*SPOILERS* Ancient Magic

[Sethmeister]

I can't be the only who thought it was pointless. The main plot revolves around you being a super rare individual that can use/see ancient magic. What do you do with this ability? You use it to complete over the top trials made by some secret group to see their memories. Just to keep some orb of ?emotions/souls? safe?? Oh, and to throw barrels in combat.

It seems like overkill to have this secret order the "Keepers" make these intense trials for an ability so rare and no more dangerous than any other spell. I at least thought you would be able to save Anne with it but it can't even do that.

That's the best the writers could come up with for the main plot?

[Nightfade]

Another things is that, it kinda all depends on how you view the world. I am more blunt, and I see lines that people cross and cannot comeback to. Which is why I think Isidora got what she deserve, and do not give a once of sympathy of what she might have done it. Her dad by the end of his story, was just an empty doll. It would have been sympathy to cast avada kedavra him and give him peace. Just like if you would cast it on a terminal ill person that is in pain.

Originally posted by キヨシセ:

And I'm not justifying what Sebastian or Isidora did - because as I wrote above - Emotion and Magic is not a good combination. It's just that the difference between Isidora and Sebastian is that we are witnesses to what Sebastian does, and even though we don't have any incredible influence on the story, we see it with our own eyes, and in this way I have a "clear" picture of what is going on and how much he loses himself in what he wants to do for his sister. And in this way I can have some opinion about him and his actions.

Like this. I know we saw this happen to Sebastian, and can understand why people would defend him. I just I cannot. He crossed that line for me. Nor do I think he would have stop going down that path. I get he wanted to save his TWIN sister, but he refused to listen to people telling him to stop. That it as wrong. Its not something you should mess with. He had support from other people, who wanted to support him. Then he murdered someone. Of course I don't also side with the uncle side either. After all he blame my character, where most of the time I was with Gaunt trying to talk him out of it. But I don't think the uncle would have killed Sebastian, I think he would have taken him in. Which I believe he should be hold accountable for his actions. I just don't think anyone can good excuse for hurting people, unless its for self defense or you just if that person takes you eye, you can take their eye back. If they killed someone, I think its perfectly fine for them to die in return.

But I doubt everyone would agree on one single thing about that, because a lot of it ties into someone's morals, and we all live by different ones.

Originally posted by キヨシセ:

The problem with Isidora is that we listen and see the story told through Keepers eyes. That is - her brother died, her Father is in mourning and she wanted to help others by taking away their "pain", which later began to accumulate into "magical energy". And there are many wads here that are simply unsaid (intentionally or not). The general problem with this thread is also that it ends with (either you seal this negative power anew - as Keepers did before, or you absorb part of it - something Keepers and Fig didn't want you to do). And that's the end of it - you don't know what happens next.

To me, I don't care what her whole story is, I think we have seen enough. She crossed a line, and that in itself should not be forgiven. I don't think anyone can have an excuse to hurt people. She she did. Taking emotions away, good and bad, are harmful. Everyone needs negative emotions. It teaches you things, it influences who you are as a person. It lets positive emotions feel better. And taking those feelings way from minors that fully cannot give consent to that? Weather her attentions where good or not, It was not a good thing.

Originally posted by キヨシセ:

You don't even know how this energy affects you, etc. I would really like to get to know this story from Isidora's side, as we got to know it from Keepers' side. Because the Keepers' story puts a one-way light on Isidora's story, and I think the other side of the coin may be a little different than what we saw and experienced through their thoughts - not to excuse Isidora's actions of course

And your right. We don't know what would happen. We don't see it. It could 100% just depend on the person who has the power. But I also believe anything to an extreme is bad, and being human with emotions and that power, I think its saying to much that no one is ever going to do something horrid with that power. I think the temptation would be too much. I think it would start with little things, but then transform into doing bigger things. So I agree with the Keepers that the power should have NEVER been created and SHOULD be locked away. I don't need to know more, because it won't change what I think. It would not change that Isidora got what was coming to her. After all, I think in the end she would have killed the Keepers and anyone else who tried to stop her.

And honestly, the little that we SAW from Isidora, it lined right up with what the Keepers showed us. I think we would have saw the same thing, and with her portrait, all I think would happen is her trying to justify herself and try to get you to finish her work. I think she is too far gone.

Again, none of our thinking is wrong nor right. It subjective by our life views and what we both can assume.

[Zephon]

Honestly i think the keepers were hiding a lot of things and they were massive hypocrites especially with the headmistress and her portrait hinted at that they were hiding things e.g. "things aren't always what they appear."Not to mention they sealed away the power but she herself says "Just because you can get rid of the darkness doesn't mean you should."They were driven by fear and removed the magic from the world despite all it could do and they didn't even bother researching it to see if it could do more or heal people safely.Also one of the earliest things Fig teaches you is "Magic is like any power what matters is who wields it."

[Silaf]

The final choice in the game make no sense to me. If all professors and goblins are present how is hiding the orb a moral choice when the next Ranrok will inevitably get it?

Why all ancient magic users start in the 5 year?

How can Ranrok despite not being able to see ancient magic control it with a single spell?

Why we did all trials and craft a special wand when we could have simply dug a hole...

Originally posted by Zephon:

Honestly i think the keepers were hiding a lot of things and they were massive hypocrites especially with the headmistress and her portrait hinted at that they were hiding things e.g. "things aren't always what they appear."Not to mention they sealed away the power but she herself says "Just because you can get rid of the darkness doesn't mean you should."They were driven by fear and removed the magic from the world despite all it could do and they didn't even bother researching it to see if it could do more or heal people safely.Also one of the earliest things Fig teaches you is "Magic is like any power what matters is who wields it."

I agree with you. Isidora error was extracting the pain witout consent and rushing the process witout waiting for long term sideffects.
On top of this keeping the artifact hidden will inevitably lead for next generation Ranrock getting it. You can't hide it forever. And what about other ancient magic users not connected to hogwarts and the keepers? Will they not independently inevitably develop the ability to extract emotions?
Game sell you the choice of hiding the artifact as the moral one but is only a short term doomed one.
Study, wisdom and knowledge is the only way to safely use power.

[Essence of Zem]

I would love to see them expand upon the current story in any future games that they hopefully make. We've heard the Keepers' side of things in the first game. We've either contained or absorbed the magical, glowy emotion ball. A sequel involving seeking a way to restore Isadora's painting and getting to actually talk to her and/or do more research into what she did and what she created by doing it (while probably also dealing with another Big Bad of the time) would be amazing. It would make sense that we, the witch or wizard player, would perhaps want to further understand this new form of power that we've absorbed or be interested in finding a way to try to dispel it because, yeah, leaving that giant ball of power under Hogwarts for the next Ranrock definitely doesn't seem a sound longterm plan.

So the second game could be Isadora's side of things, for better or for worse. And the third could be the fallout/results of our character fully acting upon what they've learned in the first two games, perhaps completely agreeing with everything the Keepers did and following their path, perhaps following Isadora's instead, perhaps crafting a new path somewhere in-between (or far better or far worse).

Either way, no matter a full continuation of the current story or not, I agree that a Hogwarts Legacy trilogy (along the lines of the original Mass Effect trilogy) would be amazing! I would love, love, love to see them expand upon this world and all of these characters they've already built by following our character into their 6th and 7th years at Hogwarts and whatever trials and tribulations we might endure there. If Harry can face off against some major issue every school year, why can't we? (Heck, maybe Isadora somehow comes back as the final Big Bad a la Voldemort. Yes, yes, I know, Killing Curse... but, hey, she was tapped into all sorts of crazy unexplored magic at the time. I bet they could find a way to spin it.)

[kaworu83]

Developers should really hire writers instead of making the cleaning lady come up with these kind of scripts!

[Harris]

Originally posted by キヨシセ:

The fact that her image was destroyed only proves that there is more hidden here than just "we had to use the ultimate avada kedavra spell to protect the people." I personally think that Isidora's story (told through her eyes) would have completely changed the entirety of the story and what the keepers are really hiding, because it is certain that they are hiding something.

Now here's the thing - memories are subjective, and people remember events differently. History is one huge testament to that. That's why we need to see both sides of the story.

And that's even before we consider the possibility of altering memories on purpose - which I honestly wouldn't be surprised about.

[Generic-Raider]

Wold of been nice to get a new spell after every trial from a keeper

[Zephon]

Originally posted by Generic-Raider:

Wold of been nice to get a new spell after every trial from a keeper

Yeah but that would go against what the trials are for.You need to complete every trial before they will even train you to use ancient magic.

[Lugulbanda]

well u all know the story of harry, and some curses remain a live long, killing someone with a unforgivable cuse is seal it forever, this magic had been great if it could undo hat, using the emotions to lets say brainwash the people, like the impero curse only longer lasting, i personaly think the main quest was to short, i realy hated it to do it, to progress in other quests wich are only hucked by no sence to it, i had liked to open looks in a slow progress, instead having a spell to turn things, i had loved more danger if someon sees u open his chests in his house or just stealing things from him... why not have a legend that a murderer runs around killing wizards if u kill to many of them... wich makes u in my eyes more evil then sebastion wich in first hand wanted a good thing and walked to the dark side by doing it... gosh my char is a killing maschine, all the spells are mostly for killing only the merlin part is different, but for what its repeatable and does what it only expands ur inventory... this game is nice i realy realy like it, but it crys in evers corner for expansion for doing more for making more story more to do the main story left me with a bad taste on my tounge, even if it was made very beautyfull in design, the game needs a polish yes and a better Menüsteering, but for a new game they made a awsome job i know games like conan Exiles wich are in progress for over 8 years and are still full of bugs and unfinished things, or build in the wrong way lacking story, like conan lore is 98% not found in the game, wich is called Conan.. here i lived the story i walked through it, and i loved it, but after finishing the main quest it fealt empty, yes i can build something beautyfull in the Vivarium, i can do alot more in Conan exiles, but i cant play with friends or at least as coop, the game would be much much more interesting if the other players were real and secrets not that fast to get. by earning them as a student does. in time, by work and training, reading books or copy from others... the breeding thing, i still think i had the most fun in ark with that breeding coloerfull Birds and i loved that alot... here u only can do child puppys thats it... a good idea not thought trough, giving them a custom outfitt breed special abilitys and more.. or create something new by crossbreeding the species with macig and things u found in the game...

i realy realy love the game, but i got everything way to fast 40-100 hours, is ok for a game but it has so much more unused potential to be played 100 times more..

[fiedly24]

I have played through the story line twice now and can not find any real difference in questing as good or evil. I believe it was said "you can be as evil as you want to be" or something along those lines. However aside from a bit of dialog from unimportant characters and the non-difference in xp or gold, there is no good or evil. You can use the Unforgivable Curses openly in front of classmates and teachers. Aside from the cut-scene there is no difference in taking the evil option at the end. I really wanted to like this game and there are some great parts to it, but having completed a good 90% of everything, I am disappointed. There is so much more that could of been done and based on some of the comments Avalanche has made, I don't believe they will be continuing the project. Sadly this was not the game it was hyped up to be, unless someone else picks up the project and does things right, this was just "book eight".

[harmonia81]

The choice of whether to try and heal Anne (or not) with the ancient magic felt like a big hanging plot thread, for me, honestly.

To me, the main overall main theme of the story seemed to be about secrecy, and whether the risks of using powerful (but potentially dangerous) magic is ever worth the risks, even with the best intentions, or whether it must be suppressed and kept secret.

The final choice in the last quest has our protagonist deciding how they plan to use the ancient magic now that they have proven capable of wielding it- whether to contain it and keep it hidden forever, like the Keepers want. Whether to keep it for themselves (and presumably not sharing it with anyone). Or to try build on Isidora's work and see if it can be harnessed to help people.

Ultimately, though, there is no outcome or consequences to choosing any of these options, as we end up sealing the repository in any case, and things go back to normal (for now anyway). The consequences of the evil choice, where our character is shown absorbing some of the dark magic first before sealing the containment is left open ended...nothing really happens to hint at what might happen to them in the future as a consequence of that choice.

Maybe that's on purpose, to leave things open ended enough to build on a sequel or DLC in the future. But, yeah, I felt kind of cheated I didn't get to actually follow through and heal Anne if you choose the "bad" ending, after all that. The choice to keep it secret is satisfied, because you save the school, but you do that anyway, in both endings.

Obviously, the choice to keep it secret is presented as the good ending, and we see through Isidora how even the best of intentions can lead to bad outcomes. But then again, we also have Professor Fig in the beginning of the game suggesting that powerful magic is like any other kind of magic, that it depends on the wielder. So it's not inevitable that our protagonist would necessarily go down the same dark path as Isidora, if they did choose to continue her work, IMO.

[infinity_flair]

During this game the player is able to channel the basic destructive uses of ancient magic, which is all well and good, but through the memories we see that it has other applications, such as creation. Yet as the player we are never able to utilize AM for anything other than combat, so it is understandable that players feel this way about its role in the game's story.

I think that if we had used AM to create the various biomes for the magical Beasts that are kept in the Room of Requirement that would have been a good opportunity to see the player use it in creative manner. Oh well.

[RedPanzer]

The Keppers are without question abismal tutors, but again, they did work on hogwarts and withold vital information as a way to up the stakes is a JK move that got way more foreshadowing and outright dumb, but isidora obcession with the sadness of her father(who is a horrible, horrible character/parent) is flawd from the start since the boy died sick from bad weather and them ignores her until she mess his mind/emotions but i dont see as something that her character would not seek, it does make sense to seek that whem she suffered that kind of neglicence, but the twist of pain/negative energy becoming addictive/toxic/ultrapowerfull is just a excuse that came out of nowhere and it is never elaborated on, a goblin become a dragon/simbiont/invincible if was not only for the 3 floting spheres who also make no freaking sense, also they really meant to say that she gather that insanely amount of "haze energy" witch is mentioned many times that is residual energy that is impossible to trap 100% whem draining pain and there was about 3 or more repository and the "big one" was under hogwarts?? The story goes on that absurd direction to make Isidora and anyone who seek that power (that is ridiculous powerfull and self replicant i guess...and it effects go from nothing to adictive to OP but sometimes it just kills on contact) as "evil"ina sense that it corrupt the mind and turn the user in a uber cartoon villain, please understand , i was enjoing the game a lot and the story was not that bad, she was misguided and obcessed in how to help people but i was ok with that to draining by force from kids and hellbent to take it all because it gave her a boost and a high? Why? She could not even use it all and also wth was she going to use it for once she made everyone pain free (lobotomy), i keep looking after the final quest to see if she left any message since she mention a couple of times about that power being left to someone with the same powers and you would think that is you but even if you chose to take absorb that power she never show up and if if the game dont show you know that you are dommed, overwhelming powers that make you bonkers and dumb with 3 floating balls that can be destroied with basic spells and you are dead, why not just be sure and make a few horcruxes since she travel all over, before you go bonkers got so villany that even you nose run away.