With only a week to go, you may be wondering how you can get the most out of playing Hogwarts Legacy. The open-world RPG all about magic and mayhem launches in Early Access on February 7, and is available to everyone on February 10. But what platform should you choose? While the answer may not come from a sorting hat, we do have some thoughts. Read on to find out the best platform on which to play Hogwarts Legacy.
What is the best platform to play Hogwarts Legacy on?
Naturally, in the end your choice will come down to preference above all things. Here on PC Invasion, we do have a pretty good idea of what platform on which we choose to spend most of our time. But is the PC the best place to experience the wizarding world? We’ll break down the options and let you make the ultimate decision.
PC
The good news for PC players is that it may end up being the best platform on which to play Hogwarts Legacy. Unlike, say, Forspoken, the PC requirements for the game are relatively acceptable. So long as your rig boasts a 1080 Ti GPU and a i7-8700 CPU or their equivalents, you can run the game at recommended/high specs. In detail, that means you can play the game at 1080p with high settings and reach 60 fps. You’ll also need 16 GB of RAM, and 85 GB freed up on your drive.
Update: We have published a performance review for Hogwarts Legacy, reporting our results tweaking the graphics options. So far, the game seems to run smooth with our writer’s PC, which rocks an Nvidia 3080 GPU, an i9-10900K CPU, and 32 GB of RAM. We tested with the target of 2160p at 60 fps. What we found was that the game ran fine with DLSS set to at least Quality, but got better results with Performance (ranging from 65-80 fps). We did notice strange shadowing errors using RTX and the Lumos option.
Some players are reporting that the game drops frames heavily outside of the intro portion, however. We recommend dropping graphical fidelity while lowering ray tracing, or turning it off completely, while setting DLSS to Performance. Patches or updates may improve things.
For our entire rundown, check out our Hogwarts Legacy performance review for PC.
PlayStation
Will the PlayStation platform be the best place to enjoy Hogwarts Legacy? That depends, for certain. But those who choose the PlayStation 5 will at least enjoy some benefits unique to the console. In a blog post, it’s explained that the game will feature adaptive triggers and haptic feedback with the PS5 controller. Magic spells feel different from one another, and you’ll feel various environmental effects. The PS5 version includes graphical options for 4K at a lower framerate, but there is also a Performance option that ups the fps while lowering the visual quality.
For the PlayStation 4, we expect you won’t get any of those options. In all likelihood, you’ll be stuck at the PS5 equivalent of the Performance mode, and may experience some optimization issues. Again, we won’t know for sure until PS4 owners try the game out themselves. Sadly, the game won’t arrive on Sony’s last-gen machine until April 4.
Xbox
Like with the PlayStation 4, Xbox One owners with access to the game may not experience it at its best — and it’s also not due until April. We expect lower framerate and decreased fidelity.
However, the game is coming to the Xbox Series X|S, its more powerful big brothers. On the Series X, there will be options for 4K play with HDR10 support. The Series S will likely have fewer graphics options, as it is a bit weaker than the X.
You won’t get the haptic feedback, but the Xbox version of Hogwarts Legacy has at least one additional benefit. With Xbox cloud saves, you’ll be able to play the game on your Xbox console and on your PC through the Xbox app. Being able to move from platform to platform, room to room, might be the best way for free roamers to play Hogwarts Legacy.
Switch
Yes, Hogwarts Legacy is coming to the Switch. However, it won’t be next week. The game is schedule to land on Nintendo’s portable in late July. As for its performance, well, we don’t really know. However, don’t expect it to look anywhere near as good on the Switch as it will on PC and current-gen consoles. As reported by NintendoEverything, the developer states that “The Switch version is going to be awesome, it sure will be” and that it will be “well optimized and above all that it is faithful to the idea we had of the title.” It’s a, uh, very PR-friendly reply, so things are up in the air for the little console.
Well, which is it?
In the end, the best platform for Hogwarts Legacy is somewhat subjective. For PC players, it’ll mean the highest framerate and best graphical options, so long as DLSS is kept on. PlayStation 5 owners will revel in the haptic feedback. But they and Xbox Series X players may have to take a small dip when it comes to graphics and framerate. The Xbox version will, at least, let you hop onto PC if console gaming isn’t working out. Switch owners will have to wait a bit longer, and will probably see the biggest hit in terms in graphics and performance.
Ultimately, the best place to play the game is what you will enjoy the most. There isn’t a right or wrong answer; as mentioned, it’s all based on your preference. But hopefully this breakdown will help you make the best decision ahead of the game’s launch next week.
