Is the game really finished ?

[Silvarsson]

Hi there,

So after completing the game, I've got a strange feeling. The feel that the game, even if somehow polished, without game breaking bugs, or mostly without any bug, the feel is that the game has been rushed and so is not a really finished product.

The reasons are the low tier RPG mechanics present(no karma system, low tier talent tree system, , the total absence of specific fight, except for the last boss, the amount of cave fillers all around the world (which ducks big time), the non presence of the quidditch (which would have needed more dev time), less than 10 object you'll have to use reparo on the world map, etc.

It feels like everything in the game is missing something. May it be spells combos, as said, almost all rpg elements.

The world building (lore related stuff), world design, sound design, graphics, particle effects etc, are really awesome in opposition of what I wrote, which surprise me quite a bit.

[Mr_Bloodjack]

I kind of feel you on this one.

Yes it's a good game, does the minimum but does it well.
I think it's just because it was developed by "Avalanche Software".

Looking at their history, to their credits, they really went out of their comfort zone and pretty much nailed it.

But again, true, it could have been better. Let's just hope the positive returns the game have will motivate them to release DLCs, there is room for them, story, mini-games, Quidditch why not (...if they manage to improve the broom controls)

[50armoredtyrannosaurusrexes]

This is what you get when a dev team makes a game in Unreal Engine. Making a game using UE only works when you make a very specific type of game, this usually does not work as well when you want to create a gigantic open world because of the limitations of the engine.

All the things that you mentioned that are good about the game are things that were made outside Unreal Engine, that's why they are good.

If you look at the previous games they have always used Unreal Engine and that's why i don't understand why Warner Brothers asked them to create a game on this big of a scale. Rockstar would've done amazingly with a game like this (implementing parts of Bully + RDR2) and even CDPR would've done amazingly if they would've taken elements from the Witcher 3. Alas, both these companies have their own engine, which is also why they were allowed to create a more immersive open-world experience.

Unreal Engine is a great tool for indie devs, but for a project as big as this.. well... this is what you get.

[[CTU]Jack_Bauer]

Would have liked a form of dark wizard or light wizard type system here, however the games puzzles and such are lets face it quite easy and overall seems like a novice level experience to experienced gamers, as if this was a story telling game almost like the telltale games.

[Gvaedyn]

It's a bit bare bones, honestly.

It's decent, but lacks substance.

[emp456]

RPG mechanics are very barebones. All casual and shallow systems, and it's a shame. I don't see the point of even levelling here given the simple system that it is. We have only 3 stats: health, attack and defense and we don't even choose either of them when levelling up and frankly, i still don't know what are the stats for. Combat feels the same no matter that i am constantly swapping gear items and getting more and more attack and defense.

Talents are also very lacking and majority only affect the combat, with just a few exceptions that are utilities (like being able to run while invisible)

The dialogue options also don't really matter. All those options to be a rebel and dare to do this or that...only change 1 line of the next dialogue with this or that teacher and the result is the same either way. As OP said, this lacks a Karma system and the option to be "good" or "bad". I would have love something like the old Jedi Knight Academy, for instance.

There's little exciting levelling up, choosing a talent (i am not even using them, i just keep them because i do not want the combat to be even easier), making a decision while in a quest or getting new gear.

The world is great (in details, it lacks immersion to make you feel like a real scholar in a "real" school, it's all occasional linear quests+results and npcs that keep at the same place doing the same again and again, day and night) but i totally agree, it lacks substance.

[Silvarsson]

Originally posted by Mr_Bloodjack:

I kind of feel you on this one.

Yes it's a good game, does the minimum but does it well.
I think it's just because it was developed by "Avalanche Software".

Looking at their history, to their credits, they really went out of their comfort zone and pretty much nailed it.

But again, true, it could have been better. Let's just hope the positive returns the game have will motivate them to release DLCs, there is room for them, story, mini-games, Quidditch why not (...if they manage to improve the broom controls)

The game is ok tier to me. Graphics are really good, but the rest is really lacking a whole lot of things, half baked mechanics and overall gaming experience to me. But still, it is a base for what's to come if they plan something. I just hope they'll work on some really big dlc's, adding mechanics that should have been core to the actual game.

Originally posted by CTUJack_Bauer:

Would have liked a form of dark wizard or light wizard type system here, however the games puzzles and such are lets face it quite easy and overall seems like a novice level experience to experienced gamers, as if this was a story telling game almost like the telltale games.

Indeed. It would have given us the possibility to really handle the game the way we want to play it.

But then, the "karma" system, needs many implementation. We'd have an alternate story progression, issues with the school, etc. A mechanic like that would have been the mechanic to implement, to make that game a great RPG (if of course, the core lore, and side characters would have been way more baked).

Originally posted by Gvaedyn:

It's a bit bare bones, honestly.

It's decent, but lacks substance.

Exact.

Graphcis are good, but the rest is just half baked.

Originally posted by emp456:

RPG mechanics are very barebones. All casual and shallow systems, and it's a shame. I don't see the point of even levelling here given the simple system that it is. We have only 3 stats: health, attack and defense and we don't even choose either of them when levelling up and frankly, i still don't know what are the stats for. Combat feels the same no matter that i am constantly swapping gear items and getting more and more attack and defense.

Talents are also very lacking and majority only affect the combat, with just a few exceptions that are utilities (like being able to run while invisible)

The dialogue options also don't really matter. All those options to be a rebel and dare to do this or that...only change 1 line of the next dialogue with this or that teacher and the result is the same either way. As OP said, this lacks a Karma system and the option to be "good" or "bad". I would have love something like the old Jedi Knight Academy, for instance.

There's little exciting levelling up, choosing a talent (i am not even using them, i just keep them because i do not want the combat to be even easier), making a decision while in a quest or getting new gear.

The world is great (in details, it lacks immersion to make you feel like a real scholar in a "real" school, it's all occasional linear quests+results and npcs that keep at the same place doing the same again and again, day and night) but i totally agree, it lacks substance.

Exact, the karma system is really missing, plus something more than the hard progression (corridor one). They should really inspire themselves from games like elder scroll's franchise about "free roaming", knowing what gives gameplay possibilities to players, and so giving the game a real long gameplay capacity and replayability capacity.

As you said, there are stuff, but everything is half baked. Some sort of bitter taste once you passed 10h of gameplay (max), as you start to understand how empty the game really is.

[jedediahpelland]

Feels like there were a lot of thing cut from the game probably due to time restrictions. Like a lot of other games this should have been given more time to fully flesh out all the features.

[Theta]

This one wasnt too bad but did leave you wanting more. Im sure this was them just testing the waters. We'll get more and better HP games eventually. Now that this one sold so well.

[Steefy_92]

Originally posted by Grober:

It was dumbed down to a walking simulator

🙄 You need to get out more, even if it's to empty your trash

The game feels like it has gone through numerous iteration, until one just felt like it will meet ends.

And their dev cycle has been rather eventful at the end there is only so much you can do to delay release.

It's not all that different from pretty much every AAA title.

[Pygmalion]

The "bad" ending doesn't explain how or why Fig dies . It misses a whole cinematic.

[ChuTheMan]

im certain quidditch was "removed" from the game so they can add it as a DLC later.

wouldn't be the first time where something that 100% should have been at release got pulled out of the game just to sell DLC later.

[emp456]

Originally posted by ChuTheMan:

im certain quidditch was "removed" from the game so they can add it as a DLC later.

wouldn't be the first time where something that 100% should have been at release got pulled out of the game just to sell DLC later.

Yes, i agree that the quidditch will probably come as a DLC. The rest of the points are more difficult to get at any point, because that's how they decided to design the game, is not extra content, i mean.

[Silvarsson]

Originally posted by emp456:

Originally posted by ChuTheMan:

im certain quidditch was "removed" from the game so they can add it as a DLC later.

wouldn't be the first time where something that 100% should have been at release got pulled out of the game just to sell DLC later.

Yes, i agree that the quidditch will probably come as a DLC. The rest of the points are more difficult to get at any point, because that's how they decided to design the game, is not extra content, i mean.

As you said, others points will hardly make it in dlc form. They should rework many things and put to much into developpement. If they plan into implementing any karma system, they'll need to think about consequences, therefore, story progression alteration, therefore, creating different consequences, therefore, students and teachers shouldn't be only decorative element with which we can't interact with. And so adding new enemies also, to be consistent, such as dementors, minister's aurors (that's just an example).


For everything that is missing, they'll have to rework deeply most of the existing mechanics.

Even if we can fly, if they'd add quidditch, the way flying work would need some hard rework. May it be camera management, interactions while mounted, etc etc.

As they didn't even take 2 seconds caring explaining us why our char enter at 5th year in Hogwart, we only imagine why the MC may, but we don't have any clue about it ( That's one of the majore flaw related to the storyline present in the game).

It's sad somehow. On the right hand, they've got top tier world design, graphics, sound design, but on the other, all the rest is just low tier.

[warrickbartley]

don't panic im sure there's a lot of DLC to come in the next year or two

[Otaku]

Yeah, also barely any enemy and boss variety in the game unfortunately.