While I'm well aware J.K. Rowling is a complete idiot nowadays, I was too curious (I've heard it's supposed to be really good) to pass up on this game when a neighbour offered it to me for free. Well, was it any good? Yes and no. Mostly no actually, but a little yes. Let me explain.
It starts off very stiff, it's just as bad as one would imagine a licence game made for kids to be. And then it doesn't really... rise above that. But I somewhat enjoyed it anyway! When the jarring from the awkward pauses in the horrendous dialogue, the beyond clunky controls and the awful loading times had subsided I found myself thinking "this is like a watered down miniature version of Canis Canem Edit (Bully), but wholesome". I was thinking of ways to praise its simple fun behind all the bad stuff but then it was over. I think it lasted four (short) sittings, and I had just started to warm up and feel a bit entertained when it threw its unceremoniously (pun intended, if you know you know) brief ending at me. Huh.
Okay so, sure, I got to visit a lot of places and see some lore from the movie and it was pretty faithfully represented (even though they obviously had to make drastic compromises), but the gameplay was just too lacklustre. There were almost some good exploration segments, there were almost some good fights - but they both suffered from being too shallow and immediately repeated too many times. I bet the kids in 2001 had a blast with it, but I'm 38 when I play this for the first time and then it's just not as good as some people will lead you to believe. It's a solid bit of casual fun from the bargain bin, but not more. And that's pretty much all I can say about it. It just doesn't evoke anything worth bringing up.
"It's a solid bit of casual fun from the bargain bin, but not more."
Okay so, sure, I got to visit a lot of places and see some lore from the movie and it was pretty faithfully represented (even though they obviously had to make drastic compromises), but the gameplay was just too lacklustre. There were almost some good exploration segments, there were almost some good fights - but they both suffered from being too shallow and immediately repeated too many times. I bet the kids in 2001 had a blast with it, but I'm 38 when I play this for the first time and then it's just not as good as some people will lead you to believe. It's a solid bit of casual fun from the bargain bin, but not more. And that's pretty much all I can say about it. It just doesn't evoke anything worth bringing up.
