Aboard the Hogwarts Hype Express? Get your Potter fix with these magical Xbox games

That Hogwarts Legacy release seems just so far away, even after seeing all of the gameplay at the State of Play event. To help fill our need for more from the Wizarding World, we have put together a list of some of the most magical, joyous, whimsical, and fantastical games available on Xbox platforms right now.Lego Harry Potter CollectionCongratulations to us! We have started out the list with the most obvious pick of the bunch: Lego Harry Potter Collection. The pack bundles together the two 360 games — Years 1-4 and Years 5-7 — into one package while revamping it for the Xbox One. These are arguably the best modern Potter games and are certainly the most comprehensive look at his time in Hogwarts over seven years. Traveller’s Tales managed to bring the Wizarding World to life with love and care, with plenty of references to the little moments in the films as well as capturing all the big spellbinding set-pieces in square-edged glory. In this Harry Potter world, there is humour bumbling out of every block, as well as some of the finest level designs of the pre-open-world voiced-acted Lego games. On top of that, the pair of games introduce a manageable magic system that you use to slowly open up different parts of an immaculately reconstructed Hogwarts. Somehow, even all these years later, exploring the Metroidvania-style Hogwarts feels special in that very specific Potter way — though, it helps that the collection still looks good. With secret levels, fun collectables, and a wildly creative hub-world selection, this really is a comprehensive Wizarding World experience. With the Lego Harry Potter Collection achievements offering up 40-50 hours of entertainment, you had better Accio a friend for some fun co-op. We love this game and it’s the perfect way to get back into the Potter spirit. LEGO® Harry Potter™ CollectionThe LEGO® Harry Potter™ Collection brings LEGO® Harry Potter™: Years 1-4 and LEGO® Harry Potter™: Years 5-7 with both top-selling video games remastered!IkenfellHonestly, Ikenfell is perhaps the game closest to representing the Wizarding World on this list — it even feels like an episode from a year at Hogwarts at times. That is not meant in a derogatory way, as Ikenfell absolutely has a personality of its own and has a glorious gorgeous pixel art style with some fantastic writing to boot. The turn-based RPG is developed by Happy Ray Games. Maritte is on the hunt for her missing sister and has to venture to Ikenfell — a magical school for people with the gift of spellcasting — to find her and unravel the mystery of why monsters and magic have gone a bit wonky. So begins a lengthy plot in which the “Ordinary” Maritte (see: Muggle) finds out she is just the opposite. You will be talking to fellow students, exploring Ikenfell, saving the world, and enjoying a bit of duelling. The battling takes place in contained corridors in which you use grid-based areas of attack to define where you lash out with your magic. After every fight against a variety of foes, your party of characters will grow in power. With accessibility options to the rafters and a lovely story, Ikenfell is a fun game for everyone. If you are looking at those Ikenfell achievements, know that they will take you between 12 and 15 hours with our on-site Ikenfell walkthrough. This is a really charming game and will whisk you away into a world of magic with no problem at all!IkenfellA turn based-tactical RPG about a group of troublesome magic students. Use timing mechanics to power your spells and block attacks, explore the twisted halls of a vast magic school, fight challenging monsters and bosses, find tons of hidden treasure, and uncover dark secrets never meant to be found.Fable AnniversiaryFable is such an interesting parallel to Harry Potter. It has the whimsy, the Britishness, and the magic and creatures of the Wizarding World, but it has a distinctly fairytale overture from which the Harry Potter series escaped. In the world of Albion, most of your time will be taken up trying to work out how to shape your hero. Do you go good or bad? It’s pretty simplistic, but seeing your hero’s physically altered appearance after some bad deeds is a cool touch. It’s a pleasure to sit back and soak up the world, too. There are so many funny one-liners that come out of nowhere, or quests requiring a chat with some sincerely odd folk. However, Fable Anniversary — even with its lovingly remastered elements — still looks and feels its age. The original came out in 2004, and this remaster is clinging on for dear life in this generation. Animations look fine mostly outside of some canned movement, but combat can become an absolute drag later in the game without enough variety to keep the sword sharp. The magic, long-range, and melee systems have been better implemented and feel much more at peace with one another than in the original, though. With a 20-hour run for all the Fable Anniversary achievements with our walkthrough (warning: there’s one unobtainable), we feel this is a great place to get some Harry Potter vibes in a Tolkien-esque world. Plus, if you love it, there is Fable II and Fable III to tackle afterwards! Fable AnniversaryFable Anniversary is a spectacular HD remaster of the original Fable with all-new models, textures, lighting, achievements, The Lost Chapters content, and more!SpellbreakSpellbreak is a curious case when thought about next to the direction of Hogwarts Legacy. It’s a battle royale featuring magic gauntlets rather than wands, elemental damage rather than jinxes and charms, and combination attacks rather than curses. It made it onto our list of the best Xbox battle royale games, but the reputation of that genre puts Spellbreak in a tough position. You see, looking at it, you think it’s Fortnite with Harry Potter magic, but playing it for long enough will show you that Spellbreak has its own unique ideas about witchcraft and wizardry — and it absolutely nails them. Fighting with magic against other players feels incredible, and trying to push yourself to remember what element type works best with another is a dream-like scenario for any Potter-head. When you rip a fire tornado from your arsenal and use the wind to create a huge firestorm, you get the feeling of Dumbledore vs Voldemort at the Ministry of Magic. The game moves much faster than other BR titles with its smaller player count and fast-closing map, though you still have to gallivant through ruins collecting all the objects you can possibly fit under that torn robe. It’s imaginative, has a cool world, and feels good to play — what more do you want? Unfortunately, many of the community have been outspoken on how long it takes the developers to make meaningful updates and some suggest that the focus on BR is misplaced when the magic-powered combat might be better suited to an arena fighter. Drawing further comparisons to the endlessly deep Wizarding World, there is some cool lore buried away in Spellbreak even if you have to dig deep to find it. The Spellbreak achievements are still attainable and you should still be able to get into games without too much fuss (especially in Deathmatch), so strike now while the iron is hot! This is one of the most underrated multiplayer games around, so don’t miss your chance to play while getting a fix of competitive magic action.SpellbreakSpellbreak is a multiplayer action-spellcasting game where you unleash your inner battlemage. Master elemental magic to fit your playstyle and cast powerful spell combinations to dominate other players across the Hollow Lands.SkyrimStrangely, we don’t think Harry Potter fills a fantasy hole even though it, ostensibly, is a fantasy series — it’s just its own beast entirely. In lieu of being about to offer that particular Potter vibe, we think one of the most player-driven fantasy experiences in recent times will help give you a taste of the RPG potion Hogwarts Legacy is brewing for later this year. Skyrim offers you total freedom to play as you please in a world of dragons, cults, lonely mountain villages, and so, so much more while making use of cool magic systems, fun characters, and wonderfully deep lore. So, why not go hard on magic in the skill tree and see where it gets you? You could be a pure mage, only using magic to get as close to the wand-waving of Potter as possible. You could be a battlemage, with a sword in one hand and your casting hand throwing illusions, replicating the moments that Harry (or Neville) rocked the sword of Godric Griffindor. Why not be a touch shadier, like a naughty Kreature, and opt for being a Nightblade and rob every poor citizen from Winterhold to Falkreath? Illusion, Alteration, Destruction, Conjuration, Restoration… these are all schools of magic that we know Potter-heads can find nice parallels for in the Wizarding World. So, spend 200 hours hunting for Skyrim achievements while blazing a magical path and occupy all of your time before Hogwarts Legacy lands. SkyrimThe Games on Demand version supports English. The next chapter in the highly anticipated Elder Scrolls saga arrives from the makers of the 2006 and 2008 Games of the Year, Bethesda Game Studios. Skyrim reimagines and revolutionizes the open-world fantasy epic, bringing to life a complete virtual world open for you to explore any way you choose.Dragon Age: InquisitionDragon Age: Inquisition removes the large open world of Skyrim and uses hub-world to offer a much tighter narrative experience. This keeps the game more orderly, with fewer quest lines spiralling out of control. You can still own life as a Mage at the head of an Inquisition trying to take out a Voldemort-like bad guy called Corypheus, though. The ending also has a few magical twists that are a bit like an inverse Snape reveal. Indeed, you even get access to a huge castle on a mountain called Skyhold from which you will launch attacks and be able to talk to a range of characters with whom you will eventually go on missions to the various different hub-worlds. With all the classes of these party characters and the Skyhold setting, it is very much like trying to keep tabs on the various Hogwarts houses while wandering the ever-changing staircases of the rickety castle. It has RPG hooks to keep you levelling up all your well-written chums too, so you can keep finding ways to eke more magic out of the Mage class if you are obsessed with magic. The Dragon Age: Inquisition achievements are a touch less time-consuming than Skyrim at 130 hours and the Bioware-developed title is also on Game Pass. So, give this one a go to get a feel for virtual Hogwarts architecture as well as plenty of magic!Dragon Age™: InquisitionThe epic role-playing series from BioWare takes a thrilling leap forward with Dragon Age™: Inquisition. Beautiful vistas and incredible new possibilities await you.Upcoming Xbox games for Harry Potter fansIf you can’t wait for Hogwarts Legacy (we can’t either) or are looking for more games with a touch of magic, here’s a few other titles you might want to keep on your radar…Little Witch in the Woods You’re not heading to Hogwarts in Little Witch in the Woods, but you’re still living the life of an apprentice witch — in this case, you play as Ellie Blueriver, who’s going through witch training so she can graduate from Witch School. In our Xbox Exclusives Spotlight for Little Witch in the Woods, we chatted to developer Sunny Side Up’s Eunhyeon Park, who told us that Ellie must help the nearby village and its villagers “make the world a better place.” She’ll study all aspects of witchy life, from gathering ingredients and brewing them in the Brewing Chamber, to restoring the witch’s house she lives in, solving problems and puzzles, collecting potion recipes, fishing, catching bugs, and exploring. Little Witch in the Woods’ pixelated world looks beautiful — even more so when you remember that the game is coming to Xbox Game Pass on day one when it launches later this year!Potion Permit You’ll be able to live out your Potions dreams to the max in Potion Permit, an “open-ended sim RPG” in which you’re sent to the town of Moonbury to cure the mayor’s daughter and to showcase the possibilities of alchemy. Moonbury’s inhabitants will be ill from time to time and require healing, and you’ll need to diagnose their symptoms, gather ingredients (whether that’s from the world around you or, more intimidatingly, from monsters) and then get to work brewing potions in your cauldron. Once you’ve gained their trust, you can start building relationships with the people of Moonbury, or else upgrade the town and decorate your house. There’s no time limits in Potion Permit and, to make things even better, you travel everywhere accompanied by your canine companion. Potion Permit is also set to launch some time this year.Avowed Now, this is one we’ve had our eye on ever since Obsidian announced it back in 2020. All we know so far is that it’s a first-person RPG set in the fantasy world of Eora, and that reveal trailer makes it clear we’ll be relying on magic as well as other weapons to get us out of some tricky situations. The fantasy and magical elements coupled with that medieval-like setting suggests that this will be a game we’ll get lost in for quite some time — especially since it is set to launch straight into Xbox Game Pass.The Last Oricru Just a dash of Potter-esque magic all you’re after? Here’s an interesting one for you. The Last Oricru offers a sci-fi/medieval hybrid world, and one which throws us into a civil war on the planet of Wardenia in a whirlwind of swords and magic. We play as Silver, who apparently has no small amount of influence over the outcome of the war and the story itself — it’s a game where every decision has its consequences. The Last Oricru doesn’t yet have a release date, but it’ll launch for Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and Steam.Everwild Even just writing about Everwild feels like wishful thinking, since we haven’t heard a peep from Rare about it for quite some time. But we know it will bring us “unique and unforgettable experiences… in a natural and magical world.” That Eternals trailer above gives a glimpse of the relationship between the game’s human characters and the natural world, and we’re told that an eternal “has the gift to sense and feel how magic flows through nature.” We’ve been intrigued by this one for a while, and while we don’t have a release date, we do know that it too will launch into Xbox Game Pass. One day. Hopefully.We are pulling the Hogwarts Express into the station, so why not let us know your favourite Potter-like games in the comments! Has anything on our list caught your eye? Any suggestions? Looking forward to anything to help fill the Hogwarts Legacy hole? That’s a lot of questions, but answer them all in the comments and you will have passed your O.W.L.s!



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