Pure magic and laughter guaranteed. When a game is really good, it is good forever, but that does not mean that what we considered tremendously fun 14 years ago will end up being seen under another prism in the middle of 2024. Not only because of those who played it at the time, but also because there have been generational leaps. Luckily for you, me and the little ones in the house, each of the triumphs of the LEGO Harry Potter Collection shines in a new light in its remaster for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.
The LEGO Harry Potter Collection returns with improvements, but also preserving the original purpose: to be the best gateway to the magical world popularized through books and movies without having to go through them. Which is a success not only for those who have lost the habit of reading, but also an opportunity to do it together with friends, with your partner or with the true kings and queens of the house: those who are too young to study magic in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but they have an innate curiosity. In that sense, LEGO Harry Potter will meet everyone’s expectations. Newcomers and those looking for fanservice.
TT Games’ formula is infallible: reimagine the eight Harry Potter films using LEGO pieces and humor that masterfully adapts to all audiences as the main ingredients. Both to those who know the works inside out and to those who saw them a long time ago and, of course, to those who are completely unaware of them. With cheerful tones that stand out when sharing screen and sofa. Retaining the original charm of the work and accommodating it to players of absolutely all ages so that they can have a blast. The little ones, of course, but also those of us who are not so little.
And putting yourself at the controls of the LEGO Harry Potter Collection is to completely recapture the sensations of playing with the well-known LEGO pieces, inviting us to assemble, disassemble and even convert almost everything that is shown on the screen into piñatas of colored blocks while we star alone or in company in the film saga. And not just like Harry Potter, Ron Weasley or Hermione Granger, but like the more than 200 characters
From here the question asks itself: Did the LEGO Harry Potter Collection really need a remaster? Seven years ago one was already released on PS4 and not long after it arrived on Xbox One and Switch. The big difference is that now the changes are much more noticeable at a glance, but we are not going to fool ourselves: the best thing about this batch is neither its native 4K resolution nor the stable 60 FPS, but recovering everything that made both games combined into the best alternative to the Harry Potter books and movies and, from there, turning it into a sensational LEGO set full of adventures, possibilities, great little details and secrets.
LEGO Hogwarts Castle has never looked so good
It is absolutely impossible to get bored in the collection LEGO Harry Potter. In fact, you can enjoy both titles from start to finish even if you don’t know the book and movie saga at all. TT Games gives each mythical scene the treatment of a LEGO animated film or series by caricaturing the essentials and adding genuinely fun nuances. Cushioning the moments of drama in each story with comedy while being faithful to the themes, messages and each of the characters. And they are an awful lot of characters.
That being said, I’m afraid that if you already had the collection LEGO Harry Potter I already tell you that you will not be able to import your game from the previous collection. At least on PS5. The four save slots in each of the two games will be empty and you will have to start from the beginning. Which has its positive side: there are incalculable secrets, collectibles, unlockables and a Free Mode that greatly increases the replayability of the set. Especially with two controls.
The multiplayer collection LEGO Harry Potter It couldn’t be simpler and at the same time successful. The game is designed so that we can alternate characters since there is a distribution of abilities: some have great strength, others can use dark magic, there are locks that can only be opened by goblins and Ron can use his pet Scabbers to solve small puzzles. And if it is enough to use one button to jump from one magician to another, we will only have to press another button on a second controller to join the game.
In the process, a great opportunity is lost compared to the 2016 remasters, for the record: the multiplayer of the remake of the collection LEGO Harry Potter It is only for two players and on the same console. A great addition would have been to implement options to be able to share online games with friends or, by request, open the possibility of expanding to more than two players. However, the improvements focus on making a visual leap (in resolution and performance, not in models) and in the case of PS5 taking advantage of the possibilities of DualSense.
Warner Bros. makes a curious move: instead of repeating the very successful move of LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga and unifying the entire saga in a completely new game, it invites us to return to the same Hogwarts Castle from the two published games of LEGO Harry Potter giving it special treatment, although without surprises regarding its content. Needless to say, the result looks better than ever and with the PlayStation controller you notice every spell cast. But don’t expect the haptic sensations of Astro Bot or the remake of Silent Hill 2.
However, when you get to the Ministry of Magic you can see the level of detail and brightness of the tiles. When you walk through the corridors and rooms of Hogwarts Castle, the textures of the settings play in another league. And although LEGO blocks and dolls are not required to have the fluidity of other platform and adventure games, it must be recognized that fluidity adds extra points to a collection whose great value has never been in its technical deployment, but rather in something even more difficult to achieve: offering genuine fun to everyone who plays.
The magical world made with a trillion pieces is still essential
It might seem that it has gone easy by relaunching a double remaster for current systems that has been with us for seven years, but that does not detract from the fact that when one walks through Diagon Alley or crosses London on a Broom the result continues to surprise and shine, with the improvements, such as current generation titles. Partly because of the original achievements, but also because of the treatment received. Making each scene in the game look like a genuine LEGO diorama as you can see in all our screenshots.
That said, at launch we are faced with a situation: if we leave to the PlayStation store We found that the PS5 version of LEGO Harry Potter Collection It costs 39.99 dollars at launch compared to 19.99 dollars for its PS4 counterpart. The jump in quality (which there is) of this new remaster justifies paying double whether we already had the 2016 game or not. I could tell you that the result looks much better, but What you will like most is not going to be its best graphicsbut the contents of the collection.
So is this just one game, two collections, or seven adaptations? For practical purposes the collection LEGO Harry Potter It’s everything at the same time. First of all, by compiling indivisible the titles released in 2010 and 2011 so that:
- LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 is based on the films Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Being exciting plots with a much more carefree tone.
- LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 dares to adapt Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and the two parts of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows with extra humor. Betting on giving an epic finishing touch to the school story of Harry and his friends.
The success of the collection LEGO Harry Potter It rests on transcending what is asked of video games to turn each book and movie into a gigantic LEGO set that anyone can play as they want. First following a story that always rewards the curiosity of whoever holds the controller and then through a free mode in which we can play with new characters and use them in sections and puzzles specifically created for them. All assembled with more than a trillion LEGO pieces and without derailing from what it is and what it should be, both the film saga and the original work.
Being, for all intents and purposes, the perfect opportunity to discover (or rediscover) the authentic magical world and, already, enjoy it with laughter and good times with your little brothers or your children. Because the collection LEGO Harry Potter has been, continues to be and will be a seamless plan with extra magic.
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