English
Gamereactor
news
Hogwarts Legacy

Why you play as a 15-year-old in Hogwarts Legacy

A slightly older student allowed the developer to expand the combat and include more mature themes.

Subscribe to our newsletter here!

* Required field
HQ

If you are a fan of the Harry Potter universe, you probably were a little disappointed when you didn't receive an acceptance letter to Hogwarts on your 11th birthday. Well, there's still hope, as the famous school of wizardry and witchcraft apparently also accepts students at a higher age.

In the upcoming Hogwarts Legacy, due to some rather unusual circumstances, you get enrolled in the school as a fifth-year student, meaning your player character is about 15 years old. During an interview with the developers from Avalanche Software at a recent preview event we asked why they opted for an older student, and learned that, among other things, it had to do with the game's combat.

"There is just enough of a difference between 11 years old and 15. Having an 11 year old in combat seemed just too young. Because by the time Harry [Potter] is in his later years in school, he is pretty much fighting and doing this stuff. So in the Wizarding World that age seemed to be a better time to get into the choice-making you make in this game. 11 was too young, it was just too young," explains Moira Squier, Narrative Director and Advanced Game Writer on Hogwarts Legacy.

Another reason the team went for a slightly older student was that it allowed them to handle more mature themes, explains Lead Designer Kelly Murphy:

"Kids always want to play characters that are older because it's more aspirational. We do have people on the team who really wanted us to come in younger, but I think Moria points out really good reasons why that would be a problem. And also, we don't just want to make a game for fans, we want to make a game bringing new people to this property. And I think being able to age you up a little bit for the average gamer is a bit more aspirational as well. It allows us to go places we probably couldn't go thematically if you were younger."

Of course, no matter how old you are yourself, you'll finally have the chance to enroll at Hogwarts come February 10 when Hogwarts Legacy releases for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and PC with other console versions coming at a later date.

Hogwarts Legacy

Related texts

0
Hogwarts LegacyScore

Hogwarts Legacy

REVIEW. Written by Jonas Mäki

Almost two years later than originally intended, it is now time to try out life as a Hogwarts student. But is this the definitive Harry Potter simulator?



Loading next content