A key item for a potentialHarry Potter: Hogwarts LegacyDLC could be the perfect lore-appropriate way to retool existing content. With the overwhelming success ofHogwarts Legacy, a DLC from Avalanche Software would make sense, even if the developer has said it is not planning to release one. If it ever happens, one item from the franchise’s books and films would be a fantastic addition: the Time Turner.
From a critical and financial standpoint,Hogwarts Legacyshattered expectations, providing gamers with a gorgeously-realized Hogwarts Castle, Hogsmeade, and the surrounding Scottish countryside. The game was something many have been clamoring for sinceHarry Potterfirst became a global phenomenon back in 1997: a chance to immerse themselves in the wizarding world, creating their own witch or wizard and embarking on a personalized magical adventure. The highest-grossing game sinceRed Dead Redemption 2,Hogwarts Legacywas a resounding success, and now that the title has been out for a while, fans already have their sights cast on whatever is next for Avalanche Software.
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DLC For Hogwarts Legacy Should Be a No-Brainer
While there areno current plans for DLCs or an expansion toHogwarts Legacy, leaving the game as-is would be leaving money on the table. It only makes sense that Avalanche Software and its publisher Warner Brothers would decide to capitalize on the game’s enormous popularity. The studio could take its marquis franchise in a number of different directions, from adding playable Quidditch, to storylines involving the eponymous Chamber of Secrets and Triwizard Cup, or even realizing more iconic locations from the books and films such as Diagon Alley or the Ministry of Magic.
One new feature with tons of potential for providing a sequence-replaying mechanic would bethe Time-Turner. The borderline deus ex machina was first introduced to fans in the thirdHarry Potterbook,The Prisoner of Azkaban. Given to Hermione to handle her overly-ambitious course load, the Time-Turner allows its user to go back several hours in the past. In the book, it was used as a schedule-extending study tool and eventually as part of a scheme to save Sirius Black and the hippogryph Buckbeak, but inHogwarts Legacy, its applications could provide players with a meaningful way to replay sections of the game.
Adding Time Travel To Hogwarts Legacy Could be a Perfect Fit
Introducing the Time-Turner toHogwarts Legacywould provide the game with a utility for going back to previous encounters in the game to re-live fans' favorite moments. The difficulty of the encounters could be augmented, perhaps through a gem-socketing gameplay mechanic where players could custom-tune difficulty for a score-based mode, unlocking merit-based rewards. While many games feature a new game plus mode and incentives for replaying them,Hogwarts Legacycould be one of the rare titlesthat have its replayability done in a non-immersion-breaking manner.
Of course, a tool as powerful as a Time-Turner would have to have guidelines and restrictions based around it forHogwarts Legacy. A storyline for the player acquiring the Time-Turner could be an intriguing set of side quests culminating in the same sort of strictly-enforced usage that allowed Hermione to use it in her third year at Hogwarts. Going in line with the game giving players agency in choosing to be a rule-follower or rule-breaker, they could decide whether to use the Time-Turner in a strictly scholastic manner, or as a powerful tool in combat sections. The latter could take inspiration from second-chance mechanics in games likeSekiro: Shadows Die TwiceandPrince of Persia: The Sands of Time.
No matter where Avalanche Software decides to go withthe future ofHogwarts Legacy, further building out the wizarding world is absolutely brimming with potential. No matter what aspect of theHarry Potteruniverse it decided to delve into next, the Time-Turner would be a phenomenal addition with a myriad of possibilities.
Hogwarts Legacyis available now for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. The game will release for PS4 and Xbox One on May 5, and July 25 for Nintendo Switch.
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