The recent news that Hogwarts Legacy might not see a release before the second half of 2022 has surely disappointed many fans. Players who simply cannot wait, however, will find that there is a myriad of games to choose from with a similar theme that will keep their mind at ease until the highly anticipated release of Hogwarts Legacy. If those are still not close enough, though, there is an even larger database of community-led mods and maps to popular games, such as Minecraft, created by fans who have been able to recreate the Wizarding World to an extraordinary level of detail.
Minecraft’s creative possibilities are unparalleled. From incredible gameplay mods to worlds created entirely from scratch, fans have recreated entire cinematic and fictional universes with such detail and effort that Minecraft’s gameplay and legacy as a creative world-building game ascend to a whole new level. There are perhaps hundreds of community-made Minecraft worlds based on the Wizarding World of the Harry Potter franchise, but there is one map that stands out more than any other.
Witchcraft and Wizardry is a community-made RPG map that every Harry Potter fan needs to play. It is probably the closest thing to Hogwarts Legacy that exists right now. Even for players that aren't hardcore fans of the Harry Potter franchise, this map is so intricate in every world-building detail and gameplay feature that it is worth playing at least once. It was created by a team of modders called The Floo Network, and it is to date the most accurate, detailed, and engaging Minecraft Hogwarts map out there. The map took over four years to finally complete and has been available for free download on Planet Minecraft since 2015, with an update introduced just last year.
Starting a new game in this Harry Potter Minecraft RPG map will, unsurprisingly, take players to a house on Privet Drive. After opening a letter of acceptance for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the game begins. From crossing the red-brick wall into Diagon Alley to boarding the train to Hogwarts and visiting Hogsmeade in the middle of the term, this Minecraft map has a whole narrative built into it, which sees players go on a main story quest focused on learning a total of seven spells. Each of these Spell Missions sees players visiting different classrooms where they learn the spell and have the teacher take them to an obstacle course which they must complete in order to continue the story. Some of the locations in each mission can be truly challenging to find, but they allow players to fully explore the castle and marvel at the level of detail on every staircase, classroom, and corridor, filled with details and references to both the films and the books.
Every single area of the castle that appears in the films is recreated in this world, but what is truly interesting to see is that there is a breadth of elements to the game - locations, missions, or even props on classroom tables - that are direct references to Harry Potter lore that never made it into the films. The most prominent example of this is one of the early missions players receive from Hermione. In order to learn the Alohomora spell from her, players need to travel to Hogsmeade (which is another beautifully recreated area), and put up S.P.E.W. flyers all over town. S.P.E.W. stands for Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare. This was an organization that Hermione creates in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire to raise awareness for the injustice of house-elf treatment in the wizarding world. It never made it into the films, so book fans will certainly find it refreshing to see details like these built into this Harry Potter Minecraft RPG map.
The world of Harry Potter that players can explore isn't limited to Hogwarts Castle. Beyond its towers, courtyards, and dungeons, players are free to explore the entire Hogwarts Grounds, including the Forbidden Forest, Hagrid's Hut, and the Quidditch Pitch, along with other locations in the Wizarding World, such as The Burrow, Hogsmeade, the Ministry of Magic, and even Azkaban. Even the Muggle locations from the books and films are recreated fully, which include a large part of London - where full recreations of Big Ben, King's Cross Station, and the London Eye can be spotted - as well as more story-related locations such as Godric's Hollow, Grimmauld Place, and of course, Privet Drive.
There are lots of elements in this Minecraft mod's missions which will remind some players of the classic Harry Potter games that were released in the early 2000s. One mission in particular, where players need to complete an obstacle course to learn the Vera Verta spell, takes place in the Herbology classroom and Hogwarts' greenhouses, and has a strong nostalgic feel to the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets game, which originally released in 2002. The whole obstacle-course-challenge mechanic to complete a mission and learn a spell is actually the same gameplay players might remember from those old Harry Potter titles, as well as the flying lessons, which take players through a series of air rings around and across the school grounds.
Beyond all the missions of the main story, the Witchcraft and Wizardry Minecraft map allows players to explore the entire Wizarding World - or fast-travel to each location once explored, which comes in handy - and gives them a whole set of smaller side missions to complete. Side missions can be completed not only by talking to students around the castle, but also by travelling to locations such as Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade, where every vendor and shop owner will ask for the player's help. Even when all the game's missions are completed, players have the possibility to fly over the wizarding world on a broomstick, find dozens of collectibles in every area, and buy all kinds of goodies, potions, and character customization elements from different shops in Diagon Alley.
The Floo Network's Witchcraft and Wizardry Minecraft map was a ridiculously ambitious project which was years in the making. Every character interaction, collectible item, and spell animation, has been created with such care and effort that it's easy to see why, to this day, this remains the best Wizarding World Minecraft map available. Hogwarts Legacy might still be a long way away, but with modders like these, the wait becomes more than enjoyable.
Source: Planet Minecraft
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