Hogwarts Legacy’s Alohomora Needs a Nerf in the Sequel

Summary

Hogwarts Legacy's success can be attributed to its well-designed spells, but the Alohomora spell needs to be more challenging to enhance the gameplay experience.
The lockpicking mechanics of Alohomora in Hogwarts Legacy lack depth and become monotonous, leaving players wanting more intuitive and rewarding puzzles.
The game would benefit from harder puzzles like Starfield, with difficulty increasing depending on the lockpick tier. Alternatively, entirely different mechanics for higher tier locks could work well, as players expect complexity and a challenge as they progress in the magical world.

Despite the last of its movies hitting the cinemas over a decade ago, the Harry Potter franchise continues to impact forms of media thanks to its massive fanfare. Hogwarts Legacy is the latest and most expansive video game rendition of the Harry Potter universe, racking up a ton of plaudits and historic sales numbers on Steam shortly after its release. Its spells, neatly designed by Avalanche Software, were a driving factor behind its success, and there's already talk of a sequel among the fan base. If the rumors are true and the developer heeds the wants of fans, the sequel could do with a nerf to its Alohomora spell to enhance its experience.

Hogwarts Legacy's launch kicked off the 2023 RPG calendar in some style, a schedule that has lived up to the billing and produced big hitters such as Final Fantasy 16 and Baldur's Gate 3 in the past months. The allure of wand-waving and decimating teams of magical goblins was too much to ignore, and exploring the Hogwarts school grounds in a video game setting was a dream come true for many Harry Potter fans. However, some tiny elements could use a rework by way of DLCs, or as players hope, in the form of a sequel. Alohomora is one of them, and it could benefit from being more challenging like Starfield's lockpicking.

Alohomora Needs a Ramp Up in Difficulty

The Alohomora spell is one such detail that could thrive with a few tweaks to give gamers more of a challenge. Hogwarts Legacy uses locks to barricade some entrances to treasures and quest essentials in its map, and players must wave their wands to the tune of Alohomora to get past these inconveniences. The higher tier locks require players to find Demiguise moons in connection with Gladwin Moon's side quest, but the mechanics are essentially the same as the basic Level 1 barriers.

Alohomora, unlike some combat spells in Hogwarts Legacy, requires a bit of finesse to achieve its lockpicking goals. After learning the resource in the typical wand mini-game, deploying it is a different kettle of fish from any other in the title. Players have to play a mini-game every time they want to get past a lock, just like RPGs like Skyrim, rotating red and green lights till their color-coded gears spin. It's intended to mix up the instant 'Abracadabra' expectations other spells feature, where the player-character verbally calls out the enchantment and the effect happens immediately without any player engagement.

However, Alohomora's lack of depth sticks out like a sore thumb because of its distinct nature, as players have lamented the mechanic's monotony in Hogwarts Legacy. Its difficulty doesn't change, even with the higher tier locks or advancing player-character skill in magic, and the spell feels like more of a chore to complete than any other. Lockpicking is an exercise in finesse, but Hogwarts Legacy's Alohomora leaves much to be desired with its lack of intuitive flair, as players mindlessly turn the knobs one way or the other till they win. While there is a case to be made for multiple lock puzzles that really lean into the magical opportunities that the Wizarding World provides, games like Starfield prove one lock puzzle can be enough if it feels rewarding and challenging. Players receive harder puzzles if a lock is a higher level in Starfield, and they need to stop and think about their next move. In Hogwarts Legacy, they just turn their sticks until they get lucky, which is where the repetitiveness comes from.

The overly streamlined mechanics means Alohomora needs a nerf to justify its presence in Hogwarts Legacy's gameplay. The title owes its popularity to the complexity of its puzzles, and players generally expect a challenging time solving the higher tier locks. However, this does not apply to lockpicking, as all lock tiers currently feature the same mini-game and mechanics - something Avalanche Software needs to challenge its player base with harder puzzles as they progress in the magical world. With a reputable leaker informing fans of the development of a Hogwarts Legacy sequel, fans will be hoping that the Alohomora problem will be fixed if and when the game releases.