General Gaming Hogwarts Legacy - Information Thread, update: reviews from OpenCritic posted

[Biggie]

17 minutes ago, stepee said:

 

Long story short JK is a piece of shit transphobe anti semite 

Damn now he is going to pre-order 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

I'm not even going to go as far as saying that WhatsHerName is deliberately anti-Semitic in the same way that's she's willfully -- even gleefully -- transphobic.  It's more than likely the situation as described by this article:

 

Quote

 

The British charity Campaign Against Antisemitism, for example, tweeted a statement arguing that there are “centuries of association of Jews with grotesque and malevolent creatures in folklore” and that “those who continue to use such representations are often not thinking of Jews at all” but are innocently thinking “of how readers or viewers will imagine goblins to look.”

 

No doubt that (as Stewart said) Rowling didn’t intend to use antisemitic tropes, just as Carpenter didn’t. There’s a clear distinction between Rowling’s clumsy, clueless use of antisemitic caricature and her enthusiastic, ideological embrace of transphobic hate.

 

 

HOWEVER, whoever the developer(s) was (were) that came up with that blood libel-esque storyline? Naaaaaaah - they don't get the benefit of the doubt from me on that one!

[stepee]

I’m definitely interested now in how it actually plays out when it releases, but not in as fun of a way 

[Moa]

23 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

I'm not even going to go as far as saying that WhatsHerName is deliberately anti-Semitic in the same way that's she's willfully -- even gleefully -- transphobic.  It's more than likely the situation as described by this article:

 

 

HOWEVER, whoever the developer(s) was (were) that came up with that blood libel-esque storyline? Naaaaaaah - they don't get the benefit of the doubt from me on that one!

I agree with this so much just a reaction wouldn’t do. 

[Kal-El814]

1 hour ago, stepee said:

I think it’s just, especially when I watched them and before JK made it a point to make sure that everyone knew something was wrong, I wasn’t looking for that. Like no way would I notice that without that picture with a circle around it and then put it together. 

 

It’s just not a series I ever thought deeper about than the pure surface level which came across as pretty standard fantasy fare.

 

Well even if you're not looking any movie stills, the canon's moneylenders/bankers being treasure obsessed, hook nosed goblins is not subtle

[stepee]

56 minutes ago, Kal-El814 said:

 

Well even if you're not looking any movie stills, the canon's moneylenders/bankers being treasure obsessed, hook nosed goblins is not subtle

 

I’d probably notice that now in 2023 without it being pointed out but I was a naive little 30 year old boy at the time I watched the movies  and I just didn’t connect!

[skillzdadirecta]

6 hours ago, Moa said:

"The main scheme of the primary antagonist is to kidnap the player character, and harvest their blood for a spell that will wipe out his enemies while aligned with a number of dark wizards. While the narrative is somewhat problematic..."

 

I knew JK was off her rocker and the devs of the game weren't far behind, but I didn't know the game was literally incorporating the blood libel into the primary conflict.

Yeah I caught that too when reading that 

[skillzdadirecta]

4 hours ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

just as Carpenter didn’t

Which Carpenter? Not JOHN Carpenter???

[TheLeon]

5 minutes ago, skillzdadirecta said:

Which Carpenter? Not JOHN Carpenter???

From a littler earlier in the quoted article:

Quote

 Then there are the skeletal-like shape-shifting aliens in John Carpenter’s “They Live,” who combine stereotypes of Jewish greed with tropes of Jewish alienness and shape-shifting assimilation. The parallel here was so blatant that neo-Nazis embraced the movie as their own, much to Carpenter’s horror.

[best3444]

Here is good impressions and new gameplay:

 

 

[Bjomesphat]

6 hours ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

I'm not even going to go as far as saying that WhatsHerName is deliberately anti-Semitic in the same way that's she's willfully -- even gleefully -- transphobic.  It's more than likely the situation as described by this article:

 

 

HOWEVER, whoever the developer(s) was (were) that came up with that blood libel-esque storyline? Naaaaaaah - they don't get the benefit of the doubt from me on that one!

 

I mean blood is a pretty strong reoccurring theme in the Harry Potter universe. You really think the developer and by extension Warner would risk everything to insert a plotline that is intentionally anti-Semitic, especially at a time when the HP franchise is so fragile? Surely it's just ignorance and using old fantasy tropes. Honestly, I think with how difficult it is to navigate the world of HP now, the developer is likely in over their head and is in no way equipped to thread that needle around JK's bigotry.

[johnny]

to be honest i really didn’t think anything of what you guys said about the blood thing until you pointed out it being very similar to something that is very bad. i have no idea of the intention of the people in charge of that stuff but i feel like it’s possible they didn’t mean what is being suggested. or not. i don’t know. 

[skillzdadirecta]

38 minutes ago, Bjomesphat said:

 

I mean blood is a pretty strong reoccurring theme in the Harry Potter universe. You really think the developer and by extension Warner would risk everything to insert a plotline that is intentionally anti-Semitic, especially at a time when the HP franchise is so fragile? Surely it's just ignorance and using old fantasy tropes. Honestly, I think with how difficult it is to navigate the world of HP now, the developer is likely in over their head and is in no way equipped to thread that needle around JK's bigotry.

I think when you don't have varied voices in the room during development, things like this can happen out of pure ignorance. That is why you NEED diversity in development... it is possible that this is a coincidence but I sincerly doubt it. I don't doubt for one second someone at somepoint raised this issue and they were overruled. I've seen it happen and it always bites devs in the ass. Also in today's climate, as sad as it is to say this, the anti-semetic tropes intentional or not could be a selling point to... certain members of videogame fandom. It's not like gamers are the most tolerant open minded group in the world. The rest of the audience for this game won't care enough about the subject for it to affect their decision to buy and enjoy the game. I'm personally hesitant myself to get it now to be honest. I also don't have the same connection to Harry Potter as most people though.

[Keyser_Soze]

@Mr.Vic20 was upset by the Forespoken user reviews but I'm sure this one is so popular for the very same reasons Forespoken was unpopular. The user reviews on this one are going to be a bloodbath!

[Kal-El814]

1 hour ago, Bjomesphat said:

I mean blood is a pretty strong reoccurring theme in the Harry Potter universe. You really think the developer and by extension Warner would risk everything to insert a plotline that is intentionally anti-Semitic, especially at a time when the HP franchise is so fragile? Surely it's just ignorance and using old fantasy tropes. Honestly, I think with how difficult it is to navigate the world of HP now, the developer is likely in over their head and is in no way equipped to thread that needle around JK's bigotry.

 

I don’t think people involved decided to get together and do an anti-Semitism. But there’s no excuse for ignorance of how closely this plot resembles the blood libel, especially since the parallels between Rowling’s hook nosed, miserly, money obsessed, always-suggested-to-be-potentially-aligned-with-dark-wizards goblins have been called out for a long time now.

 

Other than Hogwarts there’s not a ton of stuff in the canon about this time, they could have written this game about damn near anything, and they ended up with blood libel / new world order bullshit.

 

And let’s not forget that Tolkien was called out on some of this stuff contemporaneously, it’s not like people were unaware that the dwarves were Semitic, that the good races are all white men, etc. “Using old fantasy tropes” is a problem, not an explanation.

[best3444]

When can we expect reviews? I am really looking forward to this and want it to turn out amazing. I did read there is a performance mode so that is terrific for console owners.  I scheduled off work for this, dammit! 

[Biggie]

2 minutes ago, best3444 said:

When can we expect reviews? I am really looking forward to this and want it to turn out amazing. I did read there is a performance mode so that is terrific for console owners.  I scheduled off work for this, dammit! 

You should have just called off sick and told them you had hogwarts 

[best3444]

1 minute ago, Biggie said:

You should have just called off sick and told them you had hogwarts 

 

I have a ton of annual leave compared to sick leave so scheduling off was the better idea. 

 

Also, I know you have no interest in this  but I never read or seen anything Harry Potter either. It's an entirely new story and hopefully turns out awesome. 

 

If it gets great reviews and great user impressions would you consider it?

[Biggie]

14 minutes ago, best3444 said:

 

I have a ton of annual leave compared to sick leave so scheduling off was the better idea. 

 

Also, I know you have no interest in this  but I never read or seen anything Harry Potter either. It's an entirely new story and hopefully turns out awesome. 

 

If it gets great reviews and great user impressions would you consider it?

No I don't want hogwarts.

[best3444]

2 minutes ago, Biggie said:

No I don't want hogwarts.

 

Hey, not every game is meant for everyone.

[Moa]

I’m looking forward to the launch drama. This is a hugely ambitious game with high expectations from a relatively unproven dev. Just that means that there’s a huge range to the potential quality of the game. Combine that with the various controversies, which I’m sure some reviewers will take into account, makes the whole thing a guaranteed shitshow.   
 

[BloodyHell]

9 hours ago, best3444 said:

When can we expect reviews? I am really looking forward to this and want it to turn out amazing. I did read there is a performance mode so that is terrific for console owners.  I scheduled off work for this, dammit! 

Monday is review embargo, I think.

 

im not sure this one gets a fair review cycle. Even Parris Lilly admitted it when talking about this game on Kinda Funny. 

 

that said, there are LOTS of physical copies out in the wild, and it’s been streamed on multiple European streams in the last day. Early word is that it’s very good.

[best3444]

37 minutes ago, BloodyHell said:

Early word is that it’s very good.

 

Nice. Thanks for the info.

[Kal-El814]

Saw someone on Twitter say this looks like Dark Souls for Mormons and yeah I buy that. 

[eventide11]

I'm probably in on this one. Controversy aside. I'm positive out of all the games I've bought over the years a developer, creator, designer, director etc etc etc had glaringly different views than me that maybe even bordered on hateful. We all have. I wouldn't be watching or playing much of anything if I put a microscope on every one's differences in whatever than mine. Doesn't affect me at all so I treat it accordingly. 

[Biggie]

3 minutes ago, eventide11 said:

I'm probably in on this one. Controversy aside. I'm positive out of all the games I've bought over the years a developer, creator, designer, director etc etc etc had glaringly different views than me that maybe even bordered on hateful. We all have. I wouldn't be watching or playing much of anything if I put a microscope on every one's differences in whatever than mine. Doesn't affect me at all so I treat it accordingly. 

[stepee]

19 minutes ago, eventide11 said:

I'm probably in on this one. Controversy aside. I'm positive out of all the games I've bought over the years a developer, creator, designer, director etc etc etc had glaringly different views than me that maybe even bordered on hateful. We all have. I wouldn't be watching or playing much of anything if I put a microscope on every one's differences in whatever than mine. Doesn't affect me at all so I treat it accordingly. 

 

To be fair, and I already bought this and get the “no ethical consumption in a capitalist society” point, the issue with JK is that she is a huge piece of shit bigot transphobe that uses their power and influence to spread hate. It’s not necessarily the overall variety of views that is the issue.

[TheLeon]

JKR is more aggressively terrible than most ultra wealthy, ultra famous people. But, and this might be defeatist of me, that ship has sailed. She’s already got all the money in the world. It’s hard to imagine the success or failure of this game impacting her in any real way. Instead, when I’m spending my $80 on this (see you Tuesday, bitches), I’m thinking about the probably hundreds of people who spent years of their lives making this game. 
 

Am I rationalizing it this way because I just really want to play this game? Absolutely. 

[Xbob42]

Yeah I'm in on this one as well. Rowling's a huge piece of shit but nothing about this game's sales will impact her massive wealth one way or another. Now if you wanna go pull a bank heist on her bank account, count me in.

[best3444]

I took off Friday. Will this be available at 12am Friday morning?

[eventide11]

On 2/4/2023 at 12:19 AM, Keyser_Soze said:

@Mr.Vic20 was upset by the Forespoken user reviews but I'm sure this one is so popular for the very same reasons Forespoken was unpopular. The user reviews on this one are going to be a bloodbath!

It will probably be the most review bombed game in history 

[skillzdadirecta]

I'm on the fence... I could honestly look past JK Rowling's involvement because the success or failure of this game has little impact on her. The blood libel stuff is what gives me pause to be honest. I still have a couple of days before I make a decision.

[atom631]

on a side note but speaking of blatant antisemitism… The game Outriders had a NPC named Atta Goldstein. Her journal entry specifically says shes jewish. Shes the only NPC in the entire game where their religion is even mentioned in their journal entries. 

 

no big deal right?  well her sidequest revolves around her tricking these two refugee lovers into thinking shes helping them. she actually winds up robbing them blind and turns them over to the boss who is a tyrant slaver. the lovers wind up escaping and go in to hiding.

 

The sidequest starts when you meet Atta and she tells you she was the one robbed by these lovers of her jewelry and asks you to get them back for her. When you finally find the lovers, it turns out the trinkets are all they have left after Atta destroyed their lives and took all their belongings. So Atta tries to use you, the player, to take the last mementos of these people and kill them in the process to cover it up. 

 

its the most insidious sidequest in the entire game and blatantly antisemitic…and it went completely unnoticed by the gaming media as far as I know. 

 

edit: heres the end mission dialogue:

 

 

[best3444]

1 hour ago, best3444 said:

I took off Friday. Will this be available at 12am Friday morning?

 

Anyone know?

[TheLeon]

23 minutes ago, best3444 said:

 

Anyone know?

Midnight for consoles, 10am Pacific for PC.

 

PS5 preload is live.