game not being worth it if it's downgraded, it's worth bearing in mind that casual gamers don't care as much about graphics as more enthusiast gamers. Look at how popular Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are despite them looking and running like crap.

Canceling the Switch version and going for Switch 2 instead is certainly a possibility, but we have no clue when Switch 2 will come; Nintendo just confirmed it's not happening this Financial Year, so it could be as far off as end of 2024 or even 2025.

Pokemon has a literal cult of fans who are not even gamers, just Pokemon fans.  It's a game where a mainline entry never sold less than 15 million regardless of which was the system it gets releases, does it have Pokemon in the title? They will buy it. Although HP fandom is huge they are book fans, or movie fans, not gamers. They could buy any new book with JK Rowlling  name in the cover, or be present to any new movie with Harry Potter in the title and that's how I know their next HBO show will be huge 

However when it comes down to gaming things are much less certain. Will the name alone be enough to make the game compelling to buy it even if you know the game is severely compromised?

I don't think so. I indeed think even if this game gets released on Switch I believe it won't outsell PS4+PS5 versions in Japan despite of how huge the franchise is and how big the system is.

Other downgraded ports have done well on Switch, and tons of games with low end graphics are commercially successful. There's also the fact that for most people, the Switch version will be the only viable option for playing on the go, since higher end portables are comparatively niche.

Most people really aren't sticklers for great graphics, if they were the Switch itself would have been a failure. 



IcaroRibeiro on 14 May 2023
curl-6 said:

Other downgraded ports have done well on Switch, and tons of games with low end graphics are commercially successful. There's also the fact that for most people, the Switch version will be the only viable option for playing on the go, since higher end portables are comparatively niche.

Most people really aren't sticklers for great graphics, if they were the Switch itself would have been a failure. 

Some games can just work with less graphical fidelity and that's alright. There is a difference between a game running well with graphics that are specifically thought to run in a specific configuration and other games with severe technical issues. If Switch games were a bunch of Cyberpunks 2077 the system would have bombed hard time. 



Alex_The_Hedgehog on 14 May 2023

I mean, if someone really wants to play it, and only have a last gen system, then I think that will do.

However, I would recommend to just skip it and wait for a chance to play it on a next-gen system or gaming PC. Part of the fun of this game comes from seeing Hogwarts on it's full glory.



My Brazilian blog about Super Smash Bros.

curl-6 on 14 May 2023
IcaroRibeiro said:
curl-6 said:

Other downgraded ports have done well on Switch, and tons of games with low end graphics are commercially successful. There's also the fact that for most people, the Switch version will be the only viable option for playing on the go, since higher end portables are comparatively niche.

Most people really aren't sticklers for great graphics, if they were the Switch itself would have been a failure. 

Some games can just work with less graphical fidelity and that's alright. There is a difference between a game running well with graphics that are specifically thought to run in a specific configuration and other games with severe technical issues. If Switch games were a bunch of Cyberpunks 2077 the system would have bombed hard time. 

There are plenty of Switch games that are downgraded from their original form yet still did well.

Witcher 3 for instance; it's a game where its original form was noteworthy for its lavish graphics, and the Switch version needed substantial cutbacks to work, yet CD Porjekt Red said it had "excellent" sales.



Around the Network
IcaroRibeiro on 14 May 2023
curl-6 said:

There are plenty of Switch games that are downgraded from their original form yet still did well.

Witcher 3 for instance; it's a game where its original form was noteworthy for its lavish graphics, and the Switch version needed substantial cutbacks to work, yet CD Porjekt Red said it had "excellent" sales.

I've played The Witcher 3 on both PS4 and Switch, it's a demanding game for Switch but it's passable. Not nearly close to the most demanding games on PS4. Hogwarts Legacy on the other hand is a much more demanding game that even PS4 is struggling to keep working, I don't have much hope for this Switch port. Even of my PS5 I felt the game to have some lags and framerate drops, the Switch version for me was a crazy idea from the start 



curl-6 on 14 May 2023
IcaroRibeiro said:
curl-6 said:

There are plenty of Switch games that are downgraded from their original form yet still did well.

Witcher 3 for instance; it's a game where its original form was noteworthy for its lavish graphics, and the Switch version needed substantial cutbacks to work, yet CD Porjekt Red said it had "excellent" sales.

I've played The Witcher 3 on both PS4 and Switch, it's a demanding game for Switch but it's passable. Not nearly close to the most demanding games on PS4. Hogwarts Legacy on the other hand is a much more demanding game that even PS4 is struggling to keep working, I don't have much hope for this Switch port. Even of my PS5 I felt the game to have some lags and framerate drops, the Switch version for me was a crazy idea from the start 

There is definitely a solid chance the Switch version will be a disaster, based on how hard it's already taxing PS4 and Xbone. It could also still just get canceled if they decide they can't get it to run in an acceptable state.

I still think there's the possibility it defies the odds though; when they were announced, a lot of other ports to Switch sounded impossible on paper.



Pajderman on 15 May 2023

Being a massive fan of Harry Potter I think that it is a big demographic overlap between people who like the franchies and people who only own a Nintendo Switch.
But I also know that a quite a lot of people bought a PS5 just to play Hogwarts Legacy.
With time the potential buyers of the game on switch will get lower. Still, even releasing in november as the current plan is, the switch version is probably a million seller.



Mar1217 on 16 May 2023

In the end, you still gotta commend the publisher and devs for not going with the easy-bad solution of going with a cloud port of the game.



Switch Friend Code : 3905-6122-2909 

Radek on 16 May 2023

I think base PS4 is the most impressive since it's 10 years old.

900p 29-40 fps in unlocked mode and also better AO and faster loading times than Xbox One version, because let's be honest 720p on Xbox One is really low and pretty much everyone already has a 4K TV :/