When There's No Reason, There's No Reason.

Someone on the forums recently asked about the apparent lack of reviews for Hogwarts Legacy. While I mentioned my feelings on the matter, I thought I'd post a blog and elaborate.

Usually, a review is meant to be buying advice, or at least a critique on the quality of a given game. While a lack of bias is essential, at the end of the day we're dealing with opinion pieces. Sometimes you'll find games where either hype or fanboy culture will not tolerate any deviation from a certain consensus, but usually, a review is from the perspective of someone who doesn't want a game to be bad. After all, no one who buys a game (aside from buying some cheap shit from the bargain bin ironically) wants it to be bad.

Hogwarts Legacy is a different story, because it's being released amidst the backdrop of an increasingly venomous and hateful culture war that reached a flashpoint in gaming in 2014-2015 and in broader American society in 2016 and 2020. Talking about Hogwarts Legacy carries with it a bunch of baggage owing to JK Rowling's outspoken, if civil, disagreement with transgenderism and nonbinary theory. There's increasingly more of an expectation that anyone covering anything Harry Potter related take one side or the other. GameSpot's been trying to cover the game against the backdrop, but I doubt their efforts are appreciated much.

That brings me to the point. Why would anyone bother reviewing this game? There's no real point - For the most part, the lines have been drawn. Let's say GameSpot gives it a glowing review. Great game, wonderful mechanics, moving story, graphics are great, 10/10. What do you think would happen? They'd get railed over the coals for being supportive of bigots and their views by those on the extreme left. It damn sure wouldn't be any better if it was a bad game. Let's say it had graphical glitches that make Assassin's Creed Unity look competent, the gameplay is a slog, nothing makes sense and the voice actors sound like they phoned it in. Skip it, 6/10. The extreme right would be throwing every transphobic slur they could think of while attacking GameSpot for being "woke." We already saw that with the Cyberpunk 2077 review a while back, and that didn't carry anywhere near the preconceived biases that a Harry Potter licensed game has.

Against this backdrop, why the hell would GameSpot put a review up, other than as a cheap, cynical way to get some extra clicks? The community would be set on fire like it was in 2015, it would probably bleed into the rest of the site like GamerGate did back then, it would leave irreparable scars on community relations, and absolutely no one would be influenced one way or the other on whether to buy the game. I know I'd steer well clear, that's for damn sure. Don't think I've forgotten that permaban from Giant Bomb. However, lots of people wouldn't, and I doubt anyone wants to deal with the dumpster fire that would come out of a review of that game.

In that regard, I can't blame GameSpot for dragging their feet regarding a review of this game, and would recommend that they not release one at all.

Lastly, to any creators who might stumble upon this blog post - I get that you can't be expected to not have any opinions on any issues, but you don't need to put it on Twitter. Instead, put it in your work. Stephanie Meyer, a Mormon woman, wrote Twilight as a pro-life, pro-traditional-marriage parable, and she didn't get nearly the hatred that JK Rowling got. Blurting out your views, left or right, will get you attacked. Good content that can present your views without hectoring the audience with them might get people to think.

Almost feel this should be on Political Gamers forum but seems everyone wants to bring it to Games Discussion. And I thought we were past this. We've had many come and go spitting ideals, morals, race, sex, culture a lot on the forum with vicious hatred and contempt for one another. If your way of life is different some feel they have to lash out and its pretty exhausting.

As a few people know on this forum when it has gotten heated or put on the spot I am bisexual (and it's great) so yeah I fit in this LGBT debate. I also happen to know a few people who are transgender (two of which I play MtG Arena with regularly). A sense of equality is all any sensible person asks for. And yet here we are, it's discussing lesbians in The Last of Us all over again. . .

As far as this author to a children's book series is concerned, she has a very close-minded point of view, she is hardily the first or last. Plenty of people have morals against whatever they deem "natural", it's about upbringing and different walks of life.

However this author also has nothing to do with the video game. Will she get royalties? probably, but she's already one of the richest people on the planet. What do you think this pocket change will impact? Furthermore the developer Avalanche Software do not support her views either. They've made these claims themselves in many statements for years during the games development. And these are the people who worked a long time to finally have a successful game they can proudly put in a portfolio.

I doubt anyone talking about this game even bothered to look up the developer, the other two topics on GD about Hogwarts is proof of that. It only matters now because some people want to fight about it and grab a pitchfork. And I doubt they even have a reason, they just want to yell at something; regardless of the 'side' they're fighting for.

All I see is posters throwing it on display like a circus for loud attention and attraction, to make a fight that is seemingly pointless. Sure people have morals against whatever they deem, that's their choice. And Rowling has already had her day on the subject and made herself a fool, she changed nothing. Whether you are pro or anti LGBT I honestly don't care so long as you keep out of my business, I'll keep out of yours. I'll treat you the same as anyone else and in turn only expect the same. That is equality in the purest sense.

For a lot of people you have to pick a side and I'm just over here wanting to talk about video games on a video game forum. Yet here I am discussing the cluster**** elephant in the room and mentioning how gay I am.

@RSM-HQ: I feel absolutely awful for Avalanche Studios. I can't imagine those people expected to be in the middle of a sociopolitical shitstorm when they got into game development.

Exactly and up until news that the game was good, my thoughts was why is everyone making a fuss over a developer that brings below average results.

Seems they worked hard and made a good product for Harry Potter fans to enjoy. The team clearly put a lot of work to make this something more than a run of the mill licenced game.

Yet joy isn't what I see around here, the actual video game doesn't mean **** anymore, it's about sending a message.

@YukoAsho: 1. I think This thread should be merged with my thread, as it's basically a direct response.

2. by associating howarts legacy with the extreme right and with hate speech, you are commiting a misrepresentation. From what I read it's actually deliberately very inclusive. (Yet at the same time, you acknowledge that avalanche are victims , so only for carrying the Harry Potter brand, a franchise that has never refereed in any form to transexuals, any work becomes transphobic and hate speech?)

On the other hand you say reviewing it will necessarily lead to hatred and agresive comments.

But look at the comments of the before you buy

https://youtu.be/4vBOp8Fagyo

They are all game related, no agresive or angry ones at the top page.

Kids. Once, a long time ago, gamers used to be fun. Then social media prematurely aged us into grumpy old men in our 30's.

@judaspete: i am actually enjoying the chaos.

This looks like an organized media black out on a game that backfired and attracted a lot of interest from gamers. (Myself included me as i originally didn't care about this game)

I think it will be a good lesson on honesty. Specially for the likes of Eurogamer who could have simply wrote we are not covering this games due to this and that reason instead of pretending it doesn't exist.

@nirgal First off, I'm hella impressed with that comment section in the gameranx video. Honestly, I'm used to the general toxicity of most Youtube comment sections (the amount of times I've seen "get woke, go broke" from glorified cavemen is so stupidly high it's beyond imaginable), and seeing people talk about the GAME, with no rancor on one side or the other, is refreshing, and almost certainly a sign of both a healthy community on gameranx and a moderation team that gives a crap about making sure their community is welcoming.

However, I have to take issue with something you said:

2. by associating howarts legacy with the extreme right and with hate speech, you are commiting a misrepresentation. From what I read it's actually deliberately very inclusive. (Yet at the same time, you acknowledge that avalanche are victims , so only for carrying the Harry Potter brand, a franchise that has never refereed in any form to transexuals, any work becomes transphobic and hate speech?)

I never associated the game or anything else with the extreme right. Rather, I made a point that it's become a football in the war between the extreme left and extreme right. Make no mistake, this is just a minor conflict in a culture war that likely won't end without massive bloodshed. Notice I had examples in my blog post that depicted a review generating heat from both ends of the horse shoe.

Let's say GameSpot gives it a glowing review. Great game, wonderful mechanics, moving story, graphics are great, 10/10. What do you think would happen? They'd get railed over the coals for being supportive of bigots and their views by those on the extreme left.

Let's say it had graphical glitches that make Assassin's Creed Unity look competent, the gameplay is a slog, nothing makes sense and the voice actors sound like they phoned it in. Skip it, 6/10. The extreme right would be throwing every transphobic slur they could think of while attacking GameSpot for being "woke."

As much as I'm going to be called a coward by those on the two extremes, this very much IS the fault of both ends. On the right, there's the ever-present urge to oppress and snuff out anything different, and on the left, there's the urge to label anyone with any ideological divergence a racist, sexist, homophobe, or any other derogatory label that allows them to not listen to the outsider.

I said this some time back on a Youtube comment section, and I still believe it: "When the left says they want gaming to be more political, they mean 'repeat our views, and only our views, without question.' When the right says they want politics out of games, they mean 'stop humanizing women and minorities.'"

For what it's worth, I think there's room to talk. OBVIOUSLY transgender people should be left alone to pursue their own lives and view the "bathroom" debates as thinly veiled bigotry by the right, but at the same time, having trans women competing in women's sports would make success in sports impossible for cisgender women, as Lia Thomas and Fallon Fox demonstrate.

Honestly, I could go on about my own views on the whole transgender thing as whole, but that's WHOLLY outside of the scope of this site, and would probably earn me enemies from all directions. Suffice to say, I think the whole controversy behind Rowling's views is a combination of intellectual dishonesty on both political ends, combined with the usual grifters and internet trolls who just wanna see the world burn.

I respect but disagree with your views.

And i still think this thread should be merged with mine. It's the same topic.