The PlayStation showcase in September certainly got fans excited for what lies ahead. There will be a new Spider-Man game, with Spider-Man: Miles Morales poised to release in at launch. It's a similar story with Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition and there's also another Call of Duty to look ahead to. But, out of all the things that were shown off, Hogwarts Legacy appears to be the one fans are hell-bent on buying day one.
It's been a long time since fans got a Harry Potter game for consoles and, while the story won't be based on his own adventures, it's going to be pretty special going back to Hogwarts. So, with Hogwarts Legacy now announced and unveiled, it's time to look at how the Potter movie games fared with Gamespot reviewers in previous years.
10 Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (4/10)
The last Potter movie game in the EA series (that doesn't include the LEGO titles) was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. It loosely followed the movie of the same name, with players able to take control of Harry, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger as they break into Gringotts, escape Death Eaters in Hogsmeade, and then go up against Lord Voldemort in the Battle of Hogwarts.
It sounds thrilling enough yet it's gameplay left much to be desired and the graphics weren't up to scratch either. Gamespot gave it a low 4/10, labelling it 'short and tedious'. That's pretty brutal, and places it last on this list.
9 Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix (5/10)
Harry Potter's fifth year at Hogwarts is a difficult one. Nobody believes him about Lord Voldemort's return, Rita Skeeter and Cornelius Fudge are out to discredit him, Dolores Umbridge gives him terrible treatment, and Sirius Black dies at the end leaving Harry heartbroken in the process.
Yet the video game squanders the potential and, in truth, is a pretty drab and boring affair. It's repetitive, with fans having to continuously round up members of Dumbledore's Army before engaging in some tame battles. As a result it was given 5/10 - and it's not the only one...
8 Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince (5/10)
Rinse and repeat. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a thrilling book, especially given how much it delves into Lord Voldemort's backstory. Fans learn he was raised in an orphanage, had a horrible grandfather, and that his mother bewitched his father into falling in love with her via a love potion.
But the game, again, didn't scale the same heights. It's pretty much a carbon copy of the Order of the Phoenix and doesn't take long to play through at all.
7 Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (5/10)
Another Potter game to get just 5/10 is the Deathly Hallows: Part 1. The movie is rather slow, which meant the game always had its work cut out trying produce a brilliant title. But, even so, it definitely didn't make good of its potential.
Combat was changed, with fans using wands like guns - like something from Call of Duty itself. The character models and voice dialogue wasn't impressive and the whole thing was repetitive once again, with fans having to play through a host of similar missions that always end with you having to defeat wave after wave of Death Eaters. A rather boring affair.
6 Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone (6.1/10)
Way back in 2001, Harry Potter made his way onto games consoles for the first time. The Sorcerer's Stone movie meant loyal fans flocked to their local Blockbuster and other retailers to get their own chance to step into the stone walls of Hogwarts and become a wizard. And the game did well enough, scoring 6.1/10 with Gamespot.
It's fun just roaming the castle and its grounds, solving puzzles and soaking up the magical atmosphere. It's described as an 'unremarkable game that diehard fans may enjoy' but it definitely has its shortcomings, hence why it doesn't rank higher.
5 Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban (7.2/10)
In 2004, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban hit theatres across the globe. And the video game of the same name came out as well.
It followed the same free-roaming template of the two previous titles but the graphics were considerably better than anything that had come before. The title was also the first one that allowed people to play as Harry, Ron, and Hermione, while you could also explore the grounds of Hogwarts on Buckbeak the Hippogriff. There's plenty to do and many secrets to uncover along the way as you look to keep the Dementors of Azkaban at bay.
4 Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets (7.3/10)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was the second game in the series to release, coming out in 2002. It follows the same blueprint as the Sorcerer's Stone but is enjoyable nonetheless and scores higher due to its shinier graphics, which are evident.
A snippet from Gamespot's review reads: "Offering a polished mix of strong graphics and solid gameplay, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a marked improvement over its predecessor." Our favorite element is the sneaking around, with the stealth missions in the game both fun and creepy in equal measure.
3 The Goblet Of Fire (7.3/10)
The Goblet of Fire is one of the strongest movies in the Potter series. Harry endures a typically difficult year at Hogwarts, thrown into the Triwizard Tournament despite being drastically younger than other competitors Cedric Diggory, Fleur Delacour, and Viktor Krum. And he then has a showdown with Lord Voldemort at the end.
The game does a good job at making all three tasks fun and different. It's a shame that there's no free-roaming elements, and there's plenty of backtracking, but the change in format was a refreshing change at the time.
2 Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4 (8/10)
The LEGO games have always gone down well with fans. Their first attempt, LEGO Star Wars: Episodes 1-3, set the tone for what was to follow. And Harry Potter got the plastic treatment in the summer of 2010, with fans being able to play out the Harry's adventures in a remarkably different format than anything before.
It's quite a blast, even if its slightly too childish for many older gamers. And it's fully deserving of its 8/10 score as a result, with the ability to free roam Hogwarts particularly enjoyable.
1 Lego Harry Potter Years 5-7 (8/10)
Also scoring 8/10 is Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7. This allows fans to play through the events of the Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince and both Deathly Hallows movies.
It's not too different from its previous instalment but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The graphics are better, puzzles slightly more interesting and the title, despite being made from plastic, is darker than before. There's a whole load of things to do and items to collect and GameSpot expresses a belief that the series went out on a 'fun' note.