The Harry Potter franchise is bound to be a timeless tale for generations to come, but will TT Games’ remaster of the LEGO Harry Potter titles hold up after nearly six years?

 

Read our review to find out.

 As someone who sadly missed the LEGO Harry Potter train when it first launched, I couldn’t have been happier to hear that a collection was released for the PlayStation 4 that would include both years 1 through 4 and 5 through 7. While I had played a bit of years 5 through 7 on the PlayStation Vita, it was a port of the 3DS version, and didn’t quite hold up to the standards set by consoles. Thankfully, not only will the PS4 collection be based off of the PS3 versions that released around six years ago, they are receiving a graphical update. Combine all of that with the game’s timeless design and you are left with an experience that holds up quite well.

 

One of the best aspects of any LEGO game is its simple design that allows older games to hold up for many years past its prime. Given the low polygon nature of LEGO pieces themselves and their depiction in game, character and environmental models look fantastic, especially given the updated textures and lighting. Some aspects of the game may seem a bit dated, but unless you are strictly looking for things to point out, most players are going to fail to notice that this is based off of a relatively old game. Mechanically, some hardcore LEGO fans will notice that some gameplay aspects have evolved over the years, but as a fan of the older games, the LEGO Harry Potter Collection acts as a reminder of what is so charming about LEGO games as a whole.

 

 

The biggest and most notable problem that most players will find regardless of experience, is that the LEGO Harry Potter Collection doesn’t have any voice overs. While this may have been fine when the originals had launched, this has become something that makes the game feel as if it is lacking production value and was rushed to launch. Given that the game is based off an existing book and movie franchise with dialog that could have been easily integrated into the game, it is hard to let it slide. Instead we have characters miming actions and making sounds for comedic effect, which works up to a point, but leaves the games feeling lackluster in the current climate.

 

From a gameplay standpoint the LEGO Harry Potter Collection has many of the traditional concepts that made the titles popular, and that means puzzles and unlockables. But, on top of that, one of my favorite features is the number of abilities each character has that allows them to interact with the world. This not only works as a fun puzzle that can make certain characters unique, but also makes the whole world an evolving puzzle, whose answers become available as you progress through the game. While this is standard form for many LEGO titles, the seamless integration with the IP it is based on makes the experience pure, as you are never taken out of the world.

 

 

Walking through Hogwarts is fantastic, especially during the first years of the game, as there is so much life in the world and countless throwbacks to the films and books. The darker tones of the latter half of the collection does a solid job of keeping the young-at-heart nature of the franchise, while keeping to the more mature parts of the story. This balance does a great job of keeping the experience fresh, and given the amount of content, that is quite impressive. 

 

With over 160 characters to unlock, multiple spells and potions to learn across two games, as well as the character and spell pack DLC’s as an added bonus, fans are going to have a wealth of content to get through. Fans who have already gone through both titles may have a harder time finding reason to play it a second time, as this is just an updated port of the prior titles. But, anyone who is a fan of the Harry Potter or the LEGO game franchises and did not get a chance to play through these great experiences is going to absolutely love them.