Harry Potter games are in a strange place right now. Hogwarts Legacy, which dominated the charts earlier this year, offered mediocre and uninspired gameplay, and things are even worse when we turn to mobile. From Niantic’s failed AR game, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, to the grim cash grab that is Zynga’s Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells, things aren’t exactly bright on our phones. However,Harry Potter: Magic Awakened bucks this trendby showing how a Harry Potter game should be, packing the charm and wonder of the universe into every inch of the title.
Performance isn’t perfect, and crashes are far too regular
After an intro where you’ll follow in the titular character’s footsteps through Diagon Alley and the Sorting Ceremony, you’ll be ready to begin your adventure in Hogwarts. I recorded the above video from this moment on an Asus Rog 6 Pro. While the overall experience was relatively smooth, I encountered some issues that indicated a couple of patches wouldn’t go amiss here.
The most noticeable issue was the framerate. Magic Awakened has three arbitrary settings (low. medium, and high), which seem to correspond to 20, 30, and 45 FPS. However, there’s a different framerate for battles and free-roaming; only lowering the settings to minimum created any consistency across the game. Secondly, the game crashed three times (once in the middle of my recording) while playing. I was able to quickly resume my gameplay within seconds by closing and reopening the app, but this could be an issue in online play.
Harry Potter: Magic Awakened is fan service done right
Harry Potter: Magic Awakened takes place a few years after the events of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. This means the game is packed with references to events from the books and movies (including the Fantastic Beasts franchise), from loading screen trivia to retellings of stories where you’ll control a wizard in a famous duel. While these references can feel a little heavy-handed at times, it’s undeniable that this game was built with Harry Potter fans in mind.
However, the overall theme is what brings the whole experience together. The storybook graphics feel warm and inviting (despite some janky animations), and while the characters' personalities are one-dimensional at best, they have plenty to share. From choosing your owl to flying a broom around the Hogwarts grounds, you may indulge in your Harry Potter fantasies.
Gameplay is swift, strategic, and straightforward
Harry Potter: Magic Awakening mixes RPG, CCG, and RTS mechanics, making it hard to categorize neatly. The amount of story missions, side-quests, and planned content drops (the current story takes you through your first and second years at Hogwarts) make this game feel a bit like an MMORPG, but the core of the game revolves around its CCG battles, called Duels.
Whether playing a story mission or a ranked PvP game, each Duel revolves around a deck of cards. These cards contain everything from classic Harry Potter spells to the ability to summon creatures like dragons or trolls. While decks are small, it’s refreshed as you play, so you don’t have to worry about accidentally wasting an expensive card.
However, unlike other CCG games, your character can freely move around their half of the arena as you play cards. This is necessary to get the right angle on your opponent, dodge spells, or bring other spells within range.
The result can sometimes be overwhelming, as spells fly around the board faster than you can track, but strategy is still the most crucial element here. While I can easily see the number of cards becoming overwhelming, the small deck size makes adapting your strategy easy.
Monetization could easily become frustrating, but you might not notice
While I’m not upset to see monetization in a free-to-play game of this scale, I am concerned about how it will affect the game later in its lifecycle. You’ll have to rely on loot boxes to earn most cards, and while I unlocked cards at a respectable rate early on, I’m not fooled for a second that this will last for long.
I’m willing to partly forgive Magic Awakening’s monetization, as the non-competitive part of the game is great fun by itself, but anyone looking to rise the competitive ranks quickly should be warned that whether you want to or not, you’ll be forced to rely on chance to get the cards you need. It’s a far cry fromMarvel Snap’s excellent monetization; had this been imitated, Magic Awakening would be near perfect.
Harry Potter: Magic Awakening is an imperfect but charming creation worth playing
While performance issues are common, and the monetization has the potential to turn this game into a bloated mess, I can’t recommend the current iteration of Harry Potter: Magic Awakening enough. But if all the spells are confusing you, ourbeginner’s guide will help you win your first duels.
