Summary
WhenHarry Potter: Hogwarts Mysteryreleased back in 2018, it wasn’t exactly what many gamers had in mind. The mobile game’s point-and-click nature didn’t immediately click with fans who wanted a more immersive, contemporary video game experience set in Hogwarts, and the game’s reliance on microtransactions didn’t help either. However,Hogwarts Mysteryhas redeemed itselfin recent years, and with the arrival of theBeyond Hogwartsexpansion that takes players into the adult side of the wizarding world, there are plenty of new directions the game can go, potentially expanding its somewhat rudimentary romance system.
Hogwarts Mystery, despite its issues, fulfilled a major fantasy for manyHarry Potterfans: it let them journey through their own seven-year Hogwarts experience. Players would design a character and watch them grow, starting from Year One. This simulated the magic captured by theHarry Potterseries, which followed its main characters from ages eleven to seventeen. This role-playing experience was no doubt gratifying for countless fans, but now thatHogwarts Mysteryis aging its characters up, there is the opportunity to introduce a feature that is a staple of the RPG genre: romanceable characters.
Why Enhanced Romance Features Would Benefit Hogwarts Mystery
If recent successes likeBaldur’s Gate 3have taught the gaming community anything, it’s that players love to have the option to romance NPCs in their RPGs. InHogwarts Mystery, romance options were relatively limited, being centered around specific quests and not progressing beyond those quests, for the most part. Now that the characters have grown into adults with careers and, presumably, adult problems, the introduction of more fleshed-out romance options makes a lot of sense.
These romance scenarios wouldn’t have to be (and perhaps shouldn’t be) as adult as those in mature games likeBaldur’s Gate 3orMass Effect, but there is still plenty of room for PG-13 relationships to deepen and grow now that the characters are adults. Althoughromance has featured inHogwarts Mysterybefore, it was a bit simplistic, and the relationships players could enter into didn’t have much narrative heft behind them. As the characters mature, it would only make sense for their relationships to mature as well, with certain romance options perhaps having more complicated or impactful side quests associated with them.
There are ways to make the player’s choice of partner more consequential as well. Since the characters ofHogwarts Mysteryhave been children up to this point, the romance plots have been rather two-dimensional, centering on crushes and puppy love. This is all well and good, and it certainly fits thesurprisingly great story ofHogwarts Mystery, but as the characters grow, it’s likely that the story stakes will get more significant, which would mean that the stakes of the romance sub-plots should be raised as well. For example, relationships could be a bit more fickle for these adult characters, perhaps being damaged if the player decides to ignore their partner enough or if they show interest in another character.
One obvious addition to the romance system would be marriage and children. If a player were to progress their relationship past a certain point, they could take this next step with their partner. AsHogwarts Mysterylooks to the future, a family system would be an elegant way to continue the Hogwarts side of the story, as players could have children who later end up enrolling at the school.
Hogwarts Mysteryis serving up a lot of change with itsBeyond Hogwartsupdate.Harry Potterfans have seen very little of the wizarding world beyond the context of Hogwarts, and this update provides the perfect opportunity to do that. IfHogwarts Mysteryis going to show what it’s like for adults in this magical world, deep, significant relationships would be a natural addition.
Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mysteryis available now for mobile devices.
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