LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 (Part 1)

LEGO Harry Potter

Introduction

Years 1-4: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

Years 5-7: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

Full disclaimer: I have already talked at length about the controversies surrounding JK Rowling in my previous post, so I will NOT discuss them further during this review. It’s sad that I need to make that statement, but if I don’t, I’ll be expected to bring the review to a screeching halt to address it. I already have.

From the movie posters alone, you can
pinpoint exactly the moment at which the
series starts getting dark.

Now let’s try our best to separate the art from the artist to discuss this game and its sequel, which cover the entire story of the Harry Potter franchise. Well… Cursed Child? Fantastic Beasts? Ha… ha… ha… let’s pretend those don’t exist. Let’s act like the tale of Harry James Potter begins at Sorcerer’s Stone and ends at Deathly Hallows. Let’s conveniently ignore Rowling’s other statements about the franchise. Remember that time she said that for the longest time Hogwarts didn’t have bathrooms, so wizards had to do their business in the open and then made the poop disappear with magic? I wish I could forget. Let’s pretend we forget, alright?

Besides, this beast is somewhat different. LEGO Harry Potter (Years 1-4) was developed by TT Games (also known as Traveller's Tales), published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and released on June 25th, 2010. It was ported to several platforms at the time, including for Wii, DS, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Steam, with re-releases on later consoles. And though it adapts the story, it actually covers the films rather than the novels.

Some details appear once and never again;
some of those... are bigger than others.

Now, I don’t think I’m making any controversial statements by saying that the film adaptations of the Harry Potter novels are generally considered good movies. The books, obviously, are more complete by virtue of being several hundred pages long, but the films have done a decent job of keeping most of the vital information in, making the story cohesive. It’s not perfect; There were characters and scenes cut from the books that led to plot holes in the eight films. Details left behind that later turned out were necessary. A handful of scenes feel detached from the rest. As an example, I didn’t remember that the Knight Bus from the first chapters of Prisoner of Azkaban actually was used several more times, by various characters, throughout the saga; but in the films, it’s just that one (memorable) scene and the bus is never mentioned again.

I have far more memories of watching the movies than I have of reading the books. As a result, I’m glad that the LEGO games adapt the movies. Not just because I have a greater attachment to them, but also because it makes another step that distances this adaptation from Rowling’s original. Sure, it’s the same basic story, but it’s seen through the lens of a team of writers for the LEGO game reinterpreting the elements from the movies, which were themselves reinterpretations from the books. An adaptation of an adaptation can spell disaster, but there have been instances where the magical spark of the original has carried on regardless.

Man, I hope I can slip in more “magic” puns throughout.

The BricksNotes

And for the record, there are
TON of LEGO games.

It’s also my first time playing a LEGO game, so I didn’t know how they did things. Do they adapt only the basics? Do they take their time to cover the plot in detail? I had no idea. In this case, “Years 1-4” is right there in the name, so I could already assume that the plot is somewhat breezed through. Let’s say, for a rough estimate, 2 to 5 hours for each year at Hogwarts? Sounds about right. And since I don’t have a point of comparison, I can’t actually say whether this one does things differently from others, or if it’s following the same structure as other LEGO games.

So… what’s the LEGO way? Simple. It’s the CliffsNotes version. …Or should I call it the BricksNotes?

I’m calling it the BricksNotes.

Basically, this adaptation covers the most significant events of the films. Important scenes are turned into levels, with 6 for each year. Hogwarts becomes a hub world that Harry can freely explore, with the Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley also made available between levels. Hogwarts itself is a huge place to explore, with tons of secrets and side-quests. It’s also where the kids/teens learn the spells and skills required to progress into the various levels, by going to classes around the school.

Of course I'd play as Hermione, she's the best!

You start out exploring Hogwarts as a party of three comprised of Harry, Ron and Hermione. Levels will often change things around, allowing you to play as any of the other important characters from that scene. You also get the ability, later on, to play as other characters you've unlocked. It’s worth noting that some characters have their own unique abilities. We’re introduced to this early on, as Hagrid is playable from the very first level and his physical strength is required to solve puzzles. Ron has Scabbers, which he can send through tubes to push buttons, and Harry obtains his invisibility cloak in the first year.

How do you present someone in a world without
words? Grab them, and show them at the
person you're talking to. Problem solved!
...This is adorable.

One of my favorite aspects of LEGO Harry Potter is something I assume is commonplace in LEGO games in general: The tone. The story is covered with just enough detail to be faithful, but several moments are given the comedic treatment. This being LEGO, the jokes tend to be good-natured as the games are intended for all ages. Whether it leans into the absurd of the LEGO universe, goes for slapstick, or makes some funny nods to the franchise at large is up to the situation. As an example, during the second year, if you visit the gardens you’ll see Gilderoy Lockhart being perpetually chased by fangirls.

Harry Potter is a franchise that gets pretty dark in the later books/films, and yet this game and its sequel covering Years 5-7 manage to slip in some clever and hilarious gags even when the situation gets quite bleak. So… The plot of the series is breezed through, with plenty of jokes added? This is more than just BricksNotes, this is a playable Harry Potter: The Abridged Series!

The philosopher’s sorcerer’s stone: The Magic Begins

Surprise Hagrid attack!

The first seconds set the tone, as we open on Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall showing up at 4 Privet Drive, with Hagrid about to show up on his flying motorbike to bring baby Potter to new tormenters for the next 11 years of his life. Instead of landing gracefully, Hagrid crashes through the gardens and flowers of the neighboring houses, but the baby is in one piece (heh) and left at the doorstep. 11 years pass and we return to a young Harry, now serving the Dursleys like a slave, getting his acceptance letter from Hogwarts. Vernon and Petunia try to catch and destroy every letter (while Dudley keeps pigging out on food), so a deluge of letters crashes into the house. To escape it, the Dursleys (and Harry) flee to a remote area. Nope! Hagrid swoops in to grab Harry and takes him to the Wizarding World. First stop: The Leaky Cauldron.

Split-screen co-op!

This is where we learn the controls, which are… peculiar. See, there’s always two or more characters that you can switch between in every level; as I said, the default characters in each level tend to have their own special ability that’s necessary to solve the current puzzles. The basics are WASD to move around and U to jump (that caught me off-guard at first). Press H to cast a basic blast spell with the magic wand (which is necessary to interact with the world around), but you can also hold it to select targets to hit, or perhaps find precise targets for a few spells, most notably Wingardium Leviosa. Press J to cast the current selected spell, grab an item or use it, and press K to swap between characters (or hold it to swap between the spells you’ve unlocked so far). The Left-Shift and C keys can be used to more freely swap between spells.

If a second player joins the game, they can use the right side of the keyboard to play – moving with the arrow keys, using stuff with the NumPad, etc. I get why it’s done that way – so two kids can play this kid-friendly game on the same keyboard, and one can join the other at any point – but it does feel complicated. The upside with two-player, though, is that the game screen splits when the characters move apart, allowing both to explore freely the same area and work together towards solving the puzzles, and the screens re-merge together when the controlled characters are close. It’s a cool idea, with only one drawback: You can’t control the camera at all to better see details that could be hidden.

Hagrid has Wingardium Leviosa;
it's the only spell he needs.

As additional proof that the game is geared towards kids (or maybe I'm an idiot), the game will often give hints and advice in how to solve puzzles. The first one involves unlocking the door to the Leaky Cauldron in order to reach Diagon Alley. Harry can’t do anything but wave at people and ram into things, but Hagrid already knows a few spells and can help. With that, we find the handle of the door and install it, then walk down towards Gringotts. On the way, we learn that, in the magic of the LEGO universe, we can interact with almost everything by either blasting at it or casting Wingardium Leviosa on it – and on top of that, the levitation spell can also be used to rebuild LEGO items that are currently scattered in pieces.

The wand has chosen wisely.

In Gringotts, Hagrid presents Harry to get a goblin to bring them to the Potters’ vault, and from then we can also control a goblin equipped with a key to open locks. Useful! It did take me a while to figure out that in order to trigger some scenes or effects, I had to stand on a lit space and press the activation button (J). The goblin opens the Potters' vault and Harry sees that his family was LOADED, then opens another door to a vault containing something Hagrid needed (though he opens the wrong door first, giving the half-giant and the apprentice wizard a view into a secret goblin party; get you mind out of the gutter, this is for kids, the goblins were just doing the conga). Finally, the two stop by Ollivander’s, where Harry gets his own wand, as well as a hat and Hedwig, an owl, from Hagrid.

Hogwarts is awe-inspiring. Don't worry, it
won't take long till the darker side of
wizardry rears its ugly head.

Don’t expect me to cover every level in immense depth like this, I do this only because this is where we get to know the game, so explanations are necessary.

Following this, we have Harry meeting the Weasleys and Hermione Granger at King’s Cross, getting onto the train, meeting Draco Malfoy, and getting to Hogwarts. There’s the opening ceremony where Harry gets sorted into Griffindor in spite of the Sorting Hat thinking he has a future in Slytherin. NOW, we can explore the castle. Like I said, this hub world is gigantic, and so much fun to explore – though it’s a lot better as you learn new spells and can find new secrets. Since we’re just starting, we can’t do much yet.

Gold Bricks & Other Stuff

This is as good a time as any to explain what this game has in store. Outside of 24 levels, there are tons of elements to bring your attention to. The most important progress indicator is the Gold Bricks, 200 of which can be found. You automatically get one for beating a level the first time, but at least three more per level by fulfilling certain requirements, on top of another 104 obtained in various ways.

0.50% complete - let's keep going!

The three requirements in each level:

I saved this one from a man-eating couch in
the Griffindor dorms! ...The joys of the
magical world, amirite?

-True Wizard: Obtaining a certain number of LEGO studs in the level. You get studs by interacting with the world and picking up the ones that pop up, so you can keep blasting stuff with the wand until you’ve gotten enough. Note that you lose studs when you die, so part of the challenge is to not lose a life as it can make it impossible to get enough studs for the requirement.

-Student in peril: In each level, there is one Hogwarts student in danger; by rescuing them, you get an extra brick! Some of them may be in situations that you can’t help with yet, until you’ve unlocked the required ability. On top of the 24 here, you can find 26 more around the Hogwarts hub world.

-House Crests: Amass the Griffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slitherin crests. This is done by interacting with the world in each level. It’s usually by finding and activating all the identical items in a portion of the level, with an indicator popping up (1/9, 2/9, as an example). Some, however, are more cleverly hidden. The Gold Brick is obtained solely by assembling the full crest.

Some Gold Bricks can be purchased in Diagon Alley, others are obtained after completing classes at Hogwarts, some more are gained by completing the occasional puzzle. And, on top of Gold Bricks, there’s a whole lot of unlockables.

OK, but why are the unclocked characters'
icons flashing in the Polyjuice menu? I kinda
want to know who I have access to!

-Characters: Once you learn to create Polyjuice potion, you’ll be able to switch characters, replacing Harry, Ron and Hermione by any of the characters whose profiles you found, unlocked… and purchased at Diagon Alley. How many? 167, though many are reskins, like Harry, Ron or Hermione in different clothes.

-Bonus Levels: On reaching a certain number of Gold Bricks, you can unlock bonus levels. Accessible at Gringotts, each one only requires 5 Gold Bricks more than the previous one. 10 such bonus levels can thus be found.

-Red Bricks: Additional puzzles involve the Red Bricks, which must first be found, then taken to an owl, before their content can be unlocked and purchased properly at the Emporium in Diagon Alley. These allow you to modify the game in a number of ways, by multiplying the number of studs you can find, adding disguises on the characters, anything else. Many of them remind me of clasic cheat codes, come to think of it (and there also ARE cheat codes in this game!).

-Bonus spells: The top circle of your spell loadout belongs to a special spell that you can purchase at Diagon Alley and then use everywhere. Most of those don’t really do anything gameplay-relevant outside of funny little effects like shrinking characters’ heads, changing their clothes, etc.

Sprout flowers on someone's head? Sounds
harmless enough... (Some of the other
spells don't look quite as harmless.)

Needless to say, with all of these to find, if you’re aiming for 100% completion, your plate’s full with this game and its sequel.

The philosopher’s sorcerer’s stone: Finally, Hogwarts!

Who decided it was a good idea to keep a
dog this big in the school??

During our first steps in Hogwarts, we get events that are both plot-relevant and game-relevant, such as Ron using Scabbers to ring a bell near the door where Fluffy the Cerberus lies, which causes the triple-dog to bark, scaring a portrait character back to their painting, and allowing the trio to ask that character to change the direction of the staircase. Scabbers can be used in many scenarios.

Lost in Hogwarts? No worries, you can always follow a ghost who leaves phantom studs behind, showing you the way to the next plot point. This time, it's the class in which the kids are taught Wingardium Leviosa, the most useful spell in the game. Most of the spells and skills are taught through some sort of test which, much like the rest of the game, sort of combines platforming and puzzle-solving. In this case, the three protagonists have to rescue some of their classmates who ended up hanging from the ceiling’s chandeliers after Ron messed the spell up. Ron, you ditz, it’s Levi-oooh-sa, not levio-suuuh!

Random endangerment of students?
Must be a Wednesday in Hogwarts.

On the way to the next level, we get glimpses of what’s to come; hints of things we’ll only be able to interact with after learning the right spell, potion or ability, as well as implications regarding each character’s personal ability. As an example, Hermione is the only one in the trio who can make sense of the magical bookcases, which she can open after solving a puzzle. By the time the next level begins, it’s already Halloween at Hogwarts, and in the first movie, we know what that means…

Hey, how about we continue this in Part 2?