How "Hogwarts"-y is it?

[id795078477]

By the title I mean, is the game faithful to the original series in the sense that PC can complete the main story without being a "murder-hobo"?

What struck me is that (spoiler!) during the very first carriage flight, PC didn't see those flying horses meaning they never experienced death until later when the dragon attacks

From what I see, although PC might be a gifted wizard/witch, (s)he is but a 15 years old boy/girl, so I'd like to know if the main story or quests in general reflect that. Is it possible to complete the game in a non-violent way without going about "killing/hurting bad (or good) guys"?

I wouldn't like to see the PC going on a rampage streak in school or otherwise - unless the player really pushes the envelope of course. I heard there are "dark arts" - which I personally have no intention to practice - are those mandatory?

If you please, a simple "yes/no" answer would be great since I want to avoid spoilers, maybe "it depends" with some minimal explanations. Thanks!

[wardenwolf]

Nah, PC is a murder hobo through and through. And an accomplished thief!

[Jynn]

You can accomplish a lot of things through just sneaking around. Example: Going through bandit camps and collecting the collectibles or chests while invisible, avoiding detection and taking it slow

however there are story moments where you HAVE to murder hobo to progress, admittedly the story element ones are in self-defense but still, you do have to kill at times

[duEprocEss]

Your body count will be higher than Voldemort's long before you even reach the middle of the game.

[Fallen]

Originally posted by wardenwolf:

Nah, PC is a murder hobo through and through. And an accomplished thief!

this is seriously no joke. the pc likely has a kill list with marks for every kill. as for being a thief, the pc is soo good in fact, that you can steal peoples belongings from their chests AND break into their houses right in front of them, and they will say and do nothing, because the pc is just that good.

also if you decide to learn the unforgivable curses as they become available, it quickly shows how much of a psychopath the pc is with how manipulative they are.

[PocketYoda]

Yes you can do multiple styles of play, i have stealthed through missions freely until certain areas force a conflict. That said stealth limits your loot.

[cap-boulanger]

The dark arts spells are optional to learn.

But there is a lot of combat.

[wardenwolf]

Put simply, it's not Dishonored or even CP2077 where you can canonically be non-lethal by design.

[Neo King Arthur]

Originally posted by Fallen:

the pc is soo good in fact, that you can steal peoples belongings from their chests AND break into their houses right in front of them, and they will say and do nothing, because the pc is just that good.

Which is basically every RPG pc in existence. I can't remember any RPG adventure game that if you want to get 100% of collectibles or items in the game, you HAVE to break into people's homes and steal their stuff from their chests.

as for OP. You can play whatever you want. Even most of the spells are basically optional. There are only a few spells that are mandatory to get to progress with the story quests. But the dark arts are definitely optional. You can opt not to learn them if you don't want to, and you can still finish the game that way.

For me, while I also dislike the dark arts, I opt to learn them. Because I'm a completionist, I have to learn every single spell in the game including the dark arts. Even though, I barely use them at all. A "Grey Witch" so to speak. And even if I use it, it's always when I'm alone and if I have to. And only on non-sentient enemies (like Trolls, Mongrels, Spiders). But never sentient enemies like dark wizards or goblins. If I have a party companion with me, I never use any of the dark arts.

That being said, you can still play the game completely non-lethal, like using disillusionment charm to make yourself invisible and sneak behind the enemy and cast Petrificus Totalus to petrify them non-lethally. You can also set your spell combo to only use non-lethal spells like Expelliarmus, but not use lethal spells like Confringo or Bombarda on them which explodes.

Ancient Magic finishers are random, sometimes they're non-lethal, sometimes they do. So if you want to be safe, don't use them at all. However there are some scripted events that you have to kill them lethally. But in the lore it's specified that it's always a last resort.

[wardenwolf]

Originally posted by Neo King Arthur:

Originally posted by Fallen:

the pc is soo good in fact, that you can steal peoples belongings from their chests AND break into their houses right in front of them, and they will say and do nothing, because the pc is just that good.

Which is basically every RPG pc in existence. I can't remember any RPG adventure game that if you want to get 100% of collectibles or items in the game, you HAVE to break into people's homes and steal their stuff from their chests.

as for OP. You can play whatever you want. Even most of the spells are basically optional. There are only a few spells that are mandatory to get to progress with the story quests. But the dark arts are definitely optional. You can opt not to learn them if you don't want to, and you can still finish the game that way.

For me, while I also dislike the dark arts, I opt to learn them. Because I'm a completionist, I have to learn every single spell in the game including the dark arts. Even though, I barely use them at all. A "Grey Witch" so to speak. And even if I use it, it's always when I'm alone and if I have to. And only on non-sentient enemies (like Trolls, Mongrels, Spiders). But never sentient enemies like dark wizards or goblins. If I have a party companion with me, I never use any of the dark arts.

That being said, you can still play the game completely non-lethal, like using disillusionment charm to make yourself invisible and sneak behind the enemy and cast Petrificus Totalus to petrify them non-lethally. You can also set your spell combo to only use non-lethal spells like Expelliarmus, but not use lethal spells like Confringo or Bombarda on them which explodes.

Ancient Magic finishers are random, sometimes they're non-lethal, sometimes they do. So if you want to be safe, don't use them at all. However there are some scripted events that you have to kill them lethally. But in the lore it's specified that it's always a last resort.

It's only non-lethal in you head. There's nothing in-game that explicitly states you're not killing with expeliarmus and petrification. They enemies all disappear and "die" the same way. You also cannot complete the game that way as there are story beats that require a "kill".

[valium]

Most of it is like "Kiryu doesnt kill" meme tier killing without killing. Except for the killing curse, but that is supposed to be frowned upon.

[wardenwolf]

Originally posted by valium:

Most of it is like "Kiryu doesnt kill" meme tier killing without killing. Except for the killing curse, but that is supposed to be frowned upon.

lol

[id795078477]

:(

[Patricia Hapon]

Originally posted by Dellecross:

By the title I mean, is the game faithful to the original series in the sense that PC can complete the main story without being a "murder-hobo"?

What struck me is that (spoiler!) during the very first carriage flight, PC didn't see those flying horses meaning they never experienced death until later when the dragon attacks

From what I see, although PC might be a gifted wizard/witch, (s)he is but a 15 years old boy/girl, so I'd like to know if the main story or quests in general reflect that. Is it possible to complete the game in a non-violent way without going about "killing/hurting bad (or good) guys"?

I wouldn't like to see the PC going on a rampage streak in school or otherwise - unless the player really pushes the envelope of course. I heard there are "dark arts" - which I personally have no intention to practice - are those mandatory?

If you please, a simple "yes/no" answer would be great since I want to avoid spoilers, maybe "it depends" with some minimal explanations. Thanks!

no (you wanted it)

[Quill]

Originally posted by Dellecross:

By the title I mean, is the game faithful to the original series in the sense that PC can complete the main story without being a "murder-hobo"?

What struck me is that (spoiler!) during the very first carriage flight, PC didn't see those flying horses meaning they never experienced death until later when the dragon attacks

From what I see, although PC might be a gifted wizard/witch, (s)he is but a 15 years old boy/girl, so I'd like to know if the main story or quests in general reflect that. Is it possible to complete the game in a non-violent way without going about "killing/hurting bad (or good) guys"?

I wouldn't like to see the PC going on a rampage streak in school or otherwise - unless the player really pushes the envelope of course. I heard there are "dark arts" - which I personally have no intention to practice - are those mandatory?

If you please, a simple "yes/no" answer would be great since I want to avoid spoilers, maybe "it depends" with some minimal explanations. Thanks!

In short: No.

In long, but not spoiling anything story wise: Still no.

You will kill a lot of things, and a lot of people in this game. Even when trying to keep it to a minimum. There is no way around this, sadly.

It's honestly easy to forget that you're the equivalent of a 16 year old kid sitting their GCSE's in HL, given that you spend most of your time romping around the wilds slaughtering giant monsters and bouncing bandits into the floor like a toddler would their toys. Very little time is actually spent in Hogwarts, and even less time is spent in classes.

The "Dark Arts" are only available if you buy the respective DLC pack for it. Otherwise, you never get the chance. And even if you *do* buy it, you're not required to learn them.

[Blunt Raps]

Nah, even in the stealth approach (fun way to play btw), you're a psycho that kills half the lifeforms you encounter lol