Lego Harry Potter Collection Review
Gaming Review

Lego Harry Potter Collection Review

Whether you’re a fan of the books or the movies, or maybe you’re not a fan at all, you’ll probably really enjoy our Lego Harry Potter Collection Review. Everyone has to admit that Harry Potter has had a huge cultural impact over the past 24 years since its initial release (26th June 1997).

If you’re reading this article there is a very high probability that you know the story of the young boy destined for greatness. On the extremely slim chance you aren’t familiar here’s a really quick recap.

Harry Potter was orphaned at a young age when his parents were killed by the dark wizard Voldemort. He was sent to live with his abusive aunt and uncle until his 11th birthday where he found out he was a wizard. Over the next few years he becomes best friends with Ron and Hermione and together the trio must find a way to stop the dark lord from taking over the wizarding world.

Got all that? Good, let’s continue.

Over the years there have been all sorts of Harry Potter media to come out, from the books to the movies to plays, and yes even games. Whether it’s the Harry Potter cluedo or one of the many video games there is something for all gamers.

That brings me onto today’s topic, the Lego Harry Potter Collection. Now you might be thinking, “Lego games? They’re just for kids” but you couldn’t be more wrong, something I go into detail about here.

The Lego Harry Potter Collection is a combination of the two separate Lego games onto one disk, or download if you buy it digitally. You have years 1-4 in one game and years 5-7 in the other with year 7 being split in two halves just like the movie. So is it worth buying? Well let’s talk about that.

Lego Harry Potter Collection: The Review

Lego Harry Potter Collection Review
Lego Harry Potter Collection Review

The story

Just like most Lego game adaptations the collection follows the story of the books/movies almost to a tee. You follow Harry, Ron, and Hermione as they grow up and go on wild adventures together.

Obviously the games can’t copy them moment for moment but they do pick out 6 key scenes from each year. For example, in the first year one of the missions has you play as Harry and Ron as you rush to the dungeons to try save Hermione from the Troll before inevitably defeating it. In the second year section one of the missions has you fighting the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets.

The Basilisk makes an appearance.

The games are full of these iconic moments and you can essentially piece together the whole journey just with the small snippets you see.

Obviously with this being Lego there are some scenes that aren’t as serious or as heartfelt as they should be, but I won’t spoil them here.

As far as the story goes the two games do a great job of portraying, even considering that they were originally released way back when Lego games didn’t have any talking in them so they had to tell the whole thing through actions and props.

The Gameplay

Harry, Hermione & the Weasleys’
Harry, Hermione & the Weasleys’

Both games in this collection play basically exactly the same as most Lego games in that you run around levels solving puzzles and collecting coins, fighting any enemies along the way. But there is one major difference that both these games have, spells.

Obviously a game about wizards is going to have spells, that’s not the cool part. It’s how you get them that is. You go to classes. Ok that sounds boring but each one is like a mini tutorial for a spell where you learn to use it and how it helps in puzzles. That’s not the only way to obtain spells though (just ones essential for story progression) you can also buy them in Diagon Alley. There are also certain characters that have exclusive spells, like Sirius black and his ability to transform into his animagus form.

The controls were originally designed back in 2010 for the original release and you can tell this is the case. Whilst they aren’t game breakingly bad they aren’t exactly smooth either. Sometimes when I was casting spells, even with the aiming system, I was struggling to get my target which led to a lot of frustration on my part. This also caused issues when doing some of the puzzles but it just requires a bit of patience and you’ll be back on track.

CO-OP Mode

Quidditch!
Quidditch!

What’s the best part of gaming? Playing with your friends right? Well the Lego Harry Potter Collection has you covered. I played through all the levels with my girlfriend because we’re both massive potterheads and she wanted to try out gaming. A lot of the games we try together (especially older ones) have really bad co-op modes but this wasn’t the case here. The use of split screen which was rarely used in the older Lego games makes it so much easier to enjoy playing with someone else. Also there is just something about exploring the Hogwarts grounds when you’re in between missions with a friend that feels magical.

The only issue I had with the co-op is that it was constant which in itself isn’t a bad thing but it means sometimes the story is altered to make sure two characters are there. Like when Hermione helps Harry with the first Triwizard task or Cedric fights alongside him against Voldemort in the graveyard when in the books and movies he had died just before.

Lego Harry Potter Collection Review Final thoughts

This collection has everything I love about Lego games in it. It’s simple yet enjoyable. There is plenty of comedy, especially sight gags that will give the player a chuckle. The huge roster of around 367 characters across both games means you’ll easily be able to play as your favourite characters, including my personal favourite of Fang the dog.

The final verdict: 9/10

Overall I’m going to give the Lego Harry Potter Collection a 9/10. There’s no denying that there is something in here for every Harry Potter fan and it is really hard to find any faults.

The game is available on PS4, Xbox 1, and Nintendo Switch for £34.99. When you’re getting possibly hundreds of hours of gameplay this collection is a steal and I highly recommend buying it.

Still not convinced? Check out the trailer below:

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CodeWithMike is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to www.amazon.com.

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