According to Moira Squier, the narrative director of Hogwarts Legacy, the highly-anticipated wizarding simulator will feature a plethora of side quests, numbering over 100 in total. These side quests will apparently have a significant impact on the direction of the game's main story.
"The main storyline is complicated and engaging and involves a variety of different characters and viewpoints," Squire described how the player's voice is an important part of the narrative. "But by giving the player choice moments throughout the game, we allow them to tell their own version of that epic story." Squire also said: "Interacting with someone in a side quest will impact how you interact with them in the main storyline - and vice versa."
As previously reported by Gamesradar and other journalism outlets, the upcoming Hogwarts Legacy game will feature a heavily choice-based narrative, and many players encountered a wide range of dialogue choices throughout their hands-on preview experience. There is a choice asking you to keep your adventure with a character named Poppy Sweeting — a Hufflepuff and magical creature enthusiast — to yourself, or spill the beans to her grandmother. Also, while there are no indictors of what impact your choices have, Squire stressed that everything is "interconnected".
Avalanche studio has revealed in its November showcase that not every player decision should affect the ending. Instead, certain choices will have a broader impact on the game's narrative, while others will only affect specific characters or determine endings. The developers were not forthcoming about the exact number or nature of the different endings available in the game, but they did hint that players will have the freedom to use dark magic without facing any repercussions, suggesting that the game may feature a binary good/evil morality system similar to Infamous, for example.
In other news, swimming was confirmed as an activity in Hogwarts Legacy, according to a short video from the official Harry Potter Facebook page. IGN has also noticed some pretty interesting details in its hands-on with the game, like why Quidditch is banned according to the game's narrative, and how the Alohomora spell used to open and unlock doors was reimagined as a lockpicking minigame, in addition to a secret dragon fighting ring called Hornet Tail, so the game appears to be packed with details to satisfy any fan of Harry Potter's magical world.