this post was submitted on 18 Jan 2024
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[–] [email protected] 65 points 9 months ago (1 children)

No.

It's extremely popular because it is a well polished Harry Potter game; something the world has been begging for for a long time. It does invoke that sense of magic that the films do so well, so if you're just looking to get a fresh hit of the Hogwarts world it's great. There are also a lot of really interesting and well designed characters. Most of all the world, particularly the castle, is beautifully and lovingly crafted.

The game buried beneath all that polish is a pretty basic-ass RPG. It is crammed with filler fetch/find quests. The dialogue system is just another exhaust all options non-system. The combat has some really cool ideas on paper but I personally ended up mostly mashing buttons against one of like 5 generic enemies most of the time. Also the only customization in this RPG is your appearance.

It's not a bad game by any means, but i wouldn't say it's great either.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 9 months ago (1 children)

As much as I enjoyed the game, I cant deny anything said here. Pretty much sums it up

[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I also agree with the above statements. The best way I could describe it is that while the gameplay wasn’t all that spectacular, experiencing the game world was definitely a treat, and made me smile like I did the first time I opened the first Harry Potter book or played the first games that game out on PS1!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Oh big time, I told myself going in that I wasnt going to also listen to all of the audiobooks again but I definitely did

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Haha! I actually listened to the audiobooks on the lead up to the release to get myself in that warm and cozy mindset for the game. Those books are like comfort food for my soul.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Im basically always juggling back to back harry potter and wherl of time read-throughs

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I recently learned of the wheel of time series!

Can you give me some of your opinions on it? I made it to book 3 of Lord of the Rings, and just couldn’t put up with the purple writing any longer. Segments just seemed to drag on and on and on just to get through some dialogue that could’ve been said with a lot less flowery prose. It was charming at first, but I couldn’t put up with it any longer by book three, at least going back to back. I will finish it one day though! 😭

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Ill preface with the fact that overall I think it's more than worth your time, and is one of the greatest works of fiction ever made. That being said, it takes a little work to read as it is a VERY long series, and does a lot of worldbuilding. There is a point towards the middle where the "depth of field" of the story increases dramatically, and from my experience and my friend who has also read them, that is typically a burnout point. There isnt as much prose as in Tolkien's works, though some of that is just cultural/temporal, but Robert Jordan was definitely in love with the story and takes the time to describe things fairly often. Im confident you're likely to greatly enjoy the first three books and the last few books, but the middle could be a stumbling block.

Additionally, if you aren't aware already, RJ passed away before the last book(s) could be finished and his wife arranged for Brandon Sanderson to collate all of the drafts and notes and conjure up a conclusion, which could definitely be something to consider. Personally, I was already a Brandon Sanderson fan before I read WoT, and I loved the ending.

One last thing, if you are deterred by the series or not ready to try it yet but still want a less-daunting rec, I love to recommend the Licanius Trilogy by James Islington. It is a reasonable length, it is one complete story, and it is just 🤌. End rant

edit: I forgot to mention that I am an audiobook-oriented person and greatly prefer them for the wheel of time. They're narrated by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading, and they are EXCELLENT narrators.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

You’ve got a friend in me, as the only times I have to allocate towards books is the hour commute to and from work every day, I will listen to my audiobooks that I have found or that have been recommended by wonderful people like you!

I will give the Wheel of Time and even the Licanius Trilogy a go, as I do like the epicness of LotR!

It is crazy how narrators can make or break some books though, isn’t it?!

Also, I just finished Fahrenheit 451, and the narrator had the “golden-age” of radio kinda voice and made it so much better than if I was just reading it myself!

Thank you again for taking the time out of your day to gush about something you love! 😁

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

If you do like Wheel of Time it's always worth giving Brandon himself a shot as well. He's busy writing his own universe called Cosmere. It's got a few different series based on different planets and magic systems that can mostly be read as standalones, but they are also connected in... let's just say 'certain ways' for now. Mistborn is a popular starting point. Personally I think 'Emperor's Soul' is better if you want to try out his writing style, since it's only about 100 pages or so.